(b) Marketing Information System This sub-system of management information system provides information about various functions of the marketing system of an organisation. Marketing is another functional area of the business organisation, which is engaged in marketing (selling) of its products to its customers. Philip Kotler has defined marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want chrough creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. ‘Thus, marketing is a comprehensive term and includes many functions. All activities necessary to direct and facilitate the production and usage of goods and services for a sociery are included in marketing, Nowadays, marketing has assumed a great significance in all societies, irrespective of the degree of industralisation, The concept of marketing has also undergone a sea change and thus the traditional concept of marketing does not hold true today. Whereas traditional practices of marketing start with production and consider marketing to be of use in selling and promotion to attain sales at a profit, modem marksting focuses its attention on buyersicustomers, It gets profits through the creation of the buyers’ satisfaction and, further, seeks to achieve i through an integrated, corporate-wide set of marketing activities. These two views are expressed in Fig 2.11. ‘Modern marketing does not simply include activities like selling, advertising or distribution. Tt involves the interaction of several business activities, whose objective is the satisfaction of the customers’ nceds and desires. Thus, in this approach, even before the product is produced, marketing comes into operation, i. the needs/desires of its potential customers are understood and the product is designed as per the preferences of its customers, whereas in the cate of traditional practice, the existing products are sought to be imposed on the market through aggressive selling and promotional pressures. Some ofthe important functions ofthe marketing proces include the following (i) The marketing identification funcion: The dererminaton of potential buyers and their characte itl inorder co satisfy their needs and desis, This enables the maskewees, to kaow (a) where dhe buyers are loeated, (6) when do they buy, (e} how frequetly do they buy, and (a) in what quant do hey Buy. (i) The purehare motivation futon: a thi fonction, ananetsment of various social, economic snd psychological fores, which influence che purchase behaviour ofthe market, made. (ii) The product adjsonon fncione Ths fonction includes all sch activites which are necessary to match the prodoctservices offerings with the market. AS the needdsires of customers keep chiaging, + corresponding adjutment i equied in teams of product planning. li) The physical dcributon fnctto: The actul movement of goods from points of production ‘0 points of consumption is considered in this function It involves decisions regarding opcimum iaepaton of transportation, warchousing and merchandising economics, (0) The communication function: The information and messages between buyers and eles are required to be communicate. This Function incledes dessins on adversiing, peronal ‘eling sles promotion, publicity, packapig ees, (wi) The tranezevom fnction I ncides all nich aces which ate needed to faclitate the teansfer of tle of ownership of goodservces berwecn the parts in a wansacton. For sxample order handing, invoicing, bling, ered arrangement, insurance policy, guarantee, (vin The posetranscton faction: In this fonction, feedback about the performance of the produetierice i obtained from te eastomer 0 that quality producerice may be assured forthe satisfaction of the customer, In onder wo carry out the above-mentioned fancions, a marketing manager has wo take an aay of decisions, for which ely accuate and relevant information iu must. Thus, every organisation thas to organise the flow of marketing information to its marketing managers. The needed information Pie ieeE etek metal omtn ads market tretinoin eatciog cach Se ee ee ee sammnice wees hres 7 Co “Marketing >) ss >) wala Sd Fg. 2412 Management Information System‘Transaction data, which includes ceports on orders, sales, prices, inventory levels, roscivables, erc., is obrained from the internal records of the organisation. By analysing this information, marketing managers can identify important opportunities and problems. Sometimes, marketing managers need focused studies of specific problems and opportunities, for which they collect marketing research data. Such data may be gathered through marketing survey, 2 product-preference test, a sales forecast by region or an advertising-ffectiveness study. Marketing inteligence data pertains to pertinent developments in the marketing environment. ‘This type of data may be collected by reading books, newspapers, and trade publications, talking to customers, suppliers, distributors, and other outsiders. “To arrive at marketing decisions, a marketing manager needs information on different aspects of marketing. Marketing information system, after collecting various types of data, process it and disseminates processed data (information) to marketing managers. Marketing managers at higher levels are also being assisted in their decision-making by marketing decision support systems. These systems consist of statistical rechniques and decision models to assist in making berrer analyses and decisions (€) Production/Manufacturing Information System Manufacturing or produttion information system provides information on production/operation Actes ofan onantsion and thus facater dhe decir making proces of producon manager of an organisation. ‘Manufacturing is another important functional arca of an organisation that is engaged in producing goods from raw materials. It is clear that manufacturing is not an activity for every organisation selling goods, Some of these organisations may only be in the business of trading, i.