Marketable efficiency Acharya’s Approach

According to Acharya (2003), an ideal measure of marketing efficiency,

particularly for comparing the efficiency of alternate markets channels
should take into account all of the following:
a) Total marketing costs (MC)
b) Net marketing margin (MM)
c) Prices received by the farmer (FP)
d) Prices paid by the consumer (RP)
 Further, the measure should reflect the following
relationship between each of these variables and the marketing
efficiency.
i) Higher the (a), the lower the efficiency
ii) Higher the (b), the lower the efficiency
iii) Higher the (c), the higher the efficiency
iv) Higher the (d), the lower the efficiency
 As there is an exact relationship among four variables, i.e.,
a+b+c = d, any three of these could be used to arrive at a
measure for comparing the marketing efficiency.
The following measure is suggested by Acha
What Is Marketable Surplus?
 1By describing something as "marketable," people in the business world mean that it is fit to sell on the
market. Surplus is the amount of product that a company manufactures or produces in excess of what is
necessary to continue operations. Marketable surplus is a term that agriculturalists use to refer to a specific
type of surplus that farmers and ranchers deal with.

Farming requires investment. Farmers must make financial investments in labor, tools, fertilizer and land.

They must also invest in seeds. If it is the farmer's first year to grow a certain crop, he probably has to purchase

seeds from someone else. A farmer must also invest in the form of personal labor. The marketable surplus for

an agricultural entrepreneur is the surplus of produce that exists after the point at which he can make back any

money he paid to laborers or used to buy tools, fertilizer and land. If he takes some of the crop for his own

family's consumption and to use as seed for the next year, he must account for this as well before calculating

the marketable surplus. In this way, marketable surplus is what a farmer makes for his personal labor.

Use
Marketable surplus is the portion of a harvest that a farmer can sell on the market to earn a profit. With this

profit she can reinvest into farming operations by purchasing more land or better farming equipment. She may

also simply save this profit or use it to purchase personal items.

Uncertainty

In agriculture, farmers and ranchers can never know exactly how much product their efforts will yield for a

particular season until it is over. For this reason, a farmer may not know what his marketable surplus will be

until he actually harvests his fields. This uncertainty of the size of a crop's marketable surplus lends a certain

level of uncertainty to the farmer's income expectations.

Marketed Surplus

Another term that closely relates to marketable surplus is marketed surplus. In some cases, these terms may be

interchangeable. The principal difference is time perspective: marketable surplus is produce that a farmer

currently has on hand to take to market to earn a profit, while marketed surplus is what she has already taken to

market to earn a profit.

What is a Marketing Audit?

A marketing audit is a comprehensive examination and analysis of your marketing activities, goals
and objectives. By implementing an audit, you're able to take a look at the way your marketing
efforts are planned and managed, and how they are performing relative to the goals of your original
marketing plan.

A marketing audit is essentially a great way to assess your marketing plan and ask yourself and your
department what's working and what's not. Then, you can make adjustments and corrections as
necessary.
A market audit is useful for getting back in touch with your brand, products and services and re-
focusing your marketing efforts. It can also be used to remind you of your initial goals and objectives
and fine-tune your current efforts to be certain they align with those original objectives. Additionally,
you can see what's working and what isn't and re-invigorate your marketing efforts.

elements
 Comprehensive, in that it looks at all the marketing issues of a business
 Systematic, involving an orderly set of steps
 Independent, so that it cannot be influenced by those who developed and are implementing
the marketing plan
 Periodic, conducted with regular frequency. A good frequency is yearly or every two years.

A marketing audit should look at not only internal factors such as the efficiency of the marketing
department and their marketing plan, but also external factors including a company's customers,
competition and overall marketplace. Among the fundamental components of a comprehensive and
systematic marketing audit are the following:

 Environmental audit: The environmental audit is where you focus on your customers and
the competition. What are your customers' demographics and buying habits? What are
competitors doing? What is the overall condition of your company's market?

Example: ABC Company knows that its customers are college-age and older and well-educated and
visit their stores and websites at least weekly. Their competitors lag behind them in terms of number
of products available and marketing efforts in social media. One competitor has recently launched a
new line that could be troublesome.

 Strategic audit: This is where you take a look at your current marketing plan and strategies
and how well or poorly they are performing. Are the marketing objectives you set the
appropriate ones for your business? This is a very measurable part of the audit where you
can observe the strategies you've attempted to implement and if they are effective.

Example: ABC Company has chosen some effective marketing strategies and tactics to reach their
target audience, but needs to enhance their website for a better customer experience. One
marketing objective should be abandoned because it is not working efficiently.

 Organizational audit: The organizational audit is an internal look at the resources available
to you and your marketing department such as finances, time, production, labor, equipment
and more. It also allows you to take a look at the marketing team itself, revenue,
effectiveness of the marketing plan, products, pricing and distribution channels.

Example: ABC Company is operating well within their marketing budget for the year, but could hire
an additional staff member and purchase a new computer system. Sales are good and the new
product currently on shelves is being well-received and is priced competitively.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS 

Potential benefits:-A marketing audit is essentially a great way to assess your marketing plan and
ask yourself and your department what's working and what's not. Then, you can make
adjustments and corrections as necessary.
A market audit is useful for getting back in touch with your brand, products and services and re-
focusing your marketing efforts. It can also be used to remind you of your initial goals and
objectives and fine-tune your current efforts to be certain they align with those original
objectives.

