'The Marketing Audit Comes of Age,' Sloan Management Review, Winter 1977, pp. Co-authors: William Gregory and William Rodgers. 'From Sales Obsession to Marketing Effectiveness,' Harvard Business Review, November-December 1977, pp. Marketing Audit comes of Age” (Kotler, Gregor and Rodgers 1977) was a turning point in the development of the marketing audit. It provided a definition that after.

Submitted By manwellaWords 6893Pages 28The Marketing Audit Comes Of AgePhilip Kotler, William Gregor and William RogersComparing the marketing strategies and tactics of business units today versus ten years ago, the most striking impression is one of marketing strategy obsolescence. Ten years ago US, automobile companies were gearing up for their second postwar race to produce the largest car with the highest horsepower. Today companies are selling increasing numbers of small and medium-size cars and fuel economy is a major selling point.

Ten years ago computer companies were introducing ever-more powerful hardware for more sophisticated uses. Today they emphasize mini and microcomputers and software.It is not even necessary to take a ten-year-period to show the rapid obsolescence of marketing strategies. The growth economy of 1950-1970 has been superseded by a volatile economy which produces new strategic surprises almost monthly. Competitors launch new products, customers switch their business, distributors lose their effectiveness, advertising costs skyrocket, government regulations are announced, and consumer groups attack. These changes represent both opportunities and problems and may demand periodic reorientations of the company’s marketing operations.Many companies feel that their marketing operations need regular reviews and overhauls but do not know how to proceed. Bmw x5 2018 owners manual. Some companies simply make many small changes that are economically and politically feasible, but fail to get to the heart of the matter.

True, the company develops an annual marketing plan but management normally does not take a deep and objective look at the marketing strategies, policies, organizations, and operations on a recurrent basis. At the other extreme, companies instal aggressive new top marketing management hoping to shake.Enter The Marketing AuditOne hears more talk today about the marketing audit as.Audit Committee Material Weaknesses in Smaller Reporting CompaniesDecember 2nd, 2010OUTLINE:I. SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLEII.

PROBLEM STATEMENTIII. SUGGESTIONS FROM THE AUTHORSIV. RELEVANCE TO AUDITING ENVIRONMENTV. Summary of the ArticleThis report summarizes the article published by Gramling, Audrey A, Hermanson, Dana R, Hermanson, Heather M in the CPA journal of 2009.

The main focus of the article is to show the importance of audit committee in auditing and analyze problems of small companies face in developing effective audit committee. The critical issue of the article is material weaknesses related to audit committee and possibility of management’s override of internal control within small companies.

Before, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, audit committees in public companies were under more pressure to understand not just a company's financial statements, but to challenge management and auditors on key accounting, internal control and compliance issues. After the financial scandals that caused firms like Enron and WorldCom to collapse, audit committees have risen from relative darkness to center stage in modern corporate world.

As it’s indicated in the article, the new role, the typical audit committee is charged with many duties. Because new role of audit committee increased complexity and accountability, it's easy for directors of small public companies to feel besieged when.Words: 1917 - Pages: 8. The function of the independent auditor in the audit of financial statements is expression of an opinion on the fairness with which they present, in all material respects, financial position, results of operations, and its cash flows in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor's report is the medium through which he expresses his opinion or, if circumstances require, disclaims an opinion. In either case, he states whether his audit has been made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. These standards require him to state whether, in his opinion, the financial statements are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to identify those circumstances in which such principles have not been consistently observed in the preparation of the financial statements of the current period in relation to those of the preceding period.

Much of the success of any business is riding on its marketing strategy. It may have abundant resources, with a management team composed of brilliant and innovative minds, and teams of hardworking employees diligently and passionately performing their tasks. However, the business will never be able to grow, and succeed in achieving its organizational goals if it does not have a marketing strategy in place.The growth of a business is closely linked to how its image is developed and presented to the market, and how it is able to establish a presence in that market. To accomplish that, there is a need to work on creating and, which inevitably leads to increased profitability and accelerated growth.In the process, this will also widen the reach of the business organization and aid in strengthening the bonds established between the business and its clients or customers.The million dollar question is: what goes into the development of a marketing strategy? Businesses devote a lot of time and resources in crafting a strategy that will help propel the organization toward its goals. Several factors are considered, and more than one or two processes are undergone. One of these activities or processes is a marketing audit.

IMPORTANCE OF A MARKETING AUDITAside from the obvious, which is the formulation of a marketing strategy, a marketing audit benefits a business in more ways than one. A marketing audit provides management an in-depth look and evaluation at the marketing of a business, paying particular attention at how its marketing activities are planned, implemented and managed. A marketing audit pinpoints the marketing efforts and practices that are working perfectly, those that are not, and those that need more work. This leads to the identification of marketing weaknesses and strengths of the company, as well as its marketing threats and opportunities. In fact, throughout the course of the audit, management may discover inefficiencies that it never knew existed. A marketing audit’s systematic and structured approach makes the whole process of developing a marketing strategy easier. You don’t know where to start when making a marketing plan?

Refer to the findings and recommendations of the marketing audit. A marketing audit enables the company to make corrections, or catch errors or mistakes before they can cause serious damage.

A marketing activity is being implemented poorly? Then the company can apply the necessary changes and adjustments.Ultimately, performance of a marketing audit is in aid of the greater function of top management, which is decision-making, specifically on matters regarding marketing. Any major decisions that will be made with respect to the company’s marketing activities will be based on the results of the audit.COMPONENTS AND TYPES OF MARKETING AUDITMarketing audit covers a very broad area, with the auditors required to look into.

There are seven identified types of marketing audit, and they fall under three components or audit key headings: the external environment, the internal environment, and the current marketing strategy of the company. Establish the scope and objectives of the audit.There is a need to lay out the scope and objectives of the audit, in order for the members of the audit team to be guided accordingly.The objectives have to be clear as to be understood by everyone, especially those who are going to be involved in the audit. The objective will be your starting point, since it will be your reference when identifying the next set of steps in the audit process.It is also crucial to identify all the stakeholders that are going to be involved in the audit – whether directly or indirectly.

Determine and establish the methodology to be used.The process that will be followed by the marketing audit team in the performance must be identified and established. This also includes the methods, techniques, and tools that will be used, particularly in data collection and data analysis. Phase 2: Audit properDepending on the methodology established prior, the main body of the audit process may include varying numbers of steps and sub steps. However, the main steps may be summarized into three: 1. Data gathering and collectionThis is deemed to be the most tedious and time-consuming part of the entire audit process. It can also be quite an expensive endeavor.Research is, quite possibly, the most popular and tried-and-tested method of gathering data.

Research sources include published data and other standardized sources of marketing data. Industry publications, for example, are a fount of information.Historical internal records of the company are also considered as primary sources of information, which is why they are subjected for review during a marketing audit. Examples are business documents and marketing records such as the business plan, marketing plan, training plans, marketing budget and the organizational structure along with job descriptions. If the marketing department has systems and processes in place, these may also be used to collect data.Surveys or questionnaires are often floated to chosen respondents. In several cases, the marketing audit team may also be required to conduct interviews to get more data.

It is also common to see members of the audit team going on-site for firsthand observations and walk-throughs of the marketing processes.Data collected will pertain to the three main components: the external environment, the internal environment, and the existing or current marketing strategy of the company.They will then be organized for analysis. Data analysisThis is the core of the audit process, where the audit team will build a complete picture of the marketing program, or the strategies used by the company, through subjecting the data collected to analysis.In brief, some of the tools used in data analysis are:SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysisThis is used for analysis of data on the three components. The strengths and weaknesses are geared towards the inter environment and the marketing strategy of the company, while the opportunities and threats pertain to the external environment.Five Forces AnalysisThis developed by Porter is used for analysis of the external environment, particularly the competitive environment of the company. Its points of focus are the five forces:. Competition in the industry: This takes a look at the competition. How many competitors do you have?

How do their offerings compare to yours?. Threat of entry of new players in the industry: Is the industry or market the company belongs to vulnerable to the entry of new product or service providers? How vulnerable is it?. Customer power: What are the chances that your customers will decide to buy from the competition? What would motivate them to do so?. Supplier power: Look at the relationship of the company with its suppliers.What are the problems often encountered in your dealings?.

Threat of substitute products: Is there a chance that the customers may find other products or services that will substitute what you currently offer?PEST Analysisstands for Political, Environmental, Socio-cultural and Technological analysis, which means it focuses on the macro-environment or the external factors.