Strategic Management Project Final

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

STUDY ON FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES OF THREE DIFFERENT
COMPANIES

SUBMITTED BY

PRADNYA S WAKODE
ROLL NO. 1515059

M.COM (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT) [Semester 1]

MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE
MULUND (W) – 400081.
SUBMITTED TO

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
ACADEMIC YEAR

2015-16
PROJECT GUIDE
PROF. SAMEER VELANKAR

DECLARATION
I, Miss PRADNYA S WAKODE (Roll No. 1515059), of Mulund College of Commerce of

M.Com (Business Management) (Part 1) [Semester 1], hereby declare, that I have completed
my project titled, ‘Study on functional strategies of three different companies’
The information submitted herein is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

________________________
Signature of Student

PRADNYA S WAKODE

MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE,
MULUND (W)-400 081.
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that, Ms. PRADNYA S WAKODE, of M.Com Business Management
Semester 1(2015-2016) has successfully completed the project of Strategic management on
study of functional strategies of three different companies under the guidance of Prof.
SAMEER VELANKAR.

______________________________
Principal
[Dr. Parvathi Venkatesh]
______________________________
Course Coordinator
[ Prof .Shivaji Pawar]
________________________
______
Internal Examiner
[Prof Sameer Velankar]
______________________________
[ External Examiner]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I, PRADNYA S. WAKODE,the student of Mulund College Of Commerce studying in first
year Master Of Commerce in Buisness Management would like to express my sincere
gratitude to Principal Dr. Mrs PARVATHI VENKATESH for her constant encouragement and
support during thecompletion of this project. I also take this opportunity to thank our coordinator prof .SHIVAJI PAWAR. I extend my heartiest thanks to Prof. SAMEER
VELANKAR for enlightening my path.without his advice this project was impossible
I also feel grateful and elated in expressing my indebtedness to my parents, my friends and
all those who have directly or indirectly helped me in accomplishing this research.

Objective Of Study
 To study the strategic management and its process
 To highlight the organisational frame strategies in all functional areas

 To study functional strategies of companies

INDEX
CHAPTER
PARTICULARS
NO.
1
Introduction to Recruitment & Factors affecting Recruitment

PAGE
NO.
6

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

9
10
11
12
13
15
16
17
18
19
21
23
27
28
31
35
38
39
40

Sources of Recruitment
Internal sources of recruitment
Advantages
Disadvantages
External Sources of Recruitment & its methods
Advantages
Disadvantages
Introduction to Selection
Selection procedure & steps
Advantages & Disadvantages of Selection
Introduction to Indian Tobacco Co. ( Products & Brands )
History of ITC
Need, Objective & Scope of the study
Recruitment & Selection practices at ITC
Data analysis & Interpretation
Questionnaire
Findings & suggestions
Bibliography
Webliography

INTRODUCTION
MEANING AND DEFINITION :
The word strategy has derived from the greek word ‘Strategos’. Strategic management is the
continuous planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all that is necessary for an
organization to meet its goals and objectives.
Strategic management can also be defined as a bundle of decisions and acts which a
manager undertakes and which decides the result of the firm’s performance. The manager
must have a thorough knowledge and analysis of the general and competitive organizational
environment so as to take right decisions. They should conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), i.e., they should make best possible utilization of
strengths, minimize the organizational weaknesses, make use of arising opportunities from
the business environment and shouldn’t ignore the threats.
Strategic management is nothing but planning for both predictable as well as unfeasible
contingencies. It is applicable to both small as well as large organizations as even the smallest
organization face competition and, by formulating and implementing appropriate strategies,
they can attain sustainable competitive advantage.It is a way in which strategists set the
objectives and proceed about attaining them. It deals with making and implementing
decisions about future direction of an organization. It helps us to identify the direction in
which an organization is moving. Strategic management is a continuous process that
evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which an organization is involved;
evaluates its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential
competitors; and then reevaluates strategies on a regular basis to determine how it has been
implemented and whether it was successful or does it needs replacementOrganization exist
for a purpose. The mission is articulated in a broadly defined but enduring statement of
purpose that identifies the scope of an organization’s operations and its offerings to affected
groups and entities. Most organizations of a significant size or stature have developed a
formal mission statement. Strategy refers to top management’s plans to develop and sustain
competitive advantage—a state whereby a firm’s successful strategies cannot be easily
duplicated by its competitors.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Strategic management process has following four steps:

1. Environmental Scanning - Environmental scanning refers to a process of collecting,
scrutinizing and providing information for strategic purposes. It helps in analyzing the
internal and external factors influencing an organization.


External Analysis: Analyze the opportunities and threats, or constraints, that exist
in the organization’s external environment, including industry and forces in the



external environment.
Internal Analysis: Analyze the organization’s strengths and weaknesses in its
internal

environment. Consider the context of managerial ethics and corporate

social responsibility .
2. Strategy Formulation- Strategy formulation is the process of deciding best course of
action for accomplishing organizational objectives and hence achieving organizational
purpose. After conducting environment scanning, managers formulate corporate,
business and functional strategies.
3. Strategy Implementation - Strategy implementation implies making the strategy
work as intended or putting the organization’s chosen strategy into action. Strategy
implementation includes designing the organization’s structure, distributing resources,
developing decision making process, and managing human resources.
4. Strategy Evaluation- Strategy evaluation is the final step of strategy management
process. The key strategy evaluation activities are: appraising internal and external
factors that are the root of present strategies, measuring performance, and taking
remedial / corrective actions. Evaluation makes sure that the organizational strategy as
well as it’s implementation meets the organizational objectives
The Advantages of Strategic Management
Discharges Responsibility
Many organizations undertake a strategic management process in order to discharge their
responsibilities. There is an expectation from shareholders, stakeholders and the general
community at large, that a well-managed organization has a strategic management process
that guides its future success.
Allows an Objective Assessment
Strategic management provides a discipline that allows the senior management team to take a
step back from the day-to-day business and think about the future of the organization.
Without this discipline, the organization can become solely consumed with working through
the next issue or problem without consideration to the larger picture, longer-term trends and

