Report from the Vice President Conferences
- EMAC Conferences and Symposia: Joint events Submitted by Veronica Wong
The Annual Conference has traditionally been the core activity of EMAC. The 2004 conference to be hosted by the Marketing Department of the University of Murcia continues to uphold the Academy’s goal to promote and facilitate intensive debate and exchange of knowledge, ideas and insights arising from academic research in all the major fields of marketing.
However, besides our traditional conference event this year, I am pleased to draw readers’ attention to two joint events that are being planned for 2004 and 2005. One is a special event which is being organised in conjunction with the European Society for Opinion and Market Research, ESOMAR, representing the world association of market research professionals. The other is a joint symposium with our sister association, the Australian-New Zealand Academy of Marketing (ANZMAC) to be held in conjunction with the main EMAC 2005 Conference.
Research in Marketing - where science meets practice: A joint conference in partnership with ESOMAR, 10-12 October 2004, Warsaw
The joint EMAC-ESOMAR Conference, entitled “Marketing - where science meets practice” will be held at The Westin Hotel, Warsaw, Poland. The foundation idea for the joint conference builds on EMAC’s mission to facilitate the exchange of state-of-the-art knowledge and research results and that of ESOMAR to promote the use of opinion and market research for improving decision making in business and society worldwide.
The joint conference seeks to bring together professional marketers, practitioners and academics alike to establish an exchange on new thinking for methods, techniques and their application, to widen perspectives on marketing practice and to ensure business relevance. Participants from both the practitioner and academic spheres within and outside Europe will contribute to intensive discussions of a broad range of marketing topics including: managing brands in global markets, the impacts of social, cultural and economic change, new product development models and understanding consumers.
The prospects of bridging the gap between marketing scientists and practitioners are appealing for individuals involved or interested in advancing marketing theory and research of relevance to practice, on the one hand, and those keen to apply marketing theory and research for business improvement on the other. For EMAC members, this event is consistent with one of the academy’s aims, which is to serve as the core of a communication network for disseminating information and promoting international exchange in the field of marketing.
Full details of the event can be obtained at: http://www.esomar.org/index.php?a=3&p=1161
Alternatively, for further information, please contact the EMAC-ESOMAR conference programme manager Victoria Steven, e-mail: v.steven@esomar.org
Innovation in Marketing: Implications for Theory, Techniques and Measurements: a joint EMAC-ANZMAC symposium, 27 May 2005, Milan
Following a successful event in Perth, December 2002, EMAC and ANZMAC join forces to co-organise a one-day symposium which be held in conjunction with the EMAC 2005 Conference, to be hosted by Bocconi University, Milan. The symposium will be co-chaired by myself, representing EMAC, and Mark Gabbott, from ANZMAC.Globalization, rapidly changing technologies, the diffusion of the internet, socio-political upheavals and demographic movements are challenging the ‘old ways’ of doing business and how marketing traditionally adds value for customers in the market place. In response, smart marketers seek new ways to determine, develop and deliver value-driven innovations to satisfy market demands in ever more competitive market places. By implication, Marketing academics have to continually update their knowledge base, challenging old thinking and advancing new theories to promote better understanding and explanations of contemporary marketing phenomena.
It is against this background that we set the theme for the 2005 joint research symposium of EMAC and ANZMAC: “Innovation in Marketing: Implications for Theory, Techniques and Measurements”. Discussions will centre on state-of-the-art understanding of Marketing theory and paradigms; innovative developments and advances in marketing research, research methods and analyses; and latest developments in marketing metrics and measurements.
The objective of the symposium is to provide a forum for stimulating awareness of new marketing knowledge, methodologies and metrics advanced by the latest research in marketing. A second but no less important objective is to foster research networking and interaction between members of EMAC (European Marketing Academy) and the sister academy ANZMAC (Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy), and to encourage scholars and researchers from the Asia Pacific region who join these networks to promote new ideas and insights arising from their own research.
The Call for Expressions of Interest will be disseminated at the Murcia 2004 Conference. In addition, for full details of the event, visit the EMAC web site: http://www.emac-online.org
Alternatively, for further information, please contact either myself (v.w.y.wong@aston.ac.uk) or Mark Gabbott (mark.gabbott@buseco.monash.edu.au).
