According to modern marketing thinking, the task of any business is to deliver what at a profit?

Introduction / Context:
Marketing scholars such as Philip Kotler describe business not just as making and selling products, but as creating and delivering value to customers. A well known statement is that the task of any business is to deliver customer value at a profit. This question checks whether you can recall that precise phrase and understand that modern marketing emphasises value rather than only products or abstract needs.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The question refers to the task of any business. - It focuses on delivering something at a profit. - Options mention customer value, improved quality, customer needs, and products and services. - We assume standard marketing management terminology.

Concept / Approach:
In modern marketing, value is the perceived benefits a customer receives relative to the costs of obtaining those benefits. A business that consistently delivers superior value will attract, satisfy, and retain customers and thereby earn profits. While products, quality, and needs are part of this, the central idea is customer value, which integrates product, service, price, and experience into a single concept. The correct approach is to identify which option expresses this integrated idea.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recognise that the phrase deliver customer value at a profit is widely quoted in marketing texts. Step 2: Consider option a, customer value, which matches this phrase exactly when combined with at a profit. Step 3: Option b, improved quality, is important but is only one component of value and does not capture the full task of the business. Step 4: Option c, customer needs, describes what businesses attempt to understand and satisfy, but the task is not simply to meet needs; it is to do so in a way that creates superior value. Step 5: Option d, products and services, refers only to outputs and ignores the broader value perception, price, and experience that customers care about. Step 6: Therefore, customer value is the most accurate and complete choice.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by checking definitions in marketing management books, which describe marketing as a process of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers, and managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organisation and its stakeholders. The emphasis on value, rather than simply products or needs, is consistent across modern marketing literature.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Improved quality is desirable but may not always equate to higher value if it raises costs more than customers are willing to pay. Customer needs are important to understand but focusing only on needs may ignore competition and differentiation. Products and services are vehicles for delivering value, but by themselves they do not guarantee customer satisfaction or profitability. Thus, these options do not fully capture the business task described in the question.

Common Pitfalls:
Some students quickly choose products and services because they associate business with making and selling output, without considering the customer perspective. Others pick customer needs because they have read that marketing is about need satisfaction, but forget that firms must create superior value compared with competitors. Remembering the succinct expression deliver customer value at a profit will help you answer questions of this type correctly.

Final Answer:
The task of any business is to deliver customer value at a profit.