The management of an undertaking conducted on marketing lines must at all times be in a position to survey the whole multiplicity and complexity of the events occurring in the market. It is the task of market research to obtain information on the market for the formulation of marketing policy. Market research produces the basic material for marketing, points out the strengths and weaknesses of the undertaking, indicates gaps in the market, defines market segments and so forth. Marketing policy has to proceed on the basis of this knowledge and to guide the aptitudes of the undertaking on the lines of what is taking place in the market. Market research and marketing bear the same relation to each other as does diagnosis to therapy. Market research would be pointless if it did not find its logical continuation in marketing operations. On the other hand marketing without previous market research is nothing more than trading by intuition.
Like, any living organism, a company must constantly adapts to its environment or wither. Assets have, therefore to be: continuously exploited and adapted in. the- context, of a changing market. In developing pew activities the first step therefore.is to identify those' differentiated assets - special equipment, skill.s: and market outlets - which in combination make the- company unique. The purpose of this paper is, to suggest: a philosophy of industrial' ecology and to show-how a company's own peculiar resources and experience may be related to emerging market needs through continuity of product policy, cyclic regeneration and the dynamic product area.
Marketing of consumer goods has undergone important changes in most European countries in the past ten years and this evolution has not yet come to an end. New selling methods and new types of business firms in retailing and wholesaling, ever increasing marketing costs for industry, concentration of business companies, as well as growing competition abroad and at home, are some of the reasons which focus interest of company managers on a problem which has been neglected a good deal in the past : the managerial approach to analysis and evaluation of channels of distribution used so far or to he used in the future by the company in order to market more effectively its products . The channel of distribution is a firm's direct connecting line with the market, its only way to reach the customer or consumer. The efficiency of this channel and its different links, its strength and length in comparison with other possible choices are decisive for the company's marketing strategy and its success. Apart from comparatively few studies on channels of distribution made by market research institutes for their business clients, not much has been undertaken to analyse channels from the point of view of the business firm. General economic surveys on channels of distribution in various branches of industry and product groups, however, have been established to a larger extent and they often present excellent and valuable material which for a business firm too is of interest. But these analyses are not sufficiently detailed and are naturally lacking certain information which the company manager needs to decide his selection of channels as a basis for his marketing policy. The general statistical picture presented in these studies is only one part of analysing a given channel. The marketing policy and techniques of the links of such a channel as well as the cost and profit comparison are further important points of consideration.
The function of a marketing research department is essentially: a tool for management. This means that such a department must assist the management in obtaining facts and insights necessary for ah efficient and long-range operation of the business. The character of the marketing research department is therefore that of a service and advisory department. On the basis of the foregoing, every policy concerning marketing research can be looked at from two angles: a) the management policy towards the use of research; b) the policy of the research department towards the use of the instruments for research. The management policy towards research and the working methods used will define what programme for marketing research will be followed. Only on the basis of this programme will it be possible for the marketing research department to define its policy towards the use of research instruments.