Case Article—Louisiana Branch Lines

Louisiana Branch Lines is a struggling Southeast U.S. railroad in just four cities and 12 markets. Their marketing, operations, and finance performance is poor and their departments disjointed. In this customizable, nine-part case, instructors can choose to focus on basic problem structuring and descriptive and predictive statistics, optimization model building, simulation of solutions, or the integration of all of the above. It is based on a real-world case.

The Differences in the Usage of Social Media between SMEs operating in the Iron and Mining Industries

Since Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in iron and mining industries are significant contributors not only for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and labour creation of countries but also export volumes of nations, they have also crucial roles to reduce unemployment rates, and increase amount of exports. But comparing to their larger counterparts, SMEs encounter more financing obstacles that might make them to become non-competitive. Within this context, their usage of social media platforms might increase their competitiveness because these digital marketing channels provide less costly solutions for their activities. But depending on their characteristics, their willingness and propensity to implement social media channels in their marketing operations can show differences. In this regard, this paper intends to examine whether the usage of social media channels by SMEs in iron and mining industries differ depending on their size and length of doing business. To hit this target, the researchers have created a questionnaire survey and have directed it to the randomly selected respondents from Cribis database. 702 SMEs that operate iron and mining industries of Slovakia and Hungary have fulfilled the survey. Independent Sample T test is applied to explore differences in the selected variables. While the usage of social media platforms by smaller and larger SMEs does not differ, older SMEs apply social media channels more than younger SMEs. These results are consistent for both Slovak and Hungarian SMEs. The reason of similarities in both nations’ SMEs might be related with similar social-economic conditions of these nations, education level and experience of firm executives. The cooperation of policymakers with SMEs, universities, industrial zones, and unions to encourage the effective usage of social media channels might increase SMEs operating in mining and iron industries and their executives’ competencies and competitive postures to contest with their larger-sized counterparts.

Why Use Automated Machine Learning?

Machine learning is involved in search, translation, detecting depression, likelihood of college dropout, finding lost children, and to sell all kinds of products. While barely beyond its inception, the current machine learning revolution will affect people and organizations no less than the Industrial Revolution’s effect on weavers and many other skilled laborers. Machine learning will automate hundreds of millions of jobs that were considered too complex for machines ever to take over even a decade ago, including driving, flying, painting, programming, and customer service, as well as many of the jobs previously reserved for humans in the fields of finance, marketing, operations, accounting, and human resources. This section explains how automated machine learning addresses exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, algorithm selection, hyperparameter tuning, and model diagnostics. The section covers the eight criteria considered essential for AutoML to have significant impact: accuracy, productivity, ease of use, understanding and learning, resource availability, process transparency, generalization, and recommended actions.

Impacts of marketing decisions on delivery performance and flexibility of the operations area

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relations in the Marketing/Operations interface through the analysis of data of the operational reality of a Brazilian company with a low technological intensity. The study aims to quantify and determine the impacts of marketing decisions on delivery performance and on flexibility of the operations area.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal case study was conducted and the variables used in the model were derived from established theories and were evaluated with artificial neural networks. The case of a food manufacturing company was selected to reflect the relations in the marketing/operations interface of a low technological intensity enterprise.FindingsThe results show that the decisions on Place/Channel, Price and Product dimensions of marketing exert a significant impact on flexibility and delivery performance of the operation area.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the case study cannot be generalised and the outcomes are specific to just one firm. However, the approach lends itself to replication, particularly within low technological intensity companies.Originality/valuePrior studies have focussed on coordination among functional areas as marketing and operations at higher levels of abstraction. The study contemplate empirical propositions through the data analysis of a company with a low technological intensity that can be used to improve managers' decisions and alignment in the Marketing/Operation Interface.

Understanding digital trends in marketing agribusiness products: critical analysis of international publications

This review study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the extent to which digital trends in marketing agribusiness products are under the needs of farmers who live and farm in today's digital era. We chose to analyze national and international publications to understand the objectives of the study quickly. So our step is to look for study evidence data through electronic searches on Google Scholar-based data published between 2010 and 2021 to get the latest data. Furthermore, our data analysis involves data coding, evaluation, and in-depth interpretation to obtain valid and reliable findings as expected in the study findings. Because this study was conducted during the pandemic, we tried to get secondary data and follow descriptive qualitative data experts' directions. As a result, we can conclude another way that digital marketing in marketing agricultural products is a technique that is becoming trendy in many places. The digital trend is chosen by many people because of its easy and cheap principles so that both farmers and buyers will be lucky because marketing operations have been trimmed. Thus the results of this study are helpful for many parties.

E-COMMERCE & ONLINE MARKETING: RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ONLINE SHOPPING

In addition to shopping website, online Business also provides the organization with a lot of advertising opportunities web-based; the strategy to develop the market through online channels has lead to interest, and the seller to apply this strategy to improve their products and services. The use of the innovation (ie PC, Web) in online shopping or marketing to improve marketing operations. The trend of online shopping is becoming faster and faster. Now, the public perception about e-commerce has been adapted and consumers taking risks. In this study, the ideas of different researchers put forward. Researching the trends and status of women in the field of electronic commerce. It is believed that women in this era do very difficult shopping. The risk or the main factor that women prevent their online shopping is a factor of "trust". They just like to shop when they hear positive words from their family or their friends.

Marketing audit: the essence and implementation mechanism

The aim of the article. Marketing has long ceased to be a stimulating sales force, becoming the flagship of the company's course to meet the needs of the target audience. Many companies are aware of the urgent need to periodically review the status of their marketing operations to ensure proper management and, as a result, to remain competitive and achieve their goals. Fewer companies approach the step of control in marketing, not paying the necessary attention and not realizing the complexity of the process, especially in times of economic and social crisis. Today, more and more companies are realizing the need not only for a crisis audit of marketing operations, but also for a marketing audit. The purpose of the research is to study in practice the marketing audit implementation specifics in conditions of anti - crisis enterprise management and the necessity to improve business efficiency. To achieve the stated purpose goal, it is required to solve a number of tasks, in particular: to investigate the existing methodological toolkit of enterprise’ marketing policy and strategy effectiveness assessment; analyze the disadvantages and advantages of existing toolkit; provide the suggestions regarding marketing audit conducting and application of its results in the conditions of the anti-crisis enterprise management concept implementing (on the example of Ukrainian enterprises and international groups of companies). The results of the analyses. The implementation of the tasks set before the study allowed to obtain the following results: the existing methodological tools are analysed and the possibilities of its application in the work of the auditor during the marketing audit are determined; it is proved that the efficiency of the enterprise is a complex task, which consists not only of analysing the reserves of profitability, but also of analysing the effectiveness of marketing strategy of the company, entering new products and new products. Current practice shows that the following mandatory elements must be observed: marketing audit should be comprehensive. The audit should cover all areas of marketing, not just those areas where the problem is already perceived, or those areas where the team knows that they are superior. A holistic audit is the best way to unlock opportunities and can identify previously unknown reserves for profitability growth; marketing audit should be systematic. Order and efficiency are key elements of a successful marketing audit. In order to prevent gaps, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each environment, principles, strategies and activities of each structural element of the organization to be audited; marketing audit should be regular and periodic. Conclusions and perspectives for further research. During the study, the goal was achieved and the mechanism of marketing audit at the enterprise was determined through the establishment of step-by-step instructions with examples (Ukrainian and international companies). The study allowed to identify and justify the feasibility of further research and research in such areas as the industry specifics of the application of marketing audit tools; expediency of development of methodical documents on carrying out marketing audit and features of the organization of marketing audit at the enterprise (development of internal organizational and administrative documents). Key words: marketing audit, efficiency of the enterprise, filter model, marketing organization, competitive environment