Report from the Vice President Development
- Conference Guidelines Submitted by Suzanne C. Beckmann
About the EMAC conference
The EMAC annual conference is the most significant user benefit of membership and the highlight of the EMAC calendar. It serves to create a major focus for exchange of ideas, dissemination of research findings and discussion of work in progress, as well as being an opportunity for catching up with old friends and networking with new colleagues.
The conference is a partnership between the EMAC and the host institution. Both will wish to see the conference achieve its full potential for the benefit of all. To ensure that EMAC traditions, custom and practices are carried forward year to year, the EMAC executive committee has developed and approved detailed conference guidelines. The purpose of these notes is to share the knowledge gained over many conferences with new conference hosts, and thus specifies principles of organisation and practical matters. It is a living document, which is amended continuously when new experiences arise.
Each host institution receives the guidelines upon acceptance of their proposal to host the annual conference. It is EMAC policy that the host institution has the responsibility to implement these guidelines. The conference guidelines are incorporated in a “memorandum of agreement” currently under drafting that will be signed in the future detailing the roles and responsibilities of both EMAC and the Conference Organisers.
The current version of the EMAC conference guidelines can be downloaded here.
Report from the Conference Chair 2004
- 33rd EMAC Conference - Murcia, Spain Submitted by Jose Luis Munuera
The 33rd EMAC Conference (http://www.emac2004.org) will be hold in Murcia (Spain), between the 19th and 21st of May. This year, the 33rd EMAC Conference has reached a record participation of around 600 enrolments. Moreover, the number of papers sent to be considered for reviewing has been greater than ever (over 800). These papers and posters have been evaluated using a rigorous double-blind review process based on a totally electronic web system and guided by two new figures (Track-Chair and Co-Chair). Over 20 track-chairs and 16 co-chairs along with an extensive list of reviewers (more than 400) from different countries have joined in this process.
Besides the presentation of papers and the Doctoral Colloquium, there are some other activities. In particular, it should be emphasized the five special sessions with leading speakers from all around the world (‘Marketing Research and Management Practice’, ‘Innovation and Value Creation in Marketing’, ‘Models and Measurement’, ‘Consumer Behaviour’, and ‘International Marketing’) and the two panels (one concerning leading ‘Marketing Journals’ and the other about the experience of top ‘European Business Schools’).
Apart from the energy and effort devoted to the academic and scientific tasks, we would like to stress others issues that have been considered, such as the surrounding circumstances like the conference site, the warm atmosphere, or the Mediterranean cuisine, among others, with our fellowship atmosphere.
Report from the National Representative Hungary
- Hungarian Marketing at the Gate of the European Union Submitted by Jozsef Beracs
The upcoming accession to the European Union finds the majority of Hungarians in two states of mind. Some feel that after 40 years’ Russian occupation, Hungary is finally on the brink of achieving what it has aimed for all along in its 1000 year history: to belong to the well developed cultural civilization of Western Europe. In the year 1000, Hungary’s first king – Saint Stephen – professed this goal by choosing Rome over the Eastern Christianity led by the Byzantine Empire. Others worry about the problems Hungary’s economy will face and are concerned that the already existing dominance of multinational companies shall once and for all overcome Hungarian enterprises in the economic competition.
Similarly mixed feelings can be observed amongst the Hungarian marketing researchers and professors. On the one hand, we feel that we have always belonged to Western Europe – even when the “real” Western Europe did not reciprocate this feeling due to the existence of “Iron Curtain” (the tearing down of which started precisely here in Hungary in 1989). On the other hand, however, the competition bred by globalization makes itself felt even in academic life - for many, appraisal in the new markets bears with it the possibility of failure.
For the members of the European Marketing Academy, Hungary, Budapest, and the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration are not “terra incognita”. In 1996, EMAC held its 25th anniversary conference in Budapest. At this conference – the largest in EMAC’s history –175 lectures were given. Three hundred-fifty participants from 30 countries got acquainted with each other, Budapest, the Puszta, the Karl Marx statue in BUESPA’s hall, as well as with our present day history. The participants could observe that in Hungary marketing has deep roots both in business- and in academic life.
