Deborah Cull 10/27/2011
Final Assignment: Enterprise Reporting
Business Story
SVSU’s Marketing Certificate program helps Dow Corning Corp. with
marketing excellence
Dow Corning Corp. is adding to the number of non-traditional students at SVSU.
They’ve added an educational requirement for employees who want to work in their
marketing department that has many scrambling to earn SVSU’s marketing certificate.
Many of these marketing hopefuls already hold four-year degrees in other disciplines, but
want to expand into marketing. Scott Fuson, global marketing director, says it’s worth
Dow Corning’s investment in tuition reimbursement to require this additional education.
According to Fuson, the requirement came about as a result of a benchmarking study on
Dow Corning’s marketing department four years ago. Unfortunately, Dow Corning
didn’t fare as well as hoped.
The test, designed and delivered by Dr. Roger Best, is designed to measure marketing
proficiency in several core competencies. Scores are tabulated and then compared to all
others who have taken the test.
Dr. Best reported the low scores to Dow Corning, along with an analysis as to why the
scores were so low. One reason was that many in marketing had no educational
qualifications for the job. That is when the rule to have either a marketing degree or
marketing certificate became part of the new requirements for employment there. The
certificate program is well designed to provide training in the following targeted areas
indicated on the study, which are:
Market-Based Pricing: Market-Based Pricing starts with customer needs and your
product position relative to competition. Prices are set to create an attractive Customer
Value (benefits>cost) and then adjusted downward to account for channel discounts to
arrive at a net market-based price.
Customer Value and Price: Value-Based Pricing is based on a products overall benefits
and the total cost of purchase relative to a benchmark competitor. In order to yield a
price that delivers a value superior to competitors total benefits must exceed the total
cost of purchase by some meaningful margin. In general, businesses that price to create
a higher customer value are more profitable.
Price Elasticity: Price Elasticity is the percent change in volume per one percent change
in price. Price elasticities less than one are Inelastic and price increases will result in
gains in sales revenues. Price elasticities greater than one are Elastic and price
decreases will result in gains in sales revenues.
Channel Costs: Channel Intermediaries should lower the total cost of purchase or they
will cease to exist, as more cost-effective channels would be utilized. Prices should be set
in the market place and then channel costs deducted to arrive at a net price. The best
combination of channel reach (volume) and net price (margin) will yield the best profits.
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Deborah Cull 10/27/2011
Final Assignment: Enterprise Reporting
Business Story
Cost Dynamics: Understanding how variable and fixed costs change with significant
changes in volume. The proper use of cost-volume relationships is important in
projecting future costs and margins
Customer Satisfaction and Profitability: Customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction impacts
customer retention, profitability, and marketing productivity. Customer satisfaction is
also a leading indicator of a business’s future sales and profits.
As a result of this educational requirement, several Dow Corning employees are enrolled
in SVSU’s marketing certificate program. They come from quite diverse backgrounds,
but all have an eye toward a marketing profession.
Linda Coughlin is currently working in the marketing organization. She holds a
bachelor’s degree in business, but doesn’t meet all the educational requirements for
marketing. She has returned to school to meet the requirement in order to keep doors
open for further opportunities in marketing. “I considered going for my MBA, but
realized the marketing certificate would meet all my goals at this time,” said Coughlin.
Amy Krawczyk works in public relations at Dow Corning, and holds a degree in Public
Relations and Journalism. She’s worked in Dow Corning’s corporate communications
office for more than 10 years and decided she’d like to add some business experience to
her resume’. Amy has been diligently attending classes and at the completion of this
semester, will have met all requirements to land a marketing position. “My children are
very young. The SVSU certificate was very do-able for me with such a young family,”
said Krawczyk.
Connie Lopez comes from a computer systems background. She’s recently begun
working in the area of “e-marketing”. In the beginning her information technology skill
provided what was needed by the role. As the job has progressed, marketing skill and
knowledge has become increasingly important. “I’ve now realized I need the additional
marketing knowledge to do this job well,” said Lopez. “Additionally, the certificate will
provide me with greater opportunities.”
Is the new education requirement working? Fuson believes so. “We conducted a new
survey among our marketing professionals 18 months later and had risen to mid-level on
the scale. A year later, we rose to just below the second quintile. We’ll measure again
next year and I hope to see us as “best of class”, said Fuson.
Cindy Hobbs in Dow Corning’s human resources department says there are a total of 182
U.S. employees currently enrolled in education programs. Of those, roughly 90 percent
are enrolled in undergraduate level courses. A large number of those students attend
SVSU.
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Deborah Cull 10/27/2011
Final Assignment: Enterprise Reporting
Business Story
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