see attached

Also, provided is a sample discussion post

***Post should be at least 250 words and one reference.

The purpose of this assignment is to encourage students to keep abreast of current trends and news in the broad field of
marketing
. Since the focus is on current matters, items referenced must be
NO MORE THAN 6 MONTHS OLD
. Students’ first post each week will include the following:

1. Link to article, video, blog post or other recent (< 6 months old) and professional source.

2. A synopsis of the content focusing on the marketing aspects. (3-4 paragraphs)

3. An explanation of how it relates to course material

4. A thought-provoking question related to the content of your post. Classmates will respond to each other’s questions in the two required replies. Be sure to post a question that leads to debate, in-depth consideration, or further questioning. Do not ask a yes/no question. Also avoid questions such as “Would you buy… “ or “Is that how you choose …” As professional marketers, we are concerned with our consumers’ behaviors, not our own. So if you are posting a question regarding consumer behavior (which you may or may not do), you might phase your question as “How might we know whether there is adequate demand for… “ or “Which target markets might respond most favorably to …”

Discussion requirements

 Participation is expected to be substantive. In other words, posting comments like “I agree,” “That’s great. I wish I would have thought of that,” or “What do you mean?” are not substantive.

A substantive posting is defined as participation that is rich, deep and probing. It sometimes piggybacks on someone else’s comment, challenging or adding more. Sometimes it is a new idea or question. Substantive input adds depth to a discussion and carries its own weight. It demonstrates that the student is using critical thinking skills and values the advancement of knowledge for self and others.

A checklist for substantive postings includes these questions:

· Does the response add a new insight to ideas already offered?

· Does it challenge previous ideas and add appropriate counter-thought?

· Does it give a sense of the “ah-ha,” and encourage deeper thought?

· Does it take enough time to “wallow” in an idea and ask probing questions?

· Does it demonstrate that you have done appropriate reading on the topic?

Link:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2018/03/01/salesforce-polishes-its-golden-halo-in-2018/#3d49e4c73dc1

Synopsis:

Salesforce is a company that provides cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions to large and small business and nonprofits across industries. Salesforce is this year’s winner of Forbes’ Golden Halo Award which acknowledges the outstanding social commitment and activities of a business. Salesforce.org has a social enterprise arm (salesforce.org) that is dedicated to bringing technology to nonprofits and schools.

As a company, Salesforce has had a strong commitment to “giving back” since it was founded in 1999. It developed and adopted a model which it refers to as 1-1-1. This represents the company’s process of contributing back to the community 1% of its equity, 1% of employee time, and 1% of product. Specific policies and procedures lead to valuable societal benefit:

· In 2017, Salesforce employees collectively volunteered 800,000 hours.

· Annually, Salesforce gives all employees 7 days of paid time off to help out causes they believe in.

· Salesforce matches every employee’s charitable donations up to $5,000 each year.

· Salesforce provides pro-bono services to nonprofits using their products.

The company has also instituted numerous practices to insure pay equity for all of their employees.

Relationship to Course Material:

In our readings this week, there was content on social responsibility and its relationship to marketing. In particular, it was noted in the Gap case that they engaged extensively in corporate citizenship and social responsibility.

Question:

Companies committed to social good like Salesforce often get a great deal of publicity for their actions. Is using social commitment as a marketing tool to improve sales and profits somehow unethical or deceptive? Do you think something like the 1-1-1 model can have an overall positive ROI for the company given improved sales and employee satisfaction?