associated operational and environmental alignment.
Provides a Framework for Decision-Making
It is not possible for senior management to know all the operational decisions staff make on a
day-to-day basis. The cumulative effect of these day-today decisions, can have a significant
impact on the success of the organization. Providing a framework within which staff can
make these day-to-day decisions helps better focus their efforts on those activities that will
best support the organization's success.
Facilitates Measurement of Progress
Establishing performance measures that are aligned with the strategy and provide timely and
meaningful information is critical to breaking through the excessive “information noise”. It
helps ensure timely, informed strategic decisions to be made. Strategy sets the direction and
enables an organization to align its objectives and performance measures. These objectives
and performance measures allow meaningful information to be provided to decision-makers
regarding the organization’s progress through such vehicles as scorecards and dashboards.
Enhances Strategic Agility (Innovation)
An organization is deemed to have “Strategic Agility” when it can successfully capitalize
upon opportunities resulting from unanticipated and significant change. When formulated
appropriately, strategy can improve the ability of the organization to respond effectively to
significant change. Organizational strategy is both formulated and formed.
Disadvantages of Strategic Management
Complex Process
Strategic management involves continuous assessments of critical components, such as
external and internal environments, short-term and long-term objectives, organizational
structure, and strategic control. The external factor, which is the poor economy, changes the
internal environment, which is the number of people employed. Then, a company may need
to review objectives and make necessary adjustments. All of these factors ultimately
influence a company’s management, leadership and structural systems, which have a bearing
on decision-making.
Time Consuming
Managers spend a great deal of time preparing, researching and communicating the strategic
management process, which may impede day-to-day operations and negatively impact the
business. For example, managers may overlook daily issues needing resolution, and
inadvertently cause a decrease in employee productivity and short-term sales. When issues

are not resolved in a timely manner, higher employee turnover can result. This could force a
company to redirect critical resources, putting strategic management initiatives on a side
track.
Difficult Implementation
The implementation process requires a clearly communicated plan, implemented in a way
that requires full attention, active participation, and accountability of not only company
leaders, but also of all members across the organization. There are instances where this can
become particularly challenging.
Requires Skillful Planning
Although strategic plans help reduce uncertainty in meeting long-term objectives, the
planning process itself provides opportunities for missteps. An organization needs to
anticipate the future, which involves various degrees of change as well as risks. In order to
avoid pitfalls, managers need to have the right skill sets to plan the strategy and mitigate risk
factors.

TYPES OF FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES
1.Marketing strategy is the fundamental goal of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable
competitive advantage. Marketing strategy includes all basic, short-term, and long-term
activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation
of a company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and
therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives
2. Research and development strategy deals with two very important things
 product innovation process
 process improvement
It also deals with the questions like how new technology should be assessed? Internal
development, external acquisition etc. Now here the company has two choices either be a
technological leader or technological follower
3.Human Resource Management strategy-HRM is the strategic and coherent approach to
the management of the organization’s most valued assets – The people. Human resources are
most important resources of any organisation It is the responsibility of human resource
department to ensure that organization recruits the correct staff, and that staff receives

appropriate training to ensure that the business meets its aim. Therefore this function is
central to the function of business.
4.Financial strategy-It focuses on the alignment of financial management within an
organization with its buisness and corporate strategies to gain strategic advantage. It includes
evaluation, forecasting, planning, budgeting, financial mix, credit strategies, liquidity
strategies, capital investment methods and systems.
5.Information Management strategy- It focuses on the alignment of information
management within an organization with its business and corporate strategies to gain strategic
advantage

PROCTER AND GAMBLE

Introduction
Procter & Gamble Co., also known as P&G, is a successful American multinational
consumer goods company headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States,
founded by William Procter and James Gamble, both from the United Kingdom. Its products
include cleaning agents, and personal care products. Prior to the sale of Pringles to the
Kellogg Company, its product line included foods and beverages. In 2014, P&G recorded
$83.1 billion in sales. On August 1, 2014, P&G announced it was streamlining the company,

dropping around 100 brands and concentrating on the remaining 80 brands, which produced
95 percent of the company's profits. A.G. Lafley, the company's chairman, president and
CEO, said the future P&G would be "a much simpler, much less complex company of
leading brands that's easier to manage and operate".
History of P&G
Candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble, both born in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, emigrated from England and Ireland respectively.
They settled in Cincinnati initially and met when they married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth
Norris. Alexander Norris, their father-in-law, called a meeting in which he persuaded his new
sons-in-law to become business partners. On October 31, 1837, as a result of the suggestion,
Procter & Gamble was created.
In 1859, sales reached one million dollars. By this point, approximately eighty employees
worked for Procter & Gamble. During the American Civil War, the company won contracts
to supply the Union my with soap and candles. In addition to the increased profits
experienced during the war, the military contracts introduced soldiers from all over the
country to Procter & Gamble's products. In the 1880s, Procter & Gamble began to market a
new product, an inexpensive soap that floats in water. The company called the soap Ivory.
The company began to build factories in other locations in the United States, because the
demand for products had outgrown the capacity of the Cincinnati facilities As radio became
more popular in the 1920s and 1930s, the company sponsored a number of radio programs
.As a result, these shows often became commonly known as ‘’soap operas”
The company moved into other countries, both in terms of manufacturing and product sales.
Numerous new products and brand names were introduced over time, and Procter & Gamble
began branching out into new areas. The company introduced "Tide" laundry detergent in
1946 and "Prell" shampoo in 1950. In 1955, Procter & Gamble began selling the first
toothpaste to contain fluoride, known as "Crest". Procter & Gamble began making "Downy"
fabric softener in 1960 and "Bounce" fabric softener sheets in 1972.
One of the most revolutionary products to come out on the market was the company's
"Pampers", first test-marketed in 1961.Prior to this point disposable diapers were not
popular .Although Johnson & Johnson had developed a product called "Chux". Babies always
wore cloth diapers, which were leaky and labor intensive to wash. Pampers simplified the
diapering process. Procter & Gamble acquired a number of other companies that diversified
its product line and increased profits significantly .These acquisitions included Folgers
Coffee, Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Richardson-Vicks, Noxell, Shulton's Old Spice,

