: What we need for the development and continuation of the company
Kazuhiro YOKOTA
Hakuhodo Inc.,
2-40-10, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: ajianokaba@yahoo.co.jp
Abstract: If this theory that Ford model T was released in 1908 (Meiji 41st) is true, it may be said that the marketing is the concept that is a little over 100 years. Although the speech-like frame is arranged and maintained as verbalized information, the fixation in the practice side has a big difference between each company. Every activity in any department in what kind of company has considerable similarity, and there is not a difference in the essential function. However, there is a difference in how things are perceived, and a big difference can be seen in their practices. The purpose of this study is to inspect what causes such a difference. Above all, judging from the theory that Ford Model T is a pioneer in the practice of marketing, it seems as if the company activities of big companies form the model. Although the marketing of small and medium-sized companies is hard to say that it matures, revitalization of about 3,850,000 small and medium-sized companies should be connected to the revitalization of the Japanese economy. It is certainly effective on this occasion to adopt a marketing mindset and marketing activities. As stated above, this study is conducted in order to verify why small and medium-sized companies donrt adopt marketing flexibly and what is the factor obstructing marketing activities in companies (B to B companies and medium-sized companies).
Submitted 12th Sep, 2016
Accepted 29th Nov, 2016
1. What is marketing?
When the one Japanese Marketing Association defined in 1990 is quoted, it is “a synthesis activity for market creation through the fair competition by getting mutual understanding with customers based on “the global-like field of vision” of companies and other organizations.” However, may this definition have sense of incongruity in comparison with a nuance for understanding of routine marketing activities? In other organizations except “companies and other organizations,” when it is necessary to include to nonprofit organizations and define it cyclopaedically and you face the marketing working on so-called profit pursuit with visualizing it, you feel compelled to feel it is an articulate explanation. Those who work in a company will think it is a definition without a sense of reality. However, what is important is to end with a comprehensive activity in the final passage. Although the definition of the marketing becomes noble or complicated, the real intention will gradually become clear when, back to its origin, you face “marketing” once again.
If “market + ing” is translated literally, it represents “market + doing.” Marketing is not a noun etymologically speaking. In other words, not the thing which a concept preceded, it is a verb that means carrying out how you can perform it effectively and fruitfully in a market. It is a quick digression, but “management” is a noun and nominalization of the verbs called “manage.” If it is translated literally, it means managing. Management exists as a concept itself.
In this study, the redefinition of “marketing” is not a main purpose. Independent of the fact that there are a lot of definitions in the world, it is intended that it catches the essence and understands it in a part of the root and trunk. It is enough for “marketing” only to be a verb. It may be said that understanding of “being a verb” is extremely important to understand the importance of marketing.
2. Hypothesis formulation
*Hypothesis: Is the reason why marketing campaign is not practiced in small and medium-sized companies that they do not know the theory of the marketing?
The hypothesis mentioned above was imagined at first. There might be surely marketing activities only in the United States 100 years ago, but it has been over 50 years since Jerome McCarthy advocated the “4 Ps” consisting of “product,” “price,” “place,” and “promotion” in 1960, which are the core frame in the practice of marketing. Meanwhile, Kotler published textbooks of marketing many times, and it may be said that the system of marketing is completed.
Furthermore, success examples of companies skillful in every marketing have been published and inspected. Employees have been made to learn management and marketing thoroughly in American MBA, they have spread the know-how widely, and commentary books of marketing skill are substantial so that the book areas are satisfactory to be set up. It is not a problem of knowledge even if you guess it because you can understand a summary of the marketing with books for approximately about 2,500 yen to 3,000 yen. Given this perspective, the hypothesis that you do not practice because you do not know marketing is hard to understand. If you think that you want to know something, you can know it as much as you like. However, there are many companies that do not step into practice.
3. Big influences on an improvement of marketing activity degree
The world is full of the know-how and information about marketing. Nevertheless, many companies do not take such a function in companies. It is greatly related to “marketing is a verb” mentioned above, but let’s take up the problem of “who” here.
The fact of “who” is engaged in “Market + ing” is important. Although you are apt to pay attention to “what” such as elaborated frameworks to realize success examples and elaborated frameworks to realize them in marketing, they are activity results of companies having the main constituent and the subject about the movement of “marketing” surely. There are few descriptions of “who” is a very important part in case examples. The fact of “who” “does “what” is marketing. The companies that can publish case examples do not have a bard time. There is a basic difference between the companies whose ”persons can carry out marketing” whose “persons cannot.”