Why marketing audit

 Marketing Audit is a Marketing Planning process. a systematic approach to the
achievement of marketing goals. Steps in the process include and an audit provides a
“snap shot” of the current situation analysis; setting of objectives; strategy formulation;
development of action programs; implementation; and control, r

 Place of marketing audit in overall

mgt
A marketing audit should look at not only internal factors such as the efficiency of the marketing
department and their marketing plan, but also external factors including a company's customers,
competition and overall marketplace. Among the fundamental components of a comprehensive
and systematic marketing audit is the where you focus on your customers and the competition.

And where you take a look at your current marketing plan and strategies and how well or poorly
they are performing the marketing objectives for your business.

This is a very measurable part of the audit where you can observe the strategies you've attempted
to implement and if they are effective.

Definition of 'Marketing Intelligence'

Definition: Marketing intelligence is the external data collected by a company about a
specific market which it wishes to enter, to make decisions. It is the first set of data
which the company analyses before making any investment decision.

Description: Marketing intelligence is usually the first data set analysed by a company

about a specific market. It could be related to population age in that area, infrastructure
facilities, spending habits of consumers, state or government regulations etc. Marketing
intelligence is all about gathering information on various data sets, analysing the
information, breaking down the data into small subsets and the distribution of
information to the relevant department of the company.

A purchase department in a company would need a different data set under marketing
intelligence, while a sales department would need something different. There are four
main corner stones of marketing intelligence. The first one is competitor intelligence, the
others are product intelligence, market understanding and customer understanding.
Let’s understand each one of them in detail. Competitor intelligence is a legal method of
obtaining information about products in a competitor’s portfolio. It is about analyzing
strengths and weaknesses of the competitor.

The basic goal of competitive intelligence is to make better business decisions. Product
Intelligence is related to gathering information about your own product. The focus
around product intelligence is on gathering information about the quality and
performance of the product. This is usually an automated process. With the help of this
knowledge, the company tries and makes the user experience better or makes changes
in the product itself to make it safer or add new features. Market Understanding is a
concept wherein the company tries to understand the performance of the product in
which it is already operating as well as looks at other markets where it wants to launch
its product thoroughly.

Finally, understanding the customer is the utmost important aspect in the life of any
product. It is key to the success of the product pre- and post-sales.

THE BOJECTIVES OF MARKET OF MARKET INTELLIGENCE?

Objective:-is a benefits of marketing intelligence for your brand advances in the revival era of
artificial intelligence, company marketing methods need marketer's input in finding out how to
frame their analysis towards their objective.

TECHNIQUES OF MARKETING INTELIGENES?

 Market Intelligence Techniques

When it comes to gathering data, the evolution of the Internet has made things very easy for
the  business  isn’t it? Talking about the general information that businesses need, i.e. competitors,
market trends, industry or new product development – such information is just a few clicks away.
While top level industry information is easily available on the web, finding information relevant to a
business niche and locality can be difficult. Here is where  Market Intelligence  comes into play.

What is Market Intelligence?

In simple words, Market Intelligence is the information compiled from both internal and
external sources about a specific market which a business wishes to trap. This is basically the
very first set of data which the company analyses before they take any investment decisions.

Market Intelligence Techniques

1. Market Entry Research

Businesses carry out the market entry and expansion studies to enter new market areas or
expand their presence in markets in which they are already established. This research
technique gives insights on whether the business should invest in new sectors or invest further
in existing markets.

2. Competitor Intelligence Research

This technique is one of the most popular ones as businesses are becoming more keen to get
the inside view of their competitors. Whether it the sales figures or the production data
businesses want to know it all. Competitor insights are very important for the business as it
provides a diversity of information based on which the business can plan their actions.

3. Needs Assessment Studies

As competition increases, the consumers are readily getting more and more options to choose
from. Hence it has become very important for business to try and meet the needs
of customers to stay in the market. Needs assessment research is a combination of qualitative
and quantitative data which helps the business to measure the extent of a need within a
market. With this research businesses can build value propositions, which help them, meet the
needs of their customers and ensure business longevity and growth.

4. Market Segmentation

Segmentation is an unusual means of distinguishing your business from the competition. With
needs-based segmentation based on quantitative data on the target audience business can
ensure that they meet the specific needs of a specific demographic group. Market
segmentation studies have a direct impact on the marketing strategy and it can also influence
the product development process.

5. Branding Research

The brand strategy research technique helps to assess the existing value of your brand. It helps
to measure the levels of consumer dissemination and support. With intelligent branding
research business can ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of their brands and highlight the
opportunities to attack competitors.

Making informed business decision is the only key to the success for any type of business. And Market
intelligence is the answer to go about it. 

Market Research
Definition:

Market research is defined as the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new

product or service, through research conducted directly with potential
consumers. This method allows organizations or businesses to discover their
target market, collect and document opinions and make informed
decisions. Market research can be conducted directly by organizations or
companies or can be outsourced to agencies which have expertise in this
process.

The process of market research can be done through deploying surveys,

interacting with a group of people also known as sample, conducting
interviews and other similar processes.  
Primary purpose of conducting market research is to understand or examine
the market associated with a particular product or service, to decide how
the audience will react to a product or service. The information obtained from
conducting market research can be used to tailor marketing/ advertising
activities or to determine what are the feature priorities/service requirement (if
any) of consumers.

Types of Market Research: Market Research Methods and

Examples
Whether an organization or business wishes to know purchase behavior of
consumers or the likelihood of consumers paying a certain cost for a product,
market research helps in drawing meaningful conclusions.