Max Factor. In January 2005 P&G announced an acquisition of Gillette, forming the largest
consumer goods company and placing Unilever into second place .This added brands such as
Gillette razors, Duracell, Braun, and Oral-B to their stable. The acquisition was approved by
the European Union and the Federal Trade Commission.
Sectors of P&G






Beauty Care
Baby, Feminine, and Family Care
Fabric and Home Care
Health and Grooming
SMOs

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF P&G
The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The
marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand's offering, and is often
synonymous with the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place; in service marketing,
however, the four Ps have been expanded to the Seven Ps or eight Ps to address the different
nature of services. In recent times, the concept of four Cs has been introduced as a more
customer-driven replacement of four Ps.
Pricing Strategy
Costs of the products are subject to fluctuations, particularly due to changes in commodity
prices, raw materials and cost of labor, foreign exchange and interest rates. Therefore, success
rate of the company is dependent, in part, on its continued ability to manage these
fluctuations through pricing actions, cost savings projects, sourcing decisions and certain
hedging transactions. It must also manage their debt and currency exposure, especially in
certain countries, such as Venezuela, China and India They need to maintain key
manufacturing and supply arrangements, including sole supplier and sole manufacturing plant
arrangements. They must implement, achieve and sustain cost improvement plans, including
our outsourcing projects and those related to general overhead and workforce optimization.
Successfully managing these changes, including identifying, developing and retaining key
employees, are critical to their success.






Optional – feature pricing
Product- line pricing
Cost- plus pricing
Competitive pricing
Distribution pricing

Promotion Strategy
Promotion is done through the following modes:








Media
Radio
Hoardings
Consumer promotion
Fragrance oriented and eco friendly Newspaper
Various promotional offers
P & G is spending 30-35 % of its sales in Advertisement and Promotion which is
highest in the industry, HUL expends only 15% of sales on Advertisement and
Promotion.

“Thank You, Mom” Campaign
 P&G's corporate campaign kicked off in April with its first ``Thank You, Mom'' TV
spot.
 It also has a dedicated ``Thank, You Mom'' Facebook page and app that allows people
to send ``Thank you'' messages to their mothers.
 P&G is sponsoring more than 150 global athletes. P&G is sponsoring a few athletes
like boxer Mary Kom and runner Kavita Raut, giving their mothers a chance to see
them perform and hopefully win at London this year.
SHIKSHA – Campaign by P&G

Product Strategy
P&G has many products and strategies have to be framed properly for marketing of those
products. At first, Product classification is being made and afterwards product is being
differentiated on the basis of its form,features,its performance etc. Corporate social
responsibility initiatives are been taken. In order to attract more customers products are

packaged attractively as well as catchy taglines are given for the product.







Product classification – service consumer good
Product differentiation- form , features , performance , reliability Superior technology
CSR initiatives
Attractive packaging
Catchy taglines
Established as a brand itself
Place Strategy






In store placement strategy
Already existing strong links in urban area
Rural penetration
Develop marketing channels as strong and penetrated so that it would gain access to

remote areas
 Strategic location of warehouse
 Increase wholesale dealers in small towns so that they can go to the nearby villages
 National coverage would be dealt with by increasing the company’s warehouses and
creating C&F agents in the smaller cities
Positioning
The place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products.
Typically defined by consumers on the basis of important attributes. Involves implanting the
brand’s unique benefits and differentiation in the customer’s mind. Positioning maps that plot
perceptions of brands are commonly used.
Differentiation can be based on





Products
Services
Channels
People

Developing the Strategy through use of the Creative Work
Plan 1
Key Fact: A single piece of known information relating to the brand which is agreed to be the
leading factor influencing or describing the brand performance. It may be information about
the brand itself, the competition, the customer; innovation etc. but it must be a single fact
2 Problem the advertising must solve: This is a consumer problem. It describes the
awareness, perception or behavior of the prospective user which has resulted in the Key Fact
and which we wish to change.
3 Advertising Objective: Usually, simply the counterpart to the problem, although there are a