What is the positioning of marketing in companies like? At first, for positioning of marketing in companies, it can be defined as follows: a company is the aggregate of various functions such as production, business, development, financial affairs, and personnel affairs. Viewed like this, should marketing be described in parallel with those functions?
When you are predicated on the idea that customers represent the origin of all company activities, customers should control all the functions in the company, it may be said that a company activity is that each function serves as each role in response to the expectation to maximum. The function to clarify customers’ expectation and unify each function in order to guarantee the sufficiency is a marketing function on this occasion. In the creation of an organizational chart, Marketing Department is arranged beside Production Department, and the role is to unify them.
When the contents mentioned above are summed up, it can be said to be an activity to integrate and promote each function of the company for customers. Naturally the company’s very own departments are established in the company with satisfactory marketing. In addition, a manager who is good at marketing sometimes acts personally. However, most of companies that do not go well take marketing as an act in each section, and the part of “who” is very vague.
4. Relationship between marketing and management
There is another department to implement integration in a company. It is possible to derive formula called “the management = management” by translating “unification” as “governance.” In other words, the management has one function (“role”), but it may be said that there is not what is written as production or development in parallel. To regard management as “a hierarchy” has mass appeal, and as for the notation method of a company profile, the president is drawn on the top of the pyramid., it will be general that the organizational chart of each section is created such as derived tree diagrams. Marketing is not placed like that, and it is the case that you feel uncomfortable creating the top and bottom hierarchies between such sections in the actual condition. The general view will be that although you integrate it, you do not control it. However, they are adjacent with the management in a considerable part to optimize integration among stocking, development, production, and sales.
The difference between marketing and management varies in points for “whom.” Marketing is to integrate all for customers, and management is to rule over them for other stakeholders. Taking good care of customers has close relation to bringing maximum profit for every stakeholder of the company. Therefore, it may be said that management has in a close relation with marketing.
With reference to the case introduced by GLOBIS, let’s think about this point. P&G, a household articles manufacturer based in the United States, is famous as a company which introduced various marketing technique quickly. P&G is characteristic at the viewpoint of construction of marketing organization, and it is very successful in introducing a brand management organization in the 1930s in order to promote activation through internal competition. Each brand group (in the case of P&G, it is the unit that is smaller than a department) works on high-integrity brand strategies, and brand managers compete for result by taking advantage of functional divisions such as development, production, advertisements, and sales, based on “the personnel evaluation system based on a results-oriented mindset and promotion within the company only” through secretiveness.
P&G is famous for the point sending many managers out along with General Electric (GE) in the world. Many people of them are engaged in brand management in marketing departments, and some of “the graduates” are Jeffrey Immelt, chairperson of GE, Microsoft Steve Ballmer CEO, and James McNemey CEO of Boeing. McNerney CEO had the future way of becoming basic such as “opinions more than data” and “service to customers in P & G,” and he said in 2009 it is helpful in a different field with P & G. Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of GE, says that the customer dealing method and market analysis technique learned in P & G became the foundation of the later carrier. Therefore, the phrase of “learn in P&G and earn in other companies” exists in the United States.
It’s no accident that the marketing section of P&G is always on the leading edge of marketing. In other words, it may be understood that, actually, marketing has similarities to management from such a point. Drucker points out that “the president should take out an indicator of marketing,” but it is not always necessary. In the organization having high degree of achievement, this is because there is “a low-ranked president” named a brand manager in each brand. The president does not need to offer a direction of marketing, but if excellent persons engaged in marketing are raised, they will be presidents that understand marketing.
5. Three classifications of small and medium-sized companies
As for small and medium-sized companies, it is possible to classify them into three types. Although it is not all about classification, small and medium-sized companies will correspond to either or redundant existence of the following classifications.
1) The companies which are B to B companies do not produce final consumption goods for end users. They provide service for companies and corporations. The sales departments take care of a system of the profit collection.
2) They are the companies which grew up by the flash of the founder and the later passionate struggling on.
3) The companies which are for end users, but they are placed in lower than medium rank as corporate scale in the industry.
The reason why no market activities of Types 1), 2), and 3) are not substantial is common. It is the case that they don’t have knowledge, and each circumstance is different, too, but there’s a problem in the part of all. “Who” that carries out marketing does not exist.
