Computer‐aided marketing planning: The experience of early adopters

Abstract

Previous research with users of a decision support system for marketing planning generated a number of potential benefits and success factors for achieving them. Using a multiple-case study design, these were tested in four organizations using a range of systems to assess the extent to which the previous results could be generalized. Benefits supported by the study were that systems can: aid in the use of marketing tools through automated calculations, graphics and guidance; facilitate group planning through support for fast iteration; aid the integration of cross-functional and multiple-level analyses; and form the repository for live electronic plans from which annual plans are a snapshot. Success factors supported were top management support, sufficiently wide team definition, a system that is seen as empowering rather than controlling, and definition of appropriate planning units. The study confirms the potential of software for reducing some of the barriers to effective marketing planning practice. Further research is needed to examine the areas where this study was inconclusive. IntroductionIn Armstrong and Brodie's (1994a, b) challenging and much-discussed experiment on the BCG matrix, subjects were asked to make a hypothetical investment decision in which investing in the BCG "star" would be less profitable than investing in the "dog". Subjects exposed to the BCG matrix were more likely to choose the less profitable investment.Whether or not one regards the experiment as an "elaborate tautology", given the way in which the hypothetical situation was defined (Wensley 1994a), it highlights a number of points on the nature of marketing theory and its dissemination-most obviously that marketing theory needs evaluation and validation, and that marketing educators have a responsibility to convey adequately the potential weaknesses of structures, frameworks, individual tools and methodologies. This paper concerns the effective application of existing theory by managers developing marketing plans in the field, rather than the definition and development of that theory. But, reflecting on what Armstrong and Brodie's experiment did not examine, several important aspects of the relationship between marketing theory and practice seem to be highlighted:(1) Complexity of analysis. Much planning occurs within the context of considerable uncertainty, in which the power of precise financial techniques is not available.

Factors for Success in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

“…Leverick et al (1998) provide a wide ranging review of success factor research with particular reference to the marketing domain. By way of more specific areas, Ryals et al (2000) provide a comprehensive review of the CRM literature; Wilson and McDonald (1996) review success factors for marketing decision support; and in a wide-ranging study, Dutta (2000) examines emerging success factors in e-commerce -one area where a comprehensive literature review could not be found. We define success factors as issues influencing the success of an IT-enabled intervention which is designed to effect business change.…”

Selection of optimal supplier in supply chain management strategy with analytic network process and choquet integral

“…Finally, for top management support in SCMS, Wilson and McDonald (1996) regarded it as an important factor in the successful implementation of decision support systems. SCMS may create sustained competitive advantage directly should the top management support be able to exploit unique SCM competencies.…”

“…An indepth discussion and literature review have led this study to decide five criteria with eighteen attributes and to select four suppliers. The five criteria used are customer focus (Hwang, 1998;Johnston et al, 2004;Mendoza et al, 2007;Sousa, 2003), competitive priority (Chenhall & Langfield-Smith, 1998;Cox & Blackstone, 1998;Dreyer & Gronhaug, 2004;Kathuria, 2000;Margaret, 1996), strategic purchasing (Carr & Smeltzer, 1999;Cousins, 1999;Dyer, 1996;Watts et al, 1992), top management support (Chen & Paulraj, 2004;Krause, 1999;Wilson & McDonald, 1996), and information technology (King, 1996;Carr and Pearson, 1999;Dehning et al, 2007;Yao et al, 2007). Our SCMS model will integrate the most relevant activities, components, and characteristics found in SCMS literature, which are put forward as criteria.…”

“…This construct emphasizes such attributes as purchasing function strategic role (A41), supporting the competitive priority with company mission (A42), supporting the need for inter-organizational information system (A43), and accounting for customer needs a vital part of corporate strategy (A44) (Chen & Paulraj, 2004;Krause & Ellram, 1997;Wilson & McDonald, 1996).…”

Justifying CRM projects in a business-to-business context: The potential of the Benefits Dependency Network

“…We will now turn to some success factors which allow these benefits to be achieved, which are listed in Table 4. The first two success factors derived from our data are common to numerous planning tasks at the customer interface: the need to involve a cross-functional team (McDonald, 1989), and the desirability of facilitation when first applying a planning framework (Wilson & McDonald, 1996).…”