A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S FOLIA OECONOM ICA 17, 1982
L ászló Szabó *
TH E PROBLEM O F OBTAININ G INFO RM ATIO N ON D ISTR IB U TIO N
Due to ou r situ a tio n and prospects w hich have been d e te rio ra tin g bo th on foreign and hom e m a rk e ts lately , th e significance of m ark e t rese a rc h in th e com panies’ a c tiv ity has e x tra o rd in a rily increased. Con-seq u en tly , th e re q u ire m e n ts of re liab ility of m a rk e t an alyses and espec ially those of prognoses have grow n. To m ake a reliab le m a rk e t a n a -lysis, it is essential ho have a ll th e necessary in fo rm atio n on th e m arket. As in th e c u rre n t com plicated m ark e t situ a tio n realistic analyses and prognoses can be m ade by th o ro u g h ap p ro x im atio n only, p a ra lle l and control in form ation is needed. As for th e in fo rm atio n basis, th e situ atio n seem s ra th e r com plicated in H ungary. T his is show n b y th e re su lts of th e la te s t su rv e y m ade by s tu d e n ts of th e K a rl M arx U n iv e rsity of
Eco-nom ics (See tab le 1).
T a b l e 1 I n fo rm a tion sources of m a rk e t re se a rc h * Information sources At companies producing production equipment consumer goods with 1 without the right for foreign trade per cent of all those questioned
at home abroad
Business trips 43.8 50.7 85.7 72.2
Study trips 9.4 15.5 50.0 37.4
Trade press 68.7 70.4 78.6 60.0
Expertises 31.3 18.3 28.6 17.4
Fairs and exhibitions 81.3 76.1 57.1 66.9
Official statistics 43.8 39.4 50.0 20.9
* Dr, M anaging D irector, H u n g a ria n In s titu te F or M a rk e t R esearch, Ass. P ro f. a t th e „K a rl M a rx ” U n iv ersity of Econom ics, B udapest.
T ab le 1 (contd.) At companies producing production equipment with without Information sources consumer
goods the right for
foreign trade per cent of all those questioned
at home abroad
Statistical surveys
Catalogues of the competitors Samples of the competitors Information of trade associations Information of the Chamber of
Commerce
Services by documentation institutions
Information of foreign trade companies
Questioning of partners Questioning of the population Services by home market
research institutes Services of foreign market
research institutes 43.8 21.9 12.5 40.6 43.8 25.0 15.6 84.4 3.1 28.1 26.8 16.9 28.2 29.6 29.6 12.7 14.1 83.1 33.8 40.8 1.4 50.0 78.6 42.9 28.6 64.3 42.9 57.1 57.1 28.6 12.2 33.0 29.6 9.6 41.7 11.3 76.5 33.9 7.8 0.8 * T h e t a b l e d o e s n o t i n c l u d e c o m p a n i e s p r o d u c i n g b o t h c o n s u m e r g o o d s a n d c a p i t a l e q u i p m e n t . T h u s , t h e a v e r a g e v a l u e s o f t h e f i r s t t w o c o l u m n s d i f f e r f r o m t h o s e o f t h e l a s t tw o .
F ro m th e com parison m an y in te re stin g conclusions can be d raw n . — In all groups of com panies w ith clean profile th e 3 m ost in te n -sive sources of in form ation have been fram ed. As for th e hom e m ark e t, bo th m an u fa c tu re rs of capital e q u ip m en t and those of consum er goods obtain in form ation e ith e r th ro u g h questioning th e ir p a rtn e rs or a t fairs and exhibitions, and from tra d e press. As reg a rd s obtaining in fo rm a -tion about foreign m ark ets, th e situ atio n is no m ore so uniform . It is business trips, th e n tra d e press, catalogues of th e com petitors an d in fo r-m ation fror-m foreign tra d e cor-m panies w hich a re of th e g re a te st ir-m por-tan ce here.
__ As a m a tte r of fact we ought to s ta r t from th a t to ob tain a re lia -ble know ledge of th e m ark e t, both m an u fa c tu re rs of consum er goods and those of capital eq u ip m e n t — reg ard less w h e th e r th e y have th e rig h t of foreign tra d e a c tiv ity or not — indispensably need all sources of in fo rm atio n listed in th e above table. In view of this, how ever, th e pro portion of th e ir use is v e ry low. L e t us pick out some strik in g exam ples:
— A m idst sources of inform ation used in th e m a rk e t rese a rc h acti-v ity of foreign com panies it is th e in fo rm atio n of do cu m en tatio n in sti-tu tio n s th a t stands first, according to specialist lite ra sti-tu re . W hy is th is
in fo rm atio n source of g re a t im p ortance ra re ly used b y th e com panies m an u fa ctu rin g consum er goods?
