The Evolution of Marketing and Society

 

Marketing has evolved historically through numerous stages. There are four distinct stages that occur during the development of an economy, beginning with the start of “exchange” between two parties. The four stages each have three specific areas: the level of industrialization; the values and attitudes of management towards marketing; and the degree of marketing knowledge.

Stage 1

In the preindustrial (tribal, herdsman, or agrarian) stage, few if any individuals had accumulated capital, and life was devoted to meeting the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. This stage, usually reached within the family or tribal unit, has little specialization of labour or resources. In the marketing area all emphasis is on the production of useful, basic items. Most products are custom-made, fashioned by hand, and little attention is paid to anything like a “marketing mix”. This is state of unconscious ignorance. People “do not know that they do not know” that there are actually marketing principles and techniques in operation. Even though these techniques, values, and attitudes actually exist, there is no awareness of this.

Stage 2

In the beginning of industrialization, specialization of labour has become so developed that assembly-line production is occurring for standardized products. This is selling concept stage, with production people feeling: “We make it. It’s the sales department’s job to sell it.” Little emphasis is given to determining whether the product being made is the best one to satisfy the customers’ needs. Emphasis is on selling the output of production. This stage is exemplified by Henry Ford’s comment about the Model T at the time assembly-line production was just beginning in the United States: “You can have any colour you want as long as it is black.” The marketing people during this stage are aware of the existence of underlying principles and concepts. While the existence of such principles is acknowledged, they are not yet defined or clearly understood.

Stage 3

In stage 3, the society has evolved to an industrial base with the following characteristics. First, specialization of labour has become fully developed. Second, capital has been accumulated to permit large production units. Third, there is a capacity to overproduce. Management, at this point, has adopted the marketing concept, with emphasis on the customer. Customers’ needs are researched, and methods of informing them about products satisfying these needs are becoming increasingly more elaborate. The products are also readily and conveniently available. There is greater emphasis on marketing principles with the companies carrying out these marketing principles having greater success.

At this point, marketing people have developed conscious knowledge. Marketing concepts have been analyzed and defined, stages of development recognized, and theory and practice refined. There is also a conscious effort to understand and apply this knowledge.

Stage 4

The last developmental stage is the post industrialization or visionary stage. Technology has solved most production inefficiencies, making the capacity to produce unlimited. Only shortages of raw materials and demand limit the actual production. Management has adopted more of a societal concept of marketing, with emphasis on the following: (1) how to dispose of the wastes from products without negatively affecting human health or lifestyles; (2) how to administer society to take into account nonprofit institutions that exist for the betterment of society. Acquisitions of products have diminished in importance compared to the freedom and time to develop a nice lifestyle. Quality of life is given more attention than quantity accumulated. Emphasis in marketing is on social needs rather than the need for more or better products. Marketing people have evolved to the point of unconscious application – subconsciously carrying out the proper principles without actually referring to them.

Two things are important in understanding this four–stage evolution concept. First, all societies do not move concurrently through these stages. Today there are tribes in Africa and in Brazil that are still in the preindustrial stages. A great part of the civilized world is in the industrialization stage, and the United States, Japan, and Germany are in the postindustrial stage.

Second, all enterprises within a particular country are not in the same stage at a given time. In the United States, there are corporations that are still in the product stage of marketing, while still others are in the consumer stage and selling concept stage. Some are in the societal stage.

 

Текст VI.

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Software Engineering

 

Computer software is a collection of programs that provide the instructions telling a computer what and how to do. Software comprises the entire set of programs, procedures, routines,and subroutines associated with the operation of a computer system. The term was coined to differentiate these instructions from hardware – i.e., the physical components of a computer system. A set of instructions that directs a computer’s hardware to perform a task is called a program, or software program.

The two main types of software are system software and application software. System software controls a computer’s internal functioning, chiefly through an operating system, and also controls peripherals and storage devices. Application software, by contrast, directs the computer to execute commands given by the user and may be said to include any program that processes data for a user. Application software thus includes word processors, spreadsheets, database management, inventory and payroll programs, and many other “applications”. Other software categories are (1) network software, that coordinates communication between the computers linked in a network; (2) middleware, that controls and coordinates distributed systems; (3) testware, that is software for testing hardware or a software package; (4) firmware, that is permanently stored in a computer’s memory, treated like hardware (so called “hard software”) and run by other software programs; (5) programming languages, that define the syntax and semantics of computer programs and (6) programming tools, that help conduct computing tasks (e. g. debugging) in any category listed above.

Perhaps the most important task for software engineering is to define and improve the process by which programs are developed. In general, the overall steps in developing a program can be represented through Waterfall, or Cascade model, which sees software development as a linear process going through the requirements,design, implementation,integration and testing, and maintenance phases. The results of each phase cascade down into the next:

Requirement phase deals with detailed specification of what the program will be required to do. This can include developing a prototype and getting user’s reaction to it. Software designimplies creation of suitable program architecture – algorithm(s) and data types, objects, or other structures needed to implement them. Implementation phase means coding – writing the program language statements that implement the structure. Verification and testing of the program using realistic data and field testing is the purpose of the integration and testing phase.

Software maintenance is the process of modifying a software system or component (that is correcting errors and adding requested minor features). There are three classes of software maintenance. Perfective maintenance incorporates changes demanded by the user; these may, for example, be due to changes in requirements or legislation, or be for embedded applications in response to changes in the surrounding system. Adaptive maintenance incorporates changes made necessary by modifications in the software or hardware (operational) environment of the program, including changes in the maintenance environment. Corrective maintenance is the successful repair of faults discovered in the software.

Maintenance for software always involves a change in the software. This may be effected at the coding level, or may require significant changes in design. Regression testing of the software follows maintenance as part of a reverification and revalidation activity. Software maintenance is a prodigious source of new software faults, so good quality control through software engineering is essential.