Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Management and marketing'

Work presents the theoretical aspects of destination management and marketing. It defines the destination management and sustainable development of tourism. The work is applied to destination management and destination marketing in region Sokolovsko. For this destiaci is proposed marketing strategy and marketing mix.

Formal art education equips students with skills to produce artworks. A formal art education may increase the opportunity for employment, however, art-related employment is very limited. Art graduates would be better equipped to market and manage art establishments or their own careers if art education were to be supplemented with basic business skills. Artists who wish to earn unsupplemented incomes from their art should undertake to acquire business acumen. This includes being presentable to the market place in attitude and appearance. It also includes aptitude in art, marketing and management. Role models and non-models of success and failure in business should also be observed. Art graduates should adopt applicable tried and tested business methods. Good marketing is a mix of business activities which identifies and creates consumer needs and wants. Marketing activities involve research, planning, packaging, pricing, promoting and distributing products and services to the public to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. Art products include artworks, frames, art books and art materials. Art-related services include the undertaking of commissions, consulting, teaching, free parking, convenient shopping hours, acceptance of mail or telephone orders, exhibitions, ease of contact, approval facilities, wrapping, delivery, installations (picture hanging), quotations, discounts, credit facilities, guarantees, trade-ins, adjustments and restorations. Good management is a mix of business activities which enables a venture to meet the challenges of supply and demand. There is a blueprint for management competence. The three dimensions of organisational competence are collaboration, commitment and creativity. Self-marketing and management is an expression of an artist's most creative being. It is that which can ensure and sustain recognition and income. Artists, like other competent organisations and entrepreneurs from the private sector, should operate with efficient manufacturing, marketing, management and finance departments. They are also equally important and therefore demand equal attention. Artistic skill together with business acumen should equip the artist to successfully compete in the market place. There are no short-cuts to becoming an artist but there are short-cuts to becoming a known and financially stable artist. Understanding marketing and management could mean the difference between waiting in poverty and frustration for a "lucky break" (which may only happen after an artists's death) and taking control. Success should be perpetuated through continuous effort.

