The Hindu Business Line : `Marketing has shifted focus to business models'

Among the industries that are on the decline in the West include apparel manufacturing which is shrinking at 69 per cent, textiles mills and products (shrinking at 31 per cent), chemical manufacturing (17 per cent), oil and gas extraction (28 per cent) and steel manufacturing (20 per cent).

According to Mr S. Vijayakumar, Head-Practise Management, HCL BPO Technologies, Chennai, the fastest growing industries in the developed economies today are health services, employment services, computer system design and related services, management — scientific and technical, consulting services, child-care services, e-learning and construction.

Mr Vijayakumar was speaking to students of the Vael's Institute of Business Administration under the aegis of the BL Club.

Comparing the past situation with the current scenario in India, he said, "Thirty years back, if you wanted to book a scooter, you needed to pay Rs 1,000 and then had to wait for six years. Moreover, your choice of colour and fitting was rarely available on delivery." Whereas today, he said, there were a host of two-wheeler brands and customers could buy their choice of vehicle of-the-shelf.

Another aspect, which had seen a sea-change, was the profile of the woman who was now able to share the expenses of running a house.

Talking about the diminishing relevance of the 4Ps of marketing (price, place, positioning and product), Mr Vijayakumar said marketing had progressed beyond the Ps and one of the new points of interest was `resources'.

Companies with larger resources at their disposal were better equipped to take on the competition in the market. Secondly, the relationship between market participants was also important for success.

Offerings or the value proposition that the company offered to the customer or the concept of a product-versus-product was dying out in competitive marketing. Instead, the business model adopted by different companies was of significance.

He defined management as a blend of craft in the sense of experience gained and the application of knowledge, art or the insight developed on issues without which it would be difficult to take action and science or the power to analyse.

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