Proposed Recruitment Specification for Dunkin Donuts Marketing Manager

Introduction

There is a recruitment advertisement from Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd. This organization is searching for a Marketing Manager. From the advertisement, the responsibilities and the job

Definition of Marketing Manager

Marketing Manager is one of the top management in any organizations who primary task is to develop marketing planning for organization, such as carry out different marketing strategies and promotional activities. (Wikipedia, 2011) The main responsibility of marketing manager is to help organization increase the sales of the product or service and gain the greatest profit in market. (Tutor2u, 2011)

Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Manager

From the recruitment advertisement above, there are some duties and responsibilities that a marketing manager need to carry out. By referring the advertisement above, the work task of a marketing manager can be categorized as following.

Conduct Market Research

Doing market research is one of the important tasks for a marketing manager to carry out. First of all, marketing manager should conduct market research on consumer demand. (Tony, 2003) By understand what is current consumer need and the higher demand of the products, the higher the price that can an organization set for the product. From this, organization can gain much profit. (Robert, 2002)

For example, Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd which previously only did the donuts and coffee business noticed the “trend” of Malaysian mostly have the habit to take breakfast before work. Therefore, the marketing department decided to introduce the breakfast packages, which have the variety choice sandwiches, donuts and coffee for customer. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011) The packages are popular among customers and the sale of Dunkin Donuts is increasing.

Besides that, marketing manager should do market research on the competitors of the organization. (Robert, 2002) By knowing well about the competitors in the market, marketing manager is able to develop different marketing strategies and plan to stay ahead of the competition.

For example, Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd always study and analysis its competitors like Big Apple Donuts & Coffee Sdn Bhd, J-Co Donuts & Coffee Sdn Bhd in the term of products, price and promotion. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011)

Develop Marketing Plan for New Existing Products

Furthermore, the duty of a marketing manager includes develop marketing plan especially for those new existing products. An excellent marketing plan for a new existing product not only can maximize the profit but also can always stay top in the market. (Bernard T, 1999)

For example, in year 2008, Dunkin Donuts launched its all-day Oven-Toasted menu, which contains flatbread sandwiches, personal pizzas and hash browns. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011) Before launched this new menu, marketing department not only do SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) for organization to come out this menu but also determine the Marketing 4Ps, which include product, place, price and promotion to make this menu launched successfully. (Tony, 2003)

Collaboration and Managing Personnel

“No man is an island”, therefore, marketing manager need to carry out his work with the help of his subordinates and the cooperation with other departments such as Production Department, Finance Department, Human Resource Department and Customer Service. (Bernard T, 1999) Besides that, marketing manager must supervise every projects and daily activities which carried out by his marketing staff, such as training program and sales activity.

For example, Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd will do market testing in the market to see the consumer reaction to the new product. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011) Therefore, marketing manager must make sure all the staff is know well about the product information such as the ingredient of the donuts, the nutrition of each muffin and the flavors of the coffee.

Do Advertising and Promotional Activity

Besides that, another task that needed to carry out by marketing manager is to in-charge advertising and promotional activity. (Robert, 2002) As we known, advertising and promotional activity are one of the important ways to make sales increase and to create cooperate and product image. Therefore, a Marketing Manager must do many hard works on this. (Bernard T, 1999)

For instance, Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd likes to use coupons and other discount promotion to attract new customers and keep current customers coming back. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011) To be a marketing manager of this company, he is responsible for following up with these promotions and make sure they are carried out successfully. (Tony, 2003)

Manage Marketing Budget

The relationship between Marketing Department and Finance Department must be very close. Normally, Marketing Department will apply for certain amount to Finance Department for marketing purpose. However, not every application will be approved. Sometimes, Finance Department will give the lesser amount of money. Therefore, this is important for Marketing Manager to manage well Marketing budget. (Bernard T, 1999)

For instance, the money that given by Finance Department is not enough to do the both Media Advertising and promotion fair for Dunkin Donuts new existing product. To manage well the marketing budget, Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd must determine which is more important and settle the problem in very positively way (not to argue with Finance Department). The manager may be use the money in promotion fair and do the advertising on internet as it is free.

Requirements to be a Marketing Manager

The requirements to be a Marketing Manager are shown as below.