This study has been written to increase our knowledge about Sino-Western business relations and to understand how to successfully embark in China. It aims to create a deeper context understanding of the Chinese consumer and the Chinese market – in order to successfully manage your business in China. A qualitative case study methodology is used, involving the abductive method and a hermeneutic approach. Appropriate interviewees have been selected, i.e. those having valid and reliable insights and experiences to this study. The empirical results are portrayed as short stories along with reflections, to enlighten key findings in the research. Results of the investigation show that a willingness to understand and being humble are key in the creation of a successful business relationship with the Chinese. Certainly, the importance of guanxi and trust are tremendous. Thus, learn the rules and play by them – use them to your advantage. Show empathy and patience and trust the universal law of reciprocity. Indeed, as we understand the underlying forces, the cultural values and traditions, we appreciate how to effectively communicate with the Chinese and ultimately how to deliver value to create a healthy business relationship in our marketing efforts. A plethora of stories are presented that illuminate various situations that experienced Western business managers have encountered, and how to manage these. Key findings in this research may benefit not only academics, as new theory is introduced, but also everyone interested in China and aiming to create a healthy Sino-Western relationship. Finally, top managerial implications are presented that are of relevance to readers both intending to and already doing business in China. Some of the most important ones advise us to remain patient, to gather all the information possible and to never underestimate the Chinese.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades company performance has become the mantra of corporate theory. It follows that marketers have recently become understandably preoccupied with measuring the performance of marketing activity. In fact, the pressure for financial accountability has led to widespread concern over the role of the marketing function within a company. Some go as far as contemplating the demise of marketing professionals unless marketers develop an understanding of the marketing-finance interface and are able to enter into a dialogue with top management regarding the value that marketing adds to the company. Modern financial theory prescribes that the primary financial objective of any company should be shareholder value maximisation. Value based management (VBM) involves the appropriate allocation of scarce resources using prioritisation and cost-benefit analyses of different strategies to ensure that managers remain focused on shareholder value creation. The VBM philosophy embraces four fundamental driving forces impacting on the creation of value, the first of which is the profitable growth of sales. Since marketers are the custodians of brand sales the recognition of sales as a value driver places marketing at the centre of the value culture. The role of the marketing function is to create customer value that will translate into marketing assets (brand equity) and by doing so serves to add value to a company. The brand value chain summarises the process through which marketers can create value by carefully investing in various marketing tactics (or expenditures). These expenditures are encapsulated by the marketing mix. Simply, the marketing mix can be described as the sum of all expenditures intended to build brand equity and can be classified into four components known as the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion). Concern has been raised that marketers focus too much attention on the stages in the brand value chain where marketing strategy is formulated and too little attention on the latter stages where the strategy is linked back to the value created through the implementation thereof. Despite the plethora of marketing metrics available the key to measuring the impact of marketing activity lies in maintaining a balance between non-financial, efficiency metrics and financial effectiveness metrics. To this end, there is a need for the development of aggregate-level models that link marketing tactics (expenditures) to to financial impact (e.g. sales) in order to communicate the value created by marketing. As a first step toward the objective of developing such models, it is important to understand the nature of the relationship between marketing expenditures (in terms of the 4Ps) and sales). Therefore, the primary objective in this study was to establish whether there is a relationship between the expenditures of different marketing components (4Ps) and sales. To this end, the proposition formulated elucidated that the variance in sales of a product is attributable to fluctuations in marketing expenditures. A meta analysis study was undertaken and two South African fast moving consumer goods brands’ financial data were investigated for the period of July 2001 to the end of June 2005. The marketing expenditures incurred for each of the respective brands were dissected and allocated according to the 4Ps of marketing. The metohod applied to investigate the relationship between marketing expenditures and sales originated through the adoption of multiple regression analysis between the indepent variables (marketing expenditures) and the dependent variable (sales). However, due to the fact that the data were collected over time it was anticipated that the time-related characteristics in the data might have offended inherent assumptions on which multiple regression analysis is based. Therefore, a time series regression analysis was subsequently adopted to account for time-related characteristics such as trend or seasonality. Counteracting dummy variables were included in the regression analysis to better understand the effect of trend and seasonality. In the case of Brand A, it was necessary to include dummy variables to counteract the effect of trend in the regression analysis., the results revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the expenditures of different marketing components (4Ps) and sales. Only distribution expenditures and price (along with trend) explained unique variance in sales. In the case of Brand B, it was necessary to include dummy variables for both trend and seasonality before the model was suitable for analysis. Once again, the results revealed a statistically significant relationship between the expenditures of different marketing components (4Ps) and sales. However for Brand B, only production expenditures (along with trend and seasonality) explained unique variance in sales. Therefore, in conclusion of the results found there were important findings to note. Firstly, when investigating data colllected over time it is imperative to understand the impact of time-related characteristics in the data and subsequently adopt the appropriate model to investigate relationships in the data. Secondly, despite a statistically significant relationship detected between marketing expenditures and sales the different components of the 4Ps have varying prominence for different brands and the appropriate allocation of resource will depend on the nature of the product and the strategy in mind.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die prestasie van ’n maatskappy het oor die afgelope twee dekades die mantra van korporatiewe teorie geword. Dit volg dus dat bemarkers onlangs afgetrokke is met die meet van die prestasie van mark aktiwiteit. Die druk vir finansiële verantwoordbaarheid het in wye kommer oor die rol van die bemarkingsfunksie binne ’n maatskappy, uitgeloop. Daar word bespiegel oor die ondergang van professionele bemarkers tensy bemarkers ’n begrip van die bemarking-finansie skeidingsvlak ontwikkel en in staat is om ’n dialoog met topbestuur aan die gang te sit rakende die waarde wat bemarking tot ’n maatskappy voeg. Moderne finansiële teorie stel voor dat die primêre finansiële doelwit van enige maatskappy die verhoging van belanghebbende waarde moet wees. Waarde-gebaseerde bestuur (WGB) sluit die gepaste toewysing van skaars hulpbronne, deur die gebruik van vooropstelling en koste-voordeel analise van verskeie strategieë, in, om te verseker dat bestuurders op die belanghebbende waarde skepping gefokus bly. Die WGB filosofie omarm vier grondliggende dryfsmagte wat op die skep van waarde, waarvan eerstens die winsgewende groei van verkope is, ’n impak het. Aangesien bemarkers die bewaarders van die handelsnaam verkope is, plaas die erkenning van verkope as ’n waarde drywer, bemarking in die middelpunt van die waarde kultuur. Die rol van die bemarkingsfunksie is om kliënt waarde te skep wat omgesit sal word in bemarkingsbates (handelsmerk billikheid) en dien so om waarde tot ’n maatskappy by te dra. Die handelsmerk waarde ketting som die proses op waardeur bemarkers waarde kan skep deur versigtig in verskeie bemarkingstaktieke (of uitgawes) te belê. Hierdie uitgawes word saamgevat deur die bemarkingsmengsel. Die bemarkingsmengsel kan kortliks beskryf word as die som van alle uitgawes wat bedoel is om handelsmerk billikheid te bou en kan in vier komponente, wat as die 4Ps (produk, prys, plek en promosie) bekend staan, geklassifiseer word. Daar is reeds kommer uitgespreek dat bemarkers te veel aandag aan die stadiums in die handelsmerk waarde ketting bestee waar bemarkings strategie geformuleer word en te min aandag word aan die latere stadiums geskenk waar die strategie teruggeskakel word aan die waarde wat deur die implementering daarvan geskep word. Ten spyte van die menigte beskikbare bemarkings metrieke lê die sleutel tot die meet van die impak van bemarkingsaktiwiteite in die onderhou van ’n balans tussen nie-finansiële, doeltreffende metrieke en finansiële effektiwiteit metrieke. Daar is dus ’n behoefte aan die ontwikkeling van gemiddelde-vlak modelle wat bemarkings taktieke (uitgawes) aan finansiële impak (bv. verkope) skakel om sodoende die waarde wat deur bemarking geskep word, te kommunikeer. Dit is belangrik om, as ’n eerste treë na die doelwit om sulke modelle te ontwikkel, die aard van die verhouding tussen bemarkingsuitgawes (in terme van die 4Ps) en verkope te verstaan. Die hoofdoel in hierdie studie was dus om vas te stel of daar ’n verhouding tussen die uitgawes van verskillende bemarkingskomponente (4Ps) en verkope bestaan. Die voorstel wat geformuleer is, het verklaar dat die verskeidenheid in verkope ’n produk is wat toegeskryf kan word aan fluktuering in bemarkings uitgawes. ’n Meta analise studie is onderneem en twee Suid-Afrikaanse vinnig-bewegende gebruikers goedere handelsmerke se finansiële data vir die typerk van Julie 2001 tot einde van Junie 2005 is ondersoek. Die bemarkings uitgawes wat vir elk van die handelsmerke aangegaan is, is ontleed en toegeken volgens die 4Ps van bemarking. Die metode wat toegepas is om die verhouding tussen bemarkings uitgawes en verkope te ondersoek het ontstaan deur die aanneem van meervoudige agteruitgang analise tussen die onafhanklike veranderlikes (bemarkings uitgawes) en die afhanklike veranderlikes (verkope). Daar is egter verwag, as gevolg van die feit dat die data oor tyd versamel is, dat die tyd-verwante kenmerke in die data inherente aannames mag beledig het, waarop meervoudige agteruitgang analise gebaseer is. ’n Tydsreek agteruitgang analise is gevolglik aangeneem om verantwoordbaar te wees vir tydsverwante kenmerke soos neiging of seisoenaliteit. Teenwerkende fop veranderlikes is by die agteruitgang analise ingesluit om die effek van neiging of seisoenaliteit beter te verstaan. In die geval van Handelsmerk A, was dit nodig om fop veranderlikes in te sluit om die effek van neiging in die agteruitgang analise teen te werk. Die uitslae het gewys dat daar ’n statisties noemenswaardige verhouding tussen die uitgawes van verskillende bemarkingskomponente (4Ps) en verkope is. Slegs verspreiding uitgawes en prys (tesame met neiging) het unieke verskille in verkope verduidelik. In die geval van Handelsmerk B was dit nodig om die fop veranderlikes in te sluit vir beide neiging en seisoenaliteit voordat die model gepas was vir analise. Die uitslae het weereens gewys dat daar ’n duidende verhouding tussen die uitgawes van verskillende bemarkingskomponente (4Ps) en verkope is. Slegs produksie uitgawes (tesame met neiging en seisonaliteit) het egter unieke verskille in verkope vir Handelsmerk B verduidelik. Daar was dus, in gevolgtrekking tot die uitslae wat gevind is, belangrike bevindings om van kennis te neem. Dit is eerstens van uiterste belang om die impak van tyd-verwante kenmerke in die data te verstaan en om vervolgens die gepaste model aan te neem om verhoudings in die data te ondersoek. Tweedens, ten spyte van ’n statistiese noemenswaardige verhouding wat bespeur is tussen bemarkings uitgawes en verkope, het die verskeie komponente van die 4Ps verskillende vernaamheid vir verskillende handelsmerke en die gepaste toekenning van bronne sal afhang van die aard van die produk en die strategie wat beoog word.