Depending on the methods and tools required, following are the types:

1. Primary Market Research (A combination of both Qualitative and

Quantitative Research): Primary market research is a process, where
organizations or businesses get in touch with the end consumers or employ a
third party to carry out relevant studies to collect data. The data collected can
be qualitative data (non-numerical data) or quantitative data (numerical or
statistical data).

While conducting primary market research, one can gather two types of
information: Exploratory and Specific. Exploratory research is open ended,
where a problem is explored by asking open ended questions in a detailed
interview format usually with a small group of people also known as sample.
Here the sample size is restricted to 6-10 members. Specific research, on the
other hand, is more pinpointed and is used to solve the problems that are
identified by exploratory research.

As mentioned earlier primary market research is a combination of qualitative

market research and quantitative market research. Qualitative market
research study involves semi-structured or unstructured data collected
through some of the commonly used qualitative research methods like:

Focus groups: Focus group is one of the commonly used qualitative

research methods. Focus group is a small group of people (6-10) who
typically respond to online surveys sent to them. The best part about focus
group is the information can be collected remotely, can be done without
personally interacting with the group members. However, this is a more
expensive method as it is used to collect complex information.

One-to-one interview: As the name suggests this method involves personal

interaction in the form of an interview, where the researcher asks a series of
questions to collect information or data from the respondents. The questions
are mostly open ended questions and asked in a way to facilitate responses.
This method is heavily dependent on the ability and experience of the
interviewer to ask questions that evoke responses.

Ethnographic research: This type of in-depth research is conducted in the

natural settings of the respondents. This method requires the interviewer to
adapt himself/herself to the natural environment of the respondents which
could be a city or a remote village. Geographical constraints can be a
hindering factor in conducting this kind of research. Ethnographic research
can last from a few days to a few years.

Learn More: Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research methods are used by organizations to conducted

structured market research by using online
surveys, questionnaires and polls to gain statistical insights to make informed
decisions.

This method was once conducted using pen and paper. This has now evolved
to sending structured online surveys to the respondents to gain actionable
insights. Researchers tend to use modern and technology-oriented survey
platforms to structure and design their survey to evoke maximum response
from respondents.

Through a well-structured mechanism, data is easily collected and reported

and necessary action can be taken with all the information that is made
available first hand.

Learn more: How to conduct quantitative research

2. Secondary Market Research: Secondary research uses information that is

organized by outside source like government agencies, media, chambers of
commerce etc. This information is published in newspaper, magazines, books,
company website, free government and nongovernment agencies and so on.
Secondary source makes use of the following:

Public sources: Public sources like library are an awesome way of gathering

free information. Government libraries usually offer services free of cost and a
researcher can document available information.

Commercial sources: Commercial source although reliable are expensive.

Local newspapers, magazines, journal, television media are great commercial
sources to collect information.

Educational Institutions: Although not a very popular source of collecting

information, most universities and educational institutions are a rich source of
information as many research projects are carried out there than any business
sector.

Benefits of an Efficient Market Research

 Make well-informed decisions: The growth of an organization is
dependent on the way decisions are made by the management. Using
market research techniques, the management can make business decisions
on the basis of obtained results that back their knowledge and experience.
Market research helps to know market trends, hence to carry it out
frequently to get to know the customers thoroughly.
 Gain accurate information: Market research provides real and
accurate information that will prepare the organization for any mishaps that
may happen in the future. By properly investigating the market, a business
will undoubtedly be taking a step forward, and therefore it will be taking
advantage of its existing competitors.
 Determine the market size: A researcher can evaluate the size of the
market that must be covered in case of selling a product or service in order
to make profits.
 Choose an appropriate sales system: Select a precise sales system
according to what the market is asking for, and according to this, the
product/service can be positioned in the market.
 Learn about customer preferences: It helps to know how the
preferences (and tastes) of the clients change so that the company can
satisfy preferences, purchasing habits, and income level. Researchers can
determine the type of product that must be manufactured or sold based on
the specific needs of consumers.
 Gather details about customer perception about the brand: In
addition to generating information, market research helps a researcher in
understanding how the customers perceive the organization or brand.
 Analyze customer communication methods: Market research serves
as a guide for communication with current and potential clients.
 Productive business investment: It is a great investment for any
business, because thanks to it they get invaluable information, it shows
researchers the way to follow to take the right path and achieve the sales
that are required.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDYING MARKETING

Producere In this lesson, you will learn about the four different business markets and what makes

Business.

Objectives of Studing Marketing : A study of the agricultural marketing system is necessary to

an understanding of the complexities involved and the identification of bottlenecks with a view
to providing efficient services in the transfer of farm products and inputs from producers to
consumers.

As a Producer /farmers/ the main objective of department of agriculture is to give pace to the
growth rate of agriculture development and crop production and productivity which will
strengthen the economic status of the farmers and uplift their life-style. Marketing: Producers,
Resellers, Governments & Institutions .

Increase in agricultural productivity leads to increase in the income of rural population which is
turn leads to more demand for industrial products, thus development of industrial sector. In this
way, agricultural sector helps promote economic growth by securing as a supplement to
industrial sector.

