Acquiring adequate information for the strategy-making decisions in the field of business-to-business telecommunication equipment market

Staša Ilić (2010) Acquiring adequate information for the strategy-making decisions in the field of business-to-business telecommunication equipment market. MSc thesis.

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Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to enhance the ability of marketing information systems users to collect and to select relevant information in the process of producing and selling. Marketing has been becoming one of the key business functions. The Internet and globalization have accelerated the interaction of firms and their competitors that offer similar product with significantly lower prices, all over the globe. As a response to the new market challenges, the firms are moving their focus from product portfolio management to customer portfolio management. Consequently, the importance of dedicated marketing information systems that allow monitoring of customer and competitor behavior has grown significantly. Furthermore, they enable the processing of internal databases containing the data on firm’s offer, sales channels, prices etc. The thesis describes the main market strategy characteristics, marketing information systems and marketing planning. It defines the specifics of telecommunication business–to–business market and current trends in the field. One of the most significant characteristic of the telecommunication equipment is that it belongs to the domain of high technology products. For the environment in which these products are being marketed, a high level of uncertainty, unpredictability and business risk is more evident than on other markets. The thesis answers the question why the collection and selection of the relevant information may be of the crucial importance when gaining competitive advantage. There are several described ways of possible business plan making. The case study presents an actual marketing plan following the SOSTAC system that contains all the relevant decision–making information. The SOSTAC system stands for: situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, actions and control. Marketing plan quality may be significantly improved by raising the quality of information, needed for marketing plan preparation. Higher quality of information is assured by the appropriate information selection. A firm should be able to perform the selection between relevant information. As an additional information quality assurance, the firm’s marketing information systems play a crucial role. The thesis also presents recommended marketing information system for the telecommunication firm. The proposed information system includes market data about trends, customers, competitors, market potential, current products and enables analytical methods. Marketing information system therefore eases the decisions about new products, key customers identification, establishing and controlling marketing plans and many other marketing activities for management and firm’s marketers.

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