l<ukdlrK mSGh" fmardfoKsh úYajúoHd,h" › ,xldj

Kfhikj;Jt gPlk;> Nguhjidg; gy;fiyf;fofk;> ,yq;if

Faculty of Management, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

B. Com (Hons.) Degree Program

End of Second Semester Examination – 2020/2021
(Take-Home Open Book Examination)

MGT 301/315: Marketing/ Marketing Management

Instructions:
• This paper contains Four (04) questions.
• Answer all the questions.
• You are not allowed to reproduce and paraphrase the lecture notes in your answers.
• You are expected to attach citations and references.
• Plagiarism is considered a punishable offense.
• You are allowed maximum 25 pages to write. Total Marks: 60
Starting Date & Time: 8.00 am., 20/09/2021 Submission Date & Time: Before 11.00 pm., 01/10/2021

Question 01

Read the case study and answer the following questions.

Sussi Apparels

Sussi is the owner of ‘Sussi Apparels,’ a small-scale garment factory started to manufacture ladies’ and
gentlemen’s casual wear and occasional garments. The business was started in 2015 with the support of
her family members to fulfill customers’ needs. Her father, mother, and brother helped her in numerous
ways with emotional and financial support. The business plays the role of a family business. Due to the
quality of their apparel products within a short time, they have obtained a significant customer base and
high sales volume. However, through the manufacturing process, they have much prioritized and
promoted traditional fashions, color themes, and repetitious items such as dark colors, heavy cotton saree
jackets, girls’ lama sarees, and gents’ shirts with short sleeves and sarongs. Basically, their target
customer group was middle-aged low-end customers. When a customer asks for a new design, they never
concerned about the voice of the customer and tried to produce available traditional items. Customers do
not argue with them and mostly have accepted their traditional old-style items since customers do not
have another option.
In 2002 a new garment factory was opened in the next village closer to Sussi’s factory, and they have
started to produce fashionable apparel in line with the customer expectations. The new manufacturer
works with customer information, and his purpose was to earn healthy profits through customer
satisfaction. Other than that, the new marketer operates his business following the concepts of customer-

Page 1 of 2
centric and customization concepts. Therefore, he used dark and brilliant colors, light and pastel colors,
and more customer-attractive fashions and modern designs with quality materials to satisfy existing and
potential customer needs. As a result, more than 50 percent of Sussi’s customers switched to the new
apparel products instantly. Now, Sussi is heading into a bankrupt situation and thinking to re-organize
the business with a new approach.
i. Identify and name the relevant orientation of Sussi and describe the characteristics of that
orientation. (02 Marks)
ii. “The new garment factory, markets their products according to the marketing orientation.”
Comment on this statement describing the main features of marketing orientation and
justify your answer. (02 Marks)
iii. Briefly explain any two orientations that marketers can apply as alternatives to the
marketing orientation to satisfy customer needs and wants. (02 Marks)
iv. Discuss the relationship among product perceived value, customer expected value and
customer satisfaction. (03 Marks)
v. Marketing always creates values to satisfy customer needs, and this practice is identified
as the formal marketing process. Explain the steps in the marketing process by adopting
suitable examples. (03 Marks)
vi. Analyze comparatively the marketing processes of the two different organizations in the
case study in line with the formal marketing process. (03 Marks)
(Total 15 Marks)

Question 02

Suppose you have recently been appointed as a professional marketing researcher at a leading milk
products company in Sri Lanka. It was situated in the up-country, within farming facilities with enough
infrastructure facilities. The primary products categories that they have offered to customers are milk
powder and liquid milk. So far, they have produced different types of powdered milk to fulfill customer
needs and supplied one-litre full cream liquid milk packets. They have mainly followed a pull
promotional strategy and, as a result, decided to improve their liquid milk product line by adding several
types of liquid milk flavors. The company’s management team considers offering flavored milk packets
in 200 ml: vanilla, chocolate, and natural strawberry flavors. The decision was considered only as a
tentative decision and activation of the new decision will be based on accurate information.
Therefore, the team arranged a marketing research project to obtain accurate information to prove their
decision’s appropriateness. Hence, they are seeking your support to conduct a proper marketing research
project to fulfill the company need.
At the initial stage of the marketing research project, you are requested to answer the following questions.

Page 2 of 2
 i. State the management decision problem which the company expects to decide.
(02 Marks)
ii. Derive the marketing research problem corresponding to the stated management decision
problem. (02 Marks)
iii. Differentiate between problem-identification research and problem-solving research, and
further discuss suitable research designs for each type of research. (04 Marks)
iv. When the new products are launched, and the company offers the new product to both
consumers and business customers, briefly explain both buying processes. (05 Marks)
v. When a consumer purchases the ten packets of new flavored milk, describe the buying
decision type considering the weightage of consumer involvement. (02 Marks)
(Total 15 Marks)
Question 03

i. Explain how the services offered by a restaurant differ from the products offered by an apparel
manufacturing company to satisfy customer needs based on the characteristics of services
marketing. (04 Marks)
ii. You are a marketing executive in a leading consumer goods manufacturing company in Sri
Lanka. The company is launching a new dishwashing liquid that is more active in cleaning
the dirt and stains with the fragrance of lemon peel than the other dishwashing liquids
available in the market. However, this product is introduced to the low-end market segment
as a new product. The top management of the organization needs to set an accurate price for
the new product. Therefore, they asked you to provide a report explaining pricing strategies
that can be applied to set the ultimate price. Further, they expect your opinion about the most
suitable pricing strategy concerning the new offer. (04 Marks)
iii. Differentiate between advertising and sales promotion and justify which one is the most
suitable to adopt to avoid declining sales temporarily. (03 Marks)
iv. You are asked to recommend a suitable promotional strategy to promote the new product.
(04 Marks)
(Total 15 Marks)

Question 04
Bloom is the largest seller of athletic footwear, apparel, and other athletic equipment in Sri Lanka, with
more than 60% percent market share island wide. Bloom markets its products and many imported branded
shoes for ladies, gentlemen, and children. Among their products, school children’s shoes and other
accessories are given more priority. In recent years Bloom spent some amount of money on advertising

Page 3 of 2
and sales promotion as promotional methods. Bloom relies on marketing research campaigns to ensure
that the money is being appropriately spent from time to time. The company has a history of innovation
and motivation in its marketing process. Now they are behaving as a remarkable icon in the segment of
school sports products in Sri Lanka. They have sales outlets everywhere in Sri Lanka, and every time
they make sure to offer the same quality of shoes in their outlets to satisfy customer needs. Bloom always
understands where the future growth lies. A recent example is Bloom’s shift from marketing in the
unsophisticated and artificial materialized shoes to the sophisticated rich quality leather shoes. They were
able to keep their market share on par with the competitors.
The company thinks to achieve its extensive growth goals, and therefore they consider targeting multiple
market segments and efficient distribution channel/s.
i. Suggest suitable product-market strategies based on Ansoff’s matrix that Bloom can apply
to the decision of multiple segments. (02 Marks)
ii. Bloom maintains a horizontal distribution channel system to distribute products to
customers and looks for a new hybrid channel system. You are requested to explain the
difference between the two systems, and further, they expect your recommendations
regarding the suitable distributional channel system. (03 Marks)
iii. When Bloom becomes the industry’s market leader, explain other competitive roles
available to increase the market competition. (03 Marks)
iv. What are the marketing strategies that you suggest Blooming to be the market leader?
(02 Marks)
v. Briefly explain how to use the Porter’s Five Forces Model by Bloom to analyze the market
competition. (05 Marks)
(Total 15 Marks)

***********************************
End of the Question Paper

Page 4 of 2