Assignment 3: Market Position Analysis

Throughout this course, you will conduct a strategy audit for a selected company. Begin this assignment by selecting an organization for your course project activities.

In this module, you will assess the product portfolio of your selected business unit by analyzing the value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage of its products and services.

Part I: Interview

To gain an understanding of your selected business unit’s market position, value proposition, and competitive advantage, conduct at least one interview with a mid-level or senior manager.

Use the interview to solicit the manager’s perception of his or her business unit’s product portfolio. Be sure to discuss the points of analysis listed below in Part II of this assignment.

Part II: Analysis

Based on the information gathered from the interview, analyze the product portfolio of your selected business unit. In your analysis, identify the business unit of your company and the product(s) and service(s) on which you will focus.

Make sure to include the following points in your analysis:

Describe the target customer for the product/service in terms of relevant characteristics that impact the marketing strategy, including location (how it should be reached) and buying habits.
Identify each customer segment’s specific wants and needs. Explain why they buy your company’s product or service, or a competing product or service.
Justify how well your product/service satisfies customer wants and needs. Identify any wants and needs that are not met by your product/service.
Analyze the position of your product/service in relation to the competition. Identify the main competitors. Explain how your product differs in terms of features, function, quality, price, availability, brand image, and the like. Explain why this differentiation is important to your customers.
Describe the source of competitive advantage for your product. Evaluate how sustainable is this source of advantage.
Assess the long-term sustainability of the source of differentiation and competitive advantage.

Include appropriate information from the interview in support of your answer.

Part III: Matrix

In comparing your product/service to that of the competition, construct a simple matrix in the following way:

List the key customer wants or needs on the left-hand vertical axis.
List the competing products on the top horizontal axis, starting with your product/service on the left.
For each customer want or need, indicate how well each competing product satisfies the need using a scale of 0–2.
0 = need not met
1 = need partially met
2 = need fully met

This is a simple but effective visual mechanism for comparing the relative position of multiple offerings from competing sources.

Write a 3-page paper in Word format and attach the matrix as an appendix. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M1_A3.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M1_A3.doc.

By Wednesday, December 2, 2015, deliver your assignment to the M1: Assignment 3 Dropbox.

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria
Assignment Component
Proficient

Maximum Points

Describe the target customer for the product/service in terms of relevant characteristics that impact the marketing strategy, including location (how reached), buying habits.
Target customer is clearly and accurately identified. Description includes all relevant characteristics that impact the marketing strategy, including (but not limited to) location and buying habits.
12

Identify each customer segment’s specific wants and needs. Explain why they buy your company’s product or service, or a competing product or service.

Each customer segment’s wants and needs are identified, specific, and appropriate.

Explanation as to why customer buys product/service is clear, complete, and provides specific detail to support ideas.

12

Justify how well your product/service satisfy customer wants and needs. Identify any wants and needs that not met by your product / service.

Justification of how well product/service satisfies customer wants and needs is clear, complete, and provides sound examples that support stance.

Any wants and needs not met by the product/service are identified and evaluated.

20

Analyze your product’s position in relation to the competition. Identify the main competitors. Explain how your product differs in terms features, function, quality, price, availability, brand image, etc. Explain why this differentiation is important to your customers.

Analysis of product in relation to competition is clear, complete, and detailed. Where the product resides in the market as a whole is clear and accurate. Main competitors are specified.

Explanation of how product differs from competition is clear and complete. It includes discussion of features, function, quality, price, availability, brand image, and the like.

Explanation of why differentiation is important to customers is clear and supports the justification as to customers’ wants and needs.

20

Describe the source of competitive advantage for your product. Evaluate how sustainable is this source of advantage.

Source of competitive advantage for product is clearly and completely described with details to highlight specific ideas.

Evaluation of sustainability of source of advantage is clear and grounded in appropriate examples.

12

Include information from appropriate interviews.

Information from interviews is woven into the assignment and used as support throughout.

8

Write using ethical scholarship and proper grammar and mechanics.

Writing is clear, concise, and in an organized manner; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

8

Academic Writing

Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e. APA); and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

8
Total:
100