Introduction
More and more companies are consciously and formally striving to apply rational methods and pragmatic to solve their business problems, while recognizing the benefits that they are derived from it. These methods to be effective should follow a system.
By system we understand “a set of objects united by some interaction or interdependence regular. “In the specific case of marketing, this interaction and interdependence occurs between different variables that we can consider, such as the product, prices, advertising, etc. Throughout the development of knowledge about the variables that intervene in the decisions of the marketing executives, more and more is trying to find relationships that link these variables between them, and if possible, explain how things happen. With this I am referring to the construction of mathematical models to discover, quantify and evaluate alternative commercial strategies.
It also investigates the formulation of information systems to marketing management, which allow decisions to be made as accurate as possible, without forgetting the importance of the systems in implementation of marketing tactics, as well as in the development of new products. For all the above, it is very important to review the systems established in the company, check their effectiveness and, in the case of not being organized, making the pertinent recommendations so that establish and correct this situation.
Definition of MIS
In general, companies due to the concern for having better information have been developing and perfecting procedures to take advantage of the continuous flow of it, until perfecting an information system. An information system is a structure that continuously interacts with the future of the personnel, equipment and procedures. It is designed to support decision making in a program of the company’s marketing.
Some characteristics of a marketing information system
- Must be able to:
- Determine what data you need for decision making.
- Generate the information.
- Process the data.
- Allow storage and retrieval of data.
- Oriented towards the future. Anticipates the prevention of problems, as well as their solution. Represent in the Marketing what preventive medicine for men.
- It must operate constantly not sporadically or intermittently.
- To be profitable the information must be used.
Components of a Marketing Information System
According to the Kotler scheme, the “Information System is located between the environment and the person who uses it. There is a continuous flow of data from the environment to the executive going through the Information System. With the data obtained, new decisions are made that modify the environment, which creates a new flow of information that allows us to control the decisions adopted according to the results obtained, as indicated in the previous section it is one of the functions of the system.
An information system consists of:
- Internal communication subsystem
- Intelligence Subsystem
- Market Research Subsystem
- Scientific Subsystem of Marketing Management
The internal information subsystems have as their fundamental mission to provide measures of the current activity and performance: sales, costs, inventories, etc. Its function is to control and check that internal information fulfills the missions for which it is intended, such as articles on those that inform, type and amount of information, as well as agility and lag of information both for Excess as default.
All this information is in the company in different ways presented. It is the work of Marketing executive check the accuracy and speed of such information.
- The intelligence subsystem includes all the systems used by the company for information of what happens in the environment.
Among the sources we can find, to mention the most classic, the National Institute of Statistics,
Statistics of Associations, Banks, Chambers of Commerce etc.
This type of data is known as secondary data, because it has usually been prepared for different missions that serve as information to those responsible for marketing. Versus these are the primary data that have been taken especially for the project that we are considering.
Regarding the secondary data, it is convenient to check one of the following points:
Impartiality:
It is not strange that in some occasions data are published for certain purposes propaganda that have nothing to do with a serious investigation, frequently the person in charge of marketing is so happy to find the data that it was looking for that it forgets to verify if they really are independent data.
Validity:
Raises the question of whether the data constitute an adequate and useful measure for the purposes of executive.
Credibility:
Pose a problem of accuracy, from the point of view that the data collected they are a sample that reflects the reality of the population from which they have been extracted. One of the most common mistakes is to start collecting primary data before analyzing the information available in secondary sources.
The Market Research subsystem is one of the most problematic when it comes to integrate it into the information system. There are those who see SIM as a simple, computer-based extension of research markets. In other cases, and in our opinion, rightly, the investigation of markets in a way dependent on the SIM.
Following William J. Stanton between market research and an information system marketing we can find at least six difference
Characteristics of market research:
- Emphasizes the handling of external information.
- It is aimed at solving specific problems.
- Therefore, it operates intermittently project by project.
- It is oriented towards the future.
- In order to carry out the process, it is essential to use the computer.
- Includes other subsystems in addition to market research.
In any case, doing market research is one of the most important tasks.
