Analyze a Fortune 500 in the Service Industry using the 4P's of marketing: IBM
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Select a Fortune 500 international company in the service industry. Using your selected company as the basis for your research:
- Describe the main line of business of the company
- Name four of the countries in which the company operates
- Explain, in detail, the implementation of the 4P's marketing mix concept by the company
- Describe any differences observed in the implementation of this concept, from one country to another.
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Solution Summary
This solution summarizes IBM's business with the application of the 4 P's or the marketing mix to its business in 1757 words.
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THE FOUR P's AT IBM
MISSION STATEMENT
Ten years ago, IBM claims, they saw change coming. In response, IBM changed the mix of their businesses and worked to remake the company as a globally integrated enterprise, leveraging our scale to capture new growth. As a result, IBM has been able to invest in future sources of growth and provide record return for shareholders. IBM's strategy produced steady results in core business areas and at the same time, expanded its offerings and markets. The key tenets of this strategy were:
- Deliver value to enterprise clients through integrated business and IT innovation
- Build/expand strong positions in growth initiatives
- Shift the business mix to higher-value software and services
- Become the premier globally integrated enterprise"
IN IBM's 2009 Annual Statement to Stockholders, its CEO defined IBM's corporate mission as one of capturing new growth in order to provide record return for its shareholders, and position the company for continued growth over the next decade. In order to accomplish this, IBM has changed its portfolio or mix of businesses and leveraged a globally integrated enterprise in order to make targeted growth investments. At the operational level, IBM created business value for clients and solved business problems through integrated solutions that leveraged information technology and a deep knowledge of business processes. IBM solutions create value by reducing a client's operational costs or by enabling new capabilities, which generate revenue. (http://www.ibm.com/annualreport/2009/2009_ibm_annual.pdf, p20)
PRODUCT STRATEGY (P1 = PRODUCT)
IBM's core business model supports two principal goals: help clients succeed by becoming more innovative, efficient and competitive; and provide long-term value to shareholders. IBM's global capabilities include services, software, systems, fundamental research and related financing. However, the model is not static. The business model must be flexible, and adapt to continuously changing market and economic variables. For 2010, IBM is focusing on four major growth opportunities:
- Growth markets: In both mature and growth economies, infrastructure represents a major technology and business opportunity, with more than $2 trillion in fiscal stimulus earmarked by governments.
- Analytics: IBM's new analytics service line draws on 4,000 dedicated consultants, plus 200 mathematicians and advanced analytics experts in IBM Research. We have invested $10 billion in 14 acquisitions since 2005, creating seven analytics solution centers around the world.
- Industry: Chemicals & Petroleum (Venezuela) 3-D seismic imaging technology helped Tricon Geophysics cut processing time by 50 percent and realize a 40-percent savings in power and cooling infrastructure, and operational costs.
- Cloud and next-generation data center: These new models are enabling efficient consumption and delivery of IT-based services. More than 18 million people use LotusLive, IBM's cloud- based collaboration suite. More than 200 IBM researchers are working on ...
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