In 1970, it was at the then Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences that the first Marketing Department was set up. It was here that the writer of these lines was first a student, then a member, and finally, from 1992, its chair. At the time, there were many who professed themselves to be involved in marketing and market surveys. The professional journal “Piackutatás” (“Market Survey”, later renamed “The Hungarian Journal of Marketing and Management”) founded in 1967 and now in its 38th year of existence, undertook to deal with both the academic and managerial approach to marketing. In 1983, over 2 decades ago, the Committee on Agromarketing - under the leadership of Pál Tomcsányi - was set up within the frame of the Section of Agricultural Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS). From 1996 the HAS’s Section of Agricultural Sciences and its Section of Economics and Law have a joint, interdisciplinary Committee on Marketing with a membership of 60 marketing and logistics researchers.
The Club of Marketing Professors/Lecturers was founded 10 years ago in 1994 as a club under the auspices of the Hungarian Marketing Association which gathers together the Hungarian marketing managers. The annual meeting of the Club of Marketing Professors gives its approximately 80 members the possibility for the exchange of experiences. The Club and the HAS Committee on Marketing both consider the education of the new, upcoming generation of marketing experts to be important as can be seen from the fact that PhD students specializing in marketing now study in one of 5 different Hungarian universities.
One of the outstanding events of this year was a conference organized on March 11, 2004 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on the occasion of Professor Pál Tomcsányi’s 80th birthday. Professor Tomcsányi’s name in Hungary is the hallmark of the creation of scientifically based marketing. The conference started with a presentation by Professor Tomcsányi, a regular member of HAS, and was followed by the lectures of 19 Hungarian marketing research experts - leading professors in the marketing departments of the best Hungarian universities, recognized in the field of marketing education and research - who presented their latest findings. The proceedings of the conference was published in the 7th volume of “Transition, Competitiveness and Economic Growth” series (Akadémiai Publishing House) entitled “Marketing Theory and Practice – A Hungarian Perspective”. The volume was edited by myself, József Lehota, István Piskóti, and Gábor Rekettye, and is dedicated to Professor Tomcsányi, teacher and mentor of many of the authors. The collection of studies included in the book – which is suitable as a reader in various marketing courses in many universities – gives the reader a representative cross-section of the main scientific issues that Hungarian researchers are concerned with at the beginning of the new millennium. The thematic collection of studies presents the main approaches that prevail in the analysis of the various marketing topics.
Professor József Berács
Chair, Marketing Department, BUESPA
Deputy Chair of the Committee on Marketing of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
EMAC, National Representative in Hungary
Report from the National Representative Slovenia
- Brief general and marketing facts about the Republic of Slovenia Submitted by Boris Snoj
GENERAL FACTS
- Form of government: Pairlamentary democracy
- Capital: Ljubljana
- Official language: Slovene
- Monetary unit: Slovene tolar
- Religious affiliation: Roman Chatolic 96%
- Ehnic composition of teh population: Slovene 91%
- Area: 20, 256 sq km
- Neighbouring countries: Italy (W), Austria (N), Hungary (E), Croatia (S)
- Total population: 1, 964,036
- Population employed: 962,000
- Population unemployed: 64,000
- GDP per capita (2003): 12154 EURO (2.3 % higher than in 2002)
- Number of business subjects: 140, 237 (73,470 organizations and 66,767 physical persons). The majority of subjects are registered in “social and personal services (30, 293), followed by “wholesale, retail, and certain repair services (25, 748), “real estate, renting and business services” (20, 974), and “manufacturing industry” (19, 367).
- Merchandise exports (fob, USDbn, 2002): 10,5
- Merchandise imports (fob, USDbn, 2002): 10,7
- At the end of 2002 the total foreign direct investment (FDI) was 3.2 USDbn (216.3 USD million more than at the end of 2000. In the first 10 months of 2003 there was 94.1 EURO million of FDI in Slovenia and 226.3 EURO million of Slovenian direct investment abroad). The share of EU countries in FDI in Slovenia was 86% at the end of 2001. The most important countries for Slovenian economy in this respect were: Austria (47%), France (12%) and Germany (11%). The majority of FDI was placed in manufacturing industry (38%), in financial intermediating services (28%), and in wholesale, retail and motor vehicles repair services (14%). 58% of Slovenian FDI is placed in the states of former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia).
Sources: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia; Slovenia Quaterly Forecast Report; Daily newspaper Veèer Maribor. - Some of the biggest foreign companies - investors in Slovenia are: US based multinational company Goodyear, Belgium based bank KBC, Swiss based multinational company Novartis, Belgium based multinational company Interbrew, France based multinational company Renault, France based multinational bank Société Générale S.A., and Italia based multinational bank Sanpaolo IMI S.P.A.