To an sw er th is q uestion is all th e m ore difficu lt as th e re a re various d o cum entation sources available fo r th e com panies.
— C oncerning th e hom e m ark e t, it is re m a rk a b le th a t catalogues of th e com petitors a re b a re ly used as a source of inform ation. O ur p re -vious investigations h ave also show n th a t th e re a re few m an u fa ctu rin g com panies w hich possess an a p p ro p ria te collection of catalogues issued b y th e ir p o ten tial com petitors. P ractically , th e re a re none w h ere th e prospectuses w ould h o rizo n tally and dyn am ically be processed and a n a -lysed.
— O ur com panies h a rd ly m ake use of th e professional questioning m ethods a lre ad y w ell-know n and utilized abroad, e.g. th e D elphi m ethod w hich is — especially in th e m a rk e t rese a rc h for cap ital eq u ip m e n t — one of th e m ost effective m ethods.
To all these negatives w e have, of course, to add th a t th e an sw ers and fre q u e n c y indices resp. show n by th e su rv e y cover ra th e r a m ixed situation. J u s t one exam ple. A t least tw o -th ird s of th e com panies re ly on tra d e jo u rn a ls as a source of inform ation. I w onder, kow ever, to w h a t e x te n t and a t w h a t level th e possibilities a re u tilised in practice. U n fo rtu n a tely , th e exp erien ce in th is field is v e ry u n favourable.
The an sw er is v e ry n egative to th e follow ing question, too: To w h a t e x te n t can m an ag ers and executives of m an u fa ctu rin g com panies obtain th e indispensably necessary m a rk e t inform ation?
W ithout aim ing a t com pleteness, w e see th e m ain reasons of th is u n fav o u rab le situ a tio n in th e follow ing:
— A g re a t deal of in fo rm atio n obtained on th e m a rk e t reaches the com pany’s top executives only, or
— It is p u t into do cu m en tatio n th e use of w hich is v e ry low. — The in fo rm atio n is not k e p t in d a ta bank, th u s, th e re is no possi-b ility of its „ c all-in ” at any tim e.
— T he flow of in fo rm atio n inside th e com pany is n ot organized. T his m eans th a t n o t on ly is th e q u a n tity and q u a lity of in fo rm atio n flow ing into th e com pany in su fficien t b u t th e av ailable in fo rm atio n is not p ro p erly used eith er.
As a reason for this, it m ig h t occur th a t th e re a re no ad eq u ate m o-dels for th e organization of in form ation system . In th is reg a rd , how ever, th e situ a tio n is fairly positive. In addition to m odels stru c tu re d and a d a p ta b le fo r any tra d e th e re a re specialized in stitu tio n s w hich u n d e r-tak e as a service to w ork o ut organizational m odels ad ap ted to a given com pany.
d ep reciatio n of im portance of continous collection of in form ation on th e m ark e t by th e m an u fa ctu rers, and in th e opinion th a t it is th e task of foreign and hom e tra d e com panies to give th is inform ation.
T here are still a lot of com panies w hich th in k th a t th e re g u la r m a rk e t su rv e y is necessary in th e case of the b u y e rs’ m a rk e t only. Thus, u n til th e supply exceeds the dem and, to a large e x te n t, th e orga-nization of th e inform ation system is not of p rim a ry im portance. M any cases prove, how ever, th a t in recen t y ears in consequence of a quick change of th e m ark e t situation, for instance, decrease of e x p o rt supplies, th e com fortable position of th e se lle rs’ m ark e t has rap id ly tu rn e d into a situation re q u irin g a flexible m a rk e t policy of th e b u y e rs ’ m ark e t and a reliable inform ation system . H ow ever, in com panies w here no g rea t a tte n tio n had been paid to g a th e rin g inform ation, th e new si-tu atio n has caused severe difficulties for th e m anagem ent.
It follows from all this th a t each producing com pany has to organize its own m a rk e t in fo rm atio n system in one w ay or an o th e r, all th e m ore so because its sm ooth realizatio n re q u ire s an a c tiv ity involving r a th e r g rea t expenses and m uch w ork for m an y years. Since th e re a re usually high req u irem en ts — even unrealistically high ones now adays — against inform ation m odels, th is is also reflected in th e d ifficulties of th e ir realization. It is ju st these p rim a ry facto rs in m an y com panies due to w hich th e y give up th e ir p lan in spite of th e ir in itial in te rest. I consider it as a solution of th is problem th a t th e m a rk e t in fo rm atio n sy -stem be realized step by step. This has the ad v an tag e th a t th e y recogni-ze the positive side of being w ell-in fo rm ed e a rlie r th a n le a rn th e d iffi-culties of organization of th e in form ation system .