great many distinct options. E.g. "Persuade consumers to try my brand" Or "use more of my
brand." Or "use my brand in a different." Persuade them that my brand is a viable alternative
to brand x".
4. Strategy:
a) Prospect Definition- Both demographics and psychographics.
b) Principal Competition.- Not just a list of competitors but a description of the segment
from which we wish to obtain business
c) Promise- The single most persuasive agreement one can advance for the brand framed with
the customer and the competition in mind.
d) Reason Why- The strongest piece of support for the promise. Occasionally there may be
more than one piece of support but never a list
e) Tone/Character- The tone that messages should convey to provide personality to the
message and bring it alive. This is not executional.
As you can see, the format is very simple. However, like everything at Procter & Gamble,
the use of the simple tool is handled by experts in the field. That is what makes the tool so
effective.
Channels of distribution
The path through which goods and services travel from the vendor to the consumer or
payments for those products travel from the consumer to the vendor. A distribution channel
can be as short as a direct transaction from the vendor to the consumer, or may include
several interconnected intermediaries along the way such as wholesalers, distributors, agents
and retailers. Each intermediary receives the item at one pricing point and movies it to the
next higher pricing point until it reaches the final buyer. Coffee does not reach the consumer
before first going through a channel involving the farmer, exporter, importer, distributor and
the retailer. Also called the channel of distribution.
Distribution network of P&G : P&G keeping broaden the market by slashing its no. of distributors down to one-tenth
of its size
 85% of its sales come from the top 30 towns & its current volume did not justify a
large distributor network.
 So P&G will now have one distributer who will operate like super stockist. Which
help to replenish its distributors more frequently and reduce their average stock level.
 P&G keep growing on ROI (Return on Investment) which resulted in each distributer
trying to extend its reach to push up volumes.
 With a limited number of distributers, P&G will also not need to invest in C&F

agents.
 P & G follows wholesale format of distribution for Vicks.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF P&G
Strengths
Strong focus on Research and development
P&G has strong research and development capabilities. Additionally, P&G also involves
external innovation partners to boost its internal innovative capability, an approach it calls
‘Connect and Develop.’ P&G is ranked amongst one of the top-20 largest R&D investors
among US-based companies. The best proof of its innovation capability is the number of topselling new products that come from P&G. Strong focus on research and development allows
P&G to renew its product line at regular intervals, which boosts customer loyalty and revenue
growth.
Leading market position
P&G has leading market positions across most of its businesses. P&G is the global market
leader in beauty segment with leading market shares , owing to its brands Always, Head &
Shoulders, Olay, Pantene. The company also holds a leading position in oral care. In
pharmaceuticals and personal health, Actonel, Crest, and Oral-B are well known brands in the
company's health care segment. The company is also the market leader in fabric care such as
Ariel and Tide. In baby care, the company has a global market share of over 32%, competing
through the strong Pampers brand. The acquisition of Gillette has enabled P&G to hold
leading market share in manual blades and razors segment with a global market share of
approximately 70%.
Diversified product portfolio
P&G has diversified product portfolios. The company participates in more than 22 global
product categories with 300 brands in over 180 markets. The company markets a range of
products across six segments: beauty; grooming; health care; snacks, coffee, and pet care;
fabric care and home care; and baby care, and family care.
Strong brand portfolio
P&G has strong portfolio of brands. P&G’s portfolio includes 24 brands that generate over
1,000 million in annual sales and 20 brands that generate between $500 million and $1 billion
in annual sales. Combined, these 44 brands account for 85% or more of its sales and profits.

Strong portfolio of brands enables the company to deliver consistent, reliable top- and
bottom-line growth.
Weaknesses
1. The beauty and health products by P & G are mostly for women.  P & G does not
make and offer any private label products for the retail customers.
2. Fake products sold under the name of P&G brands.  Its products have stiff
competition from big domestic players and international brands.
Dependent on Wal-Mart Stores for majority of its revenue
P&G is heavily dependent on Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) and its affiliates for
generating major part of its revenue. Any decrease in revenue from Wal-Mart could have a
negative impact on the company's businesses.
Opportunities
An opportunity for P & G is health and beauty products for men.
Expansion in developing markets
The consumer products business is driven significantly by three basic demographic factors:
population growth, household formation, and household income growth. These factors are
now driving strong growth in many of the company's developing markets including China
and Russia.P&G is using its portfolio of leading brands to attract, build and expand a network
of distributors.
Growing Indian FMCG market
The Indian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry is likely to witness strong
growth in the future. The growth would be attributable to the rising income and increasing
demand. The survey points that consumer' preferences for FMCGs are shifting towards
higher lifestyle categories like skin care, shampoos, deodorants, anti-aging solutions, fairness
products and men's products in particular. This provides P&G with an opportunity to enhance
its market share as well as expand its presence in other categories.
Threats
Regulatory Environment
Several consumer protection groups are voicing concerns over the presence of harmful
chemical ingredients in cosmetic products. A recent study showed that about one-third of
cosmetic products contain carcinogens. Due to increasing public pressure, the US Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) are expected to impose stringent quality norms on cosmetic
products. New regulations may delay launch of new products and result in higher product
development expenditure.
Global Economic Conditions
The current economic climate is forcing shoppers to watch their expense and look for cheaper
options of discounted brands or own label merchandise. Even suppliers as powerful as P&G
are under pressure from retailers like Wal-Mart, who are cutting prices and introducing their
own labels.
Counterfeit goods
Trade of counterfeits and pass-offs products is negatively affecting the growth of FMCG
companies like P&G. Pass-offs are look-alike products that resemble the original products,
mainly through misspelling of the trademark. For example, Sunslik instead of Cosmic Plus
instead of Clinic Plus, Vips Rub or Vives Rub as a pass-off for Vicks Vaporub.

SNAPDEAL
Snapdeal is the fastest growing e-commerce company in India - HeadQuartered in New
Delhi. The company was started by Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate as part of the dual
degree M&T Engineering and Business program at Penn, and Rohit Bansal, an alumnus of
IIT Delhi in February 2010.
History Of Snapdeal.

