ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080501277/46f3fe21-8f6e-484c-9030-9772da6c3280/content/fig12_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> A theme that permeates the chapters of this book is the notion that strategic marketing can (and should) be considered within the framework of a planning process, i.e. in a formalized, structured and systematic fashion. As made clear by Malcolm McDonald in Chapter 8, a central tenet of marketing planning is that the starting point of the process is the formulation of clear objectives. This does, however, beg the question of whose objectives are they? We glibly talk about the company’s objectives as if the organization is a living entity, divorced from individuals and groups who actually formulate the objectives and independent of other constituents who can help or hinder their implementation.