Education

A marketing manager at least must have a bachelor’s degree. Some even are required to carry master’s degrees as well. (e.how, 2011) Courses for aspiring marketing managers usually include communications, public relations, advertising, media and computer studies. Besides that, some of the marketing managers will spend time working in the advertising, sales or graphics departments. (Bernard T, 1999)

Experience

Normally, an organization will require the interviewee for this post (Marketing Manager) at least must have the 2-3 years experience. This is because the organization can save the cost for training the fresh man. (Tutor2u, 2011) From the Dunkin Donuts recruitment advertisement, the organization is looking for someone who has at least 5 years marketing experience in F&B (Food and Beverage) industry as well as having experience in do advertising and promotional activity. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011)

Skills

In today’s workforce, marketing manager must possess at least basic computer skills, good networking with press and media. (Robert, 2002)

A marketing manager must be able to work independently. Besides that, he or she must be innovative and highly energetic. (Bernard T, 1999) This is because they need to work hard not only promote a company, but also to present the product and service in a positive way. Besides that, they must be confident, and possess a strong leadership skill. A good marketing manager is able to communicate well with his staff and always encourage in a team work. (e.how, 2011)

Conclusion

From the recruitment advertisement above, Marketing Manager is responsible for planning and implementing marketing efforts for the company goal. Marketing Manager must have a strategic marketing vision, which is really organized with good project management skills, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. (Tutor2u, 2011)

Beside that, a strong communicator with proven writing skills as well as marketing and technical knowledge will make his job be easy to carry out. With the help of subordinates and team members, Marketing Manager can carry out his marketing plan successfully.(Tony, 2003)

Most job postings for marketing managers like Dunkin Donuts Sdn Bhd list a bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement. (Dunkin’Donuts, 2011) Degrees in marketing and business administration are preferable and usually provide the background in management, finance, economics and statistics that is necessary for most marketing manager positions. (Robert, 2002) Employers generally prefer to hire candidates with previous marketing experience for their management positions. Graduate degrees or certifications may be advantageous when competing for a top-level position.

Introduction

Operation process is the flow of activities utilizes to transform the input into an end product or service deliveries. Different organization, depending on their production focus, it will employ different variation of process. (Charles C, 2005)

By using another word, the flow structure of the process is important for an organization to make or deliver a product or service impacts facility layout, resources, technology decisions, and work methods. The process flow structure may be a main component in the company’s strategy for building a competitive advantage in the industry field. (Tutor2u, 2011)

There are different types of process which is using by different industries. The types of process include Project Process, Batch Process, Line Process and Continuous Process. (e.how, 2011) In this assignment, the topics which are going to discuss is Project Process and Batch Process. The detail of these two processes and the example of industry which using those processes are shown as below.

Definition of Project Process

Project process is a type of process that normally used to make customized products or solution to customer specification. (e.how, 2011) At the beginning of any project, there will be many ideas and opinions about the objective and range of the project, such as how the project to be carried out and what the final result of the project will be. (Varun, 2008) The Project Process is always concerned with taking these ideas and intentions and then developing them into a proper, well planned, resourced and funded project. Of course, after the project had done successfully, the feedback will be obtained from the customer so that to improve the project and to make sure that the customers are satisfy with it. (Varun, 2008)

Industries that adopt Project Process

Project Process focus on customer specification. Therefore, the industries that adopt this process are construction industry, ship building as well as design and tailoring services. (Charles C, 2005) The following are the example details.

Construction Industry

Nowadays, technology is improving and the building codes change to make people safer, the building process becomes much complicated. To make sure projects are carried out successfully, those developers mostly hire a reliable construction company to manage the construction process. (e.how, 2011) These companies will supervise both the design and building processes, to make sure that the project is built to the owner’s specifications, kept under budget and finished on time. (Varun, 2008)

For example, ChunYu Sdn Bhd, a contracture and development company in Negeri Sembilan, used to built shop lots, apartments, and condominium building. This company is considered adopt project process as the company built the building according customer’s request. (ChunYu,2011)

Design and Tailoring Service

Besides that, the design and tailoring service are also one of the industries that adopt Project Process. This is because the service consists of tailor any other garment that customer wish to. If customers have a particular design in mind, he or she can just bring a sample to tailors and the tailor shop will custom-make it for specific measurements. (Charles C, 2005)

For example, Cotton Zone Sdn Bhd is an one-stop shop for customer to their custom-tailoring needs. Customer can choose a fabric and custom-tailor any clothes like Baju Kebaya according to customer idea design specifications. (Cottonzone, 2011)

Advantages of Project Process

Project process brings some benefits which are shown as following:

Product is unique and Customer Specification

Under the project process, the product or the service can be unique and special. This is because the organizations which adopt project process carry out their work according customer request and need. (e.how, 2011)

For example, one of the customers of Cotton Zone Sdn Bhd requests to do 50 piece of t-shirt for swimming club members. So, the 50 piece of t-shirt is unique with a special design of Swimming Club and this only owned for those 50 members.