This thesis attempts to explore an alternative taking us beyond the paradigmatic tension which currently dominates and stagnates the discipline of marketing study.This is done in the light of Habermas's critical theory and contemporary critical systems thinking (CST). It is argued that there is an urgent need to bring together the strengths of 'critical' and 'systems' so as to facilitate collective complementarity while at the same time preserving opportunity for pursuing individual development among heterogeneous approaches.Based upon an investigation of how systems approaches have been employed as analytical techniques for improving marketing efficiency, as conceptual models facilitating comprehensive understanding of marketing activities, and as a guide to theoretical development to co-ordinate divergence and convergence in research, the thesis contends that systems approaches can be employed in a perhaps more rewarding way to investigate, address and tackle the present paradigmatic tension.The thesis proposes a critical systems reconstruction of marketing study: first reorienting marketing as a communicative action system driven and constituted by rationally contesting human technical, practical and emancipatory interests in consumption needs, then suggesting a conceptual typology for categorising marketing approaches into technical, practical and normative marketing which systematically nurtures technical enhancement, subjective experience and social norm formation inmarketing activities.It is asserted that under such reconstruction, mutual understanding and support among heterogeneous approaches is not arbitrary, but is an inherent feature of marketing knowledge inquiry. The thesis urges marketing researchers to enter into a critical dialogue to establish plurality in the long term, to promote mutual learning through fusion of horizons, and to pursue complementarity in practical problemsolving intervention.In the effort to revitalise systems approach as a facilitating model, the thesis concludes that given the stagnating paradigmatic unease currently prevailing in marketing study, the future for competitive marketing systems lies in systems marketing - serving human contestable interests in consumption needs through communicative reasoning among various marketing systems.

One of the key concepts within the marketing literature remains the 'marketing mix.' An unexamined element of this mix remains, to pursue the cooking metaphor, the way in which the chef is able to balance the various ingredients to achieve a palatable dish. Therefore, the impetus behind this thesis is this lack in the literature. The approach to remedy this lack is developed through Action Research. The original notion of the marketer as a mixer of ingredients strongly suggests that marketing was (and remains) largely a craft. As practitioners within the craft, managers require devices to guide them in their everyday operations. However, the use and effectiveness of such 'heuristic devices' by practising marketers remains little explored. Matrix schemas have always been traditionally used, by both academics and practitioners, in the development and interpretation of both strategy and tactics in marketing. While the strategic schemas have attained the status of dogma (the Boston Box, for example), at the tactical level,use of the marketing mix has never reached such heights, (apart from an occasional stress on the need for the 'blending of ingredients'). As marketing has developed as a craft, numerous definitions have been offered. Today there are several different authoritative, but accepted definitions. The Chartered Institute of Marketing [CIM] and the American Marketing Association [AMA] define marketing as: 'Marketing [management] is the process of planning and executing the conception of pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services that satisfy organisational objectives.' [Fifield & Gilligan, 1996; 2] A clear understanding of the development of the matrix approach from the level of strategy to tactics in marketing is the essence of the published works. The marketing mix concept seems relatively simple. Since Culliton [1947] first carried out his study (amongst the major American companies of his time), the notion of managers within the marketing function as 'mixers of ingredients' has enjoyed wide currency. Culliton's study included a full examination of a number of case histories and the use by the participating companies of marketing ingredients. Borden [1964] expanded this work to a formal use of the term 'marketing mix' and he presented a list of mix constituents, based on Culliton's work. These developments were taken further by McCarthy [1964] in terms of simplification and classificatory order as the famous 4Ps. It is now just over 30 years since McCarthy provided this gloss on Borden's work and offered a generic marketing mix [product, price, promotion and place] as a means of translating marketing planning and tactics into practice [Bennett 1997:151] This eventually led to Kotler [2000) defining the mix as being 'A set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its objectives.' Thus, ingredients become tools and the analogy changes. McCarthy's 4Ps classification of the marketing mix variables has received acceptance in past decades. However, in recent years increasing criticism of this approach has been voiced in academic circles (Van Waterschoot, 1992, p.83). It is believed by some academics that this paradigm is beginning to lose its position (Gronroos, 1994, Gronroos, 1992, Sheth 1988). It is sometimes called 'traditional' or out-dated (Shimpock-Viewg,/1993, Lane, /1988, Turnbull, 1987). Over the past few years, it has been argued that marketing is concerned not just with the original 4Ps and the various elements associated with them, but also with less controllable variables (or ingredients, or tools) such as people, processes and service evidence. (Rafiq, 1995). However, the shifts from 'ingredients' to 'tools' to 'variables' hints at an underlying confusion as to the conceptual status of the artefacts described. Borden's work has the merit that his classificatory schema derives directly from empirical evidence. Borden reflected this basis when he identified the need to record within case studies evidence of what was being mixed in the marketing domain. Later extensions do not, by and large, have this merit. There have been no published studies which replicate Culliton's original work. Extensions to the mix (the conceptual device contributed by Borden) and the distilled formulation of the mix offered by McCarthy rely on conceptual processes only. The nature of the extensions seems clear, but they rest on different assumptions about how the world of the marketing manager should be construed. This thesis draws on several case studies of the world of marketing managers and a test of the 4P's framework within that world as its modus operandi. The examination uses a process of 'Action Research'. It thus is placed in the tradition established by Culliton in his pioneering work. Unlike Culliton, the work does no flow from a considered execution of a single research design, but has emerged in the search for consistency in marketing management, as pursued with the manager themselves. In essence, the Action Learning method of research has been adopted. The outcome, a new model for application, is seen as the contribution to knowledge. In essence the thesis pulls together the understanding and criticisms that both practitioners and academics need to investigate the gaps that exist in marketing management research. The importance of a company's participation as being integral to the action it takes and the solutions it prescribes is the essence of the Action Research and the model process.

La tesi ha voluto offrire uno sguardo all’approccio ed ai vari strumenti di marketing utilizzati ed utilizzabili dai liberi professionisti considerandoli come “leve” di cambiamento, innovazione e successo professionale. Più specificamente, si è dato risalto alle modalità attraverso le quali gli studi professionali applicano gli strumenti offerti dal marketing al fine di innalzare il livello qualitativo delle prestazioni erogate e per ampliare altresì lo spettro di servizi proposti ai clienti. Da ultimo, si è ritenuto di indagare la reale efficacia degli strumenti di marketing applicati agli studi professionali, valutando i risultati ottenuti a seguito dell’implementazione di strumenti e tecniche di marketing e, laddove possibile, quantificando la convenienza e profittabilità degli investimenti effettuati.
The doctoral thesis is meant to outline an approach to the marketing tools available to professionals for change, innovation and success. More in detail, it sets out the ways in which professional firms apply the marketing tools in order to increase the quality of the services offered to customers and to expand their range. Finally, it embodies an inquiry on the effectiveness of the marketing tools, when used by professional firms, evaluating the results obtained from the use of such tools and marketing techniques and quantifying the profitability of the investments made.

