A goal programming model for purchase planning

Examines alternate segmentation strategies in the standard industrial products market. Using data obtained from 164 Indian industrial buyers, provides several empirical tests of a widely held belief that traditional segmentation approaches may serve as effective surrogate measures for distinct benefit segments. Results suggest that the link between traditional and benefit segmentation approaches are far weaker than might be expected. There is no strong empirical evidence supporting the proposition that benefit segments derived from cluster analysis are dependent on sales volume, industry type, characteristics of purchasing agents, and other potential correlates of benefit segments. The findings have implications for both academics and practitioners in industrial marketing.

Evaluating alternative segmentation strategies in standard industrial markets

The relative importance of various promotional elements such as personal selling, trade shows, sales promotions, direct mail, technical literature and trade advertising is examined across five different product types and three different buyclasses. A study of industrial purchasing agents indicated that the relative importance of the promotional elements varied across products but not across buyclasses. Results are discussed and recommendations are made for viewing the importance of promotional elements.

The Relative Importance of Various Promotional Elements in Different Industrial Purchase Situations

This thesis identifies and evaluates the marketing-planning
practices of British industrial
goods companies operating
internationally, and examines the validity of the widespread
belief that formalised
marketing planning
facilitates success.
Part I defines the theoretical framework for
marketing planning
and
describes
a
logical
sequence of activities
leading to the
setting of marketing objectives and the formulation of plans
for
achieving
them.
Part 2
contains
detailed
case
histories describing the marketing
planning practices of a sample of
industrial
goods companies.
It
also contains a summary of the results of
in depth'interviews with
385 directors and senior managers
from 199
companies covering a
broad spectrum of size and
diversity, the purpose of which was
to
establish
the extent to which the theory is
practised and what
the
consequences are of either conformity or non conformity.
Part 3
contains conclusions and recommendations
from the field-
work, which revealed that 90
per
cent
of
British industrial
goods
companies
do
not conform with the theory. This was universally
true, irrespective
of size and
diversity. There was widespread
ignorance
about marketing and confusion about the difference
between
marketing planning and sales
forecasting and
budgeting,
which encouraged operational managers
to perpetuate an essentially
parochial and short term view of
business, and
to extrapolate
the
business
unchanged
into the future. There was a commonality of
operational problems
in those companies not conforming with the
theoretical framework,
which centred around
declining organisational
effectiveness, and confusion over what
to do
about
it.
In
contrast, those
companies with complete marketing planning
systems enjoyed high levels of organisational effectiveness, and
a
high degree
of control over their environment.
The
major
benefit
of marketing planning
derives from the process
itself,
rather
than from the existence of a plan.
This process
is itself
universal,
irrespective of circumstances.
However, what
is
not universal,
is the degree
of
formalisation of the planning
system, which
is
a
function of company size-and
the degree of
product or market
diversity.
No
marketing planning system will
be
complete unless the following
conditions are satisfied:
the chief executive
has to understand
the system and
take an active part
in it; there has to exist the
means of
integration with other
functional areas'of the. business
at general management
level; in a
closed
loop
system, some
mechanism
has to exist to prevent marketing
inertia from
over-bureaucratisation; operational and strategic marketing
planning
have to be
part of the same system.
Finally, the introduction of a complete marketing planning system
may require a period of up to three years
because it has
profound
organisational and phsychological ramifications, requiring, as
it
does,
a change
in the way a company manages
its…

The theory and practice of marketing planning for industrial goods in international markets

Purchasing agents' perceived importance of marketing mix components in different industrial purchase situations

Perceptual Differences and Similarities of Vendor Attributes Between Purchasing and Non-Purchasing Executives

Looks at two aspects of the industrial purchasing process: constructing a definitive any variations in their relative importance by purchasing and non‐purchasing executives when making buying decisions. Proposes that marketing manager need to know what factor influence buying behaviour in order to be able to design better a marketing mix for their organization. Suggests that marketing, managers may also benefit from an analysis of vendor attributes.

G. E. Kiser

Papers

Perceptual Differences and Similarities of Vendor Attributes Between Purchasing and Non-Purchasing Executives

Clues to the design of a marketing mix