Critical Evaluation of Marketing Mix in International Entrepreneurship

This article critically evaluates the use of the marketing mix in international entrepreneurship, focusing on the expansion of Eggfree Cake Box Limited into new markets. It discusses the effectiveness of the marketing mix framework and its advantages and disadvantages. The article also reflects on the formative feedback received during the module and its influence on learning and the application of international entrepreneurship models.

International Entrepreneurship 6GN502
CW2 – Critical Evaluation & Reflection Template
Student No.:
Critical Evaluation
Select and critically evaluate one model, framework or theory which you have used
in CW1.
You will need to include robust, academic references to support your critical
evaluation and demonstrate academic underpinning (eg academic journal articles,
textbooks). Ideally, these sources should not be journalistic or web based, and
should be presented using Harvard referencing.
Use the template below and approx. 750 words.
Model, Framework or Theory to be critically evaluated:
Marketing Mix
Diagram of Model, Framework or Theory (if appropriate):
Critical Evaluation:
In the Course Work 1, Marketing Mix has been used for the expansion of Eggfree Cake Box
Limited within the new markets UK and EU respectively. This theory is associated with
describing and using several essential elements of the marketing mix which an organization
must adopt in order to appropriately and effectively promote themselves, as well as their
products and services (Wuand Li, 2018). These are the tactics, or set of actions that are
important towards marketing function of an organization. The model has 4Ps as described
and evaluated in the previous assignment, which are Product, Price, Place and Promotion
and all of which are an appropriate and effective approach towards better marketing of the
organization and its products within the two markets which it wishes to enter.
Therefore, in order to appropriately evaluate the same, it Is crucial to gain an insight on its
application. For instance, the first element, Product, is used for the strategy which the

company is willing to adopt for its specific offering. Similarly, second element, Price, is
related to the strategy which the company is willing to implement towards setting up the
price of the offering in regards to the market, competition and customer requirements. As
for other elements Place and Promotions, these elements are associated with the
positioning of the product, along with the advertising and promoting strategies. All these
aspects are used effectively in light to strategically placing and promoting the product, along
with creating an appeal within the marketplace. Therefore, its critical evaluation is necessary
to ensure that it is a viable and effective framework that could allow Eggfree Cake Box
Limited towards gaining a competitive edge in the new markets (Datta, Ailawadi and Van
Heerde, 2017).
Marketing mix is an important tool towards ensuring that the company is allocating its
resource in an efficient manner which saves the company’s efforts, along with over
exploitation of resources. The reason for the same is that the framework effectively
emphasizes upon the aspects which maximizes the satisfaction level of their target market,
as well as allows their effective inclination towards the offerings of the company. In addition
to this, expanding a business within an international territory is not easy and hence, it
requires saving as much cost as required (Stead and Hastings, 2018). The elements of
marketing mix would be helping the company towards analyzing cost benefit elasticity,
which would be enabling the company towards investing in activities and resources that
would incur more benefits in the international market of the company. In addition to this,
this framework is also responsible for effectively driving the communication procedure
within, as well as outside the organization. It would be contributing towards setting up
divisions within the new markets for Eggfree Cake Box Limited, allowing them to coordinate,
as well as work towards implementing the marketing mix in a tactful and competitive
manner. This would further ensure flow of information within the company, as well as that
with the external stakeholders quite simultaneously.
However, there are several criticisms and shortfalls of this method too, which are required
to be appropriately analyzed so that there is an absolute clarity towards usage of this
framework by the organization. One such aspect associated with this framework is that the
strategies that are adopted by this method do not take into consideration the financial
objective of the company. This means that it tends to disregard the aspects or decisions
which provide stakeholders a prominent value to their investments. This is one limitation
which might be disadvantageous for the firm towards leveraging its financial profitability.
Another criticism of this framework is associated with the lack of personalization. This is
because the model takes into consideration the target market based on common attributes
which covers a wide spectrum and fails to capture the mindset and psychological
preferences of individuals, which somehow restricts its application towards being flexible. In
addition, the model is quite internally oriented, which means that it focuses on
development of the strategy being quite inward, rather than taking the whole external
business environment into consideration. This makes its application questionable in the
context of this organization (Fan, Lau and Zhao, 2015).
Therefore, there’re various advantages, as well as disadvantages related with the Marketing
Mix Framework. This requires Eggfree Cake Box Limited towards strategically using this
framework in context of marketing themselves effectively. Therefore, they are required to
take into consideration the overall business environment, along with financial gains to
formulate its strategies appropriately. Moreover, market research for the target customers
must also include primary methods like questionnaires that would be beneficial for the firm
towards taking into account the personal preferences of individuals as well.
(Approx. 750 words)
References:

Datta, H., Ailawadi, K.L. and Van Heerde, H.J., 2017. How well does consumer-based brand
equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing-mix response?. Journal of
Marketing. 81(3). pp.1-20.
Fan, S., Lau, R.Y. and Zhao, J.L., 2015. Demystifying big data analytics for business
intelligence through the lens of marketing mix. Big Data Research. 2(1). pp.28-32.
Stead, M. and Hastings, G., 2018. Advertising in the social marketing mix: getting the balance
right. In Social Marketing (pp. 29-43). Psychology Press.
Wu, Y.L. and Li, E.Y., 2018. Marketing mix, customer value, and customer loyalty in social
commerce. Internet Research.
[This part of report worth 20%]

Reflection
Reflect on the following question:
 How has the formative feedback you have received during the module
influenced your approach to learning and how has that feedback helped
you (or not) to apply your international entrepreneurship models,
frameworks and/or theories?
You will need to include robust, academic references to support your reflections and
demonstrate academic underpinning (eg academic journal articles, textbooks).
Ideally, these sources should not be journalistic or web based, and should be
presented using Harvard referencing.
Use the template below and approx. 750 words.
(NB: It is recommended that the 750 words are split relatively evenly across the
What, So What and Now What sections).
What?
Go back over your formative feedback, approaches to learning and international
entrepreneurship experience during the module (positive and/or negative), select areas
to focus on and identify what happened. What academic content underpins your
description? This is the descriptive foundation of your reflection and is a divergent
approach to generate ideas, detail content and reconstruct events.
This module was subjected towards enhancing understanding in relation to
entrepreneurship and was quite enriching for me in relation to development of my
knowledge and understanding in relation to the same. During the module, I was required
to work with a range of different entrepreneurial models, which were associated with
enhancing my practice towards development of analytical and evaluative skills when it
comes to dealing with a range of activities which needed me to expand a business
enterprise into foreign markets (Twyman and Redding, 2015). For this purpose, I used a
range of theories, and entrepreneurial models, such as segmentation, targeting and
positioning, along with market entry options, along with a detailed use of marketing mix.
Moreover, to learn these models and understand their key aspects associated with the
name, a range of approaches towards learning were implemented by me during the
module. This was done using VAK learning styles, which is a framework that is associated
towards determining one’s own learning style. Moreover, this activity also required me to
participate in a group and deliver a presentation in relation to the entrepreneurial
expansion of the organization within international markets.
In addition to this, there were certain academic contents which were given comprising of
text books and journals that were directed towards the appropriate and effective
knowledge about the international entrepreneurship and associated theories. Moreover,
these academic contexts were also subjective towards providing appropriate and effective
insight onto what would be required to accomplish the requirements of this module,
which acted as a guide towards enlightening me towards understanding the sequence of
tasks and develop my approach accordingly.
(Approx. 250 words)
So What?

