Marketing Management and Marketing Controlling - Case Study Example

Business Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 8th May, 2015. Introduction Australian economy has witnessed phenomenal growth in the past decade from different industries with specific growth coming from the mining industry. However, the recent analysis outlines an economic boom in other sectors of the Australian economy with focus on agribusiness, tourism, healthcare and education sectors in the next 25 years. As a result, more skilled, temp and semi-skilled employees will be required to support the growth of these sectors. This marketing plan will assist Emilia Moneypenny and Alan Silver in setting up a temp and semi-skilled work recruitment firm in Canberra with specific focus on these economic sectors. According to Deloitte, agribusiness, tourism, healthcare and education sectors will contribute around 70% of Australian economic growth in the next 25 years. This report will give insights into the industry, situational, competitor and SWOT analyses with aim of an implementation strategy for the recruitment firm. Industry Analysis The recruitment industry in Australia is estimated to be worth over $ 11 billion in annual returns to recruiting firms. There are over 3,000 recruiting firms in the country which are represented by the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA) raging from huge firms to specialist firms and individual consultants. However, more than 90% of these firms undertake general recruiting from all sectors of the economy with few firms focusing on temp work and semi-skilled sectors (McFarland 2010, p. 97). The industry is dominated by huge global firms such as Manpower Services, Randstad and Hays Specialist recruitment competing with other local recruitment firms. Consequently, there are other specialist firms which undertaken temp work recruitment services such as PCA People, SOS Recruitment and Templar especially in the Australian Capital Territory. Due to the growing Australian economy from the global recession and there has been growing need for temp workers to support various industries such as the agribusiness and tourism sectors (Holder 2012, p. 113). It is estimated that the temp work space will grow by around 8% annually in the next 20 years. The temp work industry is currently worth around $ 3.4 billion in Australia and this is expected to grow in the coming years. Temp work presents the best growth segment in the recruitment industry due to the fact the different economic sectors in Australia will need temp workers in the agribusiness, tourism and healthcare industries (McDonald 2009). Most of these sectors require temp workers due to the seasonal nature of their businesses and the high turnover of employees in these industries. Situational & Environmental Analysis The recruitment business in Australia is dominated by the large players with huge operations and partnership with large corporations such as Westpac, Qantas and BHP Billiton in the process of recruitment. Several factors affect and shape the recruitment industry in the country such as technology, economic size, political and social factors effect on the recruitment industry. Nascent recruitment firms in Australia should register with the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association in order to get recognition within the industry especially in relation to regulation of recruitment best practices. This association works closely with the Australian Ministry of Labour and Human Resources in the regulation of employment practices in the country (Schweizer 2009, p. 134). Economic growth affects the recruitment industry based on the fact that more employees are absorbed into workforce and thus the recruitment industry is set to grow by around 12.1% in the next 10 years with reduction of recruiting firms due to the consolidation due to increased competition. As a result, major recruitment firms are set to grow by around 18.6% while more people especially foreigners will join the Australian workforce. The growth of technology within the recruitment industry is a major trend that has shaped the recruitment industry in Australia. Recruitment companies utilize technology in the process of advertising, sourcing and interviewing in the process of sourcing for talent and workforce (Caragher 2008, p. 92). There are major specialized sites which are utilized by potential workers in sourcing recruitment information such as seek.com.au, careerone.com.au, jobsearch.gov.au and jobs.com.au. Majority of recruitment firms employ modern technology since it provides a platform of reducing costs, increasing reliability and fast response times (Ogunmokun 2012, p. 72). Competitor Analysis There are major recruitment companies in Australia including Manpower services, Randstad, Hays Specialist recruitment and other companies which compete within the recruitment space. Manpower Services is the largest recruitment firm in Australia with 50 branches spread across the country followed closely by Randstad and Hays recruitment. These companies have huge global presence with hundreds of thousands of employees/clients