Snapdeal was started in February 2010 as a daily deals platform but expanded in September
2011 to become an online marketplace. Snapdeal has grown to become one of the largest
online marketplace in India offering an assortment of 10 million products across diverse
categories from over 100,000 sellers, shipping to 5,000 towns and cities in India. In March
2015,
In 2010, when Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal wanted to start their own business, they chose an
offline couponing business and named it MoneySaver. 15000 coupons were sold in three
months and it was time to take the business to the next level.It was after they met investor
Vani Kola that the venture really took off. The first meeting did not go well but after another
round of discussion, Vani Kola’s venture capital firm decided to invest in Snapdeal.Initially
started as an offline business, Sneapdeal went online in 2010. It was a bumpy ride in the first
few months. Mistakes were made, but lessons were learnt. It is this kind of hard work and
diligent attempt to offer the best to the customers that gave Snapdeal its initial success.
However, the biggest decision of the founders came in November 2011. Inspired by the
success of Alibaba.com, Rohit and Kunal wanted to create something on similar lines. The
deals business was shut down and an online marketplace was opened instead.It was a make or
break decision. Snapdeal had a huge market share in the deals business at that time and
starting something new was very risky and the move surprised the investors too. At that point
of time, eBay was the only marketplace in India.It was a decision that was not for the short
term. When Rohit Bahl managed to gain the nod the board, the present form of Snapdeal took
shape. The very fact that Snapdeal is valued at a billion dollars today is a testimony to the
vision of its founders. Currently, more than 50,000 sellers sell around 5 million products on
Snapdeal. The company’s phenomenal growth in a short span has been a remarkable journey.
The company began to concentrate on building scale and improving speed. When eBay
invested in Snapdeal, they brought immense experience to the table.Snapdeal is one of the
fastest growing e-commerce companies in India today with the largest online market place. In
just two years, the company went from scrapping their group coupon business and starting an
online marketplace to become a billion dollar company. Its year on year growth is almost
600%.The average age of the workforce at Snapdeal is 25. Their values – Innovation,
Change, Openness, Honesty and Ownership drive them to press for greater success. The
company’s growth had been phenomenal but it is their continued effort to bring the best to the
market and their zeal to succeed as the best B2C (Business to customer) marketplace is what
sets them apart. Great ideas might be important for a business, but it is the confident
implementation of those ideas and the right effort which are more important. It is action and

not mere thought that gives results.
Acquisitions
Snapdeal acquired fashion products discovery site,gifting recommendation site,
Wishpicker.com.,a stake in product comparison website Smartprix.com,luxury fashion
products discovery site, Exclusively.in.
In 2015, Snapdeal acquired ecommerce management software and fulfillment solution
provider, Unicommerce.com,mobile-payments company FreeCharge.
Company building & target market
SnapDeal believes that basically, there are five key stakeholders in this kind of business
• Customers
• Customer support
• Technology platform
• Merchants
• Logistics.
Thier goal is to figure out how to strengthen the linking among these five as each one
interacts with multiple of the others. They have around 120 people in thier engineering team
and interviewed around 4,000 candidates to build this team. Technology is the single biggest
expense in the company. Every line of code in Snapdeal is written in-house as they don’t
outsource anything and don’t use other platforms. They believe that If you want to build a
fast-moving and agile platform, you need to build it yourself. Their goal is simple - to keep
providing the three things, which are important to the customer – Value, Assortment and
Convenience. Their approach is very simple – stay lean, focus on important things, and know
what your value drivers are and keep working towards them. The company is tapping
customers in non-metros and tier-II and tier-III cities; 60 percent of its sales come from these
areas, and Snapdeal is hoping to widen its reach. “Urban India has access to offline stores.
Our focus is on places where they can’t get the product they desire,” says Kunal Bahl.
Competition & Market Share : The intensity of competition has heightened over the past 2-3
years. But the lack of brand loyalty coupled with the absence of any major differentiators in
terms of offerings and services is fast emerging as their biggest challenge. Promises like cash
on delivery (COD), assured delivery, no-questions-asked replacement policy, zero
cancellation fee, free shipping and EMI options are no longer good enough for customers.
Global biggie Amazon Inc, with a $143 billion market cap, entered India last year and is the
most deep-pocketed. Bangalore-based Flipkart, with its recent funding of $210 million from
Russian firm DST Global Solutions, has now received nearly $780 million in funds since it

started operations in 2007.

Segmentation
Identify desirable market segments
Segmentation involves grouping consumers based on certain criteria. Snapdeal has done a
very broad segmentation by grouping people who have internet access into one segment.
There are other parameters for segmentation based on demographics, location, psychographic
and behavioral pattern of people.
Demographic segmentation


Teens and young adults are grouped together into one segment. People in the age




group of 16 to 30 years typically forms this segment.
These people are either college students or people who have recently started earning.
People having moderate to high family income are segmented together.

Geographic segmentation


Indian urban class

Psychographic segmentation


People in upper middle class

Behavioural segmentation





Internet savvy users
People who are not afraid of online shopping
People who love to get discounts
People who want to try new products or services

Targeting
Target your product for that segment
Snapdeal focuses on mass online marketing but uses customer history to give a more
personalized experience.

Some of the strategies followed by Snapdeal are: Large base of internet users easily reached
via









Customized email based on historic data
Social media
Online advertisements
Word of mouth
Use of mobile apps to increase customer base
Target people relying on internet for shopping
Increase target market by partnering with corporate houses for bulk selling
Target small and medium enterprises to showcase their product / service online for
greater visibility.