MARKETING FACTS
Some interesting data revealing the relative importance of marketing knowledge on general:
- From all job offerings that appear in newspapers editions in Slovenia there is appx. 20 % covering jobs in marketing.
- There are 11 agencies specialised in facilitating marketing problems (market research, advertising, and public relations) with more than 20 full time employees (MM Magazin).
- There are three marketing departments each in one of the three Faculties in Slovenia (Faculty of Economy and Faculty of Social Sciences, both at the University of Ljubljana and Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor). They are at the same time the nucleus for the 3 Institutes of marketing doing fundamental marketing research with generally same members as in departments (appx. 6-10). There are signs of new marketing department being formed at the Faculty of management at the University of Primorska in Koper.
- The official association of professionals dealing in marketing in Slovenia is Marketing Association of Slovenia (Društvo za marketing Slovenije). There are also other associations specialised for advertising, for public relations and for direct marketing.
Some interesting results on marketing issues concerning the whole population of companies over 20 employees in Slovenia gathered in 2001 by the research team from the Institute of marketing at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia, led by Professor Boris Snoj on the behalf of international research project "Marketing in the 21st Century - Marketing Resources, Competitive Posititioning and Firm Perfomance" coordinated by Professor Graham Hooley from Aston Business School, Research Institute, Aston University, Birmingham, UK:
- The whole population of companies over 20 employees in Slovenia N = 2551 (which was app. 2% of the population of all companies in Slovenia) was contacted by mail, and the response rate from general managers of these companies was app. 30% (N = 759).
- The structure of companies that actually responded according to the main industry they operate in was: consumer durables 8.6%, fast moving consumer goods 14.7%, materials and components 20.5%, capital investment equipment 14.3%, business services 11.6%, consumer services 2.4% and other 27.9%.
- Compared with the preceeding research of the same population of companies in 1996, the share of companies with foreign capital increased from 6.7% to 15.3% in 2001.
- 69 % of the companies with foreign capital claimed that foreign (co)owners were having a crucial role in companies strategic decision making.
- Having in mind that in 2001 research, the organisational schemes of marketing were not researched, in the preceeding 1996 research 84.3% of the companies over 20 employees in Slovenia were organised in a way in which marketing represented a part of the sales department. In more than one half of the companies CEOs were responsible for marketing.
- The national market was the most important market for the most important products of 64.7 % of the companies, followed by EU markets, which were most imporant for 45.3% of the companies.
- The majority of managers claimed the increasing turbulence in the environment of their companies especially concerning increasingly demanding customers, intense, globally grounded competition and the increasing stream of new product launches.
- 43.2% of the companies claimed that their most important market was established but growing, and 40.6% stated their most important market to be at the mature stage.
- The highest percentage of companies in both research projects revealed that their performance was customer oriented (30.5% in 1996 and 35.3% in 2001). The change for almost 5% was also the highest positive change in business orientation whilst the business orientation with the highest negative change between 1996 and 2001 research was “the employee orientation”.
- The highest level of market orientation, measured by Narver-Slater scale was attained by companies in retailing industry and the lowest by companies in agriculture.
- The majority of managers acknowledged the importance of the concept of “learning company” as the strategic resource of competitive advantage.
- 24.5% companies claimed that their position in their main market was market challenger (second or third largest market share), followed by 19.5% companies claiming to be market follower (smaller market share).
- 37.7% managers stated that “ company as brand and its reputation” was among most important marketing assets and capabilities, followed by 32.1 % stating “ the good relations with key customers”, and 28.1% claiming “good understanding of teir customers’ needs and wants” as their most important marketing assets and capabilities.
- The most comonnly indicated marketing objective of companies (92%) is “to gain steady sales growth”, followed by “ targeting selected marketing segments within the total market” (71.5%), and “seeking to differentiate our products and services from competitors in the market” (70.4%).
- Among three most important positioning factors more than one third of companies ranked: "technical quality of our products and services" (37.1%), "the level of customer services and support" (35.8%), and "the degree of responsiveness to customer enquiries and requests" (33.5%).
- The most frequently agreed statements about marketing activities were: “We place great emphasis on building long term relations with key customers” (87.7% of managers), with “We place great emphasis on building long term relations with key suppliers” (80.2% managers) and “We customise our products and services so that they meet the requirements of individual customers" (77.0% managers).
