Planning Marketing: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships

The company strategic plan establishes what kinds of businesses the company will operate in and its objectives for each. Then, within each business unit, more detailed planning takes place. The major functional departments in each unit marketing, finance, accounting, purchasing, operations, information systems, human resources, and other must work together to accomplish strategic objectives.

Marketing plays a key role in the company strategic planning in several ways. First, marketing provides a guiding philosophy the marketing concept that suggests that company strategy should revolve around building profitable relationship with important consumer groups.