and relationships. The Marketing Memo, “Audit: Characteristics of Company De-
partments That Are Truly Customer Driven,” shows an audit instrument that can be
used to evaluate which company departments are truly customer driven.
What steps can a CEO take to create a market- and customer-focused company?- Convince the senior management team of the need to become customer focused:
The CEO personally exemplifies strong customer commitment and rewards
those in the organization who do likewise. - Appoint a senior marketing officer and a marketing task force:The task force
should include the CEO; the vice presidents of sales, R&D, purchasing, man-
ufacturing, finance, and human resources; and other key individuals. - Get outside help and guidance:Consulting firms have considerable experience
in helping companies move toward a marketing orientation. - Change the company’sreward measurement and system:As long as purchasing
and manufacturing are rewarded for keeping costs low, they will resist accept-
ing some costs required to serve customers better. As long as finance focuses
on short-term profit, it will oppose major investments designed to build satis-
fied, loyal customers. - Hire strong marketing talent:The company needs a strong marketing vice presi-
dent who not only manages the marketing department but also gains respect
from and influence with the other vice presidents. A multidivisional com-
pany would benefit from establishing a strong corporate marketing depart-
ment. - Develop strong in-house marketing training programs:The company should de-
sign well-crafted marketing training programs for corporate management, di-
visional general managers, marketing and sales personnel, manufacturing
personnel, R&D personnel, and others. GE, Motorola, and Arthur Andersen
run these programs. - Install a modern marketing planning system:The planning format will require
managers to think about the market environment, opportunities, competitive
trends, and other forces. These managers then prepare strategies and sales
and profit forecasts for specific products and segments and are accountable
for performance. - Establish an annual marketing excellence recognition program: Business units that
believe they have developed exemplary marketing plans should submit a de-
scription of their plans and results. The winning teams would be rewarded at
a special ceremony. The plans would be disseminated to the other business
units as “models of marketing thinking.” Such programs are carried on by
Arthur Andersen, Becton-Dickinson, and DuPont. - Consider reorganizing from a product-centered to a market-centered company:Be-
coming market centered means setting up an organization that will focus on
the needs of specific markets and coordinate the planning and providing of
the company products needed by each segment and major customer. - Shift from a department focus to a process–outcome focus:After defining the fun-
damental business processes that determine its success, the company should
appoint process leaders and cross-disciplinary teams to reengineer and imple-
ment these processes.
DuPont successfully made the transition from an inward-looking to an outward-
looking orientation. Under CEO Richard Heckert’s leadership, DuPont undertook a
number of initiatives to build a “marketing community.” Several divisions were reor-
ganized along market lines. The company held a series of marketing management
training seminars, which were ultimately attended by 300 senior people, 2,000 mid-
dle managers, and 14,000 employees. It established a corporate marketing excellence
recognition program and honored 32 employees from around the world who had de-
veloped innovative marketing strategies and service improvements.^19 It takes a great
amount of planning and patience to get managers to accept the fact that customers
are the foundation of the company’s business and its future. But it can be done.
part five
Managing and
Delivering Marketing(^694) Programs