Marketing Information System

- Components of Marketing Information System

- Information Technology in Nepal

Components of Marketing Information System

The components of Marketing Information System are:

• Internal Records System

• Marketing Intelligence System

• Decision Support System

• Marketing Research System

Internal Records System

Every organization maintains an internal database about current and past results. The data is gathered from sources within the organization. They consists of:

Customer-Related Records: Orders, invoices, shipping documents, inventory records, and payments provide information about customer demand and their profiles. The “order to payment cycle” is the heart of internal records system. Invoices are important for customer information. So are customer complaints.

Sales Report: Sales reports submitted by sales force provide information about performance of brands, sales trends and customer expectations.

Other Reports: Annual report, financial statements, audit reports, and special reports also provide useful information. Previous market research reports are also useful.

Marketing Intelligence System

The marketing intelligence system provides information about everyday happenings in the marketing environment. It involves environmental scanning.

According to Philip Kotler

“Marketing Intelligence System is a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain everyday information about pertinent developments in the marketing environment.”

The sources of marketing intelligence are:

Marketing Managers: hey read books, newspapers, and trade publications .They talk with customers, suppliers, distributors and personnel within the organization to gather market information.

Sales Force: They spot and report new developments in the market place. Organizations train and motivate them for marketing intelligence purposes.

Middleman: They handle several products and usually know in advance about competitor's moves. They can provide vital market information.

Specialists: They are appointed to gather market intelligence. They even pose as “mystery shoppers” to assess how employees treat customers or how competitors price their products.

Outsourcing: Commercial detectives are hired to gather specific information Data can be purchased from research firms which specialize in supplying information at low cost.

Marketing Information Section: Organizations can establish a Marketing Information Section for marketing intelligence. It formally scans the environment to gather information. It also surfs the internet to gather data.

Decision Support System

Organizations develop marketing decision support system to help their marketing managers make better decisions. It works through computer workstations.

According to William Stanton

“A Decision Support System is a procedure that allows a manager to interact with data and methods of analysis to gather, analyze, and interpret information.”

DDS does not collect information. It stores, analyses and synthesizes the collected information. It has three components. They are:

Data Bank: It stores different types of data collected from various sources such as internal reports, market intelligence, and market research. They are data about customers, competitors, environmental trends, organization’s performance, etc. It is the database stored in computers.

Methods Bank: DSS has methods bank for analyzing data which range from simple procedures to sophisticated statistical tools. It is the statistical bank.

Model Bank: They consist of various models that facilitate decision making. Models define the interrelationships between different variables that help decision makers to understand, predict and control marketing problems.

Marketing Research

• Research is a systematic gathering of information.

• Marketing research is a systematic inquiry undertaken to help resolve a specific marketing problem.

• Its purpose is to guide marketing decisions by generating information.

• It provides alternatives for making the choice.

• It is a tool for identifying market opportunities and to minimize threats. It is problem-oriented.

According to Philip Kotler

“Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.”

According to William Stanton

“Marketing research is the development, interpretation, and communication of decision-oriented information to be used in the strategic marketing process.”

InformationTechnology

in Nepal

Introduction

• Technology includes all aspects of applied science for achieving a practical purpose.

• Technology is viewed as a means of combining four factors of production( land, labor, capital and knowledge) which increases the ability to create new product from combining these factors.

• According to G. Jones And C. Hill

“Technology is the combination of skills and equipment that managers use in the design, production and distribution of goods and services.”

• According to R.W. Griffin (2007)

“Technology is the set of processes and systems used by organizations to convert resources in to products or services.”

Business and Technology

• Business and technology are inseparable, and complementary to each other.

• Technology advancement increases the production, effective use of resources, and brings opportunity for upgrading business firms.

• Technological change leads to improved production of goods and services

Business and Technology

Technology which are related to business are:

• Reduced running costs,• Improved productivity,• Improved competitiveness,• Lower costs per unit of product,• Improved quality of service (e.g. speed of service), and• Reduced wastage

Technology and Human Factor

• There are 3 areas which make the effective use of technology and they are:

Production, Investment, &InnovationPromotion and Selling

• Marketing Managers should be skillful for full utilization of technology.

Technology and Human Factor

• Employee must have ability to acquire new skills.

• Technology can cause impact on business firm:a) Shutting down of old business,b) Changes in occupational structure, andc) Displace of employees

Skill base for Technology

• Skill base for technology can be gauged by education enrollment statistics

• Nepal has witnessed more than 5 decades of educational enrollment yet, enrollment ratio is minimal

• The nation needs:• Mechanical skills• Electricians• IT Professionals• Chemical Technicians• Business Entrepreneurs

• Yet the required level of Human capital is well below the need.

Information Technology

• Information technology (IT) is a branch of knowledge concerned with the development, management, and use of computer-based information systems.

• The term "information technology", or IT, commonly refers to computers and computer networks but is also used to encompass other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones etc.

IT in Nepal

• In Nepal, Mercantile Office System introduced e-mail services in 1993.

• Mercantile Office Systems, the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Nepal started its services since July 1995

• Today there are about 30 ISPs in Nepal

• IT mostly limited to urban areas

Contd.

• Yet due to low costs of computers nowadays, it is spreading nation wide gradually

• In recent years, the use of Internet has increased in the country

• The most web-effected areas of information in Nepal are • Education, • Travel,• Tourism, and • Media

Contd..

• The past few years have seen an impressive growth in Internet use and web-based information dispersal in the country

• Today, there are about 300,000 users of Internet in the country

• However, the majority of the internet users are in the Kathmandu valley.

• Yet, it has much scope Nation wide

The End