Five Benefits of Small-Scale Farming

 Oddly enough, the efficiency and resilience of a system depends on redundancy. ...
 Small-scale farming promotes communities. ...
 Small farms create jobs. ...
 Small farms improve the health of the land. ...
 Small farms improve the health of people. ...
 Small-scale farming provides a foundation for a more resilient American food system.
  As a Consumers: Consumers that should be achieved within a given time frame and
oreganization promoting its products or services to potential a satisfying the needs of
customersproducts and resell them to their consumers for the purpose of making a profit
AS A MARKETING FIRM

AS YOUR SELF

Dimension of market

Let us then list a few features of a market,

 In economics, the term market will refer to the market for one
commodity or a set of commodities. For example a market for coffee,
a market for rice, a market for TV’s, etc.
 A market is also not restricted to one physical or
geographical location. It covers a general wide area and the demand
and supply forces of the region.
 There must be a group of buyers and sellers of the commodity to
constitute a market. And the relations between these sellers and
buyers must be business relations.
 Both the sellers and buyers must have access to knowledge about
the market. There should be an awareness of the demand
for products, consumer choices, and preferences, fashion trends, etc.
 At any given time only one price can be prevalent in the market for
the goods and services. This is only possible in the existence of
perfect competition.
On the Basis of Geographic Location

Local Markets: In such a market the buyers and sellers are limited to the
local region or area. They usually sell perishable goods of daily use since
the transport of such goods can be expensive.
 Regional Markets: These markets cover a wider are than local
markets like a district, or a cluster of few smaller states
 National Market: This is when the demand for the goods is
limited to one specific country. Or the government may not allow the
trade of such goods outside national boundaries.
 International Market: When the demand for the product is
international and the goods are also traded internationally in bulk
quantities, we call it an international market.
COVERAGE

On the Basis of Time

 Very Short Period Market: This is when the supply of the goods

is fixed, and so it cannot be changed instantaneously. Say for
example the market for flowers, vegetables. Fruits etc. The price of
goods will depend on demand.
 Short Period Market: The market is slightly longer than the
previous one. Here the supply can be slightly adjusted.
Long Period Market: Here the supply can be changed easily by scaling
production. So it can change according to the demand of the market. So
the market will determine its equilibrium price in
On the Basis of Nature of Transaction

 Spot Market: This is where spot transactions occur, that is the

money is paid immediately. There is no system of credit
 Future Market: This is where the transactions are credit
transactions. There is a promise to pay the consideration sometime in
the future.
PUBLIC TNTERVENTIONS

On the Basis of Regulation

 Regulated Market: In such a market there is some oversight by
appropriate government authorities. This is to ensure there are no
unfair trade practices in the market. Such markets may refer to a
product or even a group of products. For example, the stock market is
a highly regulated market.
 Unregulated Market: This is an absolutely free market. There is
no oversight or regulation, the market forces decide everything

PURCHASE AND CONSUMPTION

Purchase and consumption behaviors in daily life often are repetitive and performed in
customary places, leading consumers to develop habits. When habits have formed,
environmental cues can activate the practiced responses in the absence of conscious
decision making. This research tested these ideas using a longitudinal design. We
predicted that regardless of their explicit intentions, consumers would repeat habits to
purchase fast food, watch TV news, and take the bus. The results yielded the
anticipated pattern in which participants repeated habitual behaviors even if they
reported intentions to do otherwise. Intentions only guided behavior in the absence of
strong habits. This study ruled out a number of artifactual accounts for these findings
including that they arise from the level of abstraction at which intentions are
identified, the certainty with which participants held intentions, a restriction of range
in the measures, and the strategy participants used to estimate frequency of past
performance.

Product and trade market

he importance of market scale really affects a set of economic orientations in real

world, such as economic structure, trade patterns, competitive behaviours of
firms, and decisions of government policies and enterprises, etc. Simultaneously,
considering the production efficiency and product quality as the productivity
calculation of one firm, our expanded model tries to answer how does the market
scale of the world affect the operation and survival of enterprises and how does
the asymmetrical market scales derive the changes of firms' exporting decisions.
Our article gets the following two results. When the global market expands, we
find that those combinations of production efficiency and product quality originally
unable to serve the domestic market or be exported are turned to meet domestic
or export demand. Next, the effect of the asymmetric scale between two
countries’ markets would derive the four areas which describe different export
decisions under various production efficiency–product quality combinations. This
explains that reasonable combination
IDENTITY

market identities as interfaces between organizations and their external audiences and
examine how the perceived market appeal of organizations can be influenced by the
order in which the products or product features that determine their market identities are
offered. We theorize that when audiences have different product preferences,
organizations may increase their perceived appeal to some or all audiences by making
certain features more or less salient through different orderings without making
substantive changes to their products or product portfolios. We find strong support for
our arguments in statistical analyses of the market identities of U.S. opera companies
from 1995 to 2005. When opera companies group unconventional operas together, their
market appeal decreases among season-ticket holders, an audience for whom
unconventional opera is less appealing, but increases among opera critics, an audience
for whom unconventional opera is more appealing.

Number of commodities?

Stage of marketing?

Degree of competition?

Public intervention?

ROLE AND MARKET ORDER

Market coverage

What Is the Market Coverage?

You have decided to become a business owner but are unsure of the marketing strategy you should
use. The goal is to get the name out there and grow the business. Choosing the right way to do this
will save you from throwing money away on unnecessary ventures. To start, you must determine
your goal for market coverage.
Market coverage is the evaluation of the marketplace and determination of how much of it you
should cover with your promotional strategy of a product or business. Companies have to take into
account factors like the economy, culture, buyer behavior, etc. Once you understand your product's
relationship to each market, you will be able to make the right decision about your market coverage
strategy.

