Marketing Manager Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Manager - Research Paper Example The F-16 was initially developed by the company General Dynamics, however General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing facilities to Lockheed Martin and it has since been marketed by them. With the current race of weapons technology, it is also not deniable that management of the F-16 at Lockheed Martin will do very well to keep it relevant in the latest war arenas and war deterrence mechanisms of the world. In its field of work, the F-16's fate really depends on its manufacturers being able to keep it competitive with other aircraft of its role in terms of functionality. Functionality, Time, Place and Ease of Possession As stated in the previous statement the crucial feature for the F-16 as a product is the state of its functionality. Upgrading the F-16 has been vital in keeping it competitive. Unfortunately upgrading any product can never produce the same results as incorporating a technology in the design process of the product. There have been a few issues reported in latest block of type C/D aircraft. This is because the upgrading process is being severely hindered by technical complications due to the advent of sophisticated avionics software. One limitation on the upgrades has been the limited power and cooling capabilities of the aircraft, which have been stretched thinner in more advanced variants with more power hungry avionics (Hartung, 2011). With regard to the time requirements of the customer, the F-16 has been one of the most effective weapons ever developed. In fact it was the answer to the United States military's question of what it was to do about air superiority and air-to-air combat after the experiences of the Vietnam war. And even now it is said that production of the F-35 Lightning II, Lockheed Martin's current flagship aircraft has been suffering from the company's focusing resources on meeting customer demand for the F-16. Delivery of aircraft to the customer is a trivial matter in projects of complex military weapons development. In any case the operations of distribution are kept clandestine by the Supply Chain management. In fact according to Schultz (1993), "With the rise of Internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant" even in mainstream product marketing models. Unfortunately Lockheed has not fared well in the past in dealing with customer countries' representatives in terms of displaying teamwork. It ranks number one on the 'contractor misconduct' database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington DC-based watchdog group. However for the upgraded F-16s' program the company is looking to institute a culture of cooperation with the clients' right of possession and providing efficient technical assistance as stipulated in the contracts with the foreign defence forces. For better cooperation with international clients the company will be designating Program managers for each countries' F-16 delivery programs. The program managers will be responsible for th e execution of the entire program: contract award, design, build delivery and post delivery sustainment. They will work with a variety of customers on multiple contracts including end item delivery, design enhancements, support and training. Customer Base for the F-16 The target market has obviously shifted away from the United States in the past decade and into some other developed countries of the world. However, now the company will