The opening/closing case for Chapter 3 highlights Nordstrom's keen attention to customer satisfaction, personalized service, and relationship marketing. Despite its comparatively high department store prices and slow expansion rate, Nordstrom has earned a loyal customer following, particularly within its target market of well-educated, middle-aged women in upper-income households. Take a look at the Nordstrom homepage and answer the questions below.

http://www.nordstrom-pta.com

In what ways does Nordstrom's homepage exemplify its overall marketing strategy? Do you think that the Web is an appropriate medium for Nordstrom to make connections with its target audience as described above? Why or why not? What other services - both on-line and in-store - might Nordstrom offer to attract new customers and further bolster allegiance among its existing customer base?

The authors define a strategic window as "the limited amount of time in which a firm's resources coincide with a particular market opportunity." They point to Netscape Communications Corp., the developer of the world's most popular Web browser, as an example of a company which moved rapidly and decisively when faced with a strategic window. While Netscape's success is undeniable, this does not mean that the company can rest on its laurels with respect to future strategic planning, especially in light of fierce competition from Microsoft Corp. and its Internet Explorer software. Peruse the homepages below and answer the questions which follow.

Netscape http://www.netscape.com

Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com

a) With respect to Web browser development, are Netscape and Microsoft still in a period which can be described as a strategic window? Why or why not?

b) While these two giants go head-to-head for the current browser market, their marketing managers must also be concerned with strategic planning in the long-term. If you were a marketing consultant for one of these firms, how would you direct them with respect to long-range strategic planning? What special considerations must be addressed given the rapidly changing technological environment in which these companies compete?

Formulating an effective mission statement is an important early step in the development of strategic plan for any organization. Many organizations with Web homepages have made their mission statements available on-line. The URLs below point to mission statements from four very different organizations.

Ultra Chem Labs http://www.ultrachemlabs.com/about/mission.htm

The Patterson Bank http://www.pattersonbank.com/newpage3.htm

Fullerton Police Department http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/police/mission.shm

Elk Grove Unified School District http://www.egusd.k12.ca.us/about/mission.htm

a) Evaluate each of the above mission statements according to the guidelines suggested in the main text (see pp. 9 [Table 1-1] and 53). Despite the differences between these organizations, what common threads can you find among their mission statements? How would you suggest that each of these organizations improve their respective mission statements?

b) Imagine that you've just been provided with all the money and resources you would need to start your dream company. Write a mission statement for your company.

Positioning can be defined as a product's image in relation to directly competitive products as well as products marketed by the same company. Consider Levi's All-Cotton Dockers as an example. After perusing the Dockers homepage (http://www.dockers.com), write a brief description of how Levi's has positioned this product among its competitors.

Next, take a look at the main Levi's homepage (http://www.levi.com). How would you characterize the positioning of Dockers with respect to other Levi's products, especially their well-established denim fashions? What might you conclude from the fact that Levi's has chosen to create separate homepages for these products?

Identify and explain the differential advantage or disadvantage for the primary product for each of the following organizations:

Visa http://www.visa.com

The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com

Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.eb.com

Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org

Identify and describe the target market(s) for each of the following products and/or organizations:

Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org

MTV http://www.mtv.com

Rogaine http://www.rogaine.com

The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov

The Athlete's Foot http://www.theathletesfoot.com

Consolidated Edison http://www.coned.com

In the You Make the Decision box on p. 60, you were asked to consider the competition among beef, chicken, and pork producers for America's meat-buying dollar. The following homepages will give you a better basis for understanding some of the ways in which meat producers are trying to position their respective products:

National Pork Producers Council http://www.nppc.org

Texas Beef Council http://www.txbeef.org

California Poultry Industry Federation http://www.cpif.org

a) What is - or could be - each meat producer's differential advantage in relation to its competitors? What are the differential disadvantages for each meat type?

b) What marketing challenges are faced by all three of these groups? That is, what differential disadvantage(s) do they all share with respect to other segments of the food industry?

Based on the following homepages, identify all of the strategic business units (SBUs) you can for each organization:

Yamaha http://www.yamaha.com

NASA http://www.nasa.gov

Warner Brothers http://www.warnerbros.com

Many organizations have made their annual reports available on-line via their Web homepages. Select one of the companies below and study its annual report.

Irwin Toy http://www.irwin-toy.com/corporate/annual/home.htm

Autodesk http://www.autodesk.com/compinfo/investor/fininfo.htm

Roy F. Weston, Inc. http://www.rfweston.com/about/report/welcome.htm

Based on your examination of the year-end review, which of the following product-market growth strategies is being used by this company: market penetration, market development, product development, and/or diversification?

Next, find another corporation's annual report by executing a keyword search on "annual report" using the AltaVista search engine (http://www.altavista.com ). Hint: for best results, type the keywords in quotation marks as above. Once you have found a company of interest to you, answer the same question with respect to its product-market growth strategy.