Minnesota Micro-motors is a known company in the country, and as the CEO, I am the person responsible for issues regarding decisions made on the marketing strategies. Marketing is an essential organ of an organization since it determines the market and financial performance of the firm (Groucutt, Forsyth & Leadley, 2004). Being the manager in-charge of the marketing department then there is an obligation to see to it that there is a market approach that is primarily based on deploying the sales force in the different branches of the organizations. Moreover, the marketing approach would concentrate on observing the elements of the product policy. On the same note, product policy includes the pricing policy of the firm and the market positioning of the company’s motor devices line that involves online simulation. Minnesota Micro Motors Inc. is a company that manufactures brushless motors that use direct current that are used in orthopedic medical activities. Minnesota Micro motors made sales of approximately 98,000 motors every year and was reported to have had a 9.5% share in the $138 million motors used in medical services for Orthopedic and Neurosurgery practices (Harvard Business Publishing, 2012).

The marketing strategy that I utilized in the simulation game for the second quarter to make decisions was on the strategic allocation of the sales force. According to Groucutt, Forsyth and Leadley (2004), sales force resource is most critical when it comes to marketing strategies and decisions made should primarily lay on them. This is done by determining how to allocate tasks on the sales force while allocating the quarter’s identical shares (Boyd & Massy, 2000). The strategy involves increasing the market share and the level of income for the current market targets by ensuring that we target the right segments.

The company ortho- power motors was priced at a $142 while on the list whereas the discounts off the list ranged from 4% to 15% for the buyers making large scale purchases. It was thus prudent to start the simulation at this stage with a list price of $142 to meet the set range. Later, I assigned a discount of 13% to the distributors as their share of the discount. Then it was necessary to move the parts with large discounts based on the respective segments A, B, C and D. For segment A, and I assigned a level of 12% discount since this segment has the largest portion required for the sales level. Segment B could not take up a very high portion of discount since it was rather highly inelastic and changes in discount levels could lower either the sales returns or very low discount levels could lead them to switch to other competitive products. In this quarter, I decided to change the situation slightly for the case of the discounts. In the previous segment A, I assigned 12% while segment B, I assigned 10%. For segment C I assigned 5% and segment D, I assigned a 10% discount.

To observe the changes in segment C and D I changed the discounts by increasing their levels. For the last quarter, I chose to change the sales force for segment A to 50% while that of segment B to 30%. Then I decreased the sales force in the segments C and D to ten percent, then the sales discounts I increased them to 24% and 25%. With the segments having different responses to different structural and sales adjustments, I allocated an equal percentage of 25% to all the four segments. This helped to show how the segments responded to the market simulation decision. Afterward, I opted to keep the same number of the sales workforce of 11 individuals, which is the number of staff I will employ in the next quarter.

There was an approximately 75% increase in the revenue of Minnesota Micro-motors. This was due to the increase in the level of sales in the respective segments that resulted from the adjustments in the sales force input and sales levels. According to Narayandas (2010), product positioning is a fundamental component of marketing strategy and thus should be a top priority consideration under market simulation. Therefore, market research data was put under examination to help understand the customer’s perceptions of the performance of products about prices and how the products for the company compete against rival products. Financing for respective developing products was thus allocated in different proportions to evaluate response towards the company’s products. The finding was that customers’ expectations change regularly on product development and competition variance in the market.

Managing customer relations was a simulation that was conducted by allocating sufficient sales force into each segment. Then time spent by each team in each segment is determined, and then a platform for retaining the existing customers and acquiring new customers was established and set. The customers had online platforms and quick notepads in places of operation to provide a response on the level of satisfaction for services offered. The platform provided greater market transparency, and customers could engage in cross-border transactions.

Finally, in the completion of the simulation, we ensured that we prioritize the project that could sustain the revenue streams and maximize the current gross profit. We based the simulation scores based on profit, revenue, market share, cumulative trend performance and customer satisfaction. There would be minimal future changes except for prices as they adjust in accordance to the pace set by the market forces of demand and supply. This means that the future customer levels or rival product development would alter the current price ranges and customer behaviors thus the need for adjustment.

Game theory refers to a mathematical approach that is used by organizations to predict the likely future moves by the competitors. Similarly, the approach focuses on providing predictions of the players’ behaviors and those that seem to occur (Chatterjee & Samuelson, 2014). On the other hand, the limitation of game theory is that the company has the responsibility of guessing what the competitor may or may not do hence; the decisions based on the scenario may not be rational. Minnesota Micro-motors, Inc. has a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code of 3621: Motors and Generators (United States Department of Labor, n.d.). In addition, the classification is a four digit numerical code that is designed for businesses that deal with manufacturing electric motors excluding engine starting motors. Besides, it includes power generators, railway motors and generator sets, control equipment for gasoline and electric vehicles.

References

Boyd, H. W., & Massy, W. F. (2000). Marketing management. Orlando, FL.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Chatterjee, K., & Samuelson, W. (2014). Game theory and business applications. New York: Springer.

Groucutt, J., Forsyth, P., & Leadley, P. (2004). Marketing: Essential principles, new realities. London : Kogan Page Publishers.

Harvard Business Publishing. (March 2, 2012). The Orthopedic Motors Market: Minnesota Micromotors, Inc. and Brushless Motors Technology. Retrieved 12 July, 2016 from http://forio.com/simulation/harvard-marketing-customers/extras/MM_foreground_reading.pdf

Narayandas, D. (2010). Marketing Simulation: Managing Segments and Customers. Online Simulation, HBP for Educators, Copyright.

United States Department of Labor. (n.d.) Occupational safety and health administration. Retrieved 12 July, 2016 from https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sic_manual.display?id=805&tab=description

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