Samsung Electronics’ Marketing Plan Essay Example For College

Check out our essay sample if you’re about to write a Samsung’s marketing strategy analysis! Here, you’ll find Samsung’s market situation, target market, marketing mix, external and internal environment, and other important information for your essay on Samsung marketing plan.

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to outline a marketing plan for a selected organisation and this paper will focus on Samsung Electronics. This marketing plan concentrated on the market situation, target market, marketing mix, external and internal environment of Samsung, and the influence of technology and new media on Samsung’s future marketing plans, sustainability concerning the marketing strategy and how it might affect the reputation of Samsung in the future.

Overview of Samsung Electronics Inc

Samsung Electronics Inc is a South Korea based Multinational Corporation and one of the world’s largest cell phone and other diverse electronics manufacturing company, which is devoted to developing pioneering technologies and competent progressions that craft new markets, supplement people’s lives, and persist to work hard in making the brand a digital leader. Throughout 70 years of its operations, the company is carrying out successful businesses throughout the global market with 337 offices facilitating in 58 countries and employing about 222000 human resources internationally.

As the second-largest company of the world market, Samsung possesses a very impressive and strong financial position as compared to many other businesses. According to Samsung Electronics (2011), even though, because of the global financial crisis, the company has suffered significant losses in the 2008 and 2009 period, in 2010, it has observed rapid recovery in terms of the net incomes. The table below shows the financial overview of the company in 2010:

Financial Overview 2010 of Samsung Electronics Inc.
All Amounts are in Billions	Won (₩)	Dollars ($)	Euros (€)
Net – Sales	₩220,120.40	$172.50	€124.100
Total – Assets	₩343,811.60	$294.50	€205.300
Total – Liabilities	₩212,512.90	$182.00	€126.900
Total Stockholder’s Equity	₩131,298.60	$112.50	€78.400
Net Income	₩17,663.80	$13.80	€10.000
Net Sales	₩220,120.40	$172.50	€124.100

Figure 1: Financial Overview of Samsung Electronics in 2010. Source: Samsung (2011)

Samsung’s Mission, Vision and Values

Vision of Samsung

From the very beginning, Samsung was regulated by its long term objectives and it has already fixed its vision 2020 that is “Inspire the World, Create the Future” (Samsung Electronics, 2011). Also, the main objectives of this company are to generate $400 billion in sales revenue by 2010, and listed the company in the top ten charts by this time. However, the following figure shows more elaborately –

Mission of Samsung

Samsung Electronics performs according to prerequisite objectives and its present mission is to be the best “digital-εCompany”, therefore, human resources of this company always try to give innovative ideas to face new challenges by developing its products and services. According to the annual report of Samsung, it would like to be a profitable and responsible global corporation with capturing a market-leading position in the business segments. However, the following figure shows its mission –

Value of Samsung

Samsung values its people as it believes that “a company is its people” and the employees give the best effort with endless passion and integrity to bring sufficient changes, introduce innovative products, take responsibilities.

Product situation and lifecycle

The following information is important to provide a clear perception of the product situation –

Variables	2007 (KRW trillion)	2008 (KRW trillion)	2009 (KRW trillion)
Net Sales	98.5	121.3	139.0
Operating Income	9.0	6.0	11.60
Net Income (of holding company)	7.40	5.50	9.70
Earnings Before Interest and tax	17.50	16.10	22.80

Figure 5:Source: Samsung Electronics (2010, p.21).

The following graph will show the Position of products

The explanation for 2009 –

• Digital Media = 33%
• Semiconductor = 18%
• LCD = 15%
• Telecommunications = 28%
• Others = 6%

Product line

Kotler and Keller (2006) stated that the first element of marketing mix indicates a full description of the company’s products and Samsung’s product line includes Visual display (like TV, home AV, e-book, projector, monitor and so on), IT solution (like a netbook, laptop, laser printer and multimedia device) and digital appliance (like a refrigerator, washing machine, Air-conditioner and vacuum cleaner).

