Description
MKT 571 WEEK SIX INDIVIDUAL POJECT
Social, Ethical, and Legal Implications
oDue Apr 06, 6:00 PM PST
oNot Submitted
oPOINTS 15
Project
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Objectives:
6.1
6.2
6.3
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to help students think through the importance of social, legal, and ethical issues that may arise with their product or service and the implications of decisions made within those frameworks. It is designed to help the learners understand ethical and legal issues related to marketing practices. This knowledge helps to prevent such issues when developing the marketing strategies in their marketing plan. The executive overview of the marketing plan is not a summary and conclusion, but an overview of what the plan entails and what it does not address.
Assignment Steps
Note: the Social, Ethical, and Legal Implications assignment is part of the total marketing plan as outlined in the grading guide. It is not a separate paper.
Producing and marketing a product without regard to ethical, legal, and social considerations is detrimental to the overall success of any company.
Assess in a maximum of 700 words the ethical, legal, and social issues affecting your product or service in two markets: the United States and one international market. Domestic market generally means the market where the company headquarters are located. If you choose a domestic market that is not the U.S., then your other market is required to be the U.S. marketplace. This will be added to the Target Market section of your Marketing Plan.
Include the following:
- Develop a process to monitor and control marketing performance. This process could be a flowchart but a flowchart is not required (flowcharts do not count towards your word count requirement).
Formulate a maximum 350-word executive summary including at a minimum the following elements to include in your marketing plan:
- Required executive summary elements:
- Strategic Objectives
- Products or Services
- Optional executive summary elements:
- Resources Needed
- Projected Outcomes
Integrate the previous weeks' sections, social, ethical, and legal implications, and executive summary into the marketing plan. Incorporate corrections and suggestions from the instructor's weekly feedback. The marketing plan should be a minimum of 3,850 words and include the following:
- Incorporate Understanding Target Markets (Week 2)
- Incorporate Promotion and the Product Life Cycle (Week 3)
- Incorporate Price and Channel Strategy (Week 4)
- Incorporate Marketing Communication and Brand Strategy (Week 5)
- Incorporate Executive Summary, Legal, Social and Ethical Considerations (Week 6)
Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed references.
Include all peer-reviewed references from the previous weeks' individual assignments in your marketing plan.
Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.
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Explanation & Answer
Hey! Kindly extend the deadline to 10 days
Attached.
Running head: THE MARKETING PLAN
1
The marketing plan
Name
Institution
Date
THE MARKETING PLAN
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Executive Summary
The company chosen for this assignment is Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an international
technology company which is based in Cupertino, California. The company designs, develops
and also sells computer software, consumer electronics as well as online services. The hardware
products of Apple Inc. include the iPhone series, iPad tablet, Mac personal computer, iPod media
player, Apple watch and the Apple media player. Its software products includes the iOS and
macOS operating systems, iTunes media player, Safari web browser, iWork and iLife creativity
and productivity suites and professional applications such as Xcode. In addition, its online
services include Mac App Store, iOS App Store, iTunes Store and the iCloud.
Apple Inc. was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. Its
main objective was to develop and to sell Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. In 1977, the
company was incorporated as Apple Computer Inc. and from the sale of its computers resulted to
a significant momentum as well as revenue growth for the corporation.
Currently, Apple Inc. is the largest IT Company in the world by revenue and is the
world’s second-manufacturer of mobile phone after the Samsung Company. As at February
2015, Apple Inc. became the first US Corporation to be have value of more than $700 B. The
company has about 123,000 employees who work in full time basis. In addition, Apple Inc. has
around 499 retail stores in more than 22 countries. The company operates iTune Store which is
the largest music retailer in the world.
THE MARKETING PLAN
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Ethical Issues
Ethical issues arising from international market are due to human rights, corruption,
environmental responsibility, issues on employment as well as morality. It is hard to enjoy the
freedom of speech and freedom of association. The working conditions are not so good in the
international market since the applications of standards that are applied may be hectic. There is a
higher prevalence of corruption and bribery that normally revolves around the operations of
Apple Inc. This should be rectified to a point that the operations will not violate any laws in
relation to corruption. Additionally, the products from the company should be environmentally
friendly by ensuring that the environment is preserved and conserved and conducive for all those
that reside in it. In the local market, ethical issues are related to ensuring that the consumers are
well served with honesty and fairness (Crane & Matten, 2016). Apple Inc. should also ensure
that the workforce is diverse and should also ensure that there is equal opportunity in terms of
training opportunities to all employees. The decision making policy of Apple Inc. should be
based on protecting the rights of employees and customers in all their operations. The company
is also expected to be fully compliant with the federal laws, civil right laws, environmental laws
and fiscal and monetary statutes of the United States.
Social Issues
Almost all businesses in the market world face social issues and Apple Inc. is no
exception. The social issues affecting the business in the foreign Europe market is the negativity
towards foreign investments. Therefore, it results in the rules imposed on the products that are
offered by the foreign investors. These rules include high tariffs and other levied taxation costs
(Crane & Matten, 2016). Lack of social infrastructure in Europe may lead to high expenditure
THE MARKETING PLAN
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cost from the company which was meant for construction. Government interference is also an
issue. This can be critical if the government in Europe wished to be an investor for Apple Inc.
thus rendering it a social issue. Bad relationship with the government makes it harder for the
company to trade in the foreign market. In the domestic market, social issues arising include the
need for Apple Inc. to take part in community work projects and actions that seem to give back
to the community such as through development projects and charity works. There are challenges
with targeting the Apple Inc. customers through platforms such as social media.
Legal Implications
Since the core business markets are the US and Europe, the legal systems in the markets
are responsible for giving guidance on how the operations of the business ought to be conducted.
Therefore, local and international laws are to be used in the operations of the Apple Company.
The US laws will guide the imports and exports of the materials which will have an effect on the
productions of the products. On the other hand, the international laws will have an effect on the
activities of the Company in Europe. There are different laws both in Europe and in the US
regarding the freedom of the operations; operating hours, capital requirements and license
requirements by Apple Inc. (Cavusgil et al., 2014). Freedom of trade will be monitored by the
existence of tariffs, taxation rate, price regulations and duties in the market. Challenge in Europe
has been gaining approval from the European legislation for the organizations that deal with
trucks drivers. Using the company's axles on highways was previously banned.
THE MARKETING PLAN
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Understanding Target Markets
For an organization to develop an effective marketing relationship with consumers there
is need to understand the targeted consumers' buying influences and behaviors. Before making
any purchase a consumer must take time to go through a consumer decision-making process to
ensure that avoidable mistakes are not made. These mistakes include purchasing substandard
goods that are goods of poor quality for higher prices than they deserve (Darley et al, 2010).
Consumer decision-making process will help a consumer be able to address their need fully by
getting the right product to solve their problem (Roozmand et al, 2011). The organization needs
to understand the consumers' tastes and preference and keep track of the current market trends.
For instance, the current taste and preference is the iPh...