Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Planning and Control

53: Planning and Control

SENIOR EXAMINER’S REPORT FOR JUNE 2004 EXAMINATION PAPER

© The Chartered Institute of Marketing

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SENIOR EXAMINERS REPORT FOR JUNE 2004 EXAMINATION PAPER

MODULE NAME: Strategic Marketing Management: Planning and Control AWARD NAME: Post-graduate Diploma in Marketing DATE: June 2004

General Comments The pass rate was generally in line with previous sessions, however I was pleased that in this session there was a significant improvement in the performance of many centres. There continues to be a wide variation in standards achieved by students. Strong students produce answers that demonstrate both breadth and depth of the subject, the ability to critically evaluate, the use of relevant examples, answer the specific question set and demonstrate good time management skills. Weaker students tend to produce limited answers that fail to demonstrate their ability to critically evaluate and apply the theory to practical situations. These students often seem ill-prepared for the exam and appear not to have covered the syllabus in sufficient breadth and depth. There was also a number of students that appeared to have the necessary knowledge and yet failed the exam due to poor examination technique. Study centres and students have a shared responsibility for ensuring that students are prepared for the exam. However, study centres should ensure they cover the breadth of the syllabus, provide guidance on additional reading, ensure that students have access to relevant texts and resources and in particular offer guidance on exam technique. General Strengths of Candidates The examining team identified the following general strengths that were demonstrated by candidates when compared with previous examinations.

Use of appropriate examples Many students are now able to refer to relevant and contemporary examples to help support their answers and illustrate their ability to reflect on the use of marketing theory in practice. However, this is not universal and some students continue to refer to outdated or inappropriate examples.

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Evidence of wider reading The Planning and Control syllabus draws on a wealth of literature and the reading list is extensive. It is encouraging that many students are demonstrating that they are now reading outside the core texts. It is essential that this continues because marketing strategy is a vast subject and in order to develop a rounded, yet critical, approach to this subject it is necessary for students to consult a wide range of texts, journals and other sources. Adoption of report format The majority of students now appreciate that this is a professional exam and that adopting an appropriate format is very important. Compared with previous sessions more candidates are producing scripts that are legible, clear and well-presented. Time management It seems that candidate’s time management skills in the exam are improving. The number of candidates that failed to answer the final question due to time pressures was less than in previous sessions. General Weaknesses of Candidates There were a number of general weaknesses evident in the scripts. Unfortunately the number of weaknesses outweighed the number of strengths. Failure to answer the question set/ or all parts of the question In some cases students failed to answer the specific question set and instead produced generalised answers. For example question 6 asked students to advise on a brand repositioning strategy. Instead of focusing on repositioning many students produced general answers that discussed general branding strategies. A further problem relating to this failure to answer the question set relates to the inability of some students to contextualise their answers. For example question 5 asked candidates to write a report for an international food manufacturer on the use of portfolio analysis. In many cases reference was not made to the fact that the company was a food manufacturer. Many questions contain two or more parts and require students to answer all elements. For example question 4 had four elements. They were asked to ‘explain why more attention is given to planning than control’, ‘identify the possible consequences of this’, ‘critically evaluate the factors that contribute to an effective control system’ and ‘highlight any possible problems’. If candidates had addressed all four elements then they should have found it easy to earn sufficient marks to pass the question.

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Limited ability to apply and evaluate marketing theory Many students can provide adequate descriptions of relevant marketing models and theory. However, a common problem lies in their inability to apply these to real life marketing situations. For example, in question 1a candidates were asked to discuss and evaluate the strategic options open to the Tea Shop. A number of students selected the Ansoff matrix on which to base their answers. However, many students failed to apply the model and instead provided a general description of the model. A further problem was an inability of some candidates to critically analyse the marketing models. For example, question 5 asked candidates to critically evaluate two portfolio models. Instead many students failed to do this and instead produced a basic description of the models. Tactical rather than strategic focus This is a strategic marketing paper and students are expected to take a strategic approach when answering the questions. However, in many cases students focused on short term tactical solutions. Exam technique A number of candidates demonstrated an understanding of the questions but let themselves down because of exam technique. This is a professional examination and it is expected that candidates will adopt an appropriate format – report, memorandum, briefing paper etc. Too many students produced answers that were at best poorly presented and at worst illegible. Time management continues to be a problem for a number of students. Fewer students are failing to leave sufficient time to answer the final question. However, some students spend disproportionate amounts of time on each question, despite each question being worth the same number of marks. This is particularly an issue for the mini-case where students often spend far too much time on each question. Too much reliance on personal experiences The use of real life practical examples to exemplify candidate’s answers is to be encouraged. However, a number of students draw on their own personal experiences to an excessive extent and as a result produced superficial answers that failed to address the question set.