Market Coverage Strategies

The audience, or potential customer, determines your marketing strategy. There are three strategies
available:
Undifferentiated Marketing
This one has the broadest approach. The goal is to focus on the most common need of consumers.
However, there are two options for this approach: pitch one product to all markets or all products to
one market.
For example, a beverage company typically takes the same approach for all markets. Wherever you
go, you will usually see the same commercials and print advertising. There is little variation in the
needs of these potential consumers, thus little need for a variation in promotions.
Differentiated Marketing
This has more of a customized approach. Promotional offers are specialized for each individual
target market.
For example, clothing stores have to take into consideration the market they are in. A company may
have a store in both Miami, FL, and New York, NY. It is likely that there will be different clothing and
promotions available to customers at these stores. The culture and weather play into this company's
decision making process. Therefore, the company wants to differentiate itself in each market.
Concentrated Marketing
This focuses on a section of the market place. Once the section is chosen, a promotional strategy is
put into place to gain the majority market share of that section.
For example, in larger populated areas, real estate agents will often target a particular subdivision or
area of the city. The goal is to become the leader in that area. They may send postcards, go door to
door, or host block parties to gain exposure.
 To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Create yo

Market order
A market order is a buy or sell order to be executed immediately at the current market prices.[1] As
long as there are willing sellers and buyers, market orders are filled. Market orders are used when
certainty of execution is a priority over the price of execution.
A market order is the simplest of the order types. This order type does not allow any control over the
price received. The order is filled at the best price available at the relevant time. In fast-moving
markets, the price paid or received may be quite different from the last price quoted before the order
was entered.[2]
A market order may be split across multiple participants on the other side of the transaction,
resulting in different prices for some of the shares. It is the most basic of all orders and therefore,
they incur the lowest of commissions, from both online and traditional brokers.[3]

Marketing Information System

With the increasing use of the computer, companies are becoming
more interested in the development of a corporate wide, integrated
management information system. The purpose of such a system is to
bring all of the flows of recorded information in the entire company
into a unified whole. Thereby it is hoped that the manager’s capacity to
plan and control the company’s activities will be improved. Such a
system is often seen as a marked improvement over current
procedures.
As companies have attempted to introduce such a system, however, a
consensus seems to be growing, especially among some computer
hardware manufacturers, that a more realistic approach is to begin
with smaller systems, such as one in marketing, or in production.
As Business Week recently put it, “Skeptics are backing of and asking
whether one big system is such a good idea after all.” The reason for
this change in view is the growing awareness that these smaller
subsystem, such as one for marketing, can perhaps be conceptualized
in enough detail to be operational, whereas, in the current state of the
art, the larger systems probably cannot.
ADVERTISEMENTS:

The human mind simply cannot grasp the whole management

operation with efficient clarity and detail to permit it to be structured
and modeled. New concepts will probably have to be developed to aid
us in thinking about such a complex phenomenon. In the meantime,
management can proceed to develop the smaller systems. In building
the smaller systems too, we can benefit by learning from the mistakes
that were made with global systems.
Marketing information systems are really the frameworks used for
managing, processing and accessing data. They can be simply a
sharing of information by key departments, but are more likely to be
some form of integrated system based around information technology.
The important issue is that the information from such a system is
presented in a way that is useful to the marketing decisions.
Even in quite small companies they can involve large quantities of
data. One apparently logical approach to the problem of extensive data
is to develop, using computer technology, a system which stores and
provides access to the information needed by those making marketing
decisions.
The term ‘marketing information system’ or MkIS is used to describe
such a system. Such systems are generally discussed in the context of
marketing information or marketing research. (It should be observed
that the term MIS is commonly used for the somewhat more far
reaching ‘management information system’).
While it is essential for organisations to have systems by which
marketing information can be stored, processed and accessed, it
should be clear from the points made regarding the nature of
information in general, and marketing information in particular, that
such systems have fundamental limitations. At best the system can
only handle such tangible and intangible information as is made
available to it.

THE ORDER –TO-PAYMENT CYCLE AND SALES

REPORTING SYSTEM?
THE ORDER-TO-PAYMENT CYCLE The heart of the internal records system is the order-to-payment cycle.
Sales representatives, dealers, and customers dispatch orders to the firm. The sales department
prepares invoices and transmits copies to various departments. Out-of-stock items are back ordered.
Shipped items are accompanied by shipping and billing documents that are sent to various departments.
Today’s companies need to perform these steps quickly and accurately. Customers favor those firms
that can promise timely delivery. Customers and sales representatives fax or e-mail their orders.
Computerized warehouses fulfill these orders quickly. The billing department sends out invoices as
quickly as possible. An increasing number of companies are using electronic data interchange (EDI) or
intranets to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the order-to-payment cycle. Retail giant Wal-
Mart tracks the stock levels of its products and its computers send automatic replenishment orders to its
vendors.4
3. Marketing Research:
It is a systematic search for information. It involves data collection,
analysis and interpretation. It exists primarily as a tool of managerial
decision-making process: Marketing research is defined as the
collection and analysis of data relevant to marketing decision-making
and the communication of the results of this analysis to marketers. Of
course, research cannot make decisions. It only helps experienced
marketers in their task of decision-making.

It is a valuable instrument to keep a marketer always on the right path

under competitive market pressures and to fulfill customer demand at
a profit to the marketer. Please note that marketing research provides
special information on request when a marketer has typical marketing
problems demanding unique information for their satisfactory
solutions.

MR studies are project- oriented. Mostly they involve special studies

relating to market segmentation, buyer behaviour, product or brand
preferences, product or brand usage, advertising and sales promotion,
physical distribution, dealer behaviour, competition, etc.

THE ORDER –TO-PAYMENT CYCLE AND

SALES REPORTING SYSTEM?

