BOOK ON MARKET ORIENTATION LAUNCHED (PAGE 11, FEB 1, 2010)

A MANAGEMENT book that compares international best practices in business and marketing to what pertains in emerging economies, was launched in Accra at the weekend.
The book, "Market Orientation and Competitive Performance,” is written by a management consultant and Professor of Strategy and Marketing at the Regent University, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu.
The book seeks to contribute to management practices of firms in the country.
Prof. Appiah-Adu, said the book further seeks to explain business concepts in different environments to provide useful conclusions on the efficacy of marketing principles and business practices.
He said the book its underlying framework, the performance paradigm of marketing strategy theory and practice, which involves a topical study of marketing practices and their application in the environment.
The author said in order to determine the significance of marketing principles, the effects of various aspects of marketing such as marketing culture, marketing effectiveness and market orientation on customer based and financial performances needed to be researched.
That, he added, contributed to knowledge on the systematic application of marketing businesses and determined whether firms that engaged in sound marketing practices were characterised by