COVER STORY
Indian Hotel Industry: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness
-- Durba Bhattacharya
Hotels are one of the most important support services that influence tourist inflows. To achieve market excellence, hotels have to match business operations with customers' values and expectations. Therefore, distinct marketing strategies are adopted by different hotel chains to attract diverse segments of customers and thereby enhance their competitiveness.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
RURAL MARKETING
Rural Segment: The Marketers' Seventh Heaven
-- Kalai Selvi T
With 73% of the population living in the 6,00,000 villages of India out of a total population of 1.06 billion, marketers cannot afford to ignore the potential of rural markets. The principal hurdles for any company trying to make inroads into rural markets have been poor infrastructure and limited purchasing power. However, there is progressive improvement on both these fronts. A survey by McKinsey & Co., projects that the potential of the Indian rural market will touch $500 bn by the year 2020.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
GREEN MARKETING
Green Marketing: Better Late Than Never
-- Ambika Lal
Green marketing is the need of the hour when we are seeing environmental degradation every single day. Although eco-friendly products are slightly expensive compared to their traditional counterparts, they offer many advantages. While the market for green products is definitely on the increase, the "green marketing" campaign is yet to achieve a critical mass. There is an urgent need for both marketers and consumers to appreciate the importance of green products.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
SERVICES MARKETING
Indian Service Firms: Customer-centric or Customer Antagonistic?
-- Shailendra Dasari
Most service firms in India are very tentative in their approach to customer service and lack consistency in their dealings. Surprisingly, multinational firms which have set up shop in India also do not exude professional commitment when it comes to embracing customer-centricism as a philosophy. This article highlights the present state of affairs, reasons for customer-centricism receiving mere lip service, the need for and importance of service firms to be customer-centric, and steps to be taken immediately to remedy the situation.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
RETAIL MANAGEMENT
Organized Retail Business in India Under the Spell of Recession
-- Sartaj Khera
Organized retail businesses in India are reeling under the impact of recession, which has, not only hit the global market, but also the Indian retail sector. This article attempts to review various studies and reports on different aspects of the effect of recession on the organized retail business in India. The problem areas have been highlighted and suitable solutions provided. These solutions would enable the retail business to combat recession and take the much needed path to recovery.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
TECHNOLOGY IN MARKETING
Benefits of RFID in Retailing
-- Pankaj Madhani
Business firms are increasingly leveraging on the usage of technology to improve operational efficiency and gain competitive advantage. RFID is one such technology that is finding increased usage in various fields. This article takes a look at the advantages of RFID in improved implementation of the marketing mix strategy with a focus on the retail sector.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CONSUMER RESEARCH
Customer Satisfaction With Regard to Services of Public Sector Banks
-- Rudra Saibaba and A Yella Swamy
This article reports the findings of a survey of customers of public sector banks carried out in Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh. While the public sector banks enjoy a strong presence and significant clientele in semi-urban and rural regions, customers perceive deficiencies in service in many areas. It is important for public sector banks to address such issues, and be more service-oriented, in order to retain their market position in the face of increased competition from private sector banks.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer Motivation, Attitudes and Perception: A Narrative Exposition
-- R Harish and Sanjaya K S
This article explains some basic concepts relating to consumer behavior with the help of a mix of fictional narratives and actual examples. The concepts are drawn from standard text books on marketing, while the narratives and examples are put together by the author.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Basic Principles of Business Success: Lessons from the Women's World
-- Chaitanya Prasad Giri
Women entrepreneurs, chief executive officers and women's organizations have often been role models of how to manage a successful business. This article presents four examples of businesses managed by women to drive home the importance of some basic marketing and general business principles in the making of a successful business organization.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CASE STUDY
Mohanlal Jangid Financial Investments Ltd: Customer Service as the Fulcrum
-- Manishankar Chakraborty
Mohanlal Jangid Financial Investments Ltd., (MJFIL) is an insurance and investments agency company based in Nagpur. This case study takes us through the entrepreneurial initiatives taken by its promoter, Mohanlal Jangid, and the customer-focused marketing strategies that have made the company quite successful. MJFIL now faces a transition point as to how to propel the business to its next growth trajectory. Expanding beyond its home base, Nagpur, seems to be an obvious answer, but this would be quite a challenge.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
INDUSTRY FOCUS
Nutraceuticals: The New Age Fast Moving Healthcare Goods
-- A Lakshminarasimha and Tarundeep Kaur
Nutraceuticals are essentially food products and derivatives which have a health promoting or medicinal value. Nutracueticals include functional foods, dietary supplements, sports and energy products, etc. The manufacture and sale of nutraceuticals is on the increase. They are also quite useful as a strong line of defense against lifestyle illnesses and ailments. However, regulatory measures need to be streamlined in order to facilitate directed growth of this industry.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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