However, it also marketed Mobile Communications (full touch screen phone, eco-friendly mobile phone, smartphone, and MP3 player), LCD, Network (like Mobile WiMAX, LTE solution), DVD-Video players/recorders, and Digital-broadcasting receiving systems, audio/video/data recording media, and data recording systems etc. According to the sustainability reports 2010 of Samsung, it produces the following products –

Target market

Samsung’s has targeted different group for different items and the main target customers for its electronic items are upscale and middle- earning households, students and other retailers; however, it focused on the quality and technology to build strong brand image to the target customers.

Market segmentation

Stoner, Freeman & Gilbert (2006) pointed out that a company should decide first which segments offer the best opportunity for achieving its objectives to increase sales and net profits by creating long-run customer relationship and considering different needs, characteristics, or behaviour of the customers. However, Samsung can consider the following segments to go forward with a single or more market segment –

• Customers who want luxurious products regardless of the price;
• Customers who only consider the price of the product;
• Customers who think to get high quality at a reasonable price;
• Customers who only consider brand name.

Market positioning

Samsung can position its products in a clear, distinctive and particular way to the target customers relative to the competitors by using perfect positioning module; so, it should express the distinct benefits and features of the electronic products in the target markets as the best quality and reliable appliances.

Price

Shuey (2010) stated that the motto of the pricing strategy of this company is to increase market share in the global market, which influences the company to ask reasonable and affordable price to attract target customers though the Semiconductor business division experienced rising market share and price hike with strong demand. However, effective pricing strategy plays a vital role to increase sales that means offering the right combination of quality and good service at a fair price may help to be market leader, for instance, its sales rose by KRW7.5 trillion because of the high demand of its premium mobile phones at low to mid-price.

Distribution outlets

According to the annual report 2009 of Samsung, this company is concentrating on synergies in sales and distribution by improving a programme and it is increasing the distribution of its Digital Presenter range with the appointment of six distributors in Europe, which gives exclusive channels for business partners.

Competitive situation

Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson (2001) stated that competitive analysis is one of the most significant tasks as each competitor maintains a specific strategy and niche in the market. However, Samsung has different competitors in the different segment but its major competitors in the electronics markets are Sony, LG, Nokia, Aiwa, Panasonic, Sonic, Philips, and so on.

Advertising

Challenging spirit and fervour of this company for the future is conveyed to its customers by different marketing communication programs such as brand or product advertisements, promotions and sponsorships (Samsung Electronics (2010, p.84). However, Samsung is committed to following regulation those prohibits labelling or slandering competitors; so, it never undermines the credibility of the creditors by advertising;

Marketing research

In 2009, total R&D expenses of Samsung Electronics were KRW 248,103 because this company always concentrates more on the marketing research issue; as a result, it has separate research team and research centre for the development of different business units.

Brand positioning map

Samsung should prepare the perceptual positioning maps, which will show the customers perception of the relative brand versus competing products on important buying decision; however, it is shown as below –

SWOT Analysis of Samsung Electronics Inc

Strengths

• The key strengths of Samsung Electronics are brand awareness of the company, distinctive competencies, unique customer care service, economy of scale and long experience, marketing activities, and so on;
• According to the annual report 2009 of Samsung, it always hires highly efficient engineers for the technological development of the company;
• Also, it spends more than KRW 2,760,997 million for research and development (Samsung Electronics, 2009);
• However, Samsung has coordinated excellent IT facilities with a mobile communication system such as it introduced the next-generation wireless communication method Mobile WiMAX (WiBro) in 2006.
• On addition, IT sector integration with 4G mobile communications, 30nm-class NAND Flash memory chip, 32/28nm high-k metal gate (HKMG), and the 2.5-inch, 250-gigabyte (GB) HDD, 1 GB DRAM, and 32 GB NAND also a one-step forward the strength of Samsung;
• It has a strong customer base, which inspires the company to expand its business.

Weaknesses

• Samsung experienced less growth rate in developed countries;
• Japanese first comers in China enjoyed more advantages than Samsung;
• The US companies like Motorola has already built a strong distribution channel, which is better than Samsung’s would distribution channel;
• Also, it should require a more cost-effective solution to target all sorts of customers.