Positioning
Position your brand to segment’s desires
Snapdeal is currently positioned as best advertising and discount platform in the online
Indian market. For product and service providers it acts as a great advertising platform and
for consumers it acts as a low price online market.Snapdeal is trying to reposition itself with
greater focus on quality. All the products showcased on the website are genuine. Each and
every product is quality checked before being delivered to the customers. Even after
repositioning its marketing strategy, Snapdeal aims to offer good value for money to
consumers and remain highly competitive in the market. By following above mentioned STP
strategy Snapdeal has been able to grow at a fast pace and has increased its market base
exponentially.

Promotion
Snapdeal was one of the first e-commerce sites in India to do TV advertisements. The reason
why TV was chosen is because of its unparalleled access and reach to a large number of
people in a very short duration. The intention was to reach out to younger audience via TV as
medium, as snapdeal’s services are generally very attractive for youngsters.
Social Media is obviously the most economical way to reach out to a large audience. But, the
usage of social media should be in such a way to get maximum traction out of it. But, other
than that, having a great product/service helps. Because, word of mouth now is becoming a

very powerful means to acquire customers. The probability that a new customer has heard
about you from an existing customer is very high.
The YAMDUDE campaign of 2012
There are a couple of objectives out of the campaign :
1.Communicate the broad variety of services & products that Snapdeal.com has to offer to its
consumers. Along with the offers on all of these, there are functional benefits like Cash on
Delivery and Deals within nearby locations which are also promoted through the campaign
2.The campaign also aims at ensuring that users who have not purchased before on
Snapdeal.com, try out the services.
 In March 2015, Snapdeal brought actor Aamir Khan for the promotion of its
website in India

Price
Snapdeal offers many discounts on purchase of almost all the items .This is what makes
snapdeal different from other online retail stores. Snapdeal has variety of combo offers that
are budget friendly & they have special discounts on occasion of festivals such as
Diwali,Dusserra,Ganesh chaturthi etc
SWOT ANALYSIS OF SNAPDEAL
Strengths






Visionary Leadership under Kunal Bahl
Strategic goal setting and achievement.
Technology centric company philosophy.
Out-of-the-box thinking in business line.
Good funding received from time to time as company grew.

Weaknesses
 Technology led model might collapse if the logistics network is not trained constantly
 Small time entrants entering into market share end up as competition.
 Cut throat competition from big rivals like Amazon and FlipKart might end up
changing company’s policies and work models.
 Customers are already finding FlipKart faster by a day or 2 due to its inventory based
model.
Opportunities
 Rural Indian untapped market.
 Tier 2 & 3 Cities focus.
 Moblie revolution hitting new figures every year.
Threats

 Big market players like AMAZON and FLIPKART
 Threat of Walmart making an entry in India.
 Threat of the world leader in e-commerce Alibaba.com making an entry in India.

GOOGLE.INC
Introduction
Google.Inc is an American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related
services and products. These include online advertising technologies, search, cloud
computing, and software. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords an online advertising
service that places advertising near the list of search results. Google was founded by Larry
Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University. They
incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public
offering followed on August 19, 2004. Its mission statement from the outset was "to organize
the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and its unofficial
slogan was "Don't be evil".
Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions and
partnerships beyond Google's core search engine. It offers online productivity software
including email (Gmail), a cloud storage service (Google Drive), an office suite (Google

Docs) and a social networking service (Google+). Desktop products include applications for
web browsing (Google Chrome), organizing and editing photos, and instant messaging. The
company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system and the browseronly Chrome OS for a class of netbooks known as Chromebooks. Google has moved
increasingly into communications hardware: it partners with major electronics manufacturers
in the production of its "high-quality low-cost" Nexus devices and acquired Motorola
Mobility in May 2012.
In December 2013, Alexa listed google.com as the most visited website in the world.
Numerous Google sites in other languages figure in the top one hundred, as do several other
Google-owned sites such as YouTube and Blogger.[29] Its market dominance has led to
prominent media coverage, including criticism of the company over issues such as search
neutrality, copyright, censorship, and privacy.
History of Google
Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when
they were both PhD students at Stanford University in Stanford, California.While
conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms
appeared on the page, the two theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships
between websites. They called this new technology PageRank; it determined a website's
relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the
original site.
Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine "BackRub", because the system
checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. Eventually, they changed the name to
Google, originating from a misspelling of the word "googol" the number one followed by one
hundred zeros, which was picked to signify that the search engine was intended to provide
large quantities of information. Originally, Google ran under Stanford University's website,
with the domains google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu.
The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997 and the company was
incorporated on September 4, 1998. It was based in the garage of a friend in Menlo Park,
California. Craig Silverstein, a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first
employee.
s' as they follow 'Googlism', the new religion. Devotees of Google have found a non-profit
online organization The Church of Google, a website where they worship the search engine
giant. The New York Times had discussed the topic "Is Google God?" under its 'opinion'
category. On the Internet, there are many blogs that even mention the reasons why Google is

