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The proceedings of the Seminar revealed that a strong pronounced -direction of development of the marketing researches is that connected with the problems of the controlling of the marketing activities in the context of the planning of the processes and operations carried on within modern companies.
Aproximatively 100 marketing specialists participated from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, England, Federal Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Ethiopia, Egypt, the GSA., India, etc.
-CONTENTS OF THE PRAGUE SEMINAR'S PAPERS
In the first sitting chaired by Miroslav Holda, prof. I a r 0 s I a v N y k r y n read his paper on "Products or Goods?" analysing the rigorous
economic definition of the notion merchandise. .
According to this definition a merchandise is, first of all, an exterior object, a thing which, due to its properties satisfies a certain kind of man's requirements. The nature of these requirements is immaterial regardless if they come, for example, from the stomach, or from the imagination. The products as such do not become merchandises unless they satisfay a requirement, unless they have a utility.
Professor Nykryn started from this theoretic basis to demonstrate that all the efforts made in the sphere of production should be guided by this definition of merchandise. The products that do not sell, that remain in stocks because they do not satisfy any requirement and the consumers do not ask for them nor will they ever be asked for on the market in the future, are not merchandise but waste of live and past human work, a loss for the whole economy and society. Marketing aims at avoiding such economic and social losses, subordonating production to the precise objective of a known requirement which should be satisfied. Otherwise it means to practise the philosophy of production for the sake of production, a conception rejected by any economic system which is based on the idea of efficiency.
The second paper was presented by prof. Gabriele Morello, the president of the European Association of the Management and Training Centers and the director of the ISIDA Development Institute in Palermo - Italy, who dealt with the theme Creation of Requirements in a Dynamic Society. The author pointed out that the development of the contemporary world and the technical and scientific revolution we are experiencing create a great diversity of new requirements as well as a great mobility in the modern consumer's exigences, preferences and anticipations. At the same time in almost all the countries in the world there is a concern in the controlling of national economy and even in its planning. Knowledge of the market's new requirements and the close pursuit of the processes of the formation of the latter is becoming more and more a problem connected with the organizing of the dynamic enterprise and particularly with the state's economic policy. Bureaucracy and the conservatism of the managing staff are the main drags on the knowledge of new requirements and on the corresponding adjustment of production. The author pointed out that in socialist countries, too, the tendencies to bureaucracy and conservatism are oposed.
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In the following sitting chaired by H. F. Beckstrom (Norway), J,F.A. de Soet (Holland), General Director of the Dutch state company KL.M. read his paper on The Conducting Marketing Processes in M'ultinational Operation. Most of the paper was devoted to the expounding of the methods through which the profitableness of this airline company increased due to the improvement of the results of the marketing activities, using new techniques of commercial management. Of the 200 airline companies existing in the world, the great majority are not profitable being supported by different states, for reasons of national prestige. The main deficiences of these companies are connected with their commercial and general organization. By organization de Soet .means the maximization of the results of people's activity. The author points out that the people constitute the most important fund of the company, as on them depends the efficiency of the utilization of all the other funds, such as time, money, materials, techniques, buildings, machines etc. In fact these constitute the structure of most organizations, the command chain as it is also called. Like any chain, it is as strong as its links are. The exchange of ideas, communications, cooperation, the transmitting of enthusiasm, high spirits for work, the satisfactions, in short, the morale, all depends on these links.
The KL.M. resorted to a consulting institute in the domain of the administration of companies and after an extensive analysis, the institute declared for a serious reduction of personnel (from 18,000 to 14,000) and for basic changes in the organization. The level of responsibility had to be brought down from the top to the departamental managers and particularly to the heads of the territorial commercial divisions, disseminated in many countries. The territorial managers were not prepared for this decentralization of the responsibility, so that their special training was started and actual attendance granted. In view of preparing these operations a number of researches were carried out based on a questionnaire and on interviews. The results were very instructive. To the question, what is the main object of the job you hold?, the investigated executives answered either by "the continuation of the extension of the company's activity" or by "the progress of the company in personnel problems", or in organizational problems etc. The idea that the company should achieve profits and returns was almost absent. After analyses and discussions with these executives it became clear that in fact the object of their job should be double: 1. ensuring of the company's greatest income at the lowest cost within its policy; 2. generating of commercial ideas and suggestions for the management, regarding new improvements in the activity or the introduction of changes in the commercial policy carried on by the KL.M. liable to increase the company's returns.
The analyses showed that these executives concerned themselves less with the quality of their subordinates' work and far too much with the commercial activities which in fact should have also been carried on by these subordinates.
Moreover the norms the subordinates had to fulfil were not clearly defined and distributed. The subalterns no longer had any confidence in their superiors' appreciation of their individual work and so they evaded accepting any responsibilities. On the other hand, the control was very oppressive and