Postgraduate Diploma

in Marketing
Planning and Control

53:

Planning and Control

SENIOR EXAMINERS REPORT FOR JUNE 2004 EXAMINATION PAPER

The Chartered Institute of Marketing

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SENIOR EXAMINERS REPORT FOR

JUNE 2004 EXAMINATION PAPER

MODULE NAME:

Strategic Marketing Management: Planning and Control

AWARD NAME:

Post-graduate Diploma in Marketing

DATE:

June 2004

General Comments
The pass rate was generally in line with previous sessions, however I was pleased
that in this session there was a significant improvement in the performance of
many centres.
There continues to be a wide variation in standards achieved by students. Strong
students produce answers that demonstrate both breadth and depth of the subject,
the ability to critically evaluate, the use of relevant examples, answer the specific
question set and demonstrate good time management skills. Weaker students
tend to produce limited answers that fail to demonstrate their ability to critically
evaluate and apply the theory to practical situations. These students often seem
ill-prepared for the exam and appear not to have covered the syllabus in sufficient
breadth and depth. There was also a number of students that appeared to have
the necessary knowledge and yet failed the exam due to poor examination
technique.
Study centres and students have a shared responsibility for ensuring that students
are prepared for the exam. However, study centres should ensure they cover the
breadth of the syllabus, provide guidance on additional reading, ensure that
students have access to relevant texts and resources and in particular offer
guidance on exam technique.
General Strengths of Candidates
The examining team identified the following general strengths that were
demonstrated by candidates when compared with previous examinations.
Use of appropriate examples
Many students are now able to refer to relevant and contemporary examples to
help support their answers and illustrate their ability to reflect on the use of
marketing theory in practice. However, this is not universal and some students
continue to refer to outdated or inappropriate examples.

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Evidence of wider reading

The Planning and Control syllabus draws on a wealth of literature and the reading
list is extensive. It is encouraging that many students are demonstrating that they
are now reading outside the core texts. It is essential that this continues because
marketing strategy is a vast subject and in order to develop a rounded, yet critical,
approach to this subject it is necessary for students to consult a wide range of
texts, journals and other sources.
Adoption of report format
The majority of students now appreciate that this is a professional exam and that
adopting an appropriate format is very important. Compared with previous
sessions more candidates are producing scripts that are legible, clear and wellpresented.
Time management
It seems that candidates time management skills in the exam are improving. The
number of candidates that failed to answer the final question due to time
pressures was less than in previous sessions.
General Weaknesses of Candidates
There were a number of general weaknesses evident in the scripts. Unfortunately
the number of weaknesses outweighed the number of strengths.
Failure to answer the question set/ or all parts of the question
In some cases students failed to answer the specific question set and instead
produced generalised answers. For example question 6 asked students to advise
on a brand repositioning strategy. Instead of focusing on repositioning many
students produced general answers that discussed general branding strategies.
A further problem relating to this failure to answer the question set relates to the
inability of some students to contextualise their answers. For example question 5
asked candidates to write a report for an international food manufacturer on the
use of portfolio analysis. In many cases reference was not made to the fact that
the company was a food manufacturer.
Many questions contain two or more parts and require students to answer all
elements. For example question 4 had four elements. They were asked to
explain why more attention is given to planning than control, identify the
possible consequences of this, critically evaluate the factors that contribute to an
effective control system and highlight any possible problems. If candidates had
addressed all four elements then they should have found it easy to earn sufficient
marks to pass the question.
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Limited ability to apply and evaluate marketing theory

Many students can provide adequate descriptions of relevant marketing models
and theory. However, a common problem lies in their inability to apply these to
real life marketing situations. For example, in question 1a candidates were asked
to discuss and evaluate the strategic options open to the Tea Shop. A number of
students selected the Ansoff matrix on which to base their answers. However,
many students failed to apply the model and instead provided a general
description of the model.
A further problem was an inability of some candidates to critically analyse the
marketing models. For example, question 5 asked candidates to critically
evaluate two portfolio models. Instead many students failed to do this and instead
produced a basic description of the models.
Tactical rather than strategic focus
This is a strategic marketing paper and students are expected to take a strategic
approach when answering the questions. However, in many cases students
focused on short term tactical solutions.
Exam technique
A number of candidates demonstrated an understanding of the questions but let
themselves down because of exam technique. This is a professional examination
and it is expected that candidates will adopt an appropriate format report,
memorandum, briefing paper etc. Too many students produced answers that
were at best poorly presented and at worst illegible.
Time management continues to be a problem for a number of students. Fewer
students are failing to leave sufficient time to answer the final question. However,
some students spend disproportionate amounts of time on each question, despite
each question being worth the same number of marks. This is particularly an
issue for the mini-case where students often spend far too much time on each
question.
Too much reliance on personal experiences
The use of real life practical examples to exemplify candidates answers is to be
encouraged. However, a number of students draw on their own personal
experiences to an excessive extent and as a result produced superficial answers
that failed to address the question set.