Maintain Acceptable Standards of Quality

Besides that, Project Process is able to maintain acceptable standard of quality of products and service. This is because most of the organization which adopting this process are normally use man power to carry out the task. (Tutor2u, 2011) With the step-by-step guidance and supervised by the top management of the company, the quality of the product and service maintain high. (Robert, 2002)

For instance, in order to define a project, ChunYu Sdn Bhd first necessary to clearly define what the project is intended to gained and what its scope of interest will be. Therefore, a benchmark is created for assessing the quality of what is actually produced at the end of the project. (ChunYu, 2011)

Achieve Enterprise Benefit which the Investment in the Project has been made

Moreover, the Project Process can help company or the designer to earn profit and achieve enterprise benefit in investment after the project has been made. This is because once the products or services is special and unique, customer are willing to purchase it with high price. (e.how, 2011)

For example, the clothes that is special custom-tailoring for a particular customer normally offer a higher price than the high-volume production clothes which sell in the market. From this, the tailor or the designer can gain more profit. Besides that, property developers which cooperate and invest in the construction company to built building can normally earn much profit if the property successfully sold out. (Varun, 2008)

Definition of Batch Process

Another type of process is Batch Process. It is a form of data processing which process in the same machine or system.Batch Process usually used to generate small quantities of products in groups or batches based customer orders or product specification. It is also known as “Job Shop”. It allows for higher degree of customization. (Charles C., 2005)

Industries that adopt Batch Process

Batch process means that a certain number of tasks or files are processed in a group. Therefore, banking, printing shops and education fall into Batch Process. (e.how, 2011) The ways they process their data are shown as below.

Printing Shop

To illustrate the concept of a job shop, consider the case of a printing shop. In a printing shop, a variety of equipment such as computers, printers, and Photostat machines is arranged in stations. Work is passed only to those machines automatic, and work according to sequence. This is a very flexible arrangement that can be used for wide variety of product. (Varun, 2008)

A printing shop uses general purpose equipment and relies on the knowledge of workers to produce documents like invoice, credit note and others. Volume is adjusted by adding or removing labor as needed. (Robert, 2002)

Banking

Batch Process always done in credit card transaction. After one has purchased something using his credit card, it will be transacted into the processing system of the bank. Card holder is not billed for each of his purchases using the credit card. Instead, he is given one bill with all the purchases that he has made on the year end. The bill is done that way because of batch processing. It accumulates the card holder swap the card to purchase and put them in one billing statement when the billing time arrives. This cycle is repeated for each month of the year. (Robert, 2002)

Advantages of Batch Process

The advantages of Batch Process are shown as below:

Convenience

Batch process is very convenient for bank tellers. This is because they do not need to do transactions online for each purchase but instead, one whole statement that records different transactions. Besides, they also have more time serve customers as batch processing machines do not need to be operated by a person in order to work. (Charles C, 2005)

Save Time and Cost

Besides that, under the batch process, an organization can save a lot of time. In a printing shop, the documents that going to print must categorized first, and then print accordingly by different machine. (Tutor2u, 2011) For example, a printing shop is going to print invoice and credit note by different printing machine. Therefore, since there are two printing machines work separately, it means that the 2 product (documents) can completed at the same time. This helps organization to save time and cost. (Varun, 2008)

Efficiency

Furthermore, Batch Process has the advantage in the term of efficiency. Transactions in a bank batch statement are easier to find. This is helpful if the card holder is trying to find a particular purchase or if he or she has a problem with the transaction. The Batch Process becomes efficient when the card holder find the particular transaction in 1 statement rather than going through plenty of statements. (Varun, 2008)

Conclusion

There are four types of processes available for operation managers and these decisions will be influence by their business nature and volume (or service) level they intent to attain. The process are Project Process, Batch Process, Line process and Continuous Process. (Charles C, 2005) However, the discussion topic above only discuss about the Project Process and Batch Process.

The choice of process may depend on the organization’s marketing plans and business strategy for developing a competitive advantage. From an organization’s goal point of view, a job shop (Batch Process) allows the firm to sell its capabilities, whereas Project Process based organization emphasizes the product itself. (Varun, 2008) From a competitive advantage perspective, a job shop helps a firm to save cost of production, whereas a Project Process is used to maximize the company profit. (Tutor2u, 2011)

Different types of operation process brings different of advantages to the company. They are more depend on the industry field which the organization in and the organization will determine and compare which one is most suitable for them and adopt the process. (Robert, 2002) Therefore, either Project Process or Batch Process, they are both important to organization in order to make the operation work fluent and achieve company goal.