CONTROL OF MARKETING IN GEORGIA

BY, George Barkalaia

Being a philosophic doctrine of business, marketing has passed an interesting and multifaceted way. In the initial stage – in 20-30 years of this century – much attention was concentrated on highly-qualified productions with moderate retail prices.

At this stage less importance was attached to the
improvement of the quality of customer demand satisfaction.
In 50-ies marketing was very popular in the USA and later in other leading developed countries. It was deemed as a conception of capitalist management. Marketing does not imply one of the directions of productive activity, but rather main function of production management. This function determines market as well as production policy. The present notion of marketing is based on the further development of its earlier content. In modern conditions an overwhelming majority of marketing specialists views it as a complex and dynamic system that provides for market orientation of economic management.
In the further stage of marketing development, attention is concentrated on the improvement of commodity production and realisation with the consideration of customer demands. In this stage, marketing conception becomes more and more popular; it envisages for the complex market research and baesd on it, maximal satisfaction of customer demands.
Marketing activity will affect such categories as need and demand for goods, price exchange, market, etc. The above-mentioned categories determine purpose and programme of marketing
Being a system of customer-oriented sales managementsystem, marketing fulfils important functions in the development of market economy. Marketing has the following principal functions: market research, customer demands research, determination of commodity assortment, price-fixing, development of price formation and stimulation of commodity realisation. It is impossible to develop an efficient production programme of long-term strategy of enterprise development in the conditions of market economy without the use of the above-mentioned principles.
Commodity production and market are organically interdependent. Being a social economic organism market represents a complex system of different levels. First of all, it must be viewed as a constituent of exchange, commodity and money sphere. Besides, market is a separate sphere different from production and consumption one. It is a dirsperferable system of appropriate relations and information streams of the whole social economic organism. Similar to objective economic and social reality, market development was based on history: it developed together with society; it is a natural self-regulating mechanism of existing demands and their satisfaction. Marketing control should also be considered in accordance with the same aspect.
During the consideration of market and marketing theories, we can use some directions for the study of market relations; marketing of capital goods, marketing of customers, large-scale goods, macromarketing and marketing of intellectual labour.
As the article is limited in size, we will not be able to characterise all above-mentioned directions; we will only mention its general theoretic approaches. We should point out to the fact that being a control system of enterprise conglomeration marketing is efficient only in free economic conditions, i.e. when both a producer and consumer of goods are free and prices are established on the basis of supply and consumption balance. In these conditions, an enterprise must purchase raw materials and necessary accessory equipment, etc. from a supplier at the prices that in the given conditions are fixed with the consideration of supply and demand. It is clear that one should have an objective information in order to take a right decision. Thus, only enterprises using marketing principles and methods in their work can do it. Nowadays, it is impossible to be guided by intuition, which, unfortunately, is a usual thing in our country. In foreign countries special organisations deal with marketing research. We would like to stress that marketing research must be based on such principles as objectiveness, integrity and stringency. Marketing research represents quite a complex process consisting of five stages: 1. determination of current problem; 2. analysis of current information; 3. analysis and completion of necessary additional information; 4. development and practical realisation of decisions; 5. determination and use of the results of decision implementation.
Market research comprises an extensive information process that is usually called marketing information system. The purpose of this system is clear enough: necessary data collection and processing, data storing, efficiency of records management, etc. We should also point out to the fact that development of marketing information system is by no means an easy work; it takes much time and energy.
In the conditions of market economy marketing plays many concrete and general roles, among them: strengthening and development of interrelation of production and trade; improvement of enterprise competitiveness in accordance with consumer demands; strengthening of financial state; reduction of production costs and prices; co-ordination and efficient use of resources necessary for commodity production and circulation; rationalisation of consumption; improvement of consumer service, etc.
Being an activity that sprang up in the initial stage of exchange relations between society members marketing makes an influence on the economic life of the country. The growth and significance of marketing role in our country is consequent upon great reforms that usually occur during the transition to market economy. Strengthening and further development of market relations requires a thorough study and practical use of marketing activities.
The use of marketing as a purposeful method makes it possible to avoid much ambiguity during the building of a market model. As a matter of fact, this method presupposes market segmentation when a definite segment of consumption (material, information) is single out and this or that ambiguity is avoided.
During the establishment of marketing school in Georgia, we must take into consideration the fact that it should be multiform; marketing school must always correspond with the concrete economic, technological and cultural relations. Nowadays, there are no universal schools anywhere. Representatives of marketing schools understand and describe marketing after their own fashion, which issues from the specifics of the development of production and market. Yet, all of them are not based on general methodological principles that we formulated above. Well-known representatives of marketing warn us from getting addicted to other experiences. They say that dynamic development of marketing depends on competition and national schools can only enrich their knowledge on the basis of it. It is necessary to create our own Georgian marketing school. It must also be based on theoretic and practical experiences of different national schools. In the given stage our task is to thoroughly study the experience, specifics and potential of marketing schools of leading developed countries that will form a real basis for the development of marketing business i Georgia.
Marketing infrastructure mechanism will also play a great role in the stabilisation and development of our economy: commodity exchange, stock and labour exchange and, what is more important, marketing business. Fast establishment of commodity exchange is observed in our Republic in the given stage. Stock exchange will come into being due to the issue of securities. We have signs of labour exchange in the form of employment bureau. Marketing business is gradually formed; there is intensive cadres training in different kinds of courses and schools. It is necessary to quicken these processes, apply them to marketing business and to actively use elements of market infrastructure for the stabilisation of economy.
We should stress the fact that due to the current sharp deficit in the commodities market, first of all, it is necessary to overcome structural imbalance of demand and supply. Therefore, in our country marketing business should be aimed at the objective research of current situation as well as at improving the efficiency of forms and methods of production realisation. As mentioned above, the basic of market research is acquisition of necessary information, but the main method is complex study of market. The latter implies performance of scientific-research practical work that will comprise deep analysis and estimation of all elements of market mechanism. These methods are market capacity, demand, supply, market state, consumer, infrastructure of enterprise and trade realisation, etc.
Thus, market economy will make its corrections in the sphere of marketing scientific research