Cílem práce je na základě provedené marketingové analýzy navrhnout strategie a doporučení pro oblast marketingu vybraného lázeňského hotelu. Tato analýza byla provedena za pomoci klasických nástrojů marketingu, kterými jsou marketingový mix, SWOT analýza, PEST analýza, analýza konkurence a podobně. Praktická část je zaměřena na karlovarský hotel 5* Carlsbad Plaza, který je prvním spa a wellness hotelem v Karlových Varech.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-97).
Social media plays a large role in marketing strategy for transmitting and exchanging information between companies and consumers. Even for a traditional industry such as banking, social media has become an important and necessary tool for the marketing process. Although regulators have created formal guidelines to ensure financial institutions realize and manage the risk in using social media, many creative marketing approaches relating to social media has been incorporated by players in the financial industry. This thesis analyzes different types of marketing approaches using social media that is employed by financial institutions in the United States and in Japan. The thesis also explores the effects of marketing approaches using storytelling content. A marketing survey was conducted in Japan to evaluate whether storytelling is more effective when authored by a company or by a consumer. A regional Japanese bank, Suruga Bank, cooperated with this study and research by providing source material for the study content that was developed. The concept was to have a consumer share stories about financial services experiences in an effort to provide convincing information that Suruga Bank is a trusted supplier of loans and should be high on other consumers' consideration list. The design included a test of the feasibility of storytelling in multiple channels to evaluate the impact of each treatment. The results of the survey helped me to assess Suruga Bank's current marketing strategy and its corporate structure better. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to make strategic recommendations for Suruga Bank to reinforce its viral marketing strategy and strengthen its corporate communications skills via social media in order to leverage its organizational capabilities. Note: The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Suruga Bank.
by Kengo Suzuki.
M.B.A.

Marketing channel research has relied on a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand interfirm relationship management and governance processes between a buyer and a seller, such as a supplier and a distributor. However, conclusions arising from different theoretical perspectives sometimes can be controversial. For example, both the economic approach and the sociological approach that conventionally dominate extant marketing channel research encourage firms to commit to existing relationships. Seeking new partners increases transaction costs, and therefore can harm incumbent relationship loyalty, leading to potential exchange hazards. On the other hand, however, network theory and the resource-based view suggest that exploring new relationships can help firms gain new knowledge and capabilities that contribute to superior firm performance and competitiveness. Therefore, how marketing channel firms balance the seemingly contradictory strategies - committing to the incumbent relationship (i.e. relationship exploitation strategy) while also exploring new relationships (i.e. relationship exploration strategy) is the central theme of the thesis. By focusing on the distributor firms, the thesis investigates the issue by two essays. The first essay examines how a distributor's relationship exploration strategy and relationship exploitation strategy influence its opportunism. The research provides different boundary conditions for how to manage relationship exploration strategy and relationship exploitation strategy, including two types of uncertainties (environment uncertainty and performance ambiguity), and two types of network factors (network density and network centrality). One of the interesting findings in the first essay is that while relationship exploitation reduces opportunism as predicted, relationship exploration exerts no significant main effect. This finding demonstrates that relationship exploration strategy is not the opposite of relationship exploitation strategy; rather, it is a conceptually independent construct. The nature of relationship exploration and its effect on incumbent relationship is the subject of the second essay. A theoretical framework was thereby developed to examine how a distributor's relationship exploration strategy can enhance its own dynamic capabilities, which in turn can promote the dyadic relationship quality between the distributor and its incumbent supplier. In sum, relationship exploration is not necessarily destructive. If firms are able to develop their own dynamic capabilities in forms of absorptive capacity and innovative capability, exploring new relationships can be a constructive co-development strategy beneficial for sustaining long-term continuity in the channel dyads.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991.
Title as it appears in the June, 1991 M.I.T. Graduate List: Newspaper pricing strategies.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40).
by Philip Ashford.
M.S.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original hard copy.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Internet encompasses a wide range of applications. Since its arrival in the computer technology industry, it has covered substantial grounds in the development as an tool/medium to enhance commerce. It has also brought along with it problems and new challenges to each level of managerial competence in the business world. The researcher shows through this study project the importance of business strategy and functional level strategy (marketing) as the basis for the implementation and utilisation of Internet marketing as a marketing tool. Conventional business and marketing practices are used in terms of strategic planning and formulation, to illustrate the importance of the strategic factor when incorporating the Internet into the daily business practices of companies. This study project relates specifically to Internet marketing and elaborates on various aspects of the marketing function to support the premise that the Internet is merely a tool, which can extend the company marketer's existing capabilities. The researcher aims to suggest that the Internet does change/extend numerous business practices, but the core principles in so far as strategic management is concerned, still needs to be adhered to. The researcher refers to numerous real life examples to highlight these points and make the practical application of its guidelines in terms of Internet marketing implementation and utilisation as easy as possible to understand and follow by the company marketer.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Internet behels 'n wye reeks toepassings. Sedert die verskyning van die Internet in die rekenaar tegnologie bedryf, het dit aansienlike vordering gemaak ten opsigte van die aanwending as 'n "medium" om besigheid te verbeter. Dit het egter ook sy eie probleme en nuwe uitdagings saam gebring vir elke vlak van bestuursvernuf in die korporatiewe besigheidsarena. Die navorser toon by wyse van hierdie werkstuk die belangrikheid aan van 'n besigheidstrategie en 'n funksionele vlak strategie - spesifiek bemarking - as die basis vir die implimentering en aanwending van Internet bemarking. Konvensionele besigheids- en bemarkings praktyke word gebruik, in terme van strategiese beplanning en formulering, om die belangrikheid van die strategiese aspek aan te toon wanneer dit kom by die inkorporering van die Internet by die daaglikse besigheid van maatskappye. Aangesien die onderwerp van hierdie werkstuk spesifiek verband hou met Internet bemarking, brei die navorser uit oor die verskeie aspekte van die bemarkingsfunksie om sodoende sy siening te ondersteun. Dit is dat die Internet slegs as 'n medium gebruik moet word om die bestaande bevoegdhede van die bemarker uit te brei. Die navorser poog om aan te dui dat die Internet wel talle bestaande besigheidspraktyke verander, maar dat die kern-beginsels in so verre strategiese bestuur aan betref, steeds aandag moet geniet. Die navorser verwys na verskeie werklike voorbeelde om hierdie punte te beklemtoon en om die praktiese toepassing van die riglyne in terme van In Internet bemarkingstrategie so maklik moontlik te maak om te verstaan en toe te pas deur die maatskappybemarker.

Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new concept within organizational change management consulting. The basic principle is to make the client more active in the change effort compared to conventional management consulting where the consultant actively drives the change. With IMC, the client is provided with a tailored set of skills and methods that makes him able to lead a change project and to make sure that the new organization is sustained. The IMC-model is a combination of management consulting and e-learning, where the consultant has an indirect role in supporting the client.

This study has shown that the IMC-model increases the chance for successful change implementation by increasing knowledge and involvement of the managers in the client organization. A common problem with conventional consulting is that the new organization fails to persist some time after the change project has ended and when the consultants have left the organization. This is overcome by the IMC-model since it transfers necessary knowledge and tools to the client’s managers who then can drive the change as well as ensure sustainability long after the project itself is completed.

The IMC-model is more cost-efficient than conventional consulting since less involvement is required by the consultant and since the customization of the e-learning systems can be made efficient by modularization. The lower costs make it possible to compete with a lower overall price and the combination of high quality of the organizational change with low prices makes the IMC-model an attractive complement to conventional management consulting.