God.
Mission & Vision- Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful. Google's vision is to make search engines so powerful that
they ‘understand everything in the world’
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF GOOGLE.INC
What is the marketing strategy? Ever wonder that with so many search engines out there, why
is Google the first? Well it is not all because of the marketing strategy of Google; there is one
aspect in the marketing strategy that makes it so great.
The only way to understand, how and why Google is winning over all the other search
engines, is to go over the marketing strategy of Google. Their strategy might be hard to
understand at first, but you will see how they follow the pattern of smart decision-making.
Google is a mix of excellent marketing ideas, smart choices, and the live on the edge and take
risks, great advisors, and they provide us with great products. Read below to understand in
detail the marketing strategy of Google
They use the power of less, the power of less means they give you a clean, simple, and
interference free search page. When you open the Google page, you will see a Google logo
and right in the middle is the search bar, which is fast in loading, and easily visible. During
the early years, this was the only feature, because of slow internet connections. Google was
also preferred because the other search engines were just full of confusing stuff, filled with
ads and useless features.
Risk free entry policy This means that you provide the users with some free use, which will
make it better than the other products out there, and then they can buy more to get more. For
e.g. when Gmail came out, it was slightly better than its competitors were as it offered 1GB
free space for mail, as its rival company was charging people for that.
In the same marketing strategy of Google, they offer free services, which is a compelling
technique. This way people become loyal to their services. In addition, to use many features
of Google you must have a Gmail account, this is how they sell.
The power of the vision is the next marketing strategy of Google, which means to be able to
sell something that people do not want. To see the bigger picture, thinking about the future, as
what people will need. You probably do not know when Google started there was not much
use of it, as people did not know that to do with it. Then as the time went by, slowly people
figured out that they needed Google, for more than one thing. Marketing strategy of Google
is strong as it collected all the data of the world in one place and presents it to you when you

want it.
Google’s marketing mix is a major contributor to the global success of the business.
It is an effective combination of a wide array of product lines, a suitable pricing strategy and
ubiquitous product distribution, along with cost-effective promotions.
Google’s Products
Google’s marketing mix involves a diverse array of products. The company has grown and
diversified. These products are generally grouped into the following product lines:






Web-based products
Operating systems
Desktop apps
Mobile apps
Hardware products

The company uses product development as a major intensive growth strategy. Because of this
strategy, the firm keeps developing new products to expand its business, while growing its
market share for existing products like Google AdWords, Nexus, and others.
The ever evolving list of products includes Google finance, Google news, Google blog
search, Google video, YouTube, Google sites, Blogger, Google Reader, Google Groups,
Google Calendar and Google Docs.
It includes
• Advertisements that appear along with search results through a program called Google Ad
words.
• A good number of eBooks with copy rights reserved are being hosted by Google as Google
is related to number of libraries and provides an attractive low cost opportunity of digitizing
the books but sometimes the writers are unhappy for not certain about their rights being
reserved or not.
• Google earth is an attractive product from Google incorporation and through that GPS
locations on the ground can exactly be calculated. This interestingly locates almost all
existing features including roads, settlements, hotels, restaurants and almost all the physical
features including manmade and natural features.
• Google chrome, the recently introduced internet browser is also one of the popular products
from Google. Its popularity is also because of its three dimensional imaging system
(Kopytoff, 2008).
• A wide range of services like YouTube, Rout, Google Docs, Google Calendars etc are
adding to its popularity and most frequent use.

Promotion
It is surprising that Google has become one of the world’s largest search engines when the
promotion strategy of the company relies heavily on viral, or referral, marketing. With its
minimalist homepage and knack for gaining consumer trust through a “morally superior”
advertisement policy, Google has gained consumer loyalty and in turn Google customers
recommend Google to their friends. “Their best reference is a friend with enough friends,
they will create a buzz and significant exposure by word of mouth, the ultimate branding
technique.’’ While word of mouth has been Google’s predominant form of promotion,
the company does use advertising. Most of Google’s advertising is done online, with a few
exceptions. Google promotes its services and products by purchasing its own AdWords
internet ads and through its own Google channel on YouTube. A prime example of Google’s
minimalist internet advertising strategy was when they released Google Chrome. When the
product was released, Google placed a link on its homepage that stayed up there for a very
short period of time- a week. This modest advertising strategy truly shows the faith that
Google has put in viral marketing. Google is definitely a successful word of mouth and a
word of mouth circulates based on the quality of the product. Recently, Google launched a
new website called “Froogle,” which is a product search. Froogle is a separate site from
Google. When Froogle was first introduced, Google did not display an advertisement or a
link to Frooglese billboard advertisements to increase public awareness about “Going
Google.”
Promotions are simple and honest. The company has managed to create a very dependable
and trustworthy brand in the eye of the consumer. Sales Promotions Google manages an
extensive product line, most of which are free to the public. Google’s massive “Going
Google” campaign included a “use promotion” that awarded customers with premiums for
their product testimonials.
Google has risen to outdo all of its competitors becoming what is now the most popular
Internet search engine. Several people like the fact that Google offers a minimal homepage,
which loads immediately without annoying advertisements. Lycos and AltaVista advertise
heavily and load their homepage with flash. People seem to like Google more because of its
simple and direct approach. As a result of Google’s outstanding results it has compelled its
dedicated users to inform everyone else about their remarkable search engine. Google’s
growth is proof of the power of viral marketing, without the need for massive advertising
budgets

Google’s Prices and Pricing Strategies
Google’s marketing mix involves different pricing strategies. Different pricing strategies
satisfy the different kinds of products available from the company. The most notable pricing
strategies in Google’s business are:





Freemium pricing
Market-oriented pricing
Penetration pricing
Value-based pricing

The freemium pricing strategy involves offering free products, but selling premium or add-on
features of the product. In Google’s marketing mix, this pricing strategy is used for products
like Gmail, which has a premium version for businesses. The market-oriented pricing strategy
determines prices based on market conditions. Google’s marketing mix uses this strategy for
pricing its products like Chrome cast. On the other hand, the penetration pricing strategy
involves low prices that allow the company to gain market share despite the presence of large
competitors.
Google makes money through a special advertising program called AdWords. AdWords are
keyword-based advertisements that are bought by companies. So if you have a company that
distributes contact lenses, you would bid against other distributors of contact lenses for the
highest place (or nearby). By bidding for lucrative keywords this raises the price and Google
make money. It’s rather like selling a rare item on eBay; the rarer it is the more money you
make; the more bidders that compete for the item the more money you make. Hence the more
valuable a keyword the more it will make. Advertisers are making more than their investment
in advertising, and this makes it an appealing program for business. It is measurable using
basic software so advertisers can work out how much they are making on their investment,
which is more complex to do with traditional advertising media
 Google money making is a big question, but its success is dependable on its high
revenue being generated by Adgoogle, bidding the products in the market
 Advertises that are blooming with the help of Google are making money many fold of
that being invested on investment,
 Every time the ad is clicked the Google gets paid.
 EBooks digitizing is another handsome earning source for Google.
Place/Distribution Of Google
The place or distribution component of Google’s marketing mix is typical of mostly-online
businesses. Mostly-online firms use the Internet to distribute their products. Most of the

company’s products are available around the world via the Internet. For example, Google
apps can be downloaded anywhere where there is Internet connectivity. Thus, the company
uses the Internet as its distribution mechanism to reach target users/customers. For goods like
Nexus smartphones, Google uses retailers as the main outlets. Large retailers usually include
Nexus models as part of their consumer electronics offerings.
Google’s place/distribution strategy contributes to the success of the company’s marketing
mix. The ubiquity of the Internet maximizes the firm’s efficiency of distributing its digital
products. The choice of major retailers as outlets for goods like Nexus also increases
Google’s ability to reach large populations of target consumers.
The company is located at Mountain View in California. The site looks very much like a
university campus with gyms and cafes. The environment enables employees to maximize
their time. The Googleplex is the name given to its HQ.
Another way of looking at place is that Google is an online business i.e. it distributes using an
the internet as its channel. Google is in fact an online business present around the globe.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
1.

Open source products and services. As the company states:” Google’s mission is to
organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” The same is
with almost any of Google products. Let it be Google maps, calendars, drive, OS or the
advices how to rank better in a search index. Google’s products can also be used with any OS
or mobile device without a charge. Google openness is the key why Google is the number
one in many products and services.

2.

Quality and customer experience are the primary objects. Everything that Google
offers is of premium quality. The products are aimed at solving customer needs and problems
by providing excellent customer experience.

3.

Financial situation. Google is one of the most profitable companies in the world with
earnings nearly $50 billion and $11 billion profits (22%). The company also holds $48 billion
in cash and just $7 billion of debt. Few other companies are so strong financially to compete
with Google.

4.

Access to the largest group of internet users worldwide. Google has an access to
79% of the world desktop search market users and 89% of the world mobile search market
users. Combined, these internet users represent an extremely large market that Google can
use to promote and sell its products and services.

5.

Product integration. Nearly all Google products are integrated with each other
forming an ecosystem that enriches customers experience and encourages using more of
company’s products and services. Besides, Google products can be used on any OS or any
device without a trouble or can be integrated with other companies’ applications. No other
major tech organization offers the same level of integration.

6.

Culture of innovation. Many unique products are offered by Google every year, with
so many in development stages. According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Google is
the 2nd most innovative business in the world.
Weaknesses
Falling Ad Rates
In recent years and especially in 2013, the company has been faced with declining revenues
from ads and as a result, the profitability of the company has taken a hit. This is partly due to
the ongoing global economic slowdown and partly because of competitors snapping at its
heels in a more aggressive manner. Indeed, Apple has already taken steps to garner search
engine revenues in its devices and hence, Google must be cognizant of the challenges that lie
ahead.
Overdependence on Advertising
Google’s business model relies heavily on advertising and the numbers reveal that it gets
more than 85% of its revenues from ads alone. This means that any potential dip in revenues
would cost the company dearly (literally as well as metaphorically). The point here is that
Google has to devise a more robust business model that embraces e-commerce and mobile
commerce along with its current business model that is based on ad revenues alone.
Lack of Compatibility with next generation devices
Another weakness for Google is that it is not compatible with many next generation
computing platforms including mobile and tablet computers and this remains an area of
concern for the company.

Opportunities
Growing number of mobile internet users.
Google has an opportunity to create a platform that could be used to better display ads for
mobile device users and increase firm’s income.
Obtaining patents through acquisitions.
For Google to grow and to compete successfully, it has to obtain more new patents. One way
of doing that is to acquire companies that have strong patents portfolio. Google has acquired
Motorola in 2012, obtaining more than 17,000 patents from the business.
Android Operating System
Perhaps the biggest opportunity for Google lies in its pioneering effort in providing the
Android OS (Operating System) which has resulted in its becoming a direct competitor to
Apple and Samsung
Google Glasses and Google Play
The introduction of Google Glasses and Google Play promises to be a game changer for
Google and this is a significant opportunity that the company can exploit. Indeed, this very
aspect can make the company take the next evolutionary leap into the emerging world of
nano-computing.
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing remains a key opportunity for Google as it is already experienced in
providing storage and cloud solutions. Indeed, if not anything, it can move into the enterprise
market using the cloud computing paradigm
Threats
Unprofitable products. Google has introduced many products and services but few of them
earn profits for the business. Most of the services are the burden for Google and only makes
losses. If Google continues to introduce new products that add little value and only make
losses, the company’s profits will fall.
Competition from Microsoft. Microsoft is gaining a market share in internet searches and is
playing an important role against Google. The company has also introduced Windows 8, the
OS aimed for mobile devices, to carve out its market share in mobile OS market. In both
fronts, internet search and mobile OS, Microsoft is challenging Google and is taking away the
potential revenues

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBLIOGRAPHY