Explaining the commercial performance of manufacturing companies in Gilan province with an emphasis on marketing strategies in the form of a causal model

Academic Thesis for Master Degree (M.A)

Field: Business Management, Marketing Orientation

Abstract

In today's competitive world, there are successful companies that can create more values ??for customers and according to Sergio Ziman[1] provide more reasons to customers to encourage them to buy and create a long-term relationship with the company. Creating superior value for customers in the shadow of various components is the basis of improving the business performance of companies. provides This is while the experts know the potential of the companies present in the Iranian capital market in terms of better performance, more than this. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the factors that are effective on the business performance of companies. Different studies show that four categories of competitive advantage variables, marketing strategies, company resources and capabilities can affect the business performance of companies, which are considered as independent variables in this study. In terms of innovation, the present research wants to examine, for the first time in Gilan province, the advantages of resources and capabilities to explain the commercial performance of companies along with marketing strategies in the form of a causal model. This research tries to explain the determinants of business performance of companies through a causal model. Competitive advantage includes structures for improving the quality of products and services and the rate of entering profitable markets. Also, marketing strategies also affect the business performance of companies, which has structures for product and service development, cost and price reduction, and advertising transparency. The resources of the company in this research include: physical resources that have technological structures, equipment and service capacity. Financial resources include liquidity structures and the ability to obtain financial resources, and empirical resources include knowledge structures, expertise, and past performance measurement. And finally, the last variable influencing the business performance of companies is the company's capabilities and it consists of: a shared vision with infrastructures of common opinion and the development of the company's capabilities. The communication structure includes the substructures of close relationships with suppliers, understanding the needs of customers and stakeholders, and understanding/responding to technology, which includes the substructures of learning technological advances and quick response to technological changes. The general purpose of this research is to design and test a causal model to explain the business performance of manufacturing companies in Gilan province. The statistical population in this research is manufacturing companies in Gilan province. In the current research, each of the variables was described using descriptive statistics indicators and then tested using a causal model. The results of the analyzes showed that in general there is a relationship between companies' resources and marketing strategies and companies' capabilities and marketing strategies. Also, there is a positive relationship between marketing strategies and competitive advantage. On the other hand, competitive advantage is related to market performance and financial performance. And finally, there is a positive and direct relationship between market performance and financial performance.

Key words: market performance, financial performance, competitive advantage, marketing strategies, company resources, company capabilities

[1]. Sergio Zyman

Introduction

It seems that the success of today's companies and institutions depends on knowing as much as possible about customers, competitors and other factors affecting the market. The needs and demands of customers are always changing and the company can succeed only if these changes are recognized. On the other hand, the competitors are also looking to attract more customers for themselves and in this way they will not give up any efforts. Recognizing and anticipating these factors and providing appropriate solutions to deal with them will play a key role in the company's success in the target market. Therefore, orientation to the market and customer needs is the first feature of new marketing, and in this situation, successful managers are those who synchronize their organization with the current conditions, and this is possible when the employees and managers of the company accept the orientation to market performance as a culture and insight. (Nurinia, 2016, p. 32) A company or organization with market-oriented thinking continuously monitors the demands of customers and tries to improve its marketing performance by responding.Competitive advantage is a situation that enables a company to supply higher quality products with higher efficiency and use superior methods and provide more profit for the company in the competition. An economic unit has a competitive advantage when it can continuously supply its products at a lower cost and higher quality than its competitors due to specific reasons caused by the characteristics of that unit (such as location, technology, personnel, etc.).               (Yilmaz, P108, 2008) Today, customers are the main focus of companies' attention and their satisfaction is the factor of gaining a competitive advantage for organizations. It is necessary to satisfy the customer, fully meet their needs and accurately identify their desires, expectations, desires, abilities and limitations in purchasing products. By obtaining such information, it is possible to identify the factors influencing the behavior of consumers and use them in adopting the marketing strategies of companies (product, price, distribution, advertising). Therefore, companies' products must be in accordance with the benefits expected by customers, so that ultimately the business performance of companies will improve. Resources are the production factors by which a company produces valuable goods and services for its customers. To achieve this goal, they use resources and as long as these resources are superior to competitors, these companies will be more successful. (Pour Jahani, 2018, p. 2) and company capabilities are a combination of skills, knowledge and behaviors that exist throughout the company or organization and are reflected in people, systems, processes and structures. In another definition, the skills that the company uses to convert data into data in order to use the combination of tangible and intangible resources in the form of organizational processes to achieve desired goals such as customer service, superior product development capabilities, innovativeness of goods and services. The importance of identifying resources and capabilities becomes more evident. (Pourjahani, 2018, p. 3)

1-2) Statement of the problem

In today's complex[1] and dynamic[2] changing environment, companies need to design and adopt strategies that can help them improve their performance. Because in such a competitive environment, only companies can survive and continue their existence that are not left behind by competitors and keep themselves in sync with the competitive market conditions. In other words, company managers will see the results of their decisions in the form of strategy selection in the mirror of performance criteria. Analyzing the comparison of observed performance with the past trend, with competitors or industry average[3], provides appropriate feedback for making decisions and carrying out future activities. For this reason, one of the goals of all companies over time is continuous improvement[4] of performance. Of course, it should be noted that performance means both behaviors and results. Because behaviors come from people and performers and transform performance from an abstract concept into action. (p1130, 1988, Brumback)

Commercial performance [5] is one of the most important variables discussed in management research, and it is undoubtedly the most important measure of success in commercial companies, and it refers to the evaluation and measurement of the actual goals achieved by an organization, based on the projected plans. (Chirani et al., 2013, p. 4) Company performance is the degree of success of a company in creating value[6] for different parts of the market. Finally, the performance of the company is determined based on the achievement of business goals through different units of the company. Companies with optimal performance create value over time. This does not happen in companies with unfavorable performance. Different parts of the market are looking for different values. Therefore, this creation of value and performance of the company can only be evaluated from different parts of the market.