across their operations. For instance, Hays Specialist recruitment has over 20 segments from where employees can select their preferred job (Havlicek 2011, p. 61). Randstad is a major temp work recruiter in Australia through its Tempo Team unit being a major player in the recruitment cycles. Other companies such as SOS recruitment, PCA people and Adecco have presence in major cities in Australia. These companies utilize their huge client base, networks and partnerships in the processing of sourcing for temp workers. For instance, the Australian shipping industry works with thousands of temp workers and thus it contracts these large recruitment agencies in sourcing for temp workers (McFarland 2010, p. 98). Due to the huge operational spread of some recruitment companies such as Randstad and Hays Specialist recruitment, these companies can easily fill up temp work vacancies since they outsource foreign workers from their overseas operations. Temp work recruitment industry is also staffed with a lot of foreigners and thus small recruitment firms within the country are the major operators within this market segment (Schweizer 2009, p. 135). Client & Industry Trends Job seekers across the globe and in Australia have shifted their style from reliance on recruitment firms into more smart means such as utilization of technology and social media. For instance, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have been utilized by companies in sourcing for employees and thus contributing to a phenomenal shift from company based recruitments (Havlicek 2011, p. 66). As a result, job seekers have shifted towards online job searching leading to the development of sites for job seekers by several recruiting companies (Havaldar 2010). Consequently, several recruitment firms have undertaken a differentiation strategy by segmenting themselves into speciality hiring. As a result, some companies only hire workers on certain sectors such as the mining sector while some companies only source for temp workers. Companies and private business owners have also partnered or contracted recruitment firms to undertake job sourcing for its businesses (Zumwalt 2011, p. 37). This strategy is aimed at cost reduction so that these companies could focus on their organizational core mandates and businesses. Therefore, several recruitment firms have designed packages and partnerships with businesses in the pursuit of recruiting on behalf of these companies and partners (McDonald 2011). SWOT analysis In the development of a recruitment agency in Australia, several factors need to be analyzed such as industry competition, growth and factors which favour individual company growth (Luther 2011). SWOT analysis will look into the internal and external factors that assist in the development of the recruitment agency by Emilia Moneypenny and Alan Silver. The Australian recruitment industry is set to grow as outlined by the following SWOT factors; Strengths The new recruitment firm to be opened by the two partners will rely on organizational strengths of; Experience and knowledge of human resource practices by the two partners Specialized recruitment since the company will focus on temp work Great business location in Deakin area of Canberra close to University of Deakin and other institutions the agency can tap on for new clients Low client costs as a result of low operational costs Weaknesses The recruitment agency to be opened by the two partners might face some difficulties such as; Lack of huge financial resources to recruit research staff or deploy costly strategies Low visibility due to lack of operational background or networking experience Opportunities However, the operation of the new agency will be able to benefit from the expected growth in the Australian economy especially in different sectors. Some of the industry environmental factors that might that will favour the new recruitment agency include; Growth of Australian economy in sectors with huge pool of temp work placements High client cost among huge recruitment firms thus creating opportunity for young and nascent recruitment firms (Glynn 2012) Need for specialized the recruitment firms that target a certain market segment Deployment of affordable online technology in sourcing for temp workers from across Australia (Luther 2011) High client traffic due to the easy availability of temp work within different economic segments. Threats Despite the growth of the Australian economy, other external factors that might impact the new agency include; Competition from well established recruitment agencies Lack of enough staff to cover a wider geographical area Implementation Strategies The new company that the two partners will form will need to implement several strategies in their marketing plan to ensure success. The marketing strategy will be informed by industry analysis and the target market for the new recruitment firm. Based on the expected good numbers of economic growth in different sectors the new company should target the increased numbers and openings among temp workers. Temp workers also comprise of professional workers such as Doctors, Nurses and