In th e course of th e g rad u a l realizatio n it is p racticable to s ta r t from th e p rinciple th a t th e fields of th e com pany’s in form ation r e q u ire m en ts should be ran k e d and th e re g istra tio n and flow of in fo rm a -tion should be organized accordingly.
One of th e m ost im p o rta n t task s of m a rk e t rese a rc h of a com pany is to m eet th e req u irem e n ts both of th e u p p e r m an ag em en t and those of th e executives for m a rk e t inform ation, th e scope of w hich is v a -rious and, of course, d iffe re n t for each com pany. T herefore, th e in fo r-m ation syster-m has to provide th e inforr-m ation req u ired fo r th e p ro p er m ark e t a ttitu d e and decisions, w hile b earin g in m ind th a t th e in fo r-m ation should su p p o rt various decisions.
Inside a com pany th e re a re m any decision levels an d each decision circle needs inform ation. The m ore op erativ e decisions have to be m ade, the m ore d a ta and in fo rm atio n in view of th e p rese n t and th e n e a r f u -tu re a re req u ired . The f a r th e r we dev iate from op erativ e w ork, th e g re a te r th e re q u irem e n ts a re for th e in fo rm atio n needed to d e te rm in e
th e fu tu re and to decide on lo n g -te rm objectives. I t is v e ry d iffic u lt to distin g u ish b etw een inform ation process and th e decision-m aking one. The decision-m aking process is no th in g else th a n an advanced form of th e inform ation process. It follow s from th is th a t it is th e ta sk of in form ation system s to g a th e r th e ap p ro p riate in fo rm a tio n from v a -rious sources in o rd e r to le t each circle of decision g et th e re q u ire d inform ation.
The m a rk e t rese a rc h m u st en su re
— special inform ation fo r d e te rm in in g business objectives, — inform ation re q u ire d for planning, as w ell as,
— in fo rm atio n for th e control of plans, objectives and th e ir re a li-zation.
In th e solution of th is ta sk th e g re a te st d ifficu lty lies in d e te rm in in g the scope and q u a n tity of th e necessary inform ation. T he experience u su a lly show s th a t th e „ a p p etite for in fo rm a tio n ” is m uch bigger th a n •it is possible to utilize th e in fo rm atio n a t all. On th e o th e r hand, th e flow of in form ation beyond a n optim al lim it dim inishes th e effectiveness of th e in form ation activity. T h a t is w h y th e d a ta and o th e r in fo rm a -tion req u ired and flow ing in should be th ro u g h ly exam ined and se-lected.
Now w e are going to introduce th e set-up, th e o rganization and th e fu nctioning m echanism of a sim plified m odel. This sim plification m eans th a t th e m odel includes on th e one han d th e socalled g en e ra l in fo rm a -tio n on th e m ark e t only, w hile on th e o th er h a n d it on ly includes th e in fo rm atio n in p u t, w ith o u t feedback.
The co n stru ctio n of th e m odel consists of th e follow ing phases: — d e te rm in a tio n of th e req u irem e n ts,
— designation of th e scope of inform ation, — decision on how to ob tain inform ation, — selection of inform ation,
— d e te rm in a tio n of those in te re ste d in th e inform ation, — organization of m echanism of in fo rm a tio n flow, — in fo rm atio n storage.
L e t us have a look a t each phase of organization:
a ) D E T E R M I N A T IO N O F T H E R E Q U IR E M E N T S
A c e rtain am ount of m a rk e t in form ation is co n tinuously re q u ire d for th e activ ity of practically all d e p a rtm e n ts and groups of m a rk e to rie n ted m an u fa ctu rin g com panies, th e ir m an ag ers and executives. T he te c h -nical d e p a rtm e n ts do not form an exception eith er. F o r instance, th e d e p a rtm e n t of p ro d u ct d ev elopm ent should not only be fam iliar w ith
th e essential p a ra m e te rs of th e la te s t basic m ate ria ls and those of fi-nished p ro ducts ap p earin g abroad b u t also w ith th e tendencies show n th e re in in o rd er to p ro p erly envisage th e new and th e fu rth e r deve-loped p ro d u cts w hich m ight tu rn up on th e m a rk e t in th e fu tu re . The d e p a rtm e n t of production developm ent m u st know th e changes tak in g place and those expected in production e q u ip m en t w hich m ight affect its a c tiv ity d ire c tly or ind irectly , so th a t a ll th is can be d raw n in to consideration in th e plan n in g of investm ents. Of course, th is in fo r-m atio n is needed by th e d e p a rtr-m e n t of p ro d u ct developr-m ent and th a t of d istrib u tio n too since m odern m achines do at th e sam e tim e d e te rm in e a considerable p a rt of th e p a ra m e te rs of pro d u cts to be m an u fa ctu red w ith th em as well.
