Benefits Of Marketing Research To Top-Level Management:
Top management is concerned with the decision-making and policy framing at the highest level as regards production, marketing and so or it is the highest level planning, policy making and controlling authority in the organization. The top-level management of a business unit includes Directors, Managing Director and other top-level marketing executives and other executives. Top-level management has to take marketing decisions such as fixing short-term and long-term marketing objective and sales targets, finalizing marketing policies and strategies, evaluating marketing performance, forecasting sales, allocating resources t marketing activities and selecting suitable marketing channels. For taking decisions on these matters, reliable and updated data are requires and the same are provided by the MR department. This is one service that MR department provides to top-level management. It facilitates decision-making on marketing issues by providing necessary information on the marketing and other aspects of business.
The top-level management needs feedback on current marketing environment and the MR department can provide this quickly. The feedback required in this regard can be provided in a continuous manner by the research department which studies marketing problems of the company in a regular and continuous manner. The research department is supposed to supply information to the top-level management onthe following aspects of marketing:
(1)Current business environment (more particularly marketing environment) faced by the company and the changes likely to take place in the near future.
(2)Trends in consumer behavior, demographic information and consumer needs/expectations.
(3)Changes in consumer purchasing power and data on demand and supply position in the market.
(4)Trends about market competition and marketing policies of major competitors of the company and their marketing strategies.
(5) Availability of better/cheaper raw materials and technology for manufacturing superior quality goods at lower costs.
(6)Feedback on the marketing performance of the company and the challenges that it is facing.
(7)Sales force requirement, recruitment and development.
(8)Marketing opportunities available (domestic and foreign) and the marketing challenges likely to develop in the near future.
(9) Any other information that the top management is expected to know for correct marketing decision-making and policy framing.
The top-level management can take reasonably correct decisions in the following marketing areas with the help of updated feedback available from the marketing research department:
- Deciding the long term marketing objectives and setting marketing plans, policies and strategies to achieve marketing objectives.
- Designing of product or modifications in the existing products.
- Determining the product line and adjusting the products as per the needs and expectations of consumers and allocation of resources among various products and marketing activities.
- Improving the brand or package design, color, etc.
- Fixing fair pricing of the product.
- Fixing marketing strategies in order to face the competitors’ ever-changing market environment.
- Selecting suitable channels of distribution for large scale an economical marketing of company’s products.
- Estimating sales i.e. sales forecasting for adjusting production and marketing activities of the company.
- Designing internal mechanism to monitor and evaluate performance of marketing department and introduction of remedial measures, if required.
In brief,MR is the crucial analytical tool and provides management with vital strategic and tactical information for decision-making.It guides management in the decision-making process. However, the final decision is to be taken by the top management. The feedback of Marketing department certainly plays a positive role in the correct decision making This suggests the importance and benefits of marketing research to top level management of the company.
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