Engineers who work on short periods and are thus considered as consultants. The marketing plan for the target market should consider several factors and implementation strategies as outlined; a) Product/Package: the new recruitment agency should develop a package for the different client categories in the temp work segment. The package should target different job seekers who are skilled and semi-skilled in their jobs such as waiters, farm hands, nurses, doctors and chefs seeking short term employment (McDonald 2009). b) Pricing: the recruitment firm should offer affordable package to all employees within the different segments of the temp work market in the region. The firm’s pricing should be affordable and equivalent to the job being offered and period of employment. The firm should adopt a percentage based pricing as compared to one off payments charged by other recruiting firms (Havaldar 2010). c) Promotion: In a bid of popularizing the new recruitment firm, several promotional activities need to be undertaken by the company. The company could utilize several methods such as creation of flyers, internet advertising and e-mail marketing to ensure that the company gets noticed and its services are popularized to potential job seekers (Glynn 2012). Consequently the company should ensure that it organizes constant job fairs and promotions within popular spaces such as malls, universities and within city’s public parks. These promotion methods coupled with other methods such as referrals would ensure the company get noticed and its packages are popularized among potential job seekers in Australia (Caragher 2008, p. 87). d) Technology: the current trend in the recruitment industry is the utilization of web based technologies in the placing and sourcing for potential job seekers. The new recruitment firm should utilize the use of technology such as use of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and other online based sites. Consequently, the company should also develop a website that it could use in adverting for open position and registering for applicants while maintaining a database of potential job seekers (McDonald 2011). e) Partnerships: the new recruitment firm should engage other companies such as small firms in the process of networking. As a result, the company could easily source for workers and match their database of potential job seekers with requirements from these business partners (Ogunmokun 2012, p. 73). The firm should also partner with other foreign based recruitment firms in the process of sourcing short term talent for project within Australia or matching foreign low skilled workers with employers especially within the agribusiness sector. Conclusion A marketing plan should analyze myriad of factors that could affect the setting up of nascent organizations or firms. For instance in the case of Emilia Moneypenny and Alan Silver, they have to undertake industry analysis and choose a business segment that could provide a business advantage over established firms in this business segment. Their decision to open a temp work agency is informed by the fact that this recruitment segment presents the greatest promise in terms of growth in the region. Their decision is informed by the expected growth numbers in the different Australian economic segments such as the tourism, healthcare and agribusiness. Recruitment trends and industry analysis identify a big opportunity within the temp work segment and their marketing plan will pay off in due time. References Caragher, J 2008, “Expand Your Horizons: Niche Marketing Success Stories”, Journal of Accountancy, vol. 205, no. 4, 86-93. Glynn, M and Woodside, G 2012, Business-to-business Marketing Management: Strategies, Cases and Solutions. Emerald Group Publishing, Sydney. Havaldar, B 2010, Business Marketing: Text & Cases, Pelshiver, New York. Havlicek, K 2011, “Marketing Management and Marketing Controlling of SMEs”, European Research Studies, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 56-67. Holder, B 2012, “First, Build a Marketing Plan”, ABA Banking Journal, vol. 88, no. 10, pp. 112-119. Luther, W 2011, The Marketing Plan: How to Prepare and Implement It, John Wiley and Sons. Boston, MA. McDonald, M and Keegan, W 2009, Marketing Plans that Work, Palgrave MacMillan, London. McDonald, M, Payne, A and Frow P 2011, Marketing Plans for Services: A Complete Guide, Thompson Learning. Melbourne. McFarland, A 2010, “Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan for a Start-Up”, Business Educator, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 97-103. Ogunmokun, G, Tang, E and Chen, H 2012, “The Effect of Strategic Marketing Planning Behaviour on the Performance of Small- to Medium-Sized Firms”, International Journal of Management, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 69-75. Schweizer, B 2009, “First Form a Plan: Keep Your Goals and Strategy Up Front to Help Focus Marketing and Development Efforts”, Journal of Accountancy, vol. 202, no. 4, pp. 132-137. Zumwalt, W 2011, “A Marketing Success Story”, Journal of International Business Management, vol. 177, no. 5, pp. 34-41. Read More