The decision-making process is a very critical part of carrying out business processes and operations such that the success of any business organization relies on the results and outcomes of each choice or decision. Therefore, business organizations approach the decision-making process critically, employing various progressions that constitute the pre-planning and pre-production process.
For instance, business organization formulates, analyzes, and evaluates various strategies or approaches, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, the available resources and opportunities for obtaining them, the dimensions of the market structure, competitive advantage, financial forecasts, and such, prior to implementing made decisions. In the end, successful organizations are able to utilize these concepts and processes to their advantage by implementing only the most efficient and appropriate strategies that fit the business culture, scenario and environment.
With that said, the remainder of this text will follow the decision-making process of Procter and Gamble Europe, as well as possible recommendations, on their reservations about the launching of a laundry and cleaning product, and the appropriateness of two choices of business strategies – European or German business approaches. Procter and Gamble Europe is wedged between two business strategies, the European approach to launching and marketing Vizir – a laundry and cleaning product – and the aggressive German business approach to selling the product as it has been successful in capturing the market through the years.
The first decision that P&G Europe needs to resolve is to decide whether to launch Vizir in Germany. The position of P&G Europe in Germany is strong and stable, given the success of its products, not only the leading detergent brand name Ariel, but other P&G Europe brand names as well such as Colgate, Persil, etc. Framing the issue to specifics, P&G Europe has successfully taken the majority of the market in the laundry and cleaning product industry through the nationwide success of Ariel.
Launching Vizir in Germany would lead to two remotely different results. It would either thwart Ariel from its bold position in the detergent market, or hinder the growth or development of Vizir in the German market. Either way, P&G Europe is at a losing position, such that launching Vizir will discontinue the success of Ariel and split the market population and on the other hand, the German market might ignore the launching of Vizir and cease to contribute to P&G Europe’s growing industry.
Therefore, launching Vizir in the German market should be P&G Europe’s least of priorities, but considering the launch at a later time after a lengthy and thorough review and analysis of the German market structure might and should be a future possibility if the time comes that Ariel reaches the end of the product life cycle. If P&G Europe pushes through with production and launching of Vizir, the business organization will yet again decide whether to implement the European or German business strategies.
In this case, it is important to look into the advantages and disadvantages of both business strategies, determining which of the two would result to better and desirable outcomes. Reviewing past situations wherein P&G Europe products were structured under the context of the Pan-European approach, it would be best to apply this particular strategy, rather than focusing on the independent German approach for launching and marketing.
The implementation of the Pan-European approach for the launching and marketing of P&G Europe’s products have been successful over the years. Coordinated marketing strategies and approaches not only benefit the position of subsidiaries who carry out specified roles and responsibilities in the process, but also ensure that the product will become successful in each country wherein the Vizir will be introduced.
Doing so, however, requires thorough market survey and research on dimensions of consumer decision-making processes and purchasing patterns in order to determine how Vizir will be designed, packaged, launched, and marketed to each national market structure. It is also important to determine a commonality among these market structures in order to obtain a view on how the image and reputation of the brand name Vizir will be exhibited.
With the obtained knowledge from market survey and research, P&G Europe should set a timetable wherein the launching of Vizir for each country in Europe will be based on. Like previous launching and marketing patterns implemented by the company, it should determine the right time and situation wherein the product will be launched for each country. This plan shall be based on the market survey and research, and most importantly the product life cycles of detergent brand names that are widely utilized in each country.
After deciding on the business strategy, P&G should also be able to determine the business and organizational structure that the company will be following as a standard or guidelines for carrying out business processes and operations. Since the recommendation for the Vizir launch was the Pan-European approach, it would be best to implement the brand manager structure in order to ensure that launching and marketing process is carried out, supervised, and evaluated thoroughly and closely.
P&G Europe has also implemented this particular structure through the years and has shown success in doing so. Moreover, since the market structures and dimensions differs for each country in Europe, establishing the brand manager structure for the Vizir launching and marketing project will ensure that the most knowledgeable, skilled, and competent leaders handle the unique and distinct situations in their respective nations and market structures.