Market Intelligence System

Definition: A Market Intelligence system focuses on the systematic collection and processing
of information from all the relevant sources to ascertain the changing trends in the marketing
environment. In simple words, the marketer gathers data from all the available sources and
process these into meaningful information that can be used to make critical business decisions.

In order to obtain the market intelligence the marketer uses several sources such as newspapers,
magazines, books, trade publications, social media, and feedback from customers, suppliers,
distributors who cover the entire gamut of an external environment. The more information about
 the market environment is gathered the more accurate business decision will be and will enhance
the efficiency of business operations.

Every business tries to inculcate the market intelligence in its employees, and this can be done by
following several steps given below:

1. Training and Motivation Programs for Sales Force: Several training modules are
conducted to encourage sales force who are in direct touch with ultimate customers to collect all
the relevant information related to the product along with the customer’s experience of using it.
A market intelligence is acquired when the sales force is motivated to give the valuable feedback
and suggestions about the product offers and the opportunities prevailing in the market to their
managers, who then convert these into the actionable plan.
2. Encouraging Distributors and Retailers to seek Market Intelligence: Companies hire
some specialist who visits several stores and showrooms to check the customer experience with
the product or service. Also, retailer or a service provider send its own person as a “mystery
guest” who acts as a customer himself and check the quality of a product and the way employees
are handling the customer’s queries.
3. Keeping a check on the Competitors: In order to sustain in the market, the companies
should have complete knowledge about the doings of its competitors. One of the major market
intelligence tools is the internet where every information about the competitor’s product and its
 variants, the price and easy pay schemes, services, and its feedback is available, and the same
can be used to have a comparative study. Also, the information about the competitor’s activity
can be acquired through the distributors, retailers and other intermediaries who are sitting in the
market and know the whereabouts of each player.
4. Customer Suggestion Panel: Companies using their internal market intelligence prepare
a list of their customers who frequently make the purchases and among those set up a panel who
give their expert advice to new customers about the product and its benefits.This method is very
useful as people rely heavily on others experiences and a try a product or a service at least once.
It is most commonly seen in schools & colleges where the community of alumni is created who
give their expert comments on the quality of teaching and the courses to be opted in a particular
educational institute.
5. Government Data Resources: Government Resources are also the means to gain market
intelligence. The population census is considered crucial through which population density,
trends, demographic characteristics, etc. is determined, and the same can be used to make
judicious market plans. Also, the data about the literacy level, agricultural production, inflation
and recession, are provided by the government that acts as an important tool for information.
Thus, government data resources are useful to gather relevant information about the prevailing
market trends.
6. Information from Outside Suppliers: The companies can also purchase the information
from other companies who are specialists in doing the researches and prepare the reports about
the other market players. Acting as an important aide to market intelligence, these research
companies can provide detailed information about the competitor’s product and service that can
act as an important tool in designing the market plans.
7. Customer Feedback System: The most common and easy way to gain market
intelligence is through the use of customer feedback system. Generally, it is online, where the
customer is required to give his valuable feedback or suggestion on company’s website about the
product or service consumed by him. Also, the feedback can be taken in person by asking the
customers to fill up a form after they have availed the services. This is a more reliable form of
information since it is directly provided by the customer himself.

Once the data is collected from all the possible sources, it is sorted into a meaningful information
which is then used by the management to design the marketing strategie

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING(WHAT IS RM,IMPORTANCE OF RM….)

3.2 Definition of relationship marketing

According to Buttle (1996, 1-28), relationship marketing represents the new

phase in marketing world. It is a big step forward from transaction

• Competition and conflict • Independence and choice

Transactional Marketing

• Mutual cooperation • Mutual interdependence

Relationship Marketing

21

based marketing where great attention is paid on transactions themselves rather

than customers.

Relationship marketing can be described as a management tool to build and

develop long-term relationships between a seller and a buyer that are beneficial
for both sides of interaction. RM highlights the importance of customers that
make them feel special to a company. (Buttle 1996, 1-28.)

Nowadays companies try new strategies when implementing RM. For instance,
companies search for an appropriate interconnection between customers’
satisfaction and trust. (Buttle 1996, 1-28.) In the following subchapters, a wider
range of RM aspects is explained.

3.3 Importance of relationships

According to Berscheid (1999), relationship science is closely related to

psychology, however, it is not a solely field of psychology. Moreover,
relationship science acts as a link in psychological disciplines. In order to
understand human relationships, it is important to study feelings and behavior
patterns of people. Having an overview of what and why people do, it is possible
to make assumptions of their interaction and relationships with other people.

It is impossible to see actual relationships between people. Existence of

relationship may be identified exceptionally by a method of observation,
analysis and summarizing. (Berscheid 1999.) A person is not able to distinguish
relationships between, for example, two people simply looking at them. This fact
leads to the next important issue of relationship science – interrelations.

All the processes around us are linked, one process influences another process
or changes the starting point of followed by process. Relationship science
studies interrelations between things (Berscheid 1999). In this case, the word "
things" refers to all possible aspects involved in relationships. Therefore,
relationships science studies correlations between two individuals on a broader
scope, correlations between two
specific behavior patterns or even correlations between an action and a
subsequent reaction.

The significance of relationship science is aimed at improvements in the sphere

of human understanding as well as behavior between people (Berscheid 1999).
Future patterns of relationships between people can be set only based on
current relationships and predictions of their development by the analysis.
Furthermore, relationship science contributes to social psychology (Berscheid
1999). Studying individuals and relationships between two or more individuals,
relationship science helps to understand their intentions, wishes, possibilities
and fears. Therefore, relationship science benefits public psychology.

