Uop Mba540 Prob Solution: Usa World Bank

Where Is The Toaster?

Hidden behind the faded cherry stained cabinet door, sits the box with the bank's promotional sticker clearly visible. Amongst all the other gadgetry of seldom used items, the shiny silver four-slice toaster is a reminder of marketing schemes that banks and savings and loans institutions used to attract new clients. The occasional lollipops for the children in tow, and the small doggy biscuit for the canine in the car are just some of the items found at the drive-up window when making deposits or withdrawals. Nowadays, the toaster has evolved as financial institutions still attempt to lure new clients and increase market share. "Online access to banks nationwide has opened up more choices for consumers and made marketers find ways to become more savvy in catching their attention with different kinds of giveaways, services and even missions" (Nycz-Conner, 2006). USA World Bank, a financial institution with branches throughout the United States as well as an international presence, attempts to market one new product annually. Return on investment is always a concern, and market research is expenditure. "Marketing budgets for banks have been on the rise since 2002, reaching a peak of $10.6 billion in 2005, and the American Bankers Association predicts that number will drop slightly by the end of this year but remain stable overall" (Nycz-Conner, 2006). Several of these products have seen great success, but recently the marketing initiatives have produced lower than average revenues and USA World Bank needs to ensure a greater earnings ratio (University of Phoenix, 2005).

The current emphasis is on a charge card with rewards. New Product Development is pushing a consumer-based card with rewards such as frequent flier miles or other travel related incentives. Marketing is focusing on a similar charge card for small businesses with a larger spending limit and some reward component. Both of these cards have substantial earnings potential for USA World Bank, provided the research data collected is valid, yet the Board of Directors generally only allows for one marketing incentive per year. The statistics gathered via secondary and primary research must be measurable and closely match with the sampling and surveys of the population. Pertinent research, scientific sampling and accurate statistical data collection ensures USA World Bank will increase market share with the successful launch of their new product incentive of a rewards card that encompasses both small business and the consumer base.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Companies are in business to make money, and market share is vital to growth. In order to grow, companies need to know several factors related to what the consumer desires as well as what they will pay for the product or service. Research allows a snapshot of the current market and potential trends. "Business research is of much more recent origin and is largely supported by business organizations that hope to achieve a competitive advantage" (Cooper and Schindler, 2003, p. 14). The USA World Bank Board of Directors voiced some concerns over the launch of the new banking product (University of Phoenix, 2005). During the presentation of the product, the data collected came under scrutiny. Knowing what the market will bear is vital to the success of the product. The Edsel is an excellent example of why companies need accurate, valid, and current research. Corporations today rely upon data collected from several resources. Both secondary and primary resources help to define the target market and feasibility of the product. "Good research generates dependable data, being derived by practices that are conducted professionally and that can be used reliably for managerial decision making" (Cooper and Schindler, 2003, p. 14).

With the designated launch date approaching, the marketing department of USA World Bank is in the process of re-evaluating their current processes and procedures for the collection of data and determining the best course of action. In actuality, two separate departments within marketing have viable options for a charge card with rewards. Both departments used conceivably good methods for the data analysis; however, other conditions also need strong consideration. The sampling size, and the target audience as well as the leading questions of the survey provided room for errors of margin. All the marketing executives need to become familiar with probability and statistics especially as it relates to sampling and inferential statistics. "A probability distribution gives the entire range of values that can occur based on an experiment. A probability distribution is similar to a relative frequency distribution. However, instead of describing the past, it describes how likely some future event is" (Lind, Marchal, and Wathen, 2004, p. 181).

Opportunities abound once the executives familiarize themselves with best practices of managerial decision-making based upon statistics. An easy opportunity presents itself in the way of a course from the University of Phoenix, since both day and evening classes are available. An opportunity analysis of variance (ANOVA), allows for comparisons. "Another use of the F distribution is the analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique in which we compare three or more population means to determine whether they could be equal" (Lind, Marchal, and Wathen, 2004, p. 392). Taking into consideration that both proposed charge cards could stimulate both business and consumer based offerings, ANOVA allows the marketing team to evaluate effectively the populations. At this point in the marketing process, USA World Bank marketing team needs to learn from their previous samples by redesigning the surveys using descriptive data to match their needs and to conduct further qualified research into the viability of the rewards based charge card.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The Board of Directors for USA World Bank needs to ensure that any new product launch is carefully analyzed to fit the needs of their clients as well as being profitable for the financial institution and the shareholders. With international affiliations as well as a major domestic presence, USA World Bank must continue to grow its market share. With overall budgeting, apparently the board believes that only one new product launch can be successful and the decision for which rewards card is chosen must be based on reliable data. Bea Hansen, a new member of the board, has the knowledge and experience necessary to make recommendations and question the product statistics