【正文】 that might confirm or disconfirm the scenarios.BUSINESS UNIT STRATEGIC PLANNING Figure shows the steps in the business unit strategicplanning process.Business MissionA) Each business unit needs to define its specific mission within the broader pany mission.SWOT AnalysisA) The evaluation of a pany’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is called SWOT analysis. It involves monitoring the external and internal marketing environment. External Environment (Opportunity and Threat) AnalysisA) A business unit must monitor key macroenvironment forces:1) Demographiceconomic.2) Natural.3) Technological.4) Politicallegal.5) Socialcultural.6) And significant microenvironment actors:a. Customers.b. Competitors.c. Suppliers.d. Distributors.e. Dealers. A major purpose of environmental scanning is to discern new opportunities. A marketing opportunity is an area of buyer need and interest in which there is a high probability that a pany can profitably satisfy that need. Review Key Definition here: marketing opportunityB) There are three sources of market opportunities:1) First is to supply something in short supply.2) Second is to supply an existing product or service in a new or superior way. 3) There are several ways to uncover possible product or service improvements:a. By asking customers for their suggestions (problem detection method).b. By asking consumers to imagine an ideal version of the product or service (ideal method).c. By asking consumers to chart their steps in acquiring, using, and disposing of a product (consumption chain method).C) Third is a totally new product or service.D) To evaluate opportunities, panies can use Market Opportunity Analysis (MOA) to determine attractiveness and probability of success:1) Can the benefits involved in the opportunity be articulated convincingly to a defined target market(s)?2) Can the target market(s) be located and reached with costeffective media and trade channels?3) Does the pany possess or have access to the critical capabilities and resources needed to deliver the customer benefits?4) Can the pany deliver the benefits better than any actual or potential petitors can?5) Will the financial rate of return meet or exceed the pany’s required threshold for investment? Figure (a) shows an opportunity matrix for a TV—lighting equipment pany.E) An environmental threat is a challenge posed by an unfavorable trend or development that would lead, in the absence of defensive marketing action, to lower sales or profit. Figure (b) illustrates the treat matrix facing the TV—lighting equipment pany. Internal Environment (Strengths/Weaknesses) Analysis It is one thing to find attractive opportunities and another to be able to take advantage of them. Each firm must evaluate its internal strengths and weaknesses. A) George Stalk suggests that winning panies are those that have achieved superior inpany capabilities, not just core petencies. Stalk calls this capabilitiesbased petition. Goal Formulation Once the pany has performed a SWOT analysis, it can proceed to develop specific goals for the planning period. This stage of the process is called goal formulation. Managers use the term “goals” to describe objectives that are specific with respect to magnitude and time. A) The firm sets objectives, and then manages by objectives (MBO). For MBOs to work they must meet four criteria:1) They must be arranged hierarchically, from the most to least important.2) Objectives should be stated quantitatively whenever possible.3) Goals should be realistic.4) Objectives must be consistent.Strategic Formulation Every business must design a strategy for achieving its goals, consisting of a marketing strategy, and a patible technology strategy, and sourcing strategy. Porter’s Generic StrategicA) Michael Porter has proposed three generic strategies that provide a good starting point for strategic thinking:1) Overall cost leadership.2) Differentiation.3) Focus.B) According to Porter, firms pursuing the same strategy to the same target market constitute a strategic group. Strategic AlliancesA) Companies are discovering that there is a need for strategic partners if they hope to be effective. B) Many strategic alliances take the form of marketing alliances. These fall into four major categories:1) Product or service alliances.2) Promotional alliances.3) Logistics alliances.4) Pricing collaborations.C) To keep strategic alliances thriving, corporations have begun to develop organizational structures for support and have e to view the ability to form and manage partnerships as core skills (called Partner Relationship Management, PRM). Program Formulation and ImplementationA) A great marketing strategy can be sabotaged by poor implementation. B) Marketing must estimate its costs.C) In implementing strategy, panies must not lose sight of the multiple stakeholders involved and their needs. D) According to McKinsey amp。 Company, strategy is only one of seven elements in successful business practice. 1) The first three—strategy, structure, and systems are considered the “hardware” of success.2) The next four—style, skills, staff, and shared values are the “software”a. “Style” means that pany employees share a mon way of thinking and behaving. b. “Skills” means that the employees have the skills necessary to carry out the pany’s strategy.c. “Staffing” means that the pany has hired able people, trained them well, and assigned them to the right jobs. d. “Shared values,” means that the employees share the same guiding values. Feedback and ControlA) As it implements its strategy, the firm needs to track the results and monitor new developments. A pany’s strategic fit with the environment will inevitably erode because the market environment changes faster than the pany’s 7Ss. Organizations are subj