In a broad meaning, the process of studying relationships brings new and

unexplored knowledge of people and their communication. In addition, the
process helps people to improve their relationships as well as build new

MARKET SYSTEM?

Market sub system

Organizational learning has been studied as a key factor in firm performance

and internationalization. Moving beyond the past emphasis on market learning,
we develop a more complete explanation of learning, its relationship to
innovation, and their joint effect on early internationalization. We theorize that,
driven by the founders’ international vision, early internationalizing firms
employ a dual subsystem of dynamic capabilities: a market subsystem
consisting of market-focused learning capability and marketing capability, and a
socio-technical subsystem comprised of network learning capability and
internally focused learning capability. We argue that innovation mediates the
proposed relationship between the dynamic capability structure and early
internationalization. We conduct case studies to develop the conceptual
framework and test it in a field survey of early internationalizing firms from
Australia and the United States. Our findings indicate a complex interplay of
capabilities driving innovation and early internationalization. We provide
theoretical and practical implications and offer insights for future research

MARKET SYSTEM INTERFACE?

The Production/Marketing Interface
Each production technique has a motivation, whether it is related to marketing or
efficiency. Marketing decisions affect production choices about varieties, blending,
fermentation, and aging. Production decisions affect marketing choices about
positioning, product differentiation, pricing, and promotion. Changes in production
techniques are critical to presenting new and varying styles of wine to discriminating
customers and making money while doing so. The purpose of this chapter is to review
some of the production choices facing modern wine makers and deduce how they affect
marketing decisions, and vice versa. The chapter works from the premise that quality is
a moving target, and therefore, marketing and production decisions need to adjust
continually. In the final analysis, wine makers must give consumers a product that they
want to buy if the winery is to be profitable in a very competitive international market.

PURCHASING- MARKETING INTERFACE?

 Growing dependence on suppliers for production and innovation, together with
increasing consumer demands, has prompted recent discussions of the importance of
purchasing–marketing functional integration. However, empirical studies are needed to
understand how to manage this interface within a new product development (NPD)
context. This study, grounded in information processing theory, proposes a new model
to classify integrating mechanisms as either information-sharing forums or optimizers.
This model further postulates the greater capacity of optimizer mechanisms for
improving NPD commercial and financial performance, as well as speed. The empirical
results, obtained from a sample of 141 firms, show that forums only improve NPD
speed, whereas optimizer mechanisms evoke better commercial and financial
performance. This study therefore highlights the potential of different integrating
mechanisms and contributes to the on-going debate about the very concept of
functional integration itself.

PERSONNEL- MARKETING INTERFACE ?

What is customer interfacing?
The “organization-customer interface” refers to the dynamic exchange of information
between the customer and a company. Organizations are searching for new and innovative
ways to connect with their customers and gain an edge over their competitors.

Following are the core behaviors of customer-facing employees that make the biggest
difference:

 Trust. It’s difficult to build long-term, loyal relationships if you immediately

assume someone’s motives are not honorable. (Begin with belief until you can no
longer believe.)
 Tact. How you say something is as important as what you say. (Tone of the res...
 The marketing accounting interface -
lessons and limitations
The disciplines of Marketing and of Accounting are facing challenges that threaten their
respective roles in the firm and beyond; the Marketing profession faces renewed threats
to its place at the boardroom table, while the Accounting profession is beset by calls for
indicators of shareholder value well beyond what is permitted under the traditional
accounting model. Much has been written about the need for marketing and accounting
to get more in tune with the financial value of the firm. Little has been written about the
need (or opportunity) for marketing to work more closely with the accounting function in
reporting value creation or performance enhancements achieved through its activities.
And yet, the accounts represent the primary and formal mechanism by which the firm
reports its past financial performance, for internal control purposes and to the financial
community. In the face of a widening accounting-finance gap (evidenced by growing
Market to Book ratios) a closer marketing-accounting communication may allow
accounting to increase its relevance to shareholder value without compromising its
aversion to numbers involving uncertainty and judgment. This paper explores the issues
giving rise to these challenges and urges a stronger marketing-financial analyst
dialogue underpinned by a stronger marketing-accounting shared language. We
address some of the obstacles on this path, given that both groups have different
objectives, methods and metrics, and discuss ways in which each discipline can
leverage off the other.

 ... There is a growing interest in understanding value creation through inter-firm

collaboration in industrial markets (e.g., Dekker, 2004; Håkansson, Kraus, & Lind,
2010a; Håkansson & Lind, 2004; Helgesen, 2007; La Rocca, Caruana, & Snehota,
2012; Lind & Strömsten, 2006; Sidhu & Roberts, 2008; Tomkins, 2001; van der Meer-
Kooistra & Scapens, 2008; Wouters, Anderson, & Wynstra, 2005). In relation to this
development, we also see an increased research interest in the marketing-accounting
interface. ...

