Executive summary
Organizations presently develop functional areas according to their goals and targets which they need to attain. In this case, the organizations ensure that some functional areas hold greater importance than other in the operations geared towards attaining overall organizational goals.
The notable functional areas entail production, marketing, human resource, and finance. This paper identified marketing as an important functional area for the Coca- Cola Company that deals in soft drinks brands. The firm has within this functional area, a business process described as marketing research that helps in driving the functional area.
The business process frequently benefits from certain Information Systems, the notable ones being Marketing Decision Support Systems and Data Mining. These IS supports marketing research for the company thus adding certain value to the entity and its clients. Furthermore, the IS have certain aspects in the form of inputs, outputs, and feedback that determine their efficiency. They also require certain components to make their functioning attainable.
Introduction
It is notable that diverse businesses or organizations employ the use of various functional areas while completing their activities. The outstanding functional areas in entities include marketing, finance, human resource, and production. This paper focuses on marketing as a functional area in the Coca-Cola Company.
Notably, it focuses on how this functional area supports the company. Furthermore, a business process that can possibly be located in this functional area is discussed. The paper also discusses two Information Systems (IS) that can be used to support the identified business processes.
Discussion and Analysis Sections: Marketing
The functional area of marketing remains an important component for the successful operations at the Coca-Cola Company. This is because the organization relies on marketing to drive their products, which are among the world’s known brands. The entity recognizes that the strength of their brands have a link with consumers who are behind the products (The Coca–Cola Company, 2010).
Indeed, the company insinuates that consumer’ ideas and creativity in thoughts enhances their image as an international powerhouse. The firm undertakes its marketing activities under diverse programs including brand management, advertising, merchandising, media, and research among others.
The rate of globalization requires that companies employ and continuously develop strategies for increasing their marketplace presence and control. This is possible when their products and brands penetrate every region internationally (The Coca–Cola Company, 2010). The Coca-Cola Company prides itself in its functional area of marketing that has enabled it generate massive economic importance.
The functional area supports the company because it enhances the development of brands that appeal to consumers and increase the differentiation levels in the packed inclusive marketplace. The functional area also assists the company expansion activities, retaining and acquiring additional market share (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010). It also contributes massively to the strengthening the efforts of the company in fighting for market leadership and control with their competitors.
Marketing Research
The company has marketing research as a business process that supports one of its functional areas. The firms marketing program benefits massively from this business process in undertaking activities related to brand development. This business process briefly entails the activities of accumulating, recording, and scrutinizing the data associated with certain brands and services (Pride & Ferrell, 2007).
This business process helps the marketing department develop a perception regarding the needs and wants of its products users. This enhances the department’s ability to develop strategies for effectively meeting the target audience needs. This increases the organization overall chances for attaining its targets and surpassing the rivalry in specific marketplaces (Pride & Ferrell, 2007)
Market research enhances the decision-making initiatives regarding the company brands. Indeed, this aspect of marketing eliminates the risks that the company may suffer because it identifies risky marketplaces early. The marketing research also supports the functional area by enhancing the organizations ability to survive the marketplace rivalry.
This is because it increases the understanding of the competitors in terms of their identity, promotional activities, and target audience (Pride & Ferrell, 2007). This business process enables the marketing department to decide the target market for launching fresh brands. Notably, market research has enabled the entity to maximize its profits because of massive sales generated from meaningful promotional initiatives (Pride & Ferrell, 2007).
Information System(s) useful for the Marketing Research
Marketing Decision Support Systems (MDSSs) is an IS that aids in the marketing research for companies (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). It entails software that aids users in obtaining and rapidly applying information, which improves marketing decisions. Data mining is also an IS that entails searching through clients databases to discover patterns which eventually guide advertising decision-making. This IS focuses on discovering the relationships that lack clarity among marketers.
Marketing Decision Support Systems and Support to Marketing Research
Marketing research regularly performs three functions in an organization including collecting and presenting accurate reports, data explanation, and the endeavor to project results of an impending, marketing judgment. Therefore, MDSSs play a significant role in attaining these functions (Parasuraman & Krishnan, 2006).
MDSSs support the marketing research because it enhances diverse aspects of the business process. MDSSs increase the possibility for marketers to comprehend the marketplace, consumers’ behavior, and competitors among others.
Notably, the IS supports the business process by making it easy for marketers to acquire information within the least amount of time (Parasuraman & Krishnan, 2006). This increases the performance of the marketing department thus enhancing their ability to generate useful information for organizational decision-making.
Data Mining and Support to Marketing Research
Data mining as a method for identifying interesting structure in massive databases including patterns, estimation rules, and extraordinary cases supports marketing research. This IS strengthens and improves the marketing research process. This is because the IS offer marketers with the solution to challenges of handling bulky databases (Parasuraman & Krishnan, 2006).
The marketing researchers directly utilize data mining to handle these massive databases in the course of their assignments. Data mining also supports marketing research because it makes data analysis highly accessible to the final users.
