MARKETING PLANNING: STATE OF THE ARTIN A TRANSITIONAL ECONOMY

Abstract

This paper is provoked by the distorted marketing practices of companies that operate in a transitional economy, specifically Republic of Macedonia.The analysis has two main purposes: 1. to identify the weaknesses in the marketing planning process, 2. to prove the connection of continuous formal marketing planning with business performance, i.e.profitability and market share. Datawasobtainedfromprimary and secondaryresearch. Primary research was conducted in the food, i.e. confectionery industry, with two techniques – survey and interview with the managers of 38% of the registered companies in the industry. Secondary research was based onbooks, journals, web-cites.The analysiswasexecutedwith IBM SPSS 19. Conclusionsare provided through descriptive and deductive statistical analysis. The findings show that the companies have multiple weaknesses in the marketing planning process (continuous formal marketing planning occurs rarely, there is lack of knowledge regarding the systematic planning process and a tendency of misuse of analytical tools). Additionally, a connection and dependence of business performance on continuous formal marketing planning was found. Limitations arise from the sample size and the (one) chosen industry sector. However, there are evident practical and social implicationswhich can contribute to better competitiveness:possibilities for correction of current practices and development of a systematic marketing planning process. This research is of a great value on a national level because it is one of few that analyzes this subject through primary data. Also, the results can be consulted by researchers and practitioners from other transitional economies.

Keywords

• marketing planning
• business performance
• competitiveness
• transitional economy
• food industry