Question 1

Implementation involves the transformation of the chosen strategies into action and refers to
the methods and techniques the organization adopts to execute managements selected
strategy. It is a process of selecting the most appropriate structure for the chosen strategy,
support systems for resource allocation, and suitable motivation. It is the second step in the
strategic marketing management process. Without implementation, planning is useless to any
organisation. Implementation is one of the key routes to improved business performance, yet
recognised as one of the most difficult business challenges facing todays managers.
Inherently, implementation is critical to goal attainment since even the best strategy is
worthless if implemented incorrectly. Yip (2007) identified four factors which determine the
crucial organisational forces that affect a companys ability to formulate and implement
strategies. These four factors include:
1. organisational structure
2. people (or leadership)
3. organisational culture
4. managerial processes.
To ensure a strategy is implemented successfully an organisation can make use of a few
capabilities within the organisation to drive the implementation. Through alignment between
organisational culture, proper policies and procedures, leadership, processes and systems, and
a suitable organisational structure, strategies are put into action and results delivered.

It is fundamental that the organisational structure reconcile with the companys marketing
strategy. This is beacsue strategic planning specifies what will be accomplished and when,
organisational structure specifies who will accomplish what, and leadership specifies how it
will be accomplished. Even the most well-designed market and marketing strategies can fail
without effective organising, structure and good leadership. The manner in which plans are
implemented is affected by the implementation of marketing plans dependent on the
organisational structure. The success of the implementation stems from close cooperation of
all marketing personnel under the leadership of the marketing manager. Planning and
organising are thus closely linked.

Organisational structure
The structure of an organisation has an indirect influence on strategy implementation,
through information flow and control as well as the decision process within the organisation.
It provides a framework within which the strategy must be implemented to achieve the goals
of the organisation; it also identifies, groups and coordinates the tasks that are necessary for
the strategy implementation. An organisation must align its design and capabilities with the
strategy. This structure installs accountability and, therefore, it allows the organisation to
achieve its objectives and goals. It is of utmost importance that an organisation has a clear
mission and strategy, as without an understanding of this strategy there can be no successful
implementation. Organising involves the structuring of a company to co-ordinate resources
and activities to achieve marketing objectives in an effective manner. Designing a flexible
organisational structure that is committed to quality and customer satisfaction is one of the
most critical challenges facing marketing managers today. Yet there is obviously a gap
between what managers say and do. This gap is particularly evident when quality
performance is linked with customer satisfaction. Structures determine to a large extent how
marketing tasks are (and are not) accomplished, for at least three reasons: 1. First, structure
affects not only the type and flow of information, but also the pattern of resource allocation.
2. Second, the formal organisation affects processes within a functional area; structure affects
who interacts with whom and determines the focus of attention for individual managers. 3.
Third, the way marketing activities are organised over time determines the kind of skills that
are developed. Those in turn affect the kinds of marketing strategies and people available to
the organisation. Every organisation made up of more than one person will need some form
of organisational structure. An organisational chart shows the way the chain of command
works within the organisation. The way a company is organised can be illustrated for a
packaging company. The company will be owned by shareholders who choose directors to
look after their interests. The directors then appoint managers to run the business on a day-to-
day basis.

Leadership
Leadership is an integral part of the implementation of strategies. It is the driving force within
an organisation. It includes the delegating of authority to subordinates, coordinating tasks and
activities, communication on all levels of the organisation, and the establishment of a
corporate culture that is conducive to the attainment of the overall objectives of the
organisation. Leaders play an intricate role in the implementation process as change, and the
implementation thereof, cannot happen on its own. A leader should provide a strategic vision
and this vision needs to be articulated and be a motivation to employees. Leaders must also
be able to anticipate, envision and maintain flexibility throughout the implementation
process.

Delegating authority
In order to organise the marketing department, the work needs to be divided into specific
tasks or activities and the necessary authority delegated to persons responsible for performing
the tasks. Delegating authority, according to Van der Walt, Strydom, Marx, and Jooste
(1996), involves balancing the organisation between two extremes centralisation and
decentralisation. In a centralised organisation top management makes most of the major
decisions and delegates little
decision-making authority down to lower-level managers. By contrast, in a decentralised
organisation, managers delegate decision-making authority as far down the chain of
command as possible. Several factors determine the extent to which an organisation is
centralised or decentralised. In general, if the marketing environment is fairly uncertain, there
is a greater tendency to decentralise. The nature of the decisions to be made must also be
considered. Costly and risky decisions, for example, place more pressure on the organisation
to centralise. Irrespective of whether a company remains centralised or decentralised, the
major concern is to delegate authority in such a way that the company can achieve its
marketing objectives.
Coordination
The coordination of activities plays a very important role in leadership. In the marketing
department this entails obtaining cooperation between individuals and groups inside and
outside the marketing department and the organisation in order to strive jointly to achieve the
business objectives in general, and the marketing objectives of the organisation in particular.
Marketing management should thus design the marketing organisation in such a way that
effective cooperation is achieved with top management, other departments in the enterprise,
between individuals and divisions inside the marketing department, as well as with outside
institutions. This type of coordination is established by effective communication, motivation,
and the diplomatic handling of conflict.

Some policies will be forced on the company by external stakeholders. Government

legislation on certain issues will also affect company policies, for example, the design for
Reward systems
Reward systems serve as a means of motivating managers and employees to be more
committed to the strategy and its implementation. These reward systems should be integrated
throughout the whole organisation, even reaching as far as middle and lower level employees.
There are various reward systems from which managers can choose, including the restricted
share plan, golden hand gloves, golden parachutes and cash bonuses, to name but a few.
While some employees will do their best without special coaching from management, most
employees require encouragement and special incentives to work at their best. Research has
shown that the higher an employees motivation, the greater his or her effort; greater effort
will lead to greater performance; greater performance will lead to greater rewards; greater
rewards will lead to greater satisfaction; and greater satisfaction will reinforce motivation.
Managers must be able to convince staff that the rewards for better performance are worth the
extra effort. If employees feel their efforts are being rewarded and that future efforts will also
be rewarded, their quality of work is likely to improve. In this way, total quality and
productivity can be improved.
Corporate culture can be defined as the integrated pattern of human behaviour that includes
thought, speech, action and artefacts and depends on mans capacity for learning and
transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.

Barriers to strategy implementation

Many barriers can hamper an organisations efforts to successfully implement its strategy.
organisations must be able to identify these barriers and to engage in honest discussions with
employees about these barriers and what the possible causes may be. Some barriers that
organisations may face include:
unclear strategy and conflicting priorities
an ineffective senior management team poor vertical communication
inadequate down-the-line leadership skills and development
poor coordination across functions, businesses and borders
goals that have not been sufficiently defined
formulators of strategy are not involved in implementation or
have left before implementation has finished.
Strategic decisions are often implemented without having a proper fit between the strategy
and the implementation variables. Therefore any inconsistency with the one factor influences
all the other factors in the process, and ultimately influences the success of the
implementation
process. It can often be difficult to achieve coherence between
implementation factors in situations that are dynamic and complex with
constant change.
Previous studies indicate the main barriers to implementation of strategies
include implementation taking more time than planned, poor
communication, lack of coordination and support from other levels of
management, resistance from lower levels and lack of or poor planning.
These challenges and barriers are all related to individual implementation
factors and not being able to achieve coherence between these factors.
Because of the complex, dynamic nature of implementation situations, it
may be very difficult, or in some cases even impossible, to achieve and
maintain coherence between implementation factors.
The organizational structure must be able to support the strategic action. In addition to an
appropriate structure, the strategy should include the degree of autonomy allowed for each
individual to carry out his or her portion of the required activities. Implementation systems
must be in place to ensure that the firms activities, from the decision-making process to
output, are in accord with the agreed-upon strategy. The organizations management style
must focus on leadership, planning, organizing, controlling, communicating, and problem-
solving activities. The organizations culture must be in tune with, and supportive of, the
strategic process. There must be a match between the strategy and the implementation. Thus,
successful implementation of strategy requires a planned effort with commitment from all
members of the organization, not just from management. However, management must ensure
that the proper tools, support mechanisms, and lines of authority exist within the
organizational structure to implement the strategy.

Question 3

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT Analysis
is used as a tool or framework for assessing an organization and its marketing environment,
summarizing the main environmental issues in the form of opportunities and threats facing an
organization. A SWOT Analysis is undertaken to assess the opportunities and threats in a
marketplace and the strengths and weaknesses of a company in meeting opportunities as they
arise.Marketing opportunities can come in many forms, and each is assessed for its
attractiveness and success probability. Attractiveness can be assessed in terms of potential
market size, growth rates, profit margins, and competitiveness and distribution channels. An
environmental threat is a challenge posed by unfavorable trend on development in a company
environment that would lead, in the absence of action by the company, to the erosion of the
markets position. The SWOT analysis measures the internal performance through the
strengths and weaknesses and measures the external performance through opportunities and
threats. (Palmer, 2004: 68)

SWOT Analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic
position of the business and its environment. Its key purpose is to identify the strategies that
will create a firm specific business model that will best align an organizations resources and
capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates.
In other words, it is the foundation for evaluating the internal potential and limitations and the
probable/likely opportunities and threats from the external environment. It views all positive
and negative factors inside and outside the firm that affect the success. A consistent study of
the environment in which the firm operates helps in forecasting/predicting the changing
trends and also helps in including them in the decision-making process of the organization.
An overview of the four factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is given
below.

Strengths refer to those qualities that will enable a business to perform well in the
marketplace, while weaknesses are those factors that impede the businesss efforts. The
whole purpose of identifying inherent strengths and weaknesses is to identify the variables on
which a business should build (strengths) and those variables that represent weaknesses.
Situations where serious inherent weaknesses can hamper progress must obviously be
avoided. Strengths and weaknesses should be considered in conjunction with external
opportunities and threats (the last two letters in the SWOT acronym). Inherent strengths will
enable a company to use lucrative opportunities in the market environment or macro
environment. Threats should be confronted or avoided. Threats should be seen as challenges
that should be overcome. Inherent weaknesses, however, leave a business vulnerable to
external threats and make it impossible for it to embrace challenges. This improves the
opportunities on which competitors can capitalize.

Strengths - Strengths are the qualities that enable us to accomplish the organizations
mission. These are the basis on which continued success can be made and
continued/sustained. Strengths can be either tangible or intangible. These are what you are
well-versed in or what you have expertise in, the traits and qualities your employees possess
(individually and as a team) and the distinct features that give your organization its
consistency. Strengths are the beneficial aspects of the organization or the capabilities of an
organization, which includes human competencies, process capabilities, financial resources,
products and services, customer goodwill and brand loyalty. Examples of organizational
strengths are huge financial resources, broad product line, no debt, committed employees, etc.
Weaknesses - Weaknesses are the qualities that prevent us from accomplishing our mission
and achieving our full potential. These weaknesses deteriorate influences on the
organizational success and growth. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the
standards we feel they should meet. Weaknesses in an organization may be depreciating
machinery, insufficient research and development facilities, narrow product range, poor
decision-making, etc. Weaknesses are controllable. They must be minimized and eliminated.
For instance - to overcome obsolete machinery, new machinery can be purchased. Other
examples of organizational weaknesses are huge debts, high employee turnover, complex
decision making process, narrow product range, large wastage of raw materials, and so on.

Opportunities - Opportunities are presented by the environment within which our

organization operates. These arise when an organization can take benefit of conditions in its
environment to plan and execute strategies that enable it to become more profitable.
Organizations can gain competitive advantage by making use of opportunities. Organization
should be careful and recognize the opportunities and grasp them whenever they arise.
Selecting the targets that will best serve the clients while getting desired results is a difficult
task. Opportunities may arise from market, competition, industry/government and
technology. Increasing demand for telecommunications accompanied by deregulation is a
great opportunity for new firms to enter telecom sector and compete with existing firms for
revenue.

Threats Threats arise when conditions in external environment jeopardize the reliability and
profitability of the organizations business. They compound the vulnerability when they
relate to the weaknesses. Threats are uncontrollable. When a threat comes, the stability and
survival can be at stake. Examples of threats are - unrest among employees; ever changing
technology; increasing competition leading to excess capacity, price wars and reducing
industry profits and so on.

SWOT Analysis is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. It is a strong tool, but it
involves a great subjective element. It is best when used as a guide, and not as a prescription.
Successful businesses build on their strengths, correct their weakness and protect against
internal weaknesses and external threats. They also keep a watch on their overall business
environment and recognize and exploit new opportunities faster than its competitors. SWOT
Analysis helps in strategic planning in following manner- It is a source of information for
strategic planning. Builds organizations strengths. Reverse its weaknesses. Maximize its
response to opportunities. Overcome organizations threats. It helps in identifying core
competencies of the firm. It helps in setting of objectives for strategic planning. It helps in
knowing past, present and future so that by using past and current data, future plans can be
chalked out. SWOT Analysis provide information that helps in synchronizing the firms
resources and capabilities with the competitive environment in which the firm operates.