Marketing Decision Support Systems and Data Mining Value Addition to Organizations and Customers
MDSS because of its nature and applicability adds significant value to organizations that employ this IS in marketing research. The IS enhances decision-making initiatives in large organizations because it offers information regarding diverse aspects of the organization and its products in the marketplace (Boone & Kurtz, 2011).
It also provides relevant information relating to the organization brands and clients characteristics in such markets. Different organizations that employ MDSS benefit massively because of augmented ability to satisfy clients’ needs.
This enables such organizations to acquire additional clients while retaining the ones, which are already loyal to their brands (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). Furthermore, the ability of organizations to compete successfully in packed marketplaces thus controlling market leadership relies on its ability to carefully implement MDSS findings.
Data mining have the potential to add value to organizations and their product users when implemented in the right way. Presently, large organizations such as Coca-Cola Company employ this IS because of their strong clients focus (Linoff & Berry, 2011).
Data mining has a massive applicability in big firms in the comprehension and estimation of valuable data such as customers’ behavior, purchasing tendency of clients, product users’ profiles, and business analysis.
This IS adds value to organizations because it enhances marketing research, e-commerce, consumer relationship, and scientific tests among others. Furthermore, data mining enhances the decision-making processes in organizations (Linoff & Berry, 2011). Data mining equally adds value to consumers because they utilize the organization brands generated through employing the IS.
Marketing Decision Support Systems Key Inputs, Outputs and Feedbacks
The key inputs in MDSSs include the data that marketers need to change in order to generate relevant information for an organization. They include the records of information assets regarding the organization. These may include bequest and associated data sources and data warehouses (Parasuraman & Krishnan, 2006).
Furthermore, proportional income figures between a single period and the subsequent forms a key MDSS input. The estimated proceeds figures generated based on assumptions regarding the sales of products also emerge as inputs. The MDSS outputs include the transformed information that displays certain characteristics about the organization, its brands, or clients (Parasuraman & Krishnan, 2006).
The information enhances the decision-making initiatives of managers or of the organization as a whole. It is these transformed information that support decision making for the managers. The MDSS feedback includes the response that marketers obtain upon implementing the outputs. These entail the improvements or declines in the organization or departmental performance.
Data Mining Key Inputs, Outputs and Feedbacks
Data mining needs certain inputs to make the process of handling possible. The inputs include concepts referring to the thing that marketers need to learn. The other inputs entail instances, which are presented by diverse data, and attributes that are possessed by every instance (Witten, Frank & Hall, 2011).
The outputs of data mining entail the helpful findings that marketers generate from large databases. The helpful information may entail aspects of consumer profiles brands thus enhancing initiatives aimed at targeting the identified clients. Feedback relevant to data mining includes the responses obtained after the implementation of outputs.
Data Mining Hardware, Software, Databases, Telecommunications and Networks
Data mining requires hardware such as fast disks for sending data or a memory stick incase of data loading into a structure. It also requires a CPU with a faster processor and algorithm parameters (Gasper, 2006). Data mining also need software such as GeneXpro Tools 4.0, ANGOSS Knowledge Studio, and ADAPA Enterprise Edition among other for faster data analysis.
Data mining also rely on databases otherwise known as data warehouse that provide the information that marketers analyze. Data mining also need telecommunication gadgets and equipment that facilitate the process of data handling (Gasper, 2006). The required telecommunications include those, which can support large data warehouses to provide details for analysis. Data mining require networks that contain massive information for analysis.
Marketing Decision Support Systems Hardware, Software, Databases, Telecommunications and Networks
DMSS hardware entails the aspects that facilitate the process of data conversion such as computers and programs for the transformations. The software are associated with data warehouses and are utilized in data mining.
The databases are also necessary for a MDSS process because they provide the data that need transformation into useful information (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). Telecommunications include the components of DMSS that allow transmission of data into diverse databases. The networks work as carriers for data during the transmission. It enables the data sharing among the users of relevant information.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper discusses marketing as a functional area in an organization, particularly Coca-Cola Company. The functional area also has marketing research that acts as a business process that enables the performance of the organization.
Marketers employ diverse Information Systems (ISs) while conducting marketing research. This paper identifies Marketing Decision Support Systems and Data Mining as the notable examples. Moreover, these ISs contribute to the marketing programs of an organization through supporting research, thus enhancing decision-making initiatives.
References
Boone, L & Kurtz, D 2011, Contemporary marketing, Cengage Learning, USA.
Gasper, J 2006, Introduction to Business, Cengage Learning, USA
Linoff, GS & Berry, MJ 2011, Data mining techniques: For marketing, sales, and customer relationship management, 3rd. edn, John Wiley & Sons, Indianapolis, IN.
Parasuraman, A, Grewal, D & Krishnan, D 2006, Marketing research, 2nd edn, Cengage Learning, USA.
Pride, W & Ferrell, O 2007, Marketing, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.
The Coca–Cola Company. (2010). Career Areas. Web.
Witten, I, Frank, E & Hall, M 2011, Data mining: Practical machine learning tools and techniques, 9th edn, Elsevier, Amsterdam.