This study is a part of an evaluation of the potential of a new business concept within the field of management consulting. The study is written to give insight of the functionality of the concept as well as the market barriers that a new company can expect to encounter if it decides to start up a business based on the concept.

Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new and unproven concept within change management consultancy and can in a simplified manner be described as a mix between e-learning and traditional management consultancy. The basic principle is that the client is given instructions and tools to be able to lead the change project by following a model similar to an e-learning program. The contents of the program are custom-built by a management consultant according to the needs of the change project. The consultant monitors the progress of the organizational change and adapts the model and gives feedback to the client as the project progresses. By following the IMC model, the client does the majority of the work while he does not require initial knowledge of change management since he is continuously provided with the information, tools and templates needed to analyze the organizational performance and implement the change successfully.

The functionality of the IMC concept was evaluated in two ways: First by comparing the contents of the IMC-model with existing change management theories in order to find out if the model covers the most critical aspects of the theories. Secondly, the market for the IMC model was analyzed mainly by using Porter’s five-force theory.

This study has shown that IMC can be an efficient method for implementing organizational change. Its efficiency comes from a number of sources, mainly related to the fact that the organization’s own managers have, compared to conventional management consulting, a high degree of involvement in the analysis of the organization and the implementation of the change. This in turn leads to better communication of the change plan and makes it easier to motivate employees to accept to the organizational change and make them feel a ‘sense of urgency’ for participating to successfully implement the project. The model was also found to make it easy for the manager to formulate a change strategy and to implement the change in a structured manner.

For the consulting company, IMC means that costs (and consequently prices) can be kept much lower than for conventional consultant services. One main reason is that the model does not have to be built from scratch for each client. The contents of the model are relatively easily adjusted to suit most types of organizational changes. A second reason for the lower cost is that time the consultant spends at the client’s offices is minimized or eliminated. This gives an advantage compared to conventional management consulting.

While the management consulting industry have relatively low entry barriers, that is however not equivalent that it is easy for a company to enter the market based on the IMC-model. A high quality of the services is crucial and, if that cannot be proven, the advantage of having a low price is diminished. It is therefore important for a new starter in this industry to have a portfolio of successfully implemented projects. For the IMC concept, this is problematic since the model is new and unproven. It can therefore be difficult to find the first clients and alternative entry strategies such as partnering or simply advocating a “non-profit” strategy for the first clients might be necessary.

"Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007."
Advisor(s): Hudgens, Bryan ; Zolin, Roxanne. "December 2007." "MBA professional report"--Cover. Description based on title screen as viewed on January 10, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88). Also available in print.

MBA Professional Report
The purpose of this MBA project was to review the current Masters of Executive Management education curriculum at NPS. An internal analysis of the current program was conducted to fully understand the strategic goals of the program and the existing curriculum. An environmental scan of current and potential military customers was conducted to assess requirements for junior executive education and determine whether the MEM program corresponds with these requirements and, if not, what changes to curriculum should be considered. Information collected was then used to determine prospective customers while creating a detailed marketing strategy for the GSBPP. Once information was collected, it was possible to construct a marketing plan to increase the NPS brand awareness in hopes of attracting students. Marketing plan recommendations include: (1) Package its various products/programs and market under one primary GSBPP brand; (2) Abandon current traditional and passive marketing efforts for an active recruiting approach by utilizing relationship marketing strategies; (3) Develop alumni networks that provide marketing labor and tools to stimulate demand for the GSBPP.

This study examines the use of databases to improve marketing techniques and customer segmentation in lending institutions. Specifically, this study examines the use of products and services by agricultural customers, and then determines the relationship between the use of those products and services with farm business characteristics. Information is also obtained on the interest rate sensitivity of the producers and correlated with farm business characteristics. The importance of technology and strategic alliances and other influences in the decision making process are determined after survey analysis. The survey was sent to producers who had some type of loan. Respondents from this study used an average of 3.2 loan products and 7.6 services for a total of 10.8 loans and services. Only 1 percent of the respondents indicated that they did not have a personal checking account. Twelve percent of the respondents indicated that they did not use a credit card. Only 16 percent of the respondents indicated that they used leasing services. Investment products did not have a high percentage of use. Thirty-three percent indicated they were using certificates of deposit, while only 21 percent indicated the use of money market funds, and 30 percent indicated the use of mutual funds. Thirty-seven percent indicated they were using IRAs. However, most of the respondents were using some form of insurance. Three-fourths of the respondents were using life insurance, while only 21 percent indicated that they did not possess disability insurance. Other services were also analyzed in this study. Only 15 percent of the respondents indicated that they were utilizing estate planning services, despite the 67 percent of respondents who were greater than age 41 and the 58 percent of respondents with greater than $500,000 in assets. Seventeen percent of the respondents were using an appraisal service. Due to the lower levels of usage for the investment products, this study focused on the relationship between farm characteristics and the investment products. This study showed that a relationship existed between farm and non-farm income with IRA usage. iii Only farm income had a relationship with money market fund usage and mutual fund usage. While, the use of estate plans was related to asset level. The analysis on interest rate sensitivity was determined by the amount an interest rate would have to decrease for a producer to switch lending institutions. The producers who were found to be less interest rate sensitive were those who had lower farm and non-farm incomes, lower asset levels, lower education levels, higher debt-to-asset ratio, and those who owned a computer. This implies that these are the more loyal customers to an institution or perhaps these producers have fewer opportunities to switch institutions. Producers in this study indicated that when selecting a lender/service provider, a competitive interest rate (76 percent of respondents) and the institution being a dependable source of credit (75 percent) was important. Knowledge of agriculture was also very important (69 percent of respondents). Internet banking and educational seminars rated as the characteristics that were least important, 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively. However, in the decision making process, lenders (69 percent of respondents), accountants (53 percent), and veterinarians (38 percent) were shown to be very important. The spouse/partner has considerable influence also on decision making. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents indicated that the spouse/partner had a considerable influence on investment decision, while sixty-one percent of the respondents indicated that the spouse/partner had a considerable influence on credit decisions. Five specific recommendations were made to the institutions following this study. These recommendations include: use of technology, institutional use of databases, use of influencers, and targeting and segmenting the marketplace.
Master of Science