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Strengths and Weaknesses by Question

PART A
Overall Part A appeared to be more problematic for candidates than Part B. A
number of students did not distinguish between question 1a and 1b and it was
therefore difficult to award marks in this situation.
Question 1a
This was a fairly broad question that was designed to enable candidates to adopt a
number of different approaches. It required students to discuss the various
strategic options open to The Tea Shop with reference to appropriate theoretical
models.
A common problem that was encountered was that students produced a list of
unrelated options, often tactical rather than strategic, and failed to utilise any
relevant framework to structure their answers. Alternatively, weaker students
described Ansoffs matrix but made little attempt to apply it to the case study.
Stronger candidates applied Ansoff or Porters generic strategies to The Tea Shop,
achieved a good balance between theory and practical application and provided
a critical evaluation of the various options.
Weaker candidates repeated case material, failed to select an appropriate model,
provided no critical evaluation and overall showed little understanding of the key
issues.
Question 1b
Candidates were required to write a report that critically evaluated the factors that
should be taken into account when expanding internationally. Answers to this
question were polarised with strong candidates producing answers that discussed
both factors for assessing market attractiveness and also acknowledging the
importance of organizational capabilities. Weaker students focused mainly on
PEST factors and completely ignored the importance of organizational
capabilities.
A number of students misinterpreted the question. They did not discuss the
factors that should be considered but instead focused on the advantages and
disadvantages of franchising.

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PART B
Question 2
This was the least popular question with only a minority of students choosing to
answer it. Very few of these achieved a pass mark. It is disappointing to see such
a lack of understanding of financial issues. Stronger candidates produced answers
that demonstrated an understanding of the various financial auditing tools and in
particular their contribution at various stages of the marketing planning process.
Weaker students failed to answer the question. Instead of discussing financial
auditing tools some discussed forecasting techniques.
Question 3
This was a popular question that was generally well answered. This question had
three parts identify motivations for entering into an alliance, possible problems
and possible solutions. A number of students failed to answer all three parts of
the question and therefore could not make the most of the available marks. A
number of candidates described one particular strategic alliance without linking it
to relevant theory and also resulted in answers that did not cover all the relevant
points. There was a general lack of use of contemporary examples.
Question 4
This was not a particularly popular question. Answers were polarised with a few
excellent answers and a large number of very poor answers. Excellent answers
addressed all parts of the question and demonstrated a good understanding of the
key issues. Weaker candidates did not answer all the parts and tended to focus
on the advantages of planning rather than on control. There was also a number of
students that interpreted the question as a question on implementation and
therefore did not answer the question set.
Question 5
This was a relatively popular question that resulted in a wide variety of answers.
Strong candidates produced answers that explained the contribution of portfolio
analysis and then went onto critically evaluate two appropriate portfolio
techniques. Weaker candidates produced answers that were highly descriptive
and insufficiently analytical and showed little understanding of portfolio analysis.
There appears to be some confusion as to what constitutes a portfolio analysis
tool. For example, PLC (without the linkage to the BCG being made), value
chain, Ansoff, SWOT were all incorrectly cited as being portfolio tools.
Question 6
This was a popular question. However, many of the answers were very
disappointing. Strong candidates focused on repositioning and discussed
alternative strategies in relation to hair care products. Weaker candidates
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produced general discussions of alternative branding strategies such as umbrella,

family branding etc instead of focusing on repositioning. A number of candidates
spent far too long discussing other types of examples such as Lucozade.
Question 7
This was not a popular question and many students struggled to pass this
question. The question required students to evaluate the approaches to
undertaking an internal analysis such as the resource based approach, asset based
approach, marketing audit and the innovation audit. Very few students addressed
these frameworks. Instead answers were produced that discussed the role of
SWOT analysis, the value chain, McKinseys 7S framework.
Conclusions and Future Themes
I was pleased to see an improvement in the performance of many of the overseas
centres. It appears that tutors and students have taken on board comments from
previous examiners reports for the need to read more widely and not to rely on
one study text. However, for many students they continue to have difficulty in
applying theoretical concepts and models to practical marketing situations. There
is often too much emphasis placed on describing various frameworks with
insufficient attention given to critical evaluation. Candidates must achieve a
balance between theory and practical application. Study centres play a key role
in preparing students for the exam in the following ways:

Covering the breadth and depth of the syllabus (it was evident that some areas
of the syllabus had been given little attention for example financial auditing
and internal analysis).
Utilising relevant and contemporary examples in sessions in order to
exemplify theory.
Providing guidance on key readings and texts and developing techniques to
encourage students to undertake the necessary reading. For example, by
asking students to present summaries of key themes each week.
Encouraging students to reflect on their own organizations marketing activity.
Providing opportunities for students to practice past exam questions (ideally
under exam conditions).
Providing guidance on revision and exam technique.

In addition candidates must take responsibility for their own learning and they
should:

Refer to the recommended reading list and syllabus and consult a range of
different texts, articles and authors in order to develop a rounded and critical
perspective of the subject.

Develop a collection of examples that illustrate current marketing practice that

they can then draw on in the exam.
Refer to past examination papers, examiners reports and specimen answers.

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Practice past questions (ideally under exam conditions). A mock exam would
help students prepare for writing for three hours.

This is the final Planning and Control Paper before the new Syllabus is introduced.
However, there will be two more papers in December and June that will run in
parallel to the new modules. Therefore there will be no syllabus developments
and the papers will follow the same style and format as previous examinations.
Important themes will continue to be:

Developing a view of the future

Innovation
Branding
Implementation issues
Application and critical evaluation of marketing concepts and models.

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