- The most important performance measurement criteria were: “the level of customer satisfaction achieved” (60.9%), “the level of market share achieved” (48.1%) and “the level of the overall profit achieved” (42.2%).
- Many managers were not well informed about their companies performance compared with their competitors and even compared with the performance in the previous business year.
Professor Boris Snoj
Marketing Institute
Faculty of Economics and Business
University of Maribor
Maribor
Slovenia
Report from a Polish EMAC Representative
- Poland returns to the West - Some market and marketing aspects Submitted by Krzysztof Fonfara
1. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
As a result of post second-world war peace pacts Poland was forced to become a part of the Soviet Block. Since 1945 there were a number of attempts in Poland to change this unfair division of Europe: 1956, 1970, 1976, 1980 are the dates of Poland’s struggle against communism. The Solidarnoœæ revolution in 80’ forced the communist rulers to step down. In June 1989 Poland’s essential political and economical reforms started and after 45 years the first non-communist government was formed. After a free election in 1989 the Balcerowicz Plan was proposed and started to be implemented in January 1990 as “ a shock therapy” against problems the communist governments had created since 1945 (see Tab. 1 and Fig. 1). In 1999 Poland became a member of NATO and in May 2004 will join the European Union.
Tab.1
POLAND’S BASIC MACRO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS
[1989 - 2004]
Source : Central Statistical Office, Warsaw, Poland - * forecast
Fig. 1
TRANSFORMATION RESULTS
GDP: 1989-2003
1989=100
Source : EBRD
2. MARKETING : THEORY AND PRACTICE IN POLAND
Marketing as a teaching discipline appeared in Poland in the late 70’. Of course it was impossible to introduce this concept within a centrally planned economy but it was taught in Polish universities as an important element of a company’s export activity based for instance on Keegan’s and Kotler’s books.
In the late 80’ it became feasible and even necessary to implement marketing principles in domestic markets. Hundreds and then thousands of Polish managers were educated on marketing approach and tools by Polish and overseas trainers. First in depth research projects on marketing orientations of Poland’s companies started in the early 90’ (see Fonfara). Marketing transformation became an indispensable factor for companies market success (see Hooley et.al.,1999). A relatively high level of market and marketing development was proved within the research conducted in the late 90’ where it was demonstrated that the overall Narver and Slater MO scale is both valid and reliable as a measure of market orientation in Poland and other Central European economies (Hooley et. al., 2000).
3. POLAND's MARKETING CHALLENGES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21st CENTURYAfter nearly 15 years of market transformation Poland faces new challenges. As a result of the EU membership Poland’s companies have to cope with even stronger competition than before. On one hand, 40 million Polish consumers are an attractive market for the increasing number of foreign companies. During the last 10 years around 70 billion of USD was pumped into the Polish economy by FDI (36% of overall FDI inflow in Central and Eastern Europe).
On the other hand, Polish companies have to increase their competitive strength operating overseas in the European Union markets where around 70% of Poland’s exports is located. It demands, among other, implementation of a new market approach linked with a concept of relationship marketing. International business, where as a rule B2B contacts dominate exporter-importer links, the relationship marketing is of utmost importance. Both from a research and implementation points of view it can become (not only for Poland) an interesting field to discuss and study. Specifically it has been basically proved that especially SME can reach competitive advantage over bigger companies (global and regional corporations) establishing direct, long-lasting and long-term relationships, working closely with their importers (Fonfara 2004).Professor Krzysztof Fonfara
Poznañ University of Economics
Wielkopolska Business School
ReferencesK. Fonfara (1994), Marketingowa orientacja polskich przedsiêbiorstw (Marketing Orientation of Poland’s Companies), Marketing i Rynek, no. 3, p. 22-26.
G. Hooley. T. Cox, J. Fahy, J. Beracs, K. Fonfara, B. Snoj, (1999) Marketing Capabilities and Firm Performance: A Hierarchical Model, Journal of Market Focused Management, 4, p. 259-278.
G. Hooley. T. Cox, J. Fahy, D. Shipley, J. Beracs, K. Fonfara, B. Snoj, (2000) Market Orientation in the Transition Economies of Central Europe: Tests of the Narver and Slater Market Orientation Scales, Journal of Business Research 50, p. 273-285.
K. Fonfara (2004), Marketing partnerski na rynku przedsiêbiorstw (Relationship Marketing in B2B markets), PWE, Warszawa.