When it comes to tourism, the hotel industry is very important. In fact, it is a supporting
service that affects the presence of tourists in a certain place. How else can tourists stay in a
place if there are no hotels? The SWOT analysis is vital to determine if the industry is
helping in the achievement of tourism goals. By identifying the weaknesses, the hotels can
better address potential problems in the future. SWOT stands for strength, weakness,
opportunity, and threat. The analysis can vary from one place to another and so you cant just
copy the SWOT analysis of other places. For now, you can focus on the hotel industry of
India. The strengths of the industry include having several quality hotels in the country that
are able to meet the demands of tourists. You can also find international players in the
industry and heres good news for you the manpower costs are the lowest. The country has
many tourist destinations that offer potential growth for hotel owners. The industry also has
weaknesses and this includes the following land is expensive in India and most hotels are
staffed heavily! The tax structure in the country is also higher as compared to other countries
and the hotel rooms in the country are far lesser as well. The services offered by hotels are
limited and will not meet with the world standards.

Botswana offers the traveller a choice of accommodation options from top class tourist
hotels, luxury lodges and safari camps, to budget guesthouses and camping grounds. The
major tourist areas have a choice of private lodges, safari camps, and public camping sites. A
variety of cuisines are served in hotels and restaurants from local favourites and game meat,
to continental and Asian dishes. There are also plenty of fast food outlets and small
restaurants/takeaways offering local dishes. While there are now two to three high-quality
hotel and conference facilities in Gaborone, there are occasionally shortages in hotel rooms in
the capital during major conferences and summits. There is presently insufficient capacity if
Botswana hopes to expand business-related travel within the capital city, although some
assess the hotel market in Gaborone to be saturated based on recent hotel development
projects and current visit volumes.
The evaluation of this industry can be

This SWOT analysis gives a short but concise overview of the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats of the Botswana Hotels and Restaurants sector.

Strengths
The strength of hotel industry is that it is non-substitutable. This is because the service is
unique and thus sustainable. People never stop travelling completely and Botswana as a
tourist resort country it has the number of tourists increasing every year. These tourists have
no Being a sector greatly dependent on tourists, that is a great strength. Considering the
catering industry it is the same, people will never stop eating. An open sector. The sector
creates job opportunities for young people and for women. Also, people with limited
education can get the opportunity for a career. It is a global industry with highly international
markets Due to its labour intensive and customer close nature it cannot be exported or
outsourced. It is a flexible industry which handles changes relatively easy. Botswana has
been an increasingly recognized and demanded tourist destination with well-established
tourism products that are nature-based, making it more competitive than international
destinations that only boost man-made attractions. Its offerings are in line with the supply and
demand trends.
Botswana Tourism has put in place very strong destination channels through its international
marketing offices in strategic geographical locations. Through the adoption of internet
technology, Botswana has established a fully functional E-Marketing unit complete with the
magical tourism website. Most hotels in Botswana has qualified staff that have managed to
provide the most pleasant, friendly and charming image thorough its services thereby
winning international tour operator confidence. Active public-private-civil partnerships in the
area of product development and promotion at the both the destination level and investment
level is another major strength for the hotel sector in Botswana.

Weaknesses

.
Opportunities
The ageing population could be a boost for the integrated services of the catering sub-
sector
Changes in the gender structures: more women entering the labour market means less
time to cook at home. Also this means an opportunity for the sector to get the needed
labour.
The trend of higher demands on quality could add value to the sector.
Concerns for climate and health are also trends that potentially add value to products
and services.
Increasing globalisation, leading to more international travellers and tourists,
especially from emerging economies.
Being increasingly on the move, we need more snacking and take away.
Threats
The big black market is a threat to working conditions, which in the long run is a
threat to the sector's competitiveness when it comes to recruiting skilled staff.
The lack of sufficiently skilled personnel jeopardises the quality of the sector.
If the climate threat grows, long distance travelling might decrease and thereby hurt
the sector.
An ageing population makes it even harder to recruit labour.
The educational system is ageing and might, if not renewed, jeopardise the quality of
the sector.
For the catering industry there is a trend to invest less in food for employees and to
put taxes on these kinds of wage benefits
Terrorism and political unrest.
.

The SWOT analysis is not without limitations. While it is a useful tool for reducing a large
quantity of situational factors into a more manageable profile, the SWOT framework has a
tendency to oversimplify the situation by classifying the firms environmental factors into
categories in which they may not always fit. The classification of some factors as strengths or
weaknesses, or as opportunities or threats is somewhat arbitrary. For example, a particular
company culture can be either a strength or weakness. A technological change can be either a
threat or an opportunity. Perhaps what is more important than the superficial classification of
these factors is the firms awareness of them and its development of a strategic plan to use
them to its advantage.