Homework
Instructions
Case studies are an essential learning strategy in business classes because they provide an opportunity for you to critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a recommendation for the challenges faced by the company. For this unit, review the "Marketing Excellence: BMW" case study. This homework will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.
Part A
Evaluate this case, and respond to each of the following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.
I. Examine and apply the consumer-buying process for BMW. Identify the steps and the application to BMW. How does this process assist the marketing team at BMW?
II. How could data analytics be used to research the consumer in order to ensure a strong understanding of overall business and marketing outcomes at BMW?
III. Within the case, several clearly different target markets are identified. What does BMW do well to target each of these groups, and what could it do better? Within your response, include the process of segmentation.
Part B
Complete a case analysis of BMW. This requires that you conduct research on BMW beyond the case study material in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis, problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the instructions below as you construct your analysis.
I. Situational Analysis
i. Discuss the external environment through the compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and technology) analysis.
ii. Discuss the internal and external environment through the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
II. Problem
i. Identify at least one organizational problem that BMW is currently having or one in which you project it will have in the future. Base this upon your research and critical thinking.
III. Alternatives
i. Compile three or four potential marketing-related solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the problem.
IV. Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
i. Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve the problem that you identified in this case analysis.
ii. Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your analysis.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.