* Case of Company Type 1)
Constant profit is guaranteed as a subsidiary and business grouping of big companies, and competing analyses are not performed through basic elements of marketing. Its needs is grasped enough in everyday environment, because it is protected by subsidiaries, business grouping, and capital ties, and it is in the situation that the entry of competitors is hard to become a menace as well as the customers comes from a singular company of the deep connection. Therefore, the company’s ability specifications are well suited to the needs of customers rather than the thing which were developed originally.
* Case of Company Type 2)
The business category appeared for the first time, it provided totally new service, and there was no competing company at first. The market could enjoy the new value that did not exist so far, and its needs was guaranteed for the time being. The company’s ability is condensed by the part of “to be first,” and a problem is hard to occur in the unique situation. However, a marketing person in charge is absent, and top management makes the decision making including it. However, the marketing is greatly different from the management in the purpose as mentioned above. In other words, it may be said that you are apt to think that the effective thing for the company is effective for customers, and that it is the so-called venture type company which is easy to cause the remote situation from needs. Although it can create one of the great flowerings owing to the unique idea and passion of the founder, the company faces the collapse for immediate acceleration afterwards because it does not have structure (marketing) for continuation in case of its collapse.
* Case of Company Type 3)
Although the company’s sections such as development and stocking, product plans, business, and sales are maintained in the company, it may be said that there is no marketing section in the type. Therefore, the goal setting without such functions is high in each section as priority, and there is no consciousness to raise the top line of the whole company. In other words, the consciousness is apt to move toward the saving of expenses, it is hard to discuss expansion, and as for the type, a tendency to follow is seen in the standard of the industry. It grasps needs by confirming a trend of high-ranked companies in the industry, rather than following their own company’s originality, and it tends to reduce the burden on research and development. This type of company produces final consumption goods mainly, and it is expected in this industry that the marketing functions extremely effectively. However, there is really a wall in the company. The interchange between sections is extremely thin, and they establish out-of-bounds relations (they don’t have an identity of interests), and there are some sections in every function of the industry.
However, synergy is not created in the company without integrating it again. Such a tendency is not seen in only small and medium-sized companies, but even big companies beyond the normal level are easy to be caught in a trap.
6. Conclusions
The following things are necessary for marketing evolution in the small and medium-sized companies.
- Marketing and the management are different in their purposes, and they must have a main constituent person who acts consciously. It does not mind just being an individual or a section. It should be set depending on the scale. The main constituent person must design and optimize the marketing mix by sharing its information with horizontal development into each section and integrating each section as well as watching 3C (customer, competitor, and company) at all times. Too much concentration of power into management classes is a disincentive of the marketing in small and medium-sized companies. It may be said that the existence of an integrator putting much value on the marketing is necessary.
- The disincentive of Type 3) is estrangement between sections.
Although the section in companies consists of work maintenance work operating bodies, it is impossible for just one section to bring about profit. However, a loyalty degree for posts and sections is too high under the present conditions, and it is in a difficult situation to promote integration and lead the most suitable solution across some sections. It is guessed that there is an evaluation system that should be improved behind the background.
The author would like to investigate the direction of more concrete solution by investigating marketing consciousness in small and medium-sized companies and clarifying the tendency and background with a focus on “who” is doing “what” for the problem that he should work on in the future. You are not allowed to overlook the fact that it is important to focus attention on “who” rather than “what” and “how” in the actual marketing condition.
I received an interesting question when I announced this script. Could ideas on a whim be an important policy for a business?
A good idea is very important. However, good ideas are whimsy. We don’t know when it will appear. Business is very constant. There always needs to be improvement, reformation, strategy, and tactics. We don’t have time to wait for a good idea to pop up. Therefore, marketing skills could be said that it is a skill to fill in the time until there is a big idea. When said “filling-in” it may be perceived imprudently, however, that is not true. If the filling in doesn’t function, the company will experience a melt-down.
On the other hand, in fact there are companies who make effort to bring up as many ideas as possible. The companies offer an environment and building structure that resembles a “playground” for a more creative idea. Also, mid-career recruitments are common for a stimulating influence and to create an environment for a easier synergy within the company. Companies such as Google can be an example. Although it is a very brave and effortful decision, it is better to challenge it if there is the energy to spare. Even if with all their power, marketing shouldn’t be considered less serious.
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