Opportunities

• Samsung provides six-sigma facility training to the employees, which would help the company to increase sales in the global financial crisis;
• It has a strong financial base to expand its business in the global market and develop supply chain management system in the local market;
• Administrative control, team spirit, innovative technology and commitment of the employees would bring success in the future;
• On the other hand, it has a huge opportunity to drive more seriously in the South Asian market as an Asian originated organization.

Threats

• Good corporate governance system may be hampered due to high remuneration of executives;
• Also, the global financial downturn is one of the burning challenges to this company as it would have to face if the recession long lasts then it will carry more market risk,
• Competitors are the major threats as it faces extreme competition in the global electronics market;
• On the other hand, net sales revenue from developing countries may decrease due to the high price of its products;

PEST Analysis of Samsung Electronics

Political Factors

Although Samsung is operating in many countries throughout the world and generating a significant amount of revenues, it is sometimes affected by the local rules and regulations, local stock exchange, taxation, and rate of exchange; moreover, in some instances, political instability and unrests creates some adverse situations over its operations and consequently lowers down its turnover as well.

Economic factors

During the recessional period, the profits and sales of the products of Samsung Electronics have reduced significantly than previous years; as a result, it had a great impact on the net profit; for example, from 2000 to 2007, its sales have noticed to increase gradually, but from 2008, its sales decreased dramatically which reached the worst situation during 2009. However, in 2010 onwards, the company has started to recover from such financial crises as the customers are gaining back their confidence.

Socio-cultural factors

Samsung’s corporate-culture encourages the employees and focuses to make them feel like a part of the company; therefore, the specialists at different locations scrutinize the local-culture, lifestyles as well as business trends; additionally, to design the product according to the taste of the local customer, it maintains separate Corporate Design Centre to find out people’s requirements and demands.

Technological factors

Innovative technologies are changing the lifestyles of people; therefore, Samsung continues to advance its technology; for example, it uses advanced-technologies including next-generation Samsung mobile-phones to expand the initial 1GB-DRAM using 50-nanometer manufacture-processes and 32GB-NAND flash-memory through 40nm-processing; it is important to argue that technology was the only reason for which Samsung’s net sales increased by 24% within last 11 years.

The organizational structure of Samsung

The following figure shows the organizational structure of Samsung electronics and this charts demonstrates that CEO of this company control and implement strategies of major segments such as Visual Display Division, IT Solution department, R&D structure configuration, Digital Appliance segment, LCD segment, Mobile communication segment and so on.

On the other hand, it has the opportunity to consider the multi-divisional structure As Samsung is highly differentiation oriented and the profit of this company does not depend on a single product. Also, this company would like to use the horizontal integration strategy to expand its business but it should have different raw materials supplier, technological platforms, strategic planning, corporate HR, Corporate marketing and different marketing plan.

Technology and media’s influence on future marketing plans

In an industry that is constantly changing in terms of technology, it is arguable that Samsung is bringing its technology together with business unit product development parts, network technologies, information technology systems and Samsung’s research laboratories; moreover, it is expecting to deliver the greatest technical support to customers by inspiring R&D, enhancing its relationship with technology-providers, and developing its IT platforms.

This signifies the fact that in a situation where a firm like Samsung needs to cope up with ongoing technological changes constantly when it would come to making future marketing plans, the potential technological advancements in terms of hi-tech advertising mediums are highly likely to significantly impact the entire planning process.

To elaborate, currently, while doing the marketing plans of the company, the policymakers try to provide a greater emphasise over the advertising mediums like print media, radio advertising, television advertising, outdoor promotion, demonstrations at fairs, concerts etc. by allocating a large amount of expenditure at the marketing budgets. However, it is arguable that the marketing budget allocations remain the lowest for most modern advertising mediums through the internet, like web marketing, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), advertisement through social networking sites, website development, blogs, and e-mail.

In near future, it is very much possible that the customer dependency over the use of internet increases due to the rising number of people striving to buy things online through e-commerce websites, or more and more people joining the social networking websites where the advertisements can be made. The customer dependency over e-commerce websites and online buying would mean that less number of people will be visiting outside for shopping purposes reducing the necessity of the expenditure over outdoor advertising. On the other hand, spending more time chatting with friends online would mean that customers will spend less time watching television or listening to radios. This would mean more marketing budgets are needed to be allocated for internet-based advertisements and fewer budgets over television, radio, outdoor promotion, or print media.

