Article Analysis and Critique: Marketing Myopia Concepts and Relevance

This report provides a comprehensive analysis and critique of Theodore Levitt's seminal article, 'Marketing Myopia.' It begins with an introduction to the concept, defining marketing myopia as the tendency of businesses to focus on selling products rather than meeting customer needs. The analysis delves into Levitt's arguments, exploring how industries like Hollywood, Corning Glass Works, and E.I. du Pont de Nemours, have been affected by marketing myopia. The report examines Levitt's claims about growth industries, population growth, product improvement, and production-based pressures, highlighting how a customer-centric approach is crucial for long-term success. The report also discusses the impact of research and development and the role of management in avoiding marketing myopia. Ultimately, the report concludes that marketing myopia can negatively impact the operations and growth of companies across different industries, emphasizing the importance of customer relationships over product superiority.

Running head: ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Analysis of the article......................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

2ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
Introduction
The article that has been selected for detailed critique in the report is based on the
concept of marketing myopia. The author has aimed at analyzing the concept based on the
changes that have taken place in the external environment and growth of different industries as
well. Marketing myopia can be defined as the concept of an organization that views marketing
from the standpoint of selling different products instead of concentrating on fulfilling the needs
of the customers. This term had been developed by Theodore Levitt for Harvard Business
Review in the year 1960 (Hbr.org. 2020).
The argument of the article was mainly based on the short-sighted approach that has been
taken by the firms in order to use marketing activities only for the purpose of selling products.
The report will be based on the detailed analysis of the article and discussion based on the
arguments that have been developed by the author based on concept of marketing myopia. The
value and accuracy of the article with respect to practical business environment will also be
analyzed in the report in detail.
Analysis of the article
The author has aimed at providing a detailed picture of the reasons behind failures of
different large industries in the last few years. The example of Hollywood has been taken into
consideration as an example for the purpose of understanding the impact of management failure.
The author has stated that the failure of an organization or industry is not due to the customers, it
is mainly due to mistakes that have been made by the management. The short-sightedness of the
management have been considered to be a major reason behind their failure. The example of
Hollywood is based on the ways by which the industry had considered to be a part of the movie

3ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
business (Baker, 2016). This had led to the huge growth of television and a major fall in the
revenues of Hollywood. However, the reorganizations that have taken place in the industry have
been able to provide a stable position to the industry (Hbr.org. 2020).
On other hand, two other major organizations have also been taken into consideration by
the author as a part of the analysis. The two organizations are mainly Corning Glass Works and
E.I. du Pont de Nemours. The customer oriented operations of the organizations leading to
changes in the offered products have been considered as major reasons behind their growth
(Liebl, 2018). The organizations in different industries had developed a concept that the products
that they are offering to customers are superior in comparison to their competitors. This had led
to the lack of proper growth in the industry. The concept of growth industry has been rejected by
the author and the organizations that operate to capitalize on the opportunities provided to them
have been taken into consideration (Hbr.org. 2020).
The industries have assumed to be a part of an automatic escalator of growth that has
finally led them to a stagnation. The organizations have been confident about the
competitiveness of the products that they offer to the customers and do not provide importance to
the needs of customers. Another major myth that has been rejected by the author in the article is
related to the growth opportunities that organizations seek based on a huge and affluent
population (Lim, 2016). Although huge population can play a key part in enhancing the customer
base of organizations, the long term growth cannot be guaranteed with the help of larger number
of customers. The focus of an organization is considered to be a major factor that can have an
influence on the growth levels and long term sustainability as well (Ng, 2016).
The author has also stated that growth of population can have a positive impact on the
revenues and profit growth of different organizations. However, this is not considered to be true

4ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
for organizations belonging to all industries. The organizations will not be able to outdo
competition in the industry with the help of growth in customers in the industry. The
improvement of products has been able to play a vital part in ensuring growth of organizations
and the industries as well. The petroleum industry can be considered as an example in order to
understand the contribution of product improvement of growth levels (Ng, 2016).
The author has stated that organizations in the petroleum industry have been able to
provide their focus on proper improvement of the products rather than enhancing efficiency of
product development process. The quality of products and innovation in the industry have been
able to play a major role in enhancement of growth levels in an effective manner. The
organizations in petroleum industry have also believed that the products are indispensable in
nature and no substitutes exist in the market. Production based pressures have also been taken
into consideration by the mass production based industries in order to understand the decline and
levels of growth as well (Ralston, LeMay & Opengart, 2017).
Mass production has been able to play a key part in growth of petroleum industry in the
last few years. The industry a huge impact on the society and policies have also been developed
for the purpose of fulfilling the needs of the customers. The unit production costs in different
industries have an influence on the organizations and their operations. The “growth” companies
are influenced in a huge manner by the expansion or increase in demand in the market. The
variations that have taken place in consumer tastes and needs can influence the transportation
industry and organizations that are a part of the industry as well. Marketing effort is considered
to be a major part of the communication process that is formed by the organizations after
development of products (Srinivasan & Ramani, 2019).

5ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
The research and development process is considered to be a major factor that have a
positive or negative influence on the growth depicted by the organizations in various industries.
The management of a company is able to play a key part in the improvement of research and
development based activities that are performed. The organizations in electronics industry are
not able to pay enough levels of attention to the research and development activities and this has
an impact on the quality of products that are provided to consumers. The management of these
organizations tend to provide more importance to the superiority of the product rather than the
consumers (Varadarajan, 2018).
Product innovation is considered to be a major aspect that thereby lead to the growth of
an organization rather than ensuring the satisfaction levels of the consumers. This leads to
research and development activities that are only performed for improvement of the superior
products instead of relationships that are formed with the consumers. The realities and
unpredictable market have been able to influence the organizations that are a part of different
industries (Hbr.org. 2020). The authors have considered the examples of different industries in
order to understand to analyze the concept of marketing myopia. The examples have been able to
depict that the industries have provided more importance to enhancement of products rather than
formation of relationships with the customers (Ralston, LeMay & Opengart, 2017).
The failures that have been faced by the organizations are mainly based on the decisions
made by the management and strategies that have been implemented as well. The importance
provided by the organizations to marketing activities has been able to influence the positions that
have been developed in their respective industries. The concept of marketing myopia has been
able to depict that the organizations have provided low importance to the relationships that are
developed with the customers (Hbr.org. 2020). The organizations or industries that seem to high

6ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
growth based on nature can also be influenced in a negative manner due to the presence of
marketing myopia. The growth of business organizations is thereby hugely dependent on the
sustained relationships that have been formed with the customers instead of the product quality
or superiority (Hbr.org. 2020).
Conclusion
The report can be settled by stating that marketing myopia can have a negative impact on
the operations and growth levels of the companies belonging to different industries. The author
has been able to state the importance of marketing in the modern organizations in a clear manner.
The examples that have been taken into consideration for development of the study are also able
to depict that marketing myopia is mainly based on the short-sightedness of the management of
different organizations. The author has been quite successful in developing a detailed and clear
analysis based on the ways by which lack of proper marketing can affect the organizations.

7ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
References
Baker, M. J. (2016). What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Hbr.org. (2020). Marketing Myopia. Retrieved 15 February 2020, from
https://hbr.org/2004/07/marketing-myopia
Liebl, F. (2018). What Is Strategic Marketing in an Innovation Society?. In Innovation Society
Today (pp. 165-181). Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
Lim, W. M. (2016). A blueprint for sustainability marketing: Defining its conceptual boundaries
for progress. Marketing theory, 16(2), 232-249.
Ng, L. C. (2016). Marketing Myopia–An Update (How Theodore Levitt Changed Our World? A
Look at the Impact on Corporate Management after Five Decades). Journal of Marketing
Management, 4(2), 24-34.
Ralston, P., LeMay, S., & Opengart, R. (2017). Factor market myopia: a driver of factor market
rivalry. Transportation Journal, 56(2), 167-183.
Srinivasan, R., & Ramani, N. (2019). With power comes responsibility: How powerful
marketing departments can help prevent myopic management. Journal of
Marketing, 83(3), 108-125.
Varadarajan, R. (2018). Advances in strategic marketing and the advancement of the marketing
discipline: The promise of theory. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(1-2), 71-85.