B ased on all this, th e m ost essential re q u ire m e n ts facing in fo rm a -tion system can be d e te rm in e d as follows:
— The in fo rm atio n req u ired for th e continuous a c tiv ity m u st reach in due tim e not only th e com petent d e p a rtm e n t b u t th e responsible executives too.
— It m u st be en su red th a t in fo rm atio n continuously needed be ste a d -ily a t hand e ith e r rem aining a t th e disposal of those in te re ste d in it or being sto red c e n trally , w ith th e possibility of its im m ediate accessi-bility.
b ) D E S IG N A T IO N O F T H E S C O P E O F IN F O R M A T IO N
The designation of th e scope of in fo rm atio n consists of tw o w ork phases, n am ely th e exact d e te rm in a tio n of th e req u ired in form ation on th e one hand, and th e sta te m e n t of sources of inform ation, on th e other.
— It is a com plex task to d e te rm in e th e m a rk e t in fo rm atio n im p o r-ta n t for a given com pany. To do this, each sector of th e com pany’s a c tiv ity should be dissolved to d e ta ils th e in form ation dem ands of w hich are to be exam ined sep arately .
In m ost com panies th is w o rk is re n d e re d m ore difficu lt by th e c ir-cum stance th a t in th is field th e re is no g eneral experience, and th u s no b e a te n tra c k can be follow ed. F o r instance, w h ere su b jectiv e one- -m an decision su b stitu te s th e p re lim in a ry investigation of th e m a rk e t w hen lau n ch in g th e p ro d uction of a new p roduct, th e in fo rm atio n groups th e d etailed and exact d e te rm in a tio n of w hich is necessary, a re scarcely know n. A ccordingly, th e y d em and a se p ara te investigation.
It is not less difficu lt to d e te rm in e th e in fo rm atio n sources and w h a t’s m ore to en su re th e ir a v a ilab ility fo r th e com pany from w hich th e req u ired in fo rm atio n can be obtained. To solve th is problem , all secon-d a ry ansecon-d p rim a ry secon-d ata sources shoulsecon-d be usesecon-d.
c ) D E C IS IO N O N H O W T O O B T A IN IN F O R M A T IO N
A fter having d e te rm in e d th e scope of in fo rm atio n re q u ire d for ru n n in g th e com pany, and its sources too th e n e x t step is to decide on how to obtain th e inform ation. In th is activ ity , th e com pany is not left to its own devices a lth o u g h larg e com panies w ith an o rganization specia-. lized ju st for th is a c tiv ity can th em selves o btain a considerable p a rt of th e necessary in fo rm atio n w ith th e in d ire ct use of inform ation sources. T he services of d a ta banks, foreign statistics, catalogues of fairs, leaflets, foreign dailies and m onthlies as w ell as periodicals etc. a re of in te re s t here.
This is, how ever, not th e case fo r sm a lle r com panies i.e. in stitu tio n s w hich do not possess a special a p p a ra tu s for th is activity. Such com panies h ave to re so rt to assistance fro m outside. It is n ecessary to r e -m a rk h e re th a t even th e -m ost developed co-m pany’s a p p a ra tu s is unable to obtain all in fo rm atio n itself an d it w ould not be reaso n ab le to in d u -*
ce it to do so eith er. L e t’s see ju st one exam ple: In m ost cases it is p ractical to e n tru s t a n e u tra l o rganization w ith o b taining in fo rm a -tio n re q u ire d for th e an alysis of com peti-tion.
W hat kind of assistance re n d e re d by e x te rn a l in stitu tio n s is a v aila-ble in th e a c tiv ity of g a th e rin g inform ation? The m ost com m on types of in stitu tio n s a re as follows:
— hom e m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu tes,
— foreign m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s, and, m a rk e tin g advisory agencies (w hich can be contacted th ro u g h hom e m a rk e t rese a rc h in sti-tu te s and foreign tra d e com panies),
— in fo rm atio n and do cu m en tatio n institu tio n s, — foreign tra d e com panies,
— advisory in stitu tio n s pro m o tin g business relations,
— in stitu tio n s dealing w ith th e su b scription of foreign publications.