Effect of sustainability management on Samsung’s reputation

Samsung experienced the adverse impact of the global financial crisis in 2008, but the position of this company changed in 2009 while it captured the highest share of the global market for the first time (Samsung Electronics, 2009, p.17). Also, the positive news is that Samsung is one of the most demanded brands in the Asian market. However, Samsung has taken a few initiatives to change its strategies and goals that play a vital role to improve the financial position and build a positive image to the customers as well as stakeholders. Here, it is important to mention that sustainability issues might affect the reputation of Samsung Electronics in the future. However, the following figure shows the approach of Samsung to sustainability –

• Samsung was committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from operations (like GHG generated from business premises and its products) by 45% from 2001 levels;
• This company will invest approximately KRW5.4 trillion as part of its “Green Management Plan” to control GHG¹ by 50% from the 2008 levels and develop eco-products by 2013;
• However, the key objectives of Green Management Plan are addressing climate change, developing eco-products, promoting eco-friendly workplace, and green communication;
• To reach the stated goals, the Green Management Committee has already developed a particular action plans to build a prosperous society and protect the environment through business activities that give due respect to inhabitants and nature;

• It has collected almost 37,000 tons of e-waste, and recycled around 83% of it into valued resources including scrap iron, plastic and non-ferrous metals;
• In January 2009, this company established the CSR Liaison Office to develop communication with the Sustainability Management Committee and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer for successful implementation of sustainability management;

• However, “Global Harmony with People, Society and Environment” is the sustainability management vision of the company;
• The main strategies of Green Management are installing equipment to lessen GHG emissions during the manufacturing procedure, implement an energy management system and install new equipment after obtaining in-house energy certification, amplify energy efficiency of products, and assists the business partners to establish GHG inventories

• Samsung Electronics (2011) reported that it designs most of electronics products considering environmental issue such as it introduces PC with a fuel cell that can to ultra-low energy refrigerators;
• The employees of this company always work hard to produce environmentally friendly products and increase the usage of recycled materials;

Organizational Culture

Samsung is a Korean company but it has employees from a different culture as it allows the global talents; as a result, this company uses English in speaking, documentation and the overall electronic communication though all the website run in three separate languages such as English, Italian and Chinese. However, Samsung has ensured the equal opportunity for all employees though only 40.1% of employees are female and 46% of employees recruited from the overseas market (Samsung Electronics (2010, p.29).

Conclusion

Fuelled by advances in information technology, the global infotainment environment is growing rapidly; consequently, Samsung foresees potential business opportunities in all sectors including environmental and energy solutions, which will envisage the company over the upcoming decade – guided by experienced Business-Team, R&D-hubs, technology-centres and individual business-units, Samsung hopes to develop specific roadmaps that will turn these opportunities into reality.

Reference List

Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2001) Strategic Management. 4^th ed. South-Western Thomson Learning.

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2006) Principles of Marketing. 11^th ed. London: Prentice-Hall

Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2006) Marketing Management. 11^th ed. London: Prentice-Hall.

Samsung Electronics (2009) Samsung Electronics Annual Report 2009. Web.

Samsung Electronics (2010) Financial Reports of Samsung. Web.

Samsung Electronics (2010) Sustainability Report 2009-2010 of Samsung: Global Harmony with People, Society & Environment. Web.

Samsung Electronics (2011) About Samsung: Our Sustainability Reports. Web.

Samsung Electronics (2011) About Samsung: Samsung Profile.

Samsung Electronics (2011) Mission of Samsung Electronics. Web.

Samsung Electronics (2011) Vision of Samsung Electronics. Web.

Shuey, S. (2010) Samsung pricing strategy aimed at increasing share. Web.

Stoner, J. A. F., Freeman, R. E., & Gilbert, D. R. (2006) Management. 6^th ed. London: Prentice-Hall.

Footnotes

1. greenhouse gases.

