MARKETING MANAGEMENT

The main activity of any manager is to decide on different aspects of planning, organizing and controlling.  It is also important for him to get the decision implemented, check the results and then to further make decisions to achieve the described targets.


 Since there is various level of management, it is quite clear that the decisions taken at these levels are different in nature and also in their implications.  It is, therefore, essential to understand these levels from the point of view of the decisions being taken at each of these levels.  Only then can this knowledge help in understanding the information needs at each of the levels. 

The marketing levels could be broadly classified as: 

•  Strategic level, 
• Tactical level 
• Strategic level: 

The marketing department at this level has to make the decision in great deal of uncertainty and the decisions are very much future-oriented. These decisions established the long-range plans for the organization. The marketing department has to evolve strategies for achieving these goals. Thus at this level, the marketing department is concerned with establishing the objectives, goals and policy making decisions. The activities at this level of marketing department could be determination of the product quality, selection of target market, product line expansion and diversification etc.

Tactical Level: 

This is the second level of management, which is responsible for making the tactical decisions.  The decisions made here are mainly for the short-term activities.  It includes allocation of resources for achieving the objectives of the organization as per the strategic plans prepared by the strategic level of management.  The examples of the activities carried out at this level of management are formulation of sales budget, advertising budget etc. :

Marketing and Information: 

The information needs, in terms of its quality, and quantity are different at different levels. The terms, data and information are often interchangeable when referring to two distinct concepts.  Data are raw facts in isolation which when placed in meaningful context by data processing operations allow interfaces to be drawn. 

The basic purpose of capturing and processing data is to produce information.  Although data are key ingredients, not all data produce relevant and timely information.  There is an unlimited amount of data from sources both internal and external to the organization.  No data processing method guarantees that data will be processed in accordance with the needs of the user.  These needs must be determined in a context somewhat distinct from the data processing method used. 

The primary function of information is to increase the knowledge or reduce the uncertainty of the user.   There are many pieces of information, which might be useful and in one or the other way influence the recipient’s response in a given situation.  Some information might arise from personal observation; others may be derived from conversation with others and from committee meetings.  In general, we can say that information provides relevant details in a time-frame about the state of affairs which gives a greater degree of predictability.