M aking use of services of hom e m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s H u n g a ry ’s m a rk e t research in stitu te s p rep a re com plex analyses and studies for th e ir clients, on one hand, and u n d e rta k e to conduct p a rtia l research , for exam ple questioning in professional circles and in th e circle of in h ab itan ts. A lthough th e m a rk e t rese a rc h a c tiv ity on th e larg e scale should be m ore econom ical, th e prices fo r th e services of m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s a re r a th e r high. H ow ever, it should be tak e n into consideration th a t it is n e v e r practical to exam ine th e expenses of m a rk e t su rv e y in them selves; th e y should alw ays be com pared w ith th e expected gains (or in cu rred losses). T he com pany should com m
i-ssion th e m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s to obtain only th e inform ation w hich is not — or not econom ically — available by itself.
As now adays th e re a re several m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s and o th er bodies c a rry in g o ut m a rk e t rese a rc h in H u n gary, w hen in ten d in g to em ploy one of th em a com pany can ask for offers from each in stitu tio n concerned and choose th e m ost fav o u rab le one.
M aking use of services of foreign m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s
No one is a p ro p h et in his ow n c o u n try — says th e pro v erb b u t in m ark e t rese a rc h it is ju st th e o th er w a y round.
The m a rk e t position of a product, its possible changes and th e d i-s trib u tio n poi-si-sibilitiei-s in a c o u n try can be judged m oi-st re a lii-stic a lly firi-st of all by m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s fu nctioning in th a t v e ry country. The av ailable in fo rm atio n q u a n tity on th e m a rk e t of a n o th e r c o u n try can be ad ap ted for c a rry in g o u t successful d esk-research. H ow ever, field research, th a t is analysis based on local surveys, questioning of th e po-pulatio n and businessm en, or m otivation rese a rc h can exclusively be done by local in stitu te s in o rd er to ob tain reliab le data. One c e rta in ly cannot exclude cases w hen e x p e rts of th e com pany dealing w ith m a rk e t rese a rc h and those of th e hom e m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te visit th e fo-reig n in stitu tio n s i.e. th e ir e x p e rts to c a rry o ut th e questioning. It is, how ever, do u b tfu l w h e th e r these in te rv ie w s produce th e expected r e -sults.
T he v e ry keen com petition ap p earin g also in th e field of m ark e t rese a rc h has n ecessitated fo r th e in stitu te s to m ake th e ir gen eral re g u -lations w hich suit th e ir in te rests and a re to be observed by all those concerned. F o r instance, it w as te n y e a rs ago w hen ESOM AR elabo-ra te d th e eth ical norm ativ es of th e a c tiv ity of m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s and th e y w ere accepted w ith m odification a fte r a le n g th y and th o rough d eb ate by th e m em bers. These regu latio n s include c e rtain im p o rta n t restrictio n s. A ccordingly, an in d ep e n d a n t in stitu tio n specialized in m a r-k et rese a rc h m u st not, fo r instance, disclose th e nam e and ad d ress of those giving inform ation, and th e research m u st not d ire c tly influence th e m arket.
F ro m th e point of view of th e c lie n ts’ re q u ire m e n ts th ese re s tric -tions have caused m ore and m ore tro u b le s la te ly a n d of course the in stitu tes striv e to solve th em in one w a y or an o th er. L e t’s s ta r t from one exam ple:
A n ex p o rt-o rien te d com pany producing te x tile clothing w a n ts to m ake a m a rk e t rese a rc h including a n u m b er of co u n tries in W estern E urope in o rd er to im prove its p ro d uction s tru c tu re .
A m ong o ther s th e follow ing questions a re to be answ ered:
— W hat kind of d istrib u tio n channel is it reasonable to em ploy? — W ho a re th e m ost im p o rta n t p o ten tia l bu y ers and how to get in touch w ith them ?
— W hat sales prom otion and o th e r w ays an d m eans of influencing th e m a rk e t seem to be th e m ost effective?
— W hat is th e opinion of th e b u y e rs of th e big tra d e com panies ab o u t th e p ro d u ct concerned?
H ow ever, to a n sw e r th ese questions involves disclosing th e nam e of th e client, w h a t’s m ore it m ay ex ten siv ely influence th e m ark et, since m aking use of th e in fo rm atio n received m ay re s u lt in e n te rin g th e m ark e t. This is, how ever, c o n tra ry to th e eth ical n o rm ativ es of ESOMAR.
This dilem m a has been solved in th e W est E u ropean co u n tries by estab lish in g m ark e tin g in stitu te s as w ell as m ark e tin g advisory offices •and agencies besides m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu tes. T hese in stitu tio n s w ith a re la tiv e ly sm all sta ff a re w ith th e ir flexible a c tiv ity able to m eet also th e re q u ire m e n ts beyond m ark e t-re se a rc h . All th is does n ot m ean th a t m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s should refu se assignm ents w hich th o u g h favourable m ight also involve influence on th e m ark et.
