Marketing Mix

Social Systems Analysis of Organizational

Planning and Management

HUS 643.22

Systems Analysis -Comp Unit IV-B

Purpose: To discuss the components of the marketing mix, outline the product offerings of the agency and define strategic planning from an open systems perspective.

Monifa K. Jackson

December 26, 2003

Dr. Harold Carter

Thesis Development

Marketing mix is a management function linking the organization to its external environment. The linking or transaction occurs not only between customers and the organization, but also amongst the organization's task environment. Kotler & Andreasen (2002) contend that in contrast to those who conceive of marketing largely in terms of communications strategies designed to change customers to fit the organization's offering, sophisticated marketer's view the marketing function as more diverse and the marketing objective as, above all, responding to customer needs and wants.

A diverse marketing program pays attention not only to communication but also to the nature of the offering, its cost to target audience members, and the channels through which it is made available. The true marketer's mindset considers that it is the organization that must be willing to adapt its offering to the customer, and not vice versa.

At National Pike Health Center (NPHC), this philosophy has been adopted. NPHC agrees that creativity is necessary for survival. All clients will not be able to molded into an already existing program. Change agents must be readily able to view challenges to impacting positive change and adapting to a more flexible style of empowering. Generations change rapidly and what worked for one may not work for another. Staying informed is essential to staying at the forefront of empowerment.

The pilot project focuses on educating families with options to achieving a better education for their children. The foundation of a good education, in which the children are stimulated and motivated to learn and to return to school, is priceless. The classroom is a microcosm of the world. Survival of the academic arena dictates one's future potential. Children were taught not to give up, but to discover alternative methods of locating valuable solutions.

Kotler and Andreasen (2002) contend the marketing mix is the particular blend of

controllable marketing variables that the firm uses to achieve its objective in the target market. There are many variables that create the marketing mix. They are classified into major groups including price, product, place, and promotion.

The product was the delivery of the services to the consumers (target population). The services were distributed within the context of the existing program through group sessions, accurate record keeping, and other client services. Fundamentally, customers acquire products for what these products can do for them. The change product helped show the environment the need for students who are able to succeed academically. According to Kotler and Andreasen (2002) a product is anything that can be offered in a tangible form to a market to satisfy a need. A tangible product can be described as having up to five characteristics: features, styling, quality level, packaging and a brand name.

The typical new offer has four stages that contribute to a product's life cycle. These components are (1) introduction/product development - the design period, communication and distribution are the focus, (2) Growth/product evaluation-the period for observation, to establish patterns of sales/consumption, (3) Maturity/product modification - when research methods are designed to reinvigorate or to make the product more attractive, (4) Decline/product evaluation - the final component, a decrease in the ability of the product to advance the agency's mission (Kotler & Andreasen, 2002). The change project represented a modification, as the project was intended to complement the existing services available at National Pike Health Center.

The product that National Pike Health Center offers is to accomplish the following goals with its clients:

The goals that were set forth to accomplish were the following:

1. Demonstration of consistent interest, initiative, and motivation in academics and bring the performance level up to that expected for intellectual ability.

2. Achieve the academic goals identified on the client's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

3. Perform to the level of capability in the area of academic weakness.

4. Build self-esteem so that the client is able to cope effectively with the frustrations associated with learning and effectively complete school or homework assignments on a consistent basis without giving up.

5. Eliminate the pattern of engaging in acting-out, disruptive, or negative attention-seeking behaviors when confronted with difficulty or frustration in learning.

6. Parents establish realistic expectations of the client's learning abilities and implement effective intervention strategies at home to help the client keep up academic goals.

7. Remove emotional impediments or resolve family conflicts that will allow for improved academic achievement (Jongsma et al, 1999).

The above goals hope to remove deficiencies within the inadequate school programs by allowing the youngster an opportunity to welcome and embrace new learning styles and combat the forces set up against them to be confident and maintain a high level of self-esteem. To accomplish the goals, a coalition has been established to help resist the established plan for children who live below the poverty line to fail. The children were shown that success is attainable. Parents were encouraged to learn of such methods to protect their child(ren) from academic failure which usually lasted for generations.

The price is viewed as one of the precise elements of the marketing mix when the cost of development, distribution, delivery and consumption are viewed. The price to generate the desired product included the cost of the facility in which the program was operated out of. It also includes the entire budget to keep the facility running including leasing fees,