IT-enabled strategic marketing management

This chapter examines the applications of information systems in supporting marketing operational and strategic functions. It reviews the important role of marketing strategic function and reveals the current practice of database marketing, decision support systems, expert systems and Internet marketing through a number of studies conducted in the UK. It suggests that marketing executives tend to perceive the importance of the strategic role of marketing in shaping corporate strategy, but information technologies have not yet been fully applied to support the strategic function. It is proposed that a hybrid system that is capable of incorporating with executives vision and knowledge needs to be developed in order to systematically scan marketing environment, refine data into meaningful intelligence, and provide marketing executives with personalized strategic information. The problems for implementing the system are discussed.