Oral conversational topics on business English language

QUESTIONS

1. What kind of utility do you know?

2. What is the difference between micro- and macro- marketing?

3. What is included in definition “marketing”?

4. What goal of marketing can you call as a very important one?

5. How does marketing build a relationship with customers?

6. How do both micro- and macro- marketing connect with two levels of economy?

7. What other business functions should marketing direct?

8. How could the producers foresee the consumers’ needs?

9. What is the main goal of marketing as a whole?

marketing concept – an idea for a product, especially a new one  marketing orientation – when a business concentrates on designing and selling products that satisfy customer needs in order to be profitable  production-oriented business – when a business bases its ability to make profits on the high quality of its product, rather than on customer’s needs customer satisfaction – a feeling of happiness or pleasure with what customer has got or what customer achieved bottom-line – the figure showing a company’s total profit or loss trade-off – a balance between two situations in order to get an acceptable result

MARKETING CONCEPT

What does the marketing concept mean? Simply put, it means that an organization aims all its efforts at satisfying its customers to achieve profit. Without satisfied customers, a company is without money, and is bankrupt. While this concept seems rather simple, it has not always been applied. This implies a production-oriented business or making whatever products are easy to produce and then trying to sell them. Firms interested in this method think of customers existing to buy the firm's output rather than of firms existing to serve customers and the needs of society. On the other hand, well-managed firms have replaced this production orientation with a marketing orientation. This means trying to carry out the marketing concept. Instead of just trying to get customers to buy what the firm has produced, a marketing-oriented firm tries to offer customers what they need. Three basic ideas are included in the definition of the marking concept: customer satisfaction, a total company effort, and profit, not just sales, as an objective. To begin with, customer satisfaction guides the whole system. Every business function is influenced by the customer the company is trying to satisfy. For instance, the finance department looks to purchase production equipment that will increase the quality of a product, and increase the overall position of the companies profit at the same time. Without customer satisfaction's influence each business function would be working separately toward different goals, thus operating individually and against total unity. Furthermore, teamwork among all managers of a firm is an essential element, because the output from one department may be the input to another. Sometimes departments tend to build walls around themselves in order to protect their own interests. This narrow way of thinking only leads to the customer not receiving enough attention, resulting in a breakdown of the marketing concept. By adopting the marketing concept all departments are provided with a guiding force. It acts as a philosophy for the whole organization, not just an idea that applies to the marketing department. Finally, profit is the bottom-line measure of the firm's success and ability to survive. It is the balancing point that helps the firm determine what needs it will try to satisfy with its total, however costly, effort. Sometimes it may cost more to satisfy some needs than any customers are willing to pay, or it may be much more costly to try to attract new customers than it is to build a strong relationship with-and repeat purchases from-existing customers. This is why firms use profit as the means for survival and success of the marketing concept. In addition, the marketing concept is related to social responsibility and marketing ethics. The marketing concept is so logical that it's hard to argue with it. Yet, when a firm focuses its efforts on satisfying some consumers, to achieve its objectives, there may be negative effects on society. This means that marketing managers should be concerned with social responsibility- a firm's obligation to improve its positive effects on society and reduce its negative effects. Being socially responsible sometimes requires difficult trade-offs. For example, if a firm produces a product that emits harmful chemicals that result in poor environmental standards, should the firm be responsible for the clean up? Also, should all consumers needs be satisfied? For instance, everyone knows that cigarettes cause serious health problems, so should a firm knowingly keeping producing them just because there is a demand for them? These questions and others help us look into how the marketing concept is applied to society.

QUESTIONS

1. What does the marketing concept mean?

2. What is the difference between production and marketing orientation?

3. Which orientation is more profitable for the firm? Why?

4. What basic ideas are included in the definition of the marketing concept? What is the most important of them? Why?

5. How can the work of the whole organization be influenced by adopting marketing concept?

6. How can we determine whether the firm is successful or not? What is the index of the firm’s success?

7. In what way is the marketing concept related to social responsibility?

8. Should marketing managers be responsible for the negative effects caused by the marketing concept on the society?

9. In what way should the marketing managers solve the problem of satisfying consumer’s needs and reducing the negative effects of the marketing concept at the same time?