Part I

You must answer question 1:

1. Corporate downsizing was the cover story for a recent issue of Business Week.  According to this article, employees have announced an average of 3106 cutbacks per day, with a large percentage of these being white-collar.

"The sight of so many bodies is sparking a complex debate - about profits and loyalty, and about the benefits and unforeseen consequences of layoffs.  Critics, including some prominent executives, believe [that] massive downsizing has become a fad, a bone to throw Wall Street when investors begin baying for cost cuts.  Others maintain that large-scale staff reductions, even at profitable companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Xerox Corp., are necessary to maintain competitiveness in a fast-changing global marketplace. . . Few observers expect an end to the spate of downsizing announcements."

What are the marketing implications associated with this issue?  Remember that there are many different meanings associated with the terms customer and consumer; that the marketing environment includes both opportunities and threats; that marketing encompasses more than just selling tangible goods (e.g., consider places, governments, and social ideas).

Part II

Answer one of the following:

2. How does one determine the price of a new product at product launch?

3. How does one determine a promotional budget?

4. What is the difference between selling and advertising? Which is better?

5. When is a channel intermediary (middleman) good? When bad?

6. Why is the organizational purchasing process different from the household purchasing process?  How are these different?

7. Choose any question from the Dolan readings.  Write it down, reference it by page, and answer it thoroughly.