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Strengths and Weaknesses by Question PART A Overall Part A appeared to be more problematic for candidates than Part B. A number of students did not distinguish between question 1a and 1b and it was therefore difficult to award marks in this situation. Question 1a This was a fairly broad question that was designed to enable candidates to adopt a number of different approaches. It required students to discuss the various strategic options open to The Tea Shop with reference to appropriate theoretical models. A common problem that was encountered was that students produced a list of unrelated options, often tactical rather than strategic, and failed to utilise any relevant framework to structure their answers. Alternatively, weaker students described Ansoff’s matrix but made little attempt to apply it to the case study. Stronger candidates applied Ansoff or Porter’s generic strategies to The Tea Shop, achieved a good balance between theory and practical application and provided a critical evaluation of the various options. Weaker candidates repeated case material, failed to select an appropriate model, provided no critical evaluation and overall showed little understanding of the key issues. Question 1b Candidates were required to write a report that critically evaluated the factors that should be taken into account when expanding internationally. Answers to this question were polarised with strong candidates producing answers that discussed both factors for assessing market attractiveness and also acknowledging the importance of organizational capabilities. Weaker students focused mainly on PEST factors and completely ignored the importance of organizational capabilities. A number of students misinterpreted the question. They did not discuss the factors that should be considered but instead focused on the advantages and disadvantages of franchising.

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PART B Question 2 This was the least popular question with only a minority of students choosing to answer it. Very few of these achieved a pass mark. It is disappointing to see such a lack of understanding of financial issues. Stronger candidates produced answers that demonstrated an understanding of the various financial auditing tools and in particular their contribution at various stages of the marketing planning process. Weaker students failed to answer the question. Instead of discussing financial auditing tools some discussed forecasting techniques. Question 3 This was a popular question that was generally well answered. This question had three parts – identify motivations for entering into an alliance, possible problems and possible solutions. A number of students failed to answer all three parts of the question and therefore could not make the most of the available marks. A number of candidates described one particular strategic alliance without linking it to relevant theory and also resulted in answers that did not cover all the relevant points. There was a general lack of use of contemporary examples. Question 4 This was not a particularly popular question. Answers were polarised with a few excellent answers and a large number of very poor answers. Excellent answers addressed all parts of the question and demonstrated a good understanding of the key issues. Weaker candidates did not answer all the parts and tended to focus on the advantages of planning rather than on control. There was also a number of students that interpreted the question as a question on implementation and therefore did not answer the question set. Question 5 This was a relatively popular question that resulted in a wide variety of answers. Strong candidates produced answers that explained the contribution of portfolio analysis and then went onto critically evaluate two appropriate portfolio techniques. Weaker candidates produced answers that were highly descriptive and insufficiently analytical and showed little understanding of portfolio analysis. There appears to be some confusion as to what constitutes a portfolio analysis tool. For example, PLC (without the linkage to the BCG being made), value chain, Ansoff, SWOT were all incorrectly cited as being portfolio tools. Question 6 This was a popular question. However, many of the answers were very disappointing. Strong candidates focused on repositioning and discussed alternative strategies in relation to hair care products. Weaker candidates

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produced general discussions of alternative branding strategies such as umbrella, family branding etc instead of focusing on repositioning. A number of candidates spent far too long discussing other types of examples such as Lucozade. Question 7 This was not a popular question and many students struggled to pass this question. The question required students to evaluate the approaches to undertaking an internal analysis such as the resource based approach, asset based approach, marketing audit and the innovation audit. Very few students addressed these frameworks. Instead answers were produced that discussed the role of SWOT analysis, the value chain, McKinsey’s 7S framework. Conclusions and Future Themes I was pleased to see an improvement in the performance of many of the overseas centres. It appears that tutors and students have taken on board comments from previous examiners’ reports for the need to read more widely and not to rely on one study text. However, for many students they continue to have difficulty in applying theoretical concepts and models to practical marketing situations. There is often too much emphasis placed on describing various frameworks with insufficient attention given to critical evaluation. Candidates must achieve a balance between theory and practical application. Study centres play a key role in preparing students for the exam in the following ways: • Covering the breadth and depth of the syllabus (it was evident that some areas

of the syllabus had been given little attention – for example financial auditing and internal analysis).

• Utilising relevant and contemporary examples in sessions in order to exemplify theory.

• Providing guidance on key readings and texts and developing techniques to encourage students to undertake the necessary reading. For example, by asking students to present summaries of key themes each week.

• Encouraging students to reflect on their own organization’s marketing activity. • Providing opportunities for students to practice past exam questions (ideally

under exam conditions). • Providing guidance on revision and exam technique. In addition candidates must take responsibility for their own learning and they should: • Refer to the recommended reading list and syllabus and consult a range of

different texts, articles and authors in order to develop a rounded and critical perspective of the subject.

• Develop a collection of examples that illustrate current marketing practice that

they can then draw on in the exam. • Refer to past examination papers, examiner’s reports and specimen answers.

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• Practice past questions (ideally under exam conditions). A mock exam would help students prepare for writing for three hours.

This is the final Planning and Control Paper before the new Syllabus is introduced. However, there will be two more papers in December and June that will run in parallel to the new modules. Therefore there will be no syllabus developments and the papers will follow the same style and format as previous examinations. Important themes will continue to be: • Developing a view of the future • Innovation • Branding • Implementation issues • Application and critical evaluation of marketing concepts and models.

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