Unit Title: Marketing Information Systems Level: Diploma Learning Outcomes and Indicative Content: Candidates will be able to 1.

Unit Code: MkIS Learning Hours: 160

Understand the nature, role and strategic value of marketing information in different organisations, whether profit making, not for profit, service industries, product based, business to consumer, business to business, domestic, international or global 1.1 Appreciate the role of information in marketing strategy, planning, management, monitoring and control. Appreciate the pivotal role of information in assisting management, in understanding markets, and gaining a competitive advantage through the strategic use of marketing information. 1.2 Understand the need for and role of information in marketing decision making. The concepts of the sin of omission and the sin of commission in relation to information provision. 1.3 Appreciate the functional workings of a marketing information system. Understand the component parts of a marketing information system. Be able to design, and understand the process of implementation and managing a marketing information system. 1.4 Understand information for strategic, tactical and operational decisions. 1.5 Be able to establish a marketing information system administration centre for the administration and development of the system. 1.6 Be able to manage, monitor and control a marketing information system. 1.7 Appreciate the need for senior management support for such a system.

2.

Provide the means of identifying information requirements for marketing management, planning and control (including its contribution to strategic/ corporate planning), and a knowledge of the means of acquiring this information from appropriate sources 2.1 Use the information audit to establish information needs for various users of the system. 2.2 Understand the information required for different types of managerial decision making, e.g. strategic, tactical and operational. 2.3 Establish the cost/benefit of information using marginal analysis (Marginal Marketing Expense and the Marginal Marketing Response curves) and the Bayesian approach to the expected value of information using decision trees and initial subjective probability models. 2.4 Understand both objective and subjective approaches to market measurement and forecasting.

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2.5 Appreciate the use of management science and operational research tools in marketing. 3. Understand the concept of a marketing information system, its component parts and how such a system should be designed, administered, monitored, evaluated and developed 3.1 Understand the concept of a marketing information system. 3.2 Have a working knowledge of the component parts of such a system and how each part of the system interacts with and augments the others. 3.3 Appreciate the ideas of systems analysis and design in relation to marketing information systems. 4. Understand the internal documentary system of the firm 4.1 Appreciate the reasons for the existence of an internal documentary system (internal accounting system) within the organisation. 4.2 Understand sources and types of internal marketing information. 4.3 Understand how internal information can contribute to marketing management decision making at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. 4.4 Use internal marketing information as input data to other analytical methods and models (see Section 7). 5. Appreciate the nature of the formal marketing research system as a component part of the firms overall marketing information system 5.1 Develop an appreciation of the market research process, techniques of marketing research, and planning and conducting marketing research. 5.2 Understand the nature of marketing research and the stages in the marketing research process. Have knowledge of the main sources of secondary data and the methods of collecting primary data interviews, surveys, observation and experimentation. The use of such data to improve marketing decisions. 5.3 Understand levels of measurement and different types of data. Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement. Qualitative and quantitative data. Triangulation in the social sciences as a corroborative mechanism for different data sources. 5.4 Understand sampling and methods of sampling, sample size, sample size calculation, sampling error, standard error of the mean and proportion, central limit theorem, normal distribution, standard deviation and application to sampling. Probability and non probability sampling. 5.5 Appreciate international and global marketing research. Problems of data collection. Developing countries and emerging markets. Reliability and validity.

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5.6 Understand the contribution of formal marketing research to the organisations overall Marketing Information System. 5.7 Use marketing research information within the organisation to contribute to strategic, tactical and operational decision making. 6. Understand the market intelligence system 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Understand the nature of market intelligence. Understand the main sources of market intelligence. Understand problems of validity and reliability. Understand primary and secondary sources of market intelligence. Appreciate ethical issues in the collection of intelligence. Understand the contribution of market intelligence information to the overall marketing information system of the organisation. Market intelligence information as input data to other analytical processes and models (see Section 7). Understand how market intelligence information can contribute to successful strategic, tactical and operational decision making within the organisation.

7.

Understand the marketing analytical system 7.1 Adding value to information from the other three sub systems through analysis, simulation and modelling. 7.2 Use simulation studies, queuing theory and brand switching matrices (Markov Chains). 7.3 Appreciate sales forecasting quantitative methods; econometric methods (regression), short term forecasting (moving averages and exponential smoothing), de-composition models, other. 7.4 Appreciate sales forecasting qualitative methods; sales force composite, jury of executive opinion, customer use projections, other. 7.5 Understand cross tabulation and establishing relationships. 7.6 Understand descriptive statistics and the graphical presentation and communication of data. 7.7 Understand testing associations and relationships between marketing variables and customer groups. The use of parametric and non parametric statistics. Using Chi Square (non parametric) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (parametric). 7.8 Understand other analytical methods, linear programming, game theory, linear discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, regression, correlation, other. 7.9 Use data analysis packages, Excel, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), SNAP, NUD*IST, NVivo (qualitative research analysis packages). 7.10 Understand how information from the marketing analytical system can be used in strategic, tactical and operational decision making.

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8.

Understand applications of marketing information systems 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Understand customer relationship management Understand internal marketing Understand outbound and inbound logistics and distribution Understand production and operations/value chain analysis and decisions 8.5 Understand sales and sales management 8.6 Understand international marketing 8.7 Understand customer service evaluation and benchmarking 8.8 Understand pricing decisions 8.9 Understand marketing communications decisions 8.10 Understand product and service development 8.11 Understand strategic marketing planning.

9.

Understand international, multi national and global marketing information systems 9.1 Describe the international/multinational/global marketing information system model. 9.2 Appreciate integration of individual country marketing information systems. 9.3 Understand system design. 9.4 Understand problems inherent in the operation and coordination of a multinational/global marketing information system.

10. Understand marketing information systems and decision support systems 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 Describe nature and function of decision support systems. Understand the relationship between MkIS and decision support systems. Use decision support systems to enhance decision making. Create what if scenarios using decision support systems. Understand the use of expert systems. Understand neural networks. Describe electronic data interchange. Use decision support systems to improve strategic, tactical and operational marketing decisions.

Assessment Criteria: Assessment method: written examination Length of examination: three hours Candidates should answer four questions from a choice of eight, each question carrying equal marks

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Recommended Reading Rainer RK, Introduction to Information Systems (2006), John Wiley and Son ISBN: 0471736368 Hague PN, Market Research: A Guide to Planning, Methodology and Evaluation (2002), Kogan Page ISBN: 0749437308 Smith DVL and Fletcher JH, Inside Information: Making Sense of Marketing Data (2001), John Wiley and Son ISBN: 0471495433 Stone M, Bond A and Foss B, Consumer Insight: How to Use Data and Market Research to Get Closer to Your Customer (2004), Kogan Page ISBN: 0749412925 Collier-Barsdale H, Goldstucker JL and DeLane JW, Marketing Information: A Professional Reference Guide (1995), Georgia State University Business Press ISBN: 0884062600 Leo O, Internet Market Research: Theory and Practice (2001), Idea Group Publishing ISBN: 1930708890

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