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38).
Marketing alternative fueled vehicles is a difficult challenge for automakers. The foundation of the market, the terms of competition, and the customer segments involved are still being defined. But automakers can draw lessons from other industries, previous examples, and recent launches of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf to help guide them. Automakers can deploy new marketing tools to advance their understanding of the market, define the terms of competition, and listen in to their customers' needs. These new tools can help reduce the risk and uncertainty involved with launching new products like alternative fueled vehicles. This thesis explores the major issues in marketing alternative fueled automobiles in several major parts. First it will look at the major drivers of alternative fueled vehicles and historical examples such as the Prius. While the market continues to change with each year, some trends emerge as key to defining the future of the industry. Second, it will look at the current strategic environment for alternative fueled vehicles, including an exploration of the various fuel types and vehicle offerings. Third, it will offer lessons learned for manufacturers based on the case study work done with two automotive manufacturers on real-life launches of a plug-in hybrid and a hydrogen vehicle. Some classical marketing frameworks, such as the innovation cycle, are used to help understand current puzzles, and new tools, such as semantic/perceptual maps, are used to help understand how open questions might be resolved in the next few years. Finally, it will explore a novel modeling tool developed for assessing potential adoption rates for alternative fueled vehicles by looking at costs and profits from both the owners and automakers' perspective.
by Alex Zheng.
M.B.A.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, February 2005.
Includes bibliographical references.
(cont.) that threaten to disappear cause decision makers to invest more effort and money in order to keep these options open, even when the options themselves seem to be of little interest. The last experiment provides initial evidence that the mechanism underlying the tendency to keep doors open is a type of loss aversion rather than a desire for flexibility.
The first essay studies the credibility of non-commitment advertising. To attract potential customers, retailers often advertise low prices with appeals such as Prices start at $49 or One week in the Caribbean from $449. We offer here an explanation of how such advertisements can construct a credible price image in the absence of any commitment based on the role of selling costs. When retailers must incur costs in the process of selling a product, advertising low prices to lure potential consumers can backfire. This is so because attracting too many consumers who are less likely to purchase the retailer's higher priced products imposes unwanted selling costs, but yields little extra revenue. We show analytically that such advertising can be credible only when there is a substantial difference in retailers' cost types or the selling cost is high. The second essay analyzes the free-riding problem under the situation where the selling costs are high. Intuitively, we can expect that free-riding will hurt the retailer who provides service. Nonetheless, we analytically show that free-riding actually benefits not only the free-riding retailer, but also the retailer who provides service. The intuition behind this result is that by allowing free-riding, the service provider can induce a softer re-action from its competitor who now enjoy free-riding. Therefore, allowing free-riding can be regarded as a strategic investment which prevents an aggressive response from the other retailer. The third essay adopts an experimental approach to the study of incentives. The question asked in this work is whether a threat of disappearance changes the way such options are valued. In four experiments using door games, we demonstrate that options
by Jiwoong Shin.
Ph.D.

Il Digital Marketing si occupa di tutto quello che possiamo fare, grazie ad Internet, per far crescere il business aziendale. Le tecnologie informatiche negli ultimi anni stanno producendo degli effetti pervasivi sulle infrastrutture delle imprese, sui prodotti, sui mercati e sui consumatori, con una rilevanza tale all'interno di un periodo di tempo relativamente limitato che non è possibile riscontrare in nessuna epoca passata. Coinvolgono le relazioni tra imprese, i mercati dei consumatori, le relazioni tra gli stessi consumatori, le singole componenti del marketing mix (prodotto, prezzo, comunicazione, distribuzione) e le loro modalità di interazione e di gestione all'interno della strategia di marketing dell'impresa. L'evoluzione del mondo digitale ha portato imprese e consumatori a dover affrontare un cambiamento radicale del paradigma di marketing e comunicazione che vede la relazione e l'interazione al centro di uno scambio di messaggi bilaterali altamente personalizzati e costanti. Il marketing non è un processo lineare ma circolare, in cui ascolto e comprensione dei bisogni e delle forze che agiscono sui mercati, progettazione dei prodotti o servizi in grado di rispondere alle nuove opportunità individuate, si integrano e cambiano continuamente. Quando si parla di Internet e commercio non si pensa solo all'e-commerce, ovvero all'acquisto e al pagamento del prodotto su Internet. La Rete ha acquisito un'influenza basilare in tutte le fasi precedenti all'acquisto infatti sul Web si attuano attività di ricerca e raccolta di informazioni, selezione, comparazione e perfezionamento che precedono la decisione d'acquisto e che specialmente per i beni durevoli e dall'alto valore monetario rappresentano un momento cruciale del processo d'acquisto. Questo fenomeno ha condizionato uno scenario di mercato in cui si sono abbassate le barriere di accesso all'informazione, si sono ridotti i tempi di relazione tra le persone e tra le persone e l'azienda e in alcuni settori sono crollare le barriere all'ingresso permettendo, attraverso la creazione di attività online di raggiungere e instaurare una relazione diretta. Questo elaborato si propone come un'analisi del digital marketing. Suddiviso in sei capitoli vuole dare una soddisfacente panoramica di questo nuovo marketing.

Aim:The overall aim of this study was to obtain more knowledge on the implementation of health care marketing in Sweden, using Uppsala University Hospital (UUH) as a case study. Additionally, based on the results of this case study, the aim was also to give concrete suggestions on how to enable increased focus on the formulation and implementation of health care marketing management strategies. This gives the study a slightly normative approach and aim, since the line is not drawn at description and analysis but also advocate guidelines for the enabling of market orientation.

Method: The chosen methodology of the study was qualitative, as the study sought to explore, interpret and gain a deeper knowledge of the research area.  Three different strategies of primary data collection were used; (1) interviews with key hospital managers, (2) a survey sent to all heads of clinical departments (68 departments) and (3) the study of selected UUH internal documents and UUH internal material related to the subject. The massive data was consolidated, reported and analyzed as separate parts and as well as an overview analysis from a health care marketing management theoretical framework.

Results & Conclusions:The study showed that UUH, despite the fact that they produce an annual revenue from health care services sales of approx 1,5 billion SEK, lacks almost every aspect of the tools and abilities necessary to function on a competitive marketplace. This included a non-marketing based planning process, the absence of a marketing organizational unit, no marketing research abilities etc. There were also facts pointing at severe flaws in the accounting systems, uncertainties of the legality of the current marketing activities and no marketing-stimulating incentive-systems in place. Besides these hard facts, the conservative, non-market oriented, organizational culture was deemed to make an attempted marketing adaption very hard to implement. The interviews provided valuable data for the structure and analysis. The survey had a very low response-rate, which didn´t provide any valuable data per se, but was interpreted to support the analysis of the organizational flaws in regard to marketing orientation. The internal document study also resulted in support of this analysis and increased the validity. Based on the analysis, a suggestion for a “road map” to successfully market-adapt Swedish health care was presented.

Suggestions for future research:Health care marketing most likely constitute its own area of research which also is specific for Sweden, which gives infinite opportunities for further studies. The implementation of marketing strategies in health care is an area that really needs to be further studied, therefore a suggestion for future research is to try and find out just how to enable implementation of a marketing-orientation in an organization which never had one. Another suggestion for further research could be the study of how economic incentive systems and other means of co-worker stimulation influence the production of health care services.

Contribution of the thesis:We believe that this study will strengthen the marketing understanding for UUH personnel at both managerial as well as all other organizational levels that are interested in the subject. We also believe that politicians, both locally and nationally, will benefit from practical knowledge regarding health care marketing mechanisms currently in place. Though conducted as a case study at one hospital, we deem that the analysis and suggestions are applicable for many other health care providers acting on the Swedish health care services marketplace, possibly contributing to the development of Swedish health care.