... As such, an important aim of this special issue is to contribute to the interdisciplinary
research literature on marketing and accounting. This is important also from a practical
point of view since both the marketing and accounting functions are often 'under attack'
within companies; marketing tends to lack a voice in the board room and is not seen to
be accountable, whereas accounting is losing its influence as an indicator of
shareholder value, for instance, owing to the problems of valuing intangible assets
(Sidhu & Roberts, 2008). The existing literature on the marketing-accounting interface
can be divided into three streams: 1) researchers arguing the need for increased and
improved integration and communication between the marketing and accounting
functions; 2) researchers focusing on quantifying the value created by the marketing
function; 3) researchers using the industrial network approach to extend the knowledge
of accounting practices. ...
... al of a financial accounting standard capable of facilitating the capitalisation of brands
in the balance sheet was unlikely to be achievable. Instead, they suggested
strengthening the link between the budgetary process and the pursuit of brand
development through the inclusion of brand values in the budget, which they termed
brand value budgeting. Sidhu and Roberts (2008) argued for the need for marketing and
accounting functions to work more closely with the reported accounting performance of
the firm. They proposed shareholder value analysis as a way to establish a common
language and set of measures with currency for both functions. The underlying
philosophy behind shareholder value analysis is that e ...
1. Customer focus:
The marketing function of a business is customer-centred. It makes an
attempt to study the customer needs, and goods are produced
accordingly. The business existence depends on human needs. In a
competitive market, the goods that are best suited to the customer are
the ones that are well-accepted. Hence, every activity of a business is
customer-oriented.

2. Customer satisfaction:
A customer expects some services or benefits from the product for
which payment is made. If this benefit is more than the amount paid,
then the customer is satisfied. In the long run, customer satisfaction
helps to retain market demand. It helps achieve organizational
objectives. Customer satisfaction can be enhanced by providing value-
added services, which includes providing additional facilities at little
or no extra cost.

3. Objective-oriented:
ADVERTISEMENTS:

All marketing activities are objective-oriented. Different objectives are

fixed at different levels, but the main objective is to earn profit from
business along with the satisfaction of human wants. Marketing
activities undertaken by sellers make an attempt to find out the
weaknesses in the existing system, and measures are taken to improve
the shortfalls so that the objectives are achieved.

4. Marketing is both art and science:

Art refers to a specific skill that is required in marketing activities of
any type of business. Science refers to a systematic body of knowledge,
based on facts and principles. The concept of marketing includes a
bunch of social sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology and
law. It indicates market operations based on some principles. Hence,
marketing is an art as well as a science.

5. Continuous and regular activity:

Marketing is an activity designed to plan, price, promote and
distribute products. At the same time, it also addresses both the
current and future consumers. Thus, it is a continuous process. A
marketer has to consistently monitor environment. This helps in
coming up with new products.

6. Exchange process:
Marketing involves exchange of goods, services and ideas with the
medium of money. Exchange takes place between sellers and buyers.
Most of marketing activities are concerned with the exchange of goods.
Functions such as distribution, after-sale services and packaging help
in the exchange process. Channels of distribution and physical
distribution play an important role in the exchange process by creating
place utility.

7. Marketing environment:
ADVERTISEMENTS:

Economic policies, market conditions, and environmental factors,

such as political, technological, demographic and international,
influence marketing activities. Marketing activities are inseparable
from such environmental factors. A successful marketer needs to
adapt to these changing factors and adjust marketing strategies to suit
new market developments.

8. Marketing mix:
A combination of four inputs constitutes the core of a company’s
marketing system—product, price, place, and promotion. Marketing
mix is a flexible combination of variables. They are influenced by
consumer behaviour, trade factors, competition and government
regulatory measures.

9. Integrated approach:
The marketing activities must be co-ordinated with other functional
areas of an organization. Functions such as production, finance,
research, purchasing, storekeeping and public relations (PR) are to be
integrated with marketing. This will help in achieving organizational
objectives. Otherwise, it will result in organizational conflicts.

10. Commercial and non-commercial organizations:

With the societal marketing concept gaining importance, social
marketers are finding useful new ways of applying marketing
principles. Commercial organizations are also adopting cause-related
marketing to strike long-term relations with consumers.
ADVERTISEMENTS:

Business organizations such as educational institutions, hospitals,

religious institutions and charitable trusts have also found meaningful
applications of marketing. Thus, marketing is applicable to both
business and non-business organizations.

11. Precedes and follows production:

Identifying consumer needs and wants is the primary task of a
marketing manager. Production activities are adapted to these
consumer needs. Thus, marketing precedes production. Marketing
helps in the distribution of the goods which follows production.
Hence, production and marketing activities are closely related to each
other.
ROLE OF MARKETING IN THE ECONOMY?

What Is The Role Of Marketing In Our Economy?

Marketing is crucial for any economy to survive. People who work in marketing are
responsible for promoting businesses, organizations, products, incentives, ideas, and
plans. Marketing is a tool used both to determine what products, ideas, or plans that
customers are interested in purchasing, and to create new ways of advertising the
products, ideas, or plans to the market. Marketing also allows the company to create a
more personal relationship with their customers or clients. Without marketing,
companies would struggle with advertising their products to the market. They would not
know what their targets are and they would not be able to create a successful
advertisement.

One task of a marketer is to determine which market the company/organization is

targeting. For example, a fast food restaurant would target children as being the market
for their kid's meals. Next, the marketer would determine what the market's needs are.
A market for this same fast food chain might determine that children need a fun and
nutritious meal at their restaurant. The marketer must also develop a relationship with
the market. This fast food restaurant could use television or product placement in a film
to do this. This can also be seen as advertising.

The sale takes place during the advertisement. If a child sees a cartoon character on
television advertising this kid's meal, they will immediately be sold on wanting the kid's
meal badly. They might even harass their parents until they receive this kid's meal.
Other parts of advertising might include doing surveys to see if the product is well-liked.
For example, if the need of the market in this case is a nutritious meal, a kid's meal
comprised of greasy fried food would not fare well in the market. Branding is another
aspect of marketing. Many children associate golden arches with their f