D uring talk s w ith th e h ead of a m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te in th e N o rth of W est-G erm an y q u ite a few y ears ago I found a good exam ple, fo r this. W e w an ted to give th is in stitu te an assignm ent re q u irin g both m a rk e t rese a rc h w o rk and m ark e tin g a c tiv ity influencing th e • m ark e t. O u r p a rtn e r suggested th e follow ing: „The m a rk e t rese a rc h can be done b y m y in stitu te , w hile as fo r th e m a rk e tin g w ork, please e n tru s t it to th e m ark e tin g ad v isory office w hich is also ow ned b y m e” .
The so-called m u lti-c lie n t studies should be m en tio n ed too. D uring th e re c e n t decades, m a rk e t rela tio n s h ave becom e m ore and m ore com plicated, especially th e in te rn a tio n a l ones. To u n d e rsta n d m a rk e t p h e -nom ena and especially to m ake reliab le forecasts on d istrib u tio n , various and th o rough investigations including m anysided su rv ey s and s ta tistical analyses have becom e necessary. T he w idening of th e e x a m in a -tions into th is d irection has a t th e sam e tim e b ro u g h t ab o u t h ig h er expenses. T h a t’s w h y few er and few e r m edium sized and sm all m a n u -fa c tu rin g com panies have req u e sted th e in stitu te s to c a rry out com pre-hensive m a rk e t research. In case th e in stitu te s could n ot ag ree w ith a clie n t for financial reasons, th e y offered to search fo r fu rth e r clients h av in g sim ilar req u irem e n ts w ith w hom th e expenses of th e rese a rc h w o rk could be shared. This has, of course, m ea n t th a t co m p etito rs have been b ro u g h t to g eth e r to jo in tly obtain m a rk e t in fo rm atio n req u ired fo r th e ir business activity. In th e c o n tra ct for m u ltic lie n t study, th e
in stitu te has u d e rta k e n th e com m itm ent not to sell th e inform ation to th ird institutions. The c o n tra ctin g p a rties h ave also u n d e rta k e n not to sell th e stu d y re su lts to any o th e r com pany.
The com petition am ong W est E uropean m ark e t research in stitu te s has resu lte d in a new form of research based on m u lti-c lie n t studies. In stitu te s of considerable m eans also c a rry out m a rk e t research inve-stig a tin g w h a t su b jects a re in big dem and, and w h e th e r it is w o rth c a rry in g out th e rese a rc h for th e ir ow n risk and selling its findings to in te re ste d in stitu tio n s (such as sta te organs, scientific in stitu te s b u t first of all producing com panies). N ow adays, such studies a re easily available b u t often a t e x o rb ita n t prices.
F o r th e dynam ism of m a rk e t research it is c h a ra c te ristic th a t „ m a rket re s e a rc h ” has been m ade even on these studies. One of such e x tr a -o rd in a rily useful studies w as published 1978 by The B ritish O verseas T rade Board. T he In te rn a tio n a l D irecto ry of P ublished M ark et Re-search contains th e m ost im p o rta n t ch aracteristics, am ong o th ers th e selling price of 3000 fa irly new m u lti-c lie n t studies m ade in m ore th an
100 countries.
M aking use of th e services of in fo rm atio n and d o cum entation in stitu tio n s
If We accept th e p rinciple th a t th e d o cu m entation in stitu tio n s are cen ters of gathering, processing and publishing both hom e and foreign tra d e press (such as new spapers, periodicals, annuals, technical books etc.) a t sev eral levels according to th e com panies’ req u irem e n ts, th en th e significance of th ese in stitu tio n s in providing th e com panies w ith m a rk e t in fo rm atio n is obvious.
In fo rm atio n services by foreign tra d e com panies
A p a rt fro m th e larg e in d u stria l com panies having th e rig h t of foreig n tra d e activity, in H u n g a ry it is th e specialized foforeign tra d e com -panies w hich deal w ith e x p o rt and im port. W h atev er th e form of th e ir cooperation w ith th e m an u fa ctu res should be (com m issioner, jo in t account business etc.), it is fixed in th e ir c o n tra ct th a t it is th e foreign tra d e com pany th a t has to provide in fo rm atio n on foreign m a rk e ts for the m an u factu rers. U n fo rtu n ately , th e re is a g eneral exp erien ce th a t m ost of the foreign tra d e com panies fail to fulfil th is req u irem e n t. L et us have a closer look a t th is problem .
