Marketing Fundamentals Report: Harvey Norman and Marketing Environment

This report provides an analysis of the marketing environment, specifically focusing on the case of Harvey Norman, a major Australian retailer. It explores the impact of macro environmental factors including technological advancements, legal issues, economic conditions, and sociological influenc...Read More

Running head: MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS
Elements of the marketing process
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS
Answers
a) Harvey Norman is among the largest retailer organizations in Australia. The
marketing environmental factors that have its probable impacts on this particular
organization are discussed as follows and they are mainly the macro factors-
 Technological- This not only help Harvey Norman to built new products rather they
plays an important role in the modification of the way retail organizations Due to
technological betterments this organization is helping their customers to have online
shopping options (Wang, Chen & Chen, 2012).
 Legal- There were legal issues in this organization in 2007 and 2008, a number of
gadgets were stolen from their outlets. This legal problem regarding theft has an
impact on public relations. Apart from this the laws, regulations and governmental
policies can strongly affect the retailer industry because they have to depend on the
government for the roads, rail and water transportation facilities to deliver their goods
or to bring the customers to their stores (Wilson & Gilligan, 2012).
 Economic- A strong economy can increase in customers were as a inactive economy
can decrease the customers and make them spend less which can guide to decline in
sales and then retailers has to decrease their prices. However, in 2010, the sales of
Harvey Norman have been affected in a negative way and came drastically down
because of the decline in foreign currency (Guillard & Roux, 2014).
 Sociological- As the largest retailer organization it has a huge impact on the social
lives as well as in the lifestyles of the citizens in Australia. Modifications in the social
values and fashion also affect the products that this company trades.
b) Due to globalization it has been seen that the political and legal scenarios of
Australian marketing environment has made it easier for the other international

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organizations to do their business in Australia for which the competition has been
huge for Harvey Norman (Dawson, 2014). However, the best competitive advantage
taken up by this organization they have the capacity to identify and route the
appropriate issues quickly as well as efficiently. Harvey Norman makes decisions
each day with more confidence and precision than those of their competitors. This
would definitely help them in the future as well in establishing as a competitive
advantage for the organization because here the attention can be on observing sales,
margin, their market share, wastage and availability of resources. Moreover, due to
this they are able to take control over the decision-making by having a great
understanding of what can be its influences the customer’s behavior that they are
having. This actually gives this organization a firm lead for associating with the
suppliers, providing the advantage that this organization approaches the applicable
consumer packaged goods to identify whenever they have an issue in this list. Thus, it
helps them reach a solution much before a severe damage has occurred. Moreover,
they apply Artificial intelligence as an important feature where they extract
meaningful perceptions from apparently different datasets. As the competitive
advantages are becoming very strenuous to achieve in this retailing industry, science
based, artificial intelligence powered decision-making is the best option.
Thus, from the above responses to parts (a) and (b) it has become very clear to me that for
any retail industry the marketing environment plays a very important part. What I found is the
economic factor has a major impact on the retailing business because the sales mainly depend
on the country’s economy and it decides whether the organization will have a positive or
negative balance sheet. However, through adopting the correct competitive advantage any
organization can provide better services or products to their consumers in a lower cost than
their rivals can. Thus, it can be very impactful for the employees as well as to the countries.

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References
Dawson, J. A. (2014). The Marketing Environment (RLE Marketing) (Vol. 1). Routledge.
Guillard, V., & Roux, D. (2014). Macromarketing issues on the sidewalk: How “gleaners”
and “disposers”(re) create a sustainable economy. Journal of Macromarketing, 34(3),
291-312.
Wagner III, J. A., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2014). Organizational behavior: Securing competitive
advantage. Routledge.
Wang, C. H., Chen, K. Y., & Chen, S. C. (2012). Total quality management, market
orientation and hotel performance: The moderating effects of external environmental
factors. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(1), 119-129.
Wilson, R. M., & Gilligan, C. (2012). Strategic marketing management. Routledge.