Describing your experience is not enough – you need to analyse things in detail from
different angles to try and make sense of your experience and work out why this is
significant. What have you learnt at a deeper level? What do you now understand about
yourself in relation to the issue? How does your experience relate to theory? What does
the formative feedback received mean for your approach to learning and the application
of your international entrepreneurship models, frameworks and/or theories? This is a
convergent approach to analyse your experience from a variety of perspectives.
I believe this module has been a very effective and contributing for me towards enhancing
my knowledge in relation to a range of entrepreneurial models and frameworks, along
with insight on several international business operations and gaining a relatively practical
experience in this regard. It allowed me to explore my learning style in a deeper manner,
along with different frameworks which could be applied effectively by companies in case
they wish to expand their businesses to newer geographical boundaries. Through this
module however, I realized that I am quite effective in gaining new knowledge
appropriately, along with indulging in teamwork and still showcase maximum competence
and effectiveness towards the tasks. Moreover, my experience associated with the theory
used within the module was also very much favorable, considering the fact that I could
easily understand the application of the theory, along with several of its other constraints.
As for the feedback received for the formative assessment, it allowed me to realize that I
would still need to work effectively towards improvising my learning approach, as while
the theories were explained and used in an appropriate manner, their application could
still be better and more evaluative in a way which enables reflecting a better
understanding of the same (Delaney and Bates, 2015). Therefore, it could be said that this
feedback requires me to enhance my applicability and approach towards gaining and
using knowledge which would be essential for my psychological, personal, as well as
professional development.
(Approx. 250 words)
Now What?
Now that you have a better understanding of your experience, what will you do with the
insights gained into formative feedback, your approach to learning and the application of
your international entrepreneurship models, frameworks and/or theories? How will you
be different? Or do things differently? What worked well that you could use again or
adapt in the future? What should you avoid and why? Distil the most relevant lessons and
determine how and where they can be applied.
The formative feedback has been highly effective for me in context of enlightening
towards the good and bad aspects of my learning and its application, along with
contribution towards increasing my knowledge and capabilities. Therefore, it requires me
to reflect on my future direction too, which enables me to reach a spot where I don’t
incur same mistakes again, which could be disadvantageous for my academic and
professional conduct. Therefore, I would be changing my approach to gather knowledge
to ensure that more experiential learning is gained by me for my future modules and
professional life. The reason to support the same is that it would allow me to practically
indulge into activities which would work a simulation for me to apply my theoretical
knowledge and determine the effectiveness towards the same. It would be quite
different than my past approaches as there would be practical experience related to the
same rather than only theoretical, which would benefit me as a student. From this

module, I could definitely use my teamwork and communication skills, as I showcased
them perfectly towards accomplishment of the module. Moreover, in my opinion, I could
also be using the effective mindset towards breaking the information and segregating it to
different parts for better understanding of the subject matter. Moreover, I should be
avoiding gaining only just theoretical learning and applying my concepts without any
further evaluation, which decreases the degree of effectiveness of my work and would
make it inappropriate. Therefore, for future lessons, I could undertake training workshops
and conferences, which could allow me to work in an environment where I could
practically apply these concepts in a amore calculative and evaluative manner (Travers,
Morisano and Locke, 2015).
(Approx. 250 words)
References:
Delaney, G. and Bates, J., 2015. Envisioning the academic library: a reflection on roles,
relevancy and relationships. New review of academic librarianship. 21(1). pp.30-
51.
Travers, C.J., Morisano, D. and Locke, E.A., 2015. Self‐reflection, growth goals, and
academic outcomes: A qualitative study. British Journal of Educational
Psychology. 85(2). pp.224-241.
Twyman, J. and Redding, S., 2015. Personal Competencies/Personalized Learning:
Reflection on Instruction. A Peer-to-Peer Learning and Observation Tool. Council
of Chief State School Officers.
[This part of report worth 20%]

Reflection on Engagement
Please confirm the number of sessions attended between weeks 3 and 11
(max.18). Explain and reflect on any absences.
No of sessions attended between weeks 3 and 11 (max 18)
Explanation of and reflection on any absences:
(Max. 100 words)
[This part of report worth 10%]