【正文】 developed from:1) Internal pany records.2) Marketing intelligence activities.3) Marketing research.I) The pany’s marketing information system should be a cross between what managers think they need, what managers really need, and what is economically feasible. Table displays some useful questions. Review Key Definition here: marketing information systemInternal Records and Marketing Intelligence Marketing mangers rely on internal reports on orders, prices, costs, inventory levels, receivables, payables, and so on. By analyzing this information, they can spot important opportunities and problems. OrdertoPayment Cycle The heart of the internal records systems is the ordertopayment cycle.A) Sales representatives, dealers, and customers send orders to the firm.B) The sales department prepares invoices and transmits copies to various departments.C) Shipped items are acpanied by shipping and billing documents that are sent to the various departments.D) Today panies need to perform these steps quickly and accurately.E) An increasing number of panies are using the Internet and extranets to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the ordertopayment cycle.Sales Information Systems D budgets, and the increased governmental regulation brought about by technological change. In the politicallegal environment, marketers must work within the many laws regulating business practices and with various specialinterest groups. OPENING THOUGHT Students new to the discipline of marketing will probably be surprised at the level of marketing information, intelligence, and arenas that marketing managers must operate within. The instructor is encouraged to stress that the marketing of products/services and the processes of making marketing decisions do not operate without careful consideration to the environments identified in this chapter. Today, marketers must be cognizant of “how” their product or service is perceived as much as “how” it functions. In many cases, the chief marketing executive of the firm can sometimes see himself/herself as a player in the game of chess. Each move must be carefully chosen for subsequent moves by petition and public scrutiny for acceptance or rejection. Products marketed must meet both the consumers’ needs as well as the publics’ acceptances of the product. The instructor’s challenge for this chapter is to municate to the students the plexity of and sometimes the conflicting forces impacting marketing managers in the 21st century. TEACHING STRATEGY AND CLASS ORGANIZATIONPROJECTS1. Semesterlong marketing plan: Competitive information and environmental scanning project(s) pleted and presented for instructor’s review 2. Commission a marketing research study on topic(s) of interest to the students at your institution. During the course of the semester (15–16 week), have the students develop the questionnaire, collection method, conduct the survey, and tabulate the results. The students can be divided into groups for this project. Suggested topics can include the school or university students’ opinions of campus issues such as the athletic program, sale of alcohol, use of and availability of technology, or students’ perceptions of their current education experiences. 3. Sonic PDA Marketing Plan Marketing information systems, marketing intelligence systems, and marketing research systems are used to gather and analyze data for various parts of the marketing plan. These systems help marketers examine changes and trends in markets, petition, customer needs, product usage, and distribution channels. Some changes and trends may turn up evidence of opportunities or threats.Sonic has developed information about the petition and petitive situation, but Jane Melody believes more information is needed in preparation for launching the first PDA. Based on the marketing plan contents discussed in Chapter 2, how can you use MIS and marketing research to support the marketing planning for the new PDA.Chapter 3: Gathering Information and Scanning the EnvironmentGATHERING INFORMATION AND SCANNING THE ENVIRONMENT3 C H A P T E R LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this chapter, students should:q Know what are the ponents of a modern marketing information systemq Know what are useful internal records q Know what is involved with a marketing intelligence systemq Know what are the key methods for tracking and identifying opportunities in the macroenvironmentq Know what are some important macroenvironment developments CHAPTER SUMMARY To carry out their analysis, planning, implementation, and control responsibilities, marketing managers need a marketing information system (MIS). The role of the MIS is to assess the manager’s information needs, develop the needed information, and distribute that information in a timely manner.An MIS has three ponents: (a) an internal records system that includes information on the ordertopayment cycle and sales reporting systems。 For which sections of the plan will you need secondary data? Primary data? Why do you need information for each section? Marketing managers need timely and accurate reports on current sales.A) Companies must carefully interpret the sales data so as not to get the wrong signals.B) Technological gadgets are revolutionizing sales information systems and allowing representatives to have uptothe second information.Databases, Data Warehouses, and DataMining Today panies organize information in databases—customer databases, product databases, salesperson databases—and then bine data from the different databases. A) Companies warehouse these data for easy accessibly to decision makers.B) By hiring analysts skilled in sophisticated statistical methods, panies can “mine” the data and garner fresh insights into:1) Neglected customer segments.2) Recent customer trends.3) Ot