V práci je popsán teoretický postup při pořádání eventů, který vychází ze zásad projektového řízení. Tyto postupy jsou také aplikovány v praktické realizaci eventu. Následuje výzkum aktuálních trendů v event managementu a výzkum cílových skupin s pomocí dat MML/TGI.

V práci je popsán teoretický postup při pořádání eventů, který vychází ze zásad projektového řízení. Tyto postupy jsou také aplikovány v praktické realizaci eventu. Následuje výzkum aktuálních trendů v event managementu a výzkum cílových skupin s pomocí dat MML/TGI.

This study investigates the interface between financial and marketing management in South African businesses by investigating the financial and marketing-management processes. This process orientation highlighted important interactions between the two functions. A critical analysis of secondary resources produced a clear theoretical foundation on which the development of the proposed interface framework was based. The critical literature analysis indicates four steps in the financial management process, namely, financial analysis, financial decision-making, financial planning and financial control (independent variables) and five steps in the marketing management process, namely, understanding the marketplace as well as customer needs and wants, designing a customer-driven marketing strategy, constructing an integrated marketing programme, building profitable relationships and capturing value from customers in the form of profits and customer equity. These steps were used to derive a proposed theoretical framework that shows how the steps in the financial-management process relate to those in the marketing-management process. The framework also indicates the perceptions of managers on the interface between the two functions. The perceptions on the interface include aspects such as the level of communication between the two departments, the understanding of each other‟s function and the flow of information between the two departments. From this framework, the six hypotheses were formulated to test the proposed relationships. The focus of the study is on the interface between financial management and marketing management; therefore, the population of this study comprised of financial and marketing managers in South Africa. The primary data relating to the interface between financial management and marketing management was acquired by means of an on-line web-based survey. Descriptive statistics was used to present, analyse and interpret the results of the data analysis. Various inferential statistical techniques (T-tests and chi-squared tests) were employed to determine whether respondents‟ perceptions of the items in the measuring instrument differed as result of whether they were employed in the finance or marketing sections of the business. Correlations (Pearson Product Moment correlations) were calculated for the purpose of investigating the relationships between the financial and marketing management variables used in this study. Factor analysis showed that financial management consisted of four factors that corresponded with the steps in the process, and marketing management produced five factors that related to the steps in the marketing management process. Lastly, statistical tests (MANOVA) were conducted to determine whether the perceptions of respondents, with regard to the financial and marketing management variables, were influenced by selected demographic variables. The results of the empirical study indicated positive relationships between all the variables in the framework. The marketing management factors, namely, mix and profit, reported the lowest correlations compared to the financial management factors. It was also found that financial and marketing managers had different perceptions of the steps in the financial-management process but that they did not have different views of the steps in the marketing-management process. Furthermore, financial and marketing managers had different opinions about the long-term perspective of the business as well as conflicting views with regard to the flow of information from finance to marketing. Financial managers were of the opinion that marketing managers did not understand financial methods and procedures and were unable to specify their requirements to finance. The proposed framework could be seen as the start of marketing theory development on finance interaction as it showed that interface relationships could be further explored.

This document is presented in three parts, i.e. Part 1, ‘The context of ‘Understanding Key Account Management’, positions the portfolio of work in terms of its contribution to knowledge within the literature of Key Account Management and its underlying theories, and relative to alternative research methodologies: Part 2: ‘Understanding Key Account Management’, starting on page 31, gives an account of the author’s research and knowledge development activities in Key Account Management in chronological order, to link together the material submitted as the portfolio of work (listed below). Each part has its own separate list of contents and references. The portfolio of work forms Part 3 of the document, but only the research reports from 2006-2009 are included here: the other reports, articles and books are not available electronically or are published with copyright restrictions.

Trois façons d'utiliser la stratégie militaire en management stratégique des entreprises sont identifiées : le mode ontologique, le mode métaphorique, le mode analogique. Dans cette troisième perspective, une doctrine de stratégie opérationnelle est utilisée pour formuler un modèle contingent de stratégie concurrentielle. Les résultats empiriques indiquant l'existence effective d'analogies.

Zugl.: Dresden, Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2007 u.d.T: Köster, Dieter: Marketing als Ausgangsbasis für eine wertorientierte Unternehmensführung im Business-to-Business-Bereich am deutschen Baumarkt.

There is no end to the brands that lend themselves to anthropomorphic comparison. As an area under researched, the ultimate aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding of the phenomenon of brand anthropomorphism via focusing on one of the most prominent tactics currently being used by industry – the use of marketing mascots. This research begins by theoretically positioning the topic in a rich body of literature. Drawing on branding literature, the multidimensional nature of brands is explored as a starting point for understanding brand mascots. The fundamental theories referred to are integrated to form the Brand Puzzle. Next, the phenomenon of anthropomorphism is examined by referring to literatures from the disciplines of anthropology, animal behaviour, English literature and religion. To complete the extensive literature review, this thesis draws on marketing, advertising, psychology and consumer behaviour literature to reveal any existing classifications for brand anthropomorphism prior to introducing a new typology. Additionally, an investigation into the use of mascots is carried out paying particular attention to their conceptual development and their ‘humanity’. By designing an interpretive case study methodology that relies on a variety of research techniques, including netnography, interviews and photo-essays, as well as a provocative style of presentation, this thesis sets out firstly to explore the development of three marketing mascots on the social media site of Facebook: Aleksandr Orlov mascot for price comparison website CompareTheMarket.com; The M&M’s Spokescandies mascots for Mars’ M&M’s chocolate; and Mr Peanut mascot for Planters peanuts. A literary approach was adopted when tackling this mysterious process of creating marketing mascots. Secondly, this thesis sets out to analyse consumer engagement with the brands via their engagement with the selected marketing mascots. Six forms of consumer engagement were identified which were perceived to have an effect on the narrative of marketing mascots. The discussion section of this thesis creatively links the empirical evidence presented in the findings chapters and the insights from the literature with novels, storytelling and genre reading. The prominence of these have led to the development of a Literary Wheel model that has scope for use by industry and offers a direction for future research. In conclusion, this research contributes to knowledge in the field of brand anthropomorphism. It provides a formula for the creation of captivating marketing mascots that fulfil the needs of our increasingly communication hungry culture, encouraging elevated consumer engagement and the development of stronger consumer-brand relationships.

