n the article “Managing Strategy in Turbulent Times”, Perrott says, “Over time, a business needs to manage a balance between conditions of the environment, its strategy to develop opportunities and threats and its capability to implement such strategies.” A consumer products company wants to use Perrott’s framework to analyze possible strategic gaps and capability gaps as it seeks to bring a new line of environmentally friendly cleaning products to market. In a minimum of 300 words, discuss at least three external environmental factors the company must analyze to ensure that strategies will lead to success for this new venture. Why are these factors important in this situation? Describe at least three internal capabilities that the company must develop as it seeks to come to market with these new consumer products. Guided Response: Review the discussion board posts of your classmates. Note their descriptions of the external and internal factors. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Comment on the differences you discover between your lists and those of your classmates. How did the differences expand your knowledge of external and internal factors in strategy management?

Marketing plans lead to improved marketing performance. The market overview, described as step 4 in Chapter 2 of the text, is a major point of emphasis in marketing plans. Segmentation is a tool that marketers use to define attractive markets. A mid-sized data storage firm has been in business for six years and got its start by supplying services to a single, large industrial company. The firm has excess server capacity and wants to offer services to other manufacturing and service businesses as well as not-for-profit firms and government agencies. You have been asked to help the CEO with the initial steps of the marketing plan.

Explain the steps in the marketing planning process in a minimum of 300 words. Using the three-stage model of segmentation described in Chapter 4 of the text, describe the process for market segmentation and analyze a minimum of three possible new market segments for this firm.

Guided Response: Review the discussion board posts of your classmates. Note their descriptions of the marketing planning process and the segmentation model. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Discuss how use of the segmentation model led to similar or different decisions about possible new market segments. Suggest ways that they might improve their application of the segmentation model.