The company micro environment

(1) Suppliers. Suppliers are the firms which provide  the resources needed by the company to produce its goods
and service, e.g., labour, fuel, electricity, rubber, paper, tools,
equipment, etc.

(2) Company. In making marketing plans, marketing management takes into account the various groups of the company, such as, top management, finance, research and development, purchasing, manufacturing and accounting.All these inter-related groups form Schwinn’s Internal Environment.

(3) Marketing Intermediates. Marketing intermediaries are firms that help the company to promote, sell and
distinguish its goods to the ultimate or final buyer. These include:may

(i) Middlemen. Middlemen are distribution channel firms that help the company to find customers or make sales to them. These include wholesalers and retailers who buy and resale merchandise. They are often referred to as
resalers.

(ii)Physical Distribution Firms. Physical distribution firms help the company to stock and move goods from their points of origin to their destinations.

(a)Warehouse. They store and protect goods
before they move to the next destination.

(b)Transportation Firms. They include railways, trucking companies, airlines, cargo companies and others that specialize in moving goods from one location to other.

Market Service Agencies. They are market-
ing research firms, advertising agencies, media firms and marketing consultancy firms, that help the company target and promote its products to the right markets.

(iv) Financial Intermediaries. Financial intermediaries include banks, credit companies, insurance companies and other businesses that help finance transactions or insure against the risks associated with buying and selling of goods.

(4) Target Markets. Target markets are the customers of the firm, who buy the products and services for some consideration. Target markets may comprise of the Consumer Markets, Industrial Markets, Resaler Markets, Government Markets and International Markets.

(i)Consumer Markets. Consumer markets include individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption.

(ii) Industrial Markets. Industrial markets are the organisations that buy goods and services for further processing or for use in their production process.

(iii) Resaler Markets. These are the organisations that buy goods and services in order to re-sell them at a profit.

(iv) Government Markets. Government marketsconsist of government agencies that buy goods and services in order to produce public services or transfer these goods and services to others who need them.

(v) International Markets. International markets consist of foreign buyers including consumers, producers,
resalers and government.

(5) Publics. Publics are the groups that have an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives. They include financial publics, Media Publics, Government Publics, Citizen Action Publics, Local Publics, General Publics and Internal Publics.

(1) Financial Publics. Financial publics include banks, investment houses and stockholders. They influence the companies to obtain funds.

(ii) Media Publics. Media publics include newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations or channels

iii.Government Publics. The companies need to keep track of government assistance. Manufacturers form organisations to lobby for their interest.

(iv)Citizen Action Publics. A company’s marketing decisions may be questioned by various organisations, environmental groups, minority groups and others.

Local Publics. Every company has local
publics, such as, neighbourhood residents and community organisations. Large companies usually appoint a community relation officer to deal with the community, attend meetings, answer questions and contribute to worthwhile causes.

(vi) General Publics. A company needs to be
concerned about the general publics’ attitude towards its products and activities. The company’s image in the publics
affects its buying.

(vii) Internal Publics. A company’s internal
publics include blue collar workers, white collar workers managers, the board of directors, etc. Large organisations use news-letters and make use of other means to communicate with other internal publics. When internal publics feel good about their company, this positive attitude spills over to external publics.

(6) Competitors/Competition. A company’s competitive environment has a major impact on its marketing pro-gramme. It is to be remembered that under perfect marketing, a company must satisfy the needs and wants of consumers better than its competitors do. Different types of competition that a company may face, are as follows:

(i)Brand Competition. It comes from the marketers of similar products and services; e.g., for product: Yamaha, Kawasaki Bajaj; for service: Jet Airways, Air India.

(ii) Industry Competition. Company can see it competitors more broadly as all companies making a same class of product; e.g., Hero Honda can see itself as competitive against all other two wheeler manufacturers.

(III) Form Competition. A company can see its competitors more broadly as all companies manufacturingbthe product that renders same service; e.g., Yamaha, Hero Honda, Maruti Car.

(iv) General Competition. In this type of competition, the company can see its competitors more broadly as all companies that compact for customers’ limited buying power; e.g., Hero Honda faces competition with the companies making home appliances.

(v) International Competition. The major competitive environmental developments that challenge the marketers are:

(a) Setting-up of economic block like European Union;.

b. Redical change from the government control system to a relatively free market economy:

c.Digital Revolution, that is currently happening.