In th e ir c u rre n t practice, foreign tra d e com panies provide follow ing inform ation for th e ir in d u stria l p a rtn e rs :
— re g u la r m o n th ly (m aybe m ore or less often) in fo rm atio n on the events and new s on foreign m a rk e ts in re g a rd of th e foreign tra d e com pany’s profile,
— providing th e possibility for th e e x p e rts of th e in d u stria l p a rtn e rs to a tte n d th e m ost im p o rta n t business talks,
— enabling th e m to visit in te rn a tio n a l fairs, in o rd er to o b tain inform ation.
P rovided th a t all these op p o rtu n ities a re utilised, th e re w ill c er-ta in ly be a g rea t v a rie ty of useful in fo rm atio n available, is is how ever, by fa r not satisfying actual dem ands.
In a d d itio n to in fo rm atio n on th e p ro d u cts in q u estio n i.e. th e ir c u rre n t m a rk e t position a n d tre n d s, th e p ro d u ct and pro d u ctio n deve-lo p m en t as w ell as th e d istrib u tio n a c tiv ity of m a n u fa c tu rin g com panies re q u ire a thorough know ledge of th e m a rk e t’s possible changes in th e s h o rt and long run. As th e specialized foreign tra d e com panies deal •w ith tho u san d s of a rticles and do not u su ally h ave a special d e p a rtm e n t for m ark e t research , it is obvious th a t th e y a re un ab le to provide d e taile d in form ation and prognoses on th e v e ry p ro d u ct for th e ir in d u -s tria l p a rtn e r-s.
In th e c u rre n t situ a tio n even if w e say th a t each m an u fa ctu rin g com pany should itself o btain in fo rm atio n on th e m ark e t, including the foreign m ark et, it w ould be advisable to estab lish a m a rk e t rese a rc h a p p a ra tu s of the foreign tra d e com panies th u s enabling th em to obtain a considerable am o u n t of in fo rm a tio n c e n tra lly and in cooperation w ith th e specialized hom e and foreign m a rk e t rese a rc h in stitu te s a t m uch lo w er prices.
In fo rm atio n av ailable fro m advisory in stitu tio n s
As sources of in fo rm atio n from am ong advisory institu tio n s, first of all, th e in fo rm atio n fro m ch am b ers of com m erce fu n ctio n in g in alm ost e v e ry developed c o u n try including H u n gary, o r th e ir subcom m ittess organized for th em es and co u n tries should be m entioned.
F rom th e point of view of o b taining in form ation on foreign m ark ets, th e m ark e t studies and d o cu m entation services of th e in te rn a tio n a l advi-so ry organs of th e UN, for exam ple, th e ITC in G eneva, th e FA O in Rome and th e UNIDO in V ienna a re of special im portance. T h ere are n a tio n a l m issions d elegated beside them , a hom e lib ra ry keeps UN p u b lications in evidence and last b u t not least th e C h am ber of C om m er-ce th a t can advise as to th e in fo rm atio n provided by th e organisation m en tio n ed above.
d ) S E L E C T IN G IN F O M A T I O N
As I h ave a lready m entioned th e inform ation received in too la rg e a q u a n tity m ay cause difficulties w h en processing it. T h erefo re, it should be selected by c o n c en tra tin g on th e su b sta n tia l d o cum entation only. D uring th is process th e u n n ecessary p a ra lle lism in th e in fo rm a -tion as reg a rd s its sources can be elim inated. In o rd er to organize th is and th e flow of in fo rm atio n late r, it is advisable to set up a te a m in th e com pany. This tea m should include technical, com m ercial, p lan n in g and financial e x p e rts w ho have a th orough and com prehensive k n o w -ledge on th e activity, task s and problem s of each d e p a rtm e n t of a given com pany.
e ) C H O O S IN G T H E P E R S O N S I N T E R E S T E D I N IN F O R M A T IO N
The in form ation re q u ire m e n t can be d e te rm in e d for each person, according to th e d u ties of e v e ry d e p a rtm e n t i.e. its d ire c to r and ex ecu-tives.
The supposed in form ation re q u ire m e n ts of each post a re n o t id e n ti-cal w ith th e a ctu al re q u ire m e n ts of th e persons occupying th e posts. This co n trad ictio n w hich m ight seem stra n g e ensues from th e fac t th a t as a re s u lt of m an y objective and su b jective factors, th e a m o u n t and co n ten t of in fo rm atio n som ebody can absorb is v e ry individual. W hen d e te rm in in g th e in fo rm atio n re q u ire m e n ts of th e com pany’s m an a g e rs and ex ecutives th e team should s ta r t from th e re q u ire m e n ts of the posts b u t th e y should a d ap t th em to th e person occupying th e v e ry post. In th is connection it should be m entioned and even em phasized th a t w h en deciding on personal in form ation re q u ire m e n ts it is absolu-te ly advisable not to m ake a questioning to s ta absolu-te w h a t in fo rm atio n is req u ired . T he exp erien ce show s th a t th e in form ation re q u ire m e n ts a rriv e d a t th is w ay can m an y tim es go beyond th e req u irem e n ts w hich a re in fact needed and can be continuously w orked up. T hrough its m em bers, th e team should g u a ra n tee th e realistic a d ap ta tio n of in fo rm a -tio n re q u ire m e n ts fo r each person.