Ebola Outbreak In The United States

Abstract

The given paper is devoted to the investigation of the issue of leadership and its manifestations in terms of the spread of Ebola virus.

Introduction

There is no use denying the fact that leaders are very important for society as they help it to move in the chosen direction and evolve. However, the necessity of leaders becomes more obvious under some complicated or even disastrous conditions (Leadership Styles, n.d), when their steps and decisions can help to save millions of people all over the world (Best & Holmes, 2010). With this in mind, it is possible to analyze one of such cases and the types of leadership used to solve the problem. The Ebola outbreak in the USA can be chosen for this analysis.

Choice of the style of leadership

It should be said that the outbreak of such a dangerous disease was a great danger for the whole nation. That is why, the chief executives of the country, who obviously could be called the main leaders, had to respond to it and create some measures which could protect people (Koh, 2009). Under these conditions, democratic style of leadership was chosen in order to guarantee efficient interaction between all main actors who participated in this event and tried to find a good solution.

Efficiency of the style

Besides, it is possible to say that the spread of disease was stopped can be taken as the best evidence of the efficiency of the chosen style of leadership. The thing is that this style means that all members of the team, who are responsible for finding a good solution, take part in the discussion (Nahavandi, 2014). This approach can help to take into account the points of view of professionals and create the most efficient strategy which could help to stop the communication of the diseases. With this in mind, it is possible to say that the chosen style turned out to be rather efficient.

Description of the events

Analyzing the situation, it is possible to say that it was not catastrophic and its extent was not great. On December, 2014 four confirmed cases of Ebola were diagnosed in humans in the USA (How Many Ebola Patients Have Been Treated Outside of Africa? 2015). These four people are Thomas Eric Duncan, Nina Pham, Amber Vinson and Craig Spencer (Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States, n.d.). They became infected in different ways, which make the situation worse. Moreover, due to this fact hundreds of citizens of the USA were tested for Ebola infection. Moreover, there were suggestions to establish the isolation period in order not to let the disease spread.

Efficiency of measures

However, it is possible to say that the spread of disease was stopped due to the efficient measures introduced by the officials (Davis, 2015). Having consulted, specialists outlined the necessity of the creation of special rapid response teams which had to respond to new cases of Ebola (CDC’s Ebola Response Team, 2014). Moreover, the President appointed the Ebola response coordinator whose main aim was to control the spread of disease (The Administration’s Response to Ebola, n.d.). All these measures could be analyzed in terms of the democratic style of leadership as officials accepted the coordinated decision. (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009)

Conclusion

With this in mind, having analyzed the situation connected the outbreak of Ebola and the officials respond to it, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. It should be said that the chosen democratic style of leadership turned out to be rather efficient under those conditions and helped to prevent the spread of disease and reduce the level of threat which existed at that period of time.

References

Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 421–449. Web.

Best, A., & Holmes, B. (2010). Systems thinking, knowledge and action: Towards better models and methods. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate & Practice, 6(2), 145–159. Web.

Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States. (n.d.). Web.

CDC’s Ebola Response Team. (2014). Web.

Davis, J. (2015). Obama to Recall Military Personnel From Ebola Zone, Officials Say. The New York Times. Web.

How Many Ebola Patients Have Been Treated Outside of Africa? (2015). The New York Times. Web.

Koh, H. (2009). Fostering public health leadership. Journal of Public Health, 31(2), 199–201. Web.

Leadership Styles. (n.d.). Web.

Nahavandi, A. (2014). The art and science of leadership. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Web.

The Administration’s Response to Ebola. (n.d.). Web.

Federal Acquisition Regulation Competition Requirements

Introduction

The Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) was established with the purpose of setting forth the basic regulations that govern how the US federal government should conduct its acquisitions (Feldman, 2013). The guidelines are divided into various sections, each elaborating on a specific method of government acquisition and the threshold requirements therein. Part 15 of the PAR governs the federal government acquisition through competitive negotiations. The section was reengineered in 1997 and published in 1998 with the purpose of making competitive negotiations easy (Feldman, 2013). The purpose of reviewing the guidelines was to ensure that it encourages and enhances openness in the communication between the government and the contracting parties when the government is making acquisitions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the checklists that should be considered when acquiring a new tax processing software system at the Internal Revenue Service (ISR). It also examines whether correcting the Offeror’s mistake is required in a proposal for a competitive acquisition.