AbstractTitle: How Marknadsdata information AB works with relationship marketingLevel: Final Thesis for bachelor degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Randip ChoudhurySupervisor: Dr. Aihie OsarenkhoePurpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Marknadsdata information AB workswith their relationship marketing, and examine possible gaps between their strategy andimplementation of their relationship marketing. This study aims to provide insights on thecore components of CRM and the implementation of CRM strategy.Methodology: I have used primary data for this study by doing, interviews with ChristerJönsson at Marknadsdata AB to get his insight view of how the company operates to be ableto answer the purpose of this thesis which is to find out if there are any gaps in the way howMarknadsdata AB operates its business and how it resembles or differs with Donaldson’smodel. The secondary data I have used for this research is mainly from the Internet, articlesand literatureFindings: Marknadsdata information AB will not be successful on their market if they don’twork with their relationship marketing strategy. They have to keep in touch with customers,respond to the trends in the market and, in particular, to the changing demands of customers.For Marknadsdata information AB it’s important with relationship marketing both internallyand externally. Internal service quality for the company is about employee satisfaction whichultimately effects externally to customer satisfaction. By creating value to employees they cancreate value to customers.Research conclusions: Companies will not be successful on the market until they developtheir relationship marketing strategy. Companies need to keep in touch with customers,respond to the trends in the market and, in particular, to the changing demands of customers.Practical implications: By working with research and evaluating customers’ needs, which Ifound will reflect their future business. I think it’s also important that the management at thecompany works with employee’s on a regular basis. If the company doesn’t work with marketresearch and other customer generating mechanisms I think that the company is going to havedifficulties with their relationship work and to be able to make business at their market area.Value: The study shows customer relationship marketing strategy as a key to operate businessand implementing it in the organization. This thesis contributes a deeper understanding in thesubject relationship marketing.Keywords: Customer relations, Customer service management, Relationship marketing,Cross-functional integration, Management strategy

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: “Haphazard”, “uncommercial”, or perhaps “unaccountable” are some of the terms frequently used to describe the marketing function. Most marketers are faced with immense pressure to boost their marketing effectiveness and measurement. The pressures include the need to reduce the inaccuracy of marketing decisions, increase customer profitability, recognise new potential revenue prospects, calculate future sales performance, and ultimately ascertain marketing’s value to the rest of the organisation (Binet & Field 2008:11). In the pursuit of marketing accountability, credibility and profitability, this thesis will explore the avenues available in ensuring that marketing is viewed as adding value to the organisation. To attain this objective, investigative and qualitative research will be conducted. The qualitative methodology utilised in this study is a two-pronged approach; namely, primary research and secondary research. The primary research is achieved through in-depth interviews with seven members of the senior and middle management team of Sasko Bakeries, a division of Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd. Secondary research, on the other hand, is conducted by means of a broad literature review that provides essential insight into marketing measurement, accountability, and credibility. The study firstly, provides an orientation to the scope of the study and covers the introduction to the research problem, research objectives, and research propositions, as well as clarifies the key concepts used in the study. Secondly, the study identifies the key critical marketing metrics that will ensure the correct characteristics of the marketing function are being measured. Aspects of marketing accountability, credibility and metrics are then subsequently reviewed. Thirdly, the study discusses the research design and methodology and consequently provides an analysis of the data gathered from the in-depth interviews. Lastly, the study wraps up with final thoughts and recommendations. The recommendations provide a framework for planning a highly effective marketing dashboard. Marketing dashboards connect data points in a manner that enables marketers to observe how any one marketing action affects the entire organisation. Moreover, marketing dashboards are a collection of critical indicative and prognostic metrics, arranged in a way to promote the recognition of patterns of business performance (LaPointe, 2007:27). Essentially, dashboards go beyond purely attempting to balance financial success with perceived business processes in order to generate growth. Sasko Bakeries is well-poised to implement dashboards; which will offer key decision-makers with the capability to relay and analyse large patterns of information, in order to gather new insights and pave the way to marketing accountability and credibility.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: “Wild”, “sonder handelsgees”, of dalk “onberekenbaar” is net ‘n paar van die terme wat dikwels gebruik word om die bemarkingsfunksie te beskryf. Die meeste bemarkers is onder geweldige druk om hul bemarkingsdoeltreffendheid en meetbaarheid te versterk. Hierdie druk sluit in die behoefte om die onnoukeurigheid van bemarkingsbesluite te verminder, klant winsgewendheid te vermeerder, nuwe potensiële inkomste vooruitsigte/moontlikhede te idientifiseer, toekomstige verkope te bereken en om uiteindelik vas te stel wat die bemarkingsfunksie se waarde vir die res van die organisasie is (Binet & Field 2008:11). In die soektog na bemarking rekenpligtigheid en geloofwaardigheid en winsgewendheid, sal hierdie tesis die verskillende beskikbaare moontlikhede ondersoek wat kan verseker dat die bemarkingsfunksie beskou word as waardevol vir ‘n organisasie. Om hierdie doelwit te bereik, sal ondersoekende en kwalitatiewe navorsing aangevoer word. Die navorsingsmetode wat gebruik was in hierdie is twee-ledig; naamlik primere navorsing en sekondere navorsing. Die primêre navorsing is bekom deur intensiewe onderhoude te voer met lede van die senior en middelbestuur span van Sasko Bakkerye, ‘n divisie van Pioneer Foods (Edms) Bpk. Sekondêre navorsing was aangevoer d.m.v. ‘n breë literatuur studie wat die noodsaaklike insig lewer in bemarking meetbaarheid, rekenpligtigheid en geloofwaardigheid. Eerstens, voorsien die dokument oriëntasie vir die omvang van die studie en dit dek die inleiding tot die navorsingsprobleem, navorsingsdoelwitte, en navorsingsvoorstelle. Dit verduidelik ook die konsepte waarna verwys word in die studie. Tweedens indentifiseeer die dokument die sleutel, kritiese bemarking maatstaf wat sal verseker dat die korrekte karaktereienskappe van die bemarkings funksie gemeet word. Aspekte van bemarking rekenpligtigheid, geloofwaardigheid en meetbaarheid word dan hersien. Derdens, bespreek die dokument die navorsingsontwerp en metodologie en voorsien dan ook ‘n ontleding van die data wat versamel was d.m.v. die onderhoude. Die dokument sluit af met finale gedagtes en aanbevelings. Die aanbevelings bied ‘n raamwerk vir die beplanning ‘n hoogs effektiewe bemarking instrumentbord of paneelbord – die padkaart vir bemarking rekenpligtigheid en geloofwaardigheid. Bemarking instrumentborde verbind data punte op so ‘n manier dat dit bemarkers in staat stel om waar te neem hoe enige bemarker se aksies die hele organisasie affekteer. Bemarking instrumentborde is ‘n versameling van ‘n kritiese, aanduidende en voorspellende maatstaf, geranskik in ‘n manier wat die herkenning van die patrone van besigheidsverrigtinge bevorder. Hoofsaaklik gaan instrumentborde verder as om net finansiële sukses met besigheidsprossesse te balanseerd gepositioneer om sodoende groei voort te bring. Sasko Bakkerye is goed gevestig om instrumentborde te implementeer; dit sal sleutel besluitnemers die vermoë en geleentheid bied om patrone van informasie deur te gee en te ontleed, sodat nuwe insigte bekom kan word om die pad vorentoe uit te lê vir bemarking rekenpligtigheid en geloofwaardigheid.