f) F L O W O F IN F O R M A T IO N A N D S T O R A G E
T h ere is a large n u m b er of possibilities how to le t in form ation flow inside a com pany, and, th e re a re w ell trie d m ethods to be m ade use of in th is connection. In spite of this, th e re a re a few m a n u fa c tu -ring com panies only w hich have p ro p erly organized and k ep t in ope-ratio n th e ir inform ation system . U n d er these circum stances, it is m ost practical, as a lre ad y m entioned, to look fo r th e m ost sim ple so-lu tio n w hich can a t th e sam e tim e satisfy th e p rim a ry re q u ire m e n ts
and can be c a rrie d o u t w ith m inim al costs and sm all staff. M ay I p ic tu -re it w ith th e follow ing case-study:
It is th e task of a tw o -m en tea m including a professional lib ra ry - -assistan t, to m eet in fo rm a tio n re q u ire m e n ts inside a com pany and it is th is team w hich also ru n s th e tra d e lib ra ry of th e com pany.
A fter th e in fo rm atio n re q u ire m e n ts of th e m an ag ers and e x e cu ti-ves of th e com pany have been d eterm in ed , all those dem an d in g in fo r-m atio n receive a so-called id e n tity nur-m ber. All in fo rr-m atio n flow ing into th e com pany, e x ep t for th a t serving th e top m an a g e m e n t’s p erso-nal dem ands, is d ire c tly fo rw ard e d to th is team a fte r m ail reading. T he tea m also receives a copy of all d o cu m entation co n tain in g useful in fo rm atio n g a th e red inside th e com pany.
E v ery day, th e d o c u m e n tato r rea d s th e docum ents received and m ark s th e persons th e y m ay concern. In case of new sp ap ers and p e rio -dicals he m ark s th e in te re stin g articles, a d v e rtise m e n ts etc. To tra d e book and leaflets he a tta ch e s a slip of p a p e r indicating th e title and th e sh o rt co n ten ts and adding also th e id e n tity nu m b ers of those in te -re ste d in them .
A fte r all do cu m en tatio n received has been processed in th is w ay, th e a ssista n t m akes th e re q u ire d n u m b er of copies w ith an u p -to -d a te copying m achine, th e n indicates th e id e n tity n u m b er on each copy. F in a lly he groups th e re a d y copies according to th e id e n tity num bers. F o r th is purpose pigeon-hole-system filing racks a re used.
A fter com pleting th is w o rk phase, th e docum en tatio n can be d is tri-b u ted to th e persons concerned. Thus, it is possitri-ble to pass th e daily in fo rm atio n to e v e ry executive d u rin g one w orkday.
One copy of each docum entation, ex ep t for th e p ersonal ones, is k e p t in c e n tra l archives w h e re in case of need it can easily be p ro d u -ced w ith th e use of v arious search system s.
L á szló S za b ó
PROBLEM U ZYSK IW A NIA IN F O R M A C JI NA TEM AT D Y STRY BU C JI
A u to r rozpoczyna a rty k u ł od p rz e d sta w ie n ia w y ników b a d a ń dotyczących m ożliw ości u zy sk iw an ia in fo rm a c ji n a te m a t d y stry b u c ji w gospodarce w ę g ie r-skiej oraz c h a ra k te ry z u je p o d sta w o w e źródła in fo rm a c ji i p rze p ły w y in fo rm a c ji m iędzy p odm iotam i ry n k u . W sk azu jąc n a znaczenie w łaściw ie zorganizow anego sy stem u in fo rm a c ji dla procesów p o d ejm o w an ia decyzji, a u to r om aw ia z kolei k ie ru n k i u sp ra w n ie n ia sy tu a c ji — p o stu lu je m. in. o p rac o w a n ie kom pleksow ego sy stem u in fo rm a c ji d la p o trzeb ry n k u w ew n ętrz n eg o i h a n d lu zagranicznego oraz jego stopniow e w d ra ża n ie. D aje rów n ież p rz y k ła d uproszczonego m odelu p rz e -p ły w u in fo rm a c ji o raz o -p isu je -poszczególne fazy jego k o n stru k c ji.
