Core Concepts of Marketing

THE WALL STREETJOURNAL.

INPRACTICE

Internalplanningprocessesinmar-

ketingorganizationsfocusonan

organization'sstrengthsandweak-

nesses,bUlorganizationsmustaiso

considertheimpactofexternal

environmentalfactors.Byunder-

standinghowexternalelementsof

themarketplaceaffectanorganiza-

tion'splanningprocess,marketers

candevelopstrategiesthatcapital-

izeonopportunitiesandminimize

threats.

Legalandethicalissuespose

complexchallengesformarketers.

Fromproductliabilitytoderegda-

tion,theexternalenvironment

variesbystate andcountry,The

InteractiveJournalhelpsyoukeep

upwithlegalandethicalissuesthat

affectorganizations,OntheFront

Section,selectMarketplace.Onthe

leftmenuinMarketplace,select

Law.Hereyouwillfindarticles

aboutdiscriminationsuits,recent

legalrulings,andproductliability

claims,Articlesarebothnational

andinternationalinscope.

Economicandpoliticalissues

areasvariableaslegalissues,and

areimpactedbygovernment/indus-

tryrelationships, consumerspend-

inghabits, andpoliticalleadership.

TheInteractive';ournalhelpsyou

keepupwiththeseissuesaswell.

OntheFrontSection,selectPolitics

&PolicyunderInthis Sectionon

theleftmenu,Hereyouwillfind

articlesaboulpendinglegislation,

governmentmandates,taxpropos-

als,andpolicydirectives.Thesearti-

clesarealsonationaland

internationalinscope.

Technologyisrapidlychanging

theexternalenvironmenLThe

InteractiveJournalprovidesyou

wi~hin-depthinformationand

122

analysisontechnologyinTechCen-

ter.FromtheFrontSection,select

TechCenter.Youcanusethisnew

menutoreadtheiates t ontech

stocksandpersonaltechnology.

SelectTechBriefstofindoutwhat

ishappeningwithleadingcompa-

nies.Ontherightsideofyour

screenyOU'llfindheadingswithdif-

ferenttopics.Pagedowntolocate

TechResources.Hereyou'llfind

linkstoCompanyProfiles,Issue

Briefings,andaDot-ComLayoffs

andShutdownslist.Selectoneof

theselinksnow.

TheInteractiveJournalalso

featuresa weeklypersonal technol-

ogycolumn.UnderFreeWSJ.com

SitesontheFrontSection,select

PersonalTech.

DELIVERABLE

SclectMicrosoftundertheCom-

panyProflIeslinkintheTech

R esourcesSectionofTechCenter.

AlsosearchtheinteractiveJournal

byusingtheSearchfeatureunder

JournalAtlasontheleftmenufor

articlesaboutMicrosoft.Discussthe

legaLe thica;, andpoliticalissuesin

theantitrustsuitfiledagainstthe

company.p.Jsodiscusstheimplica-

tionsofthesuitonthecompany's

technology.

DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS

1.Towhatex tentcanmarketers

foreseeopportunitiesand

threatsposedbytheexternal

environment?Whatfactorscan

alterforecasts?

2.Whatstepscanorganizations

taketoensureexternalele-

mentsarefactoredintothe

strategicplanningprocess?

3.Howcan theinformationfound

intheInteractiveJournalbeuti-

lizedtohelporganizationstake

advantageofmarketopportuni-

ties?Divertthreats?