Proposal Adequacy Checklist

In considering the proposals made by Offeror to provide the ISR with the new software system, it is necessary to examine the nature of the item description. The ISR’s proposal adequacy checklist follows the required standards under Part 15 of PAR for sole source actions above TINA threshold. In this case, ISR examines the proposals based on the description of the price of the item (the software system) to be acquired.

The Five Checklists for the item price are:

1. It is a properly completed first page of the proposal developed according to the FAR table 15-2I.A or as per the contracting officer in the solicitation process? (Keyes, 2006)
2. Does the proposal provide an index of all the certified cost, pricing data, and information to accompany the proposal?
3. Does the proposal provide an exception to the submission of the certified pricing data or cost according to FAR 15.403-1(B)? (Keyes, 2006)
4. Is there a comprehensive summary of the total cost per each element of the cost?
5. Does the proposal show the total price of the item per annum?

Summary of the intrinsic value of suggestions on the checklist

The second and fourth items are important in this analysis. One of the proposals received at the ISR office from the potential Offerors suggests that the software system is different from the conventional products acquired in the department because it will need frequent maintenance and that the Offeror will provide those services throughout its expected life. In Item 2 of the checklist, the Offeror’s proposal states that the company has provided the certified cost, pricing data, and information to accompany the proposal based on the suggestion that the product will need adequate maintenance. It states that the prices of the maintenance expected to change with time. Thus, the included price data is that of the initial cost of the product and not the annual cost of maintenance.

Secondly, item 4 of the checklist finds that the comprehensive summary of the total cost per each element of the cost goes in line with the specifications of the software system. The elements specified in the Offeror’s proposals include the initial cost of the product and its installment. However, the cost of maintenance and annual restructuring of the software are not provided because the company’s proposal states that the costs are expected to change. In addition, the elements include the review of the system to go in line with the latest requirements of technology.

Position argument

The tax return software system to be acquired is a technology-based product. It requires the acquisition of the initial item, installation, and frequent maintenance or review to ensure that it performs the expected task and within the context of the current technology. Therefore, as a contracting officer, my position is to consider the proposals that provide an adequate specification of these costs. We need to consider the proposal in which the Offeror has specified the number of maintenances per year as the item for determining the cost. In addition, the best proposal must describe the expected life of the product and the cost of reviewing the system to ensure that it goes in line with the latest technology.

Preaward Proposal Mistakes

In this case, the ISR (the offeree) reserves the right to let a mistake in the offeror’s proposal go uncorrected even in situations where the error has the probability of causing a loss to the institution. The offeree’s action is protected under section 15.508 (discovery of mistakes), which states that the mistakes in the contractor’s proposal that may be disclosed after the award of the contract have been made should be processed according to the procedures outlined under section 14.407-4.

In this case, it is the responsibility of the offeror to go through the proposals carefully to determine the presence of mistakes and notify the offeree before the proposal is processed as per the section 14.407-4. In case the offerer fails to review for mistakes and the offeree suffers a loss, the offerer is liable for the compensation of the offeree as described in Giesler v. the US, 232 F. 3d 864 – Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit 2000 (Kathuria, 2009). In this case, the court ruled that the offeror deserves to compensate the state for the failure to read comprehensively the specifications, which caused an error.

Conclusion

The regulations provided under Part 15 of PAR are meant to ensure that the government acquisition is easy and free of fraud. In this case, it is important to follow the checklist to ensure that the offeror does not make errors in the pricing and other aspects of the proposal and mitigate the legal risks involved.

References

Feldman, S. W. (2013). Government contract guidebook. Eagan, MN: Thomson Reuters.

Kathuria, S. (2009). Best practices for compliance with the new government contractor compliance and ethics rules under the federal acquisition regulation. Public Contract Law Journal, 13(2), 803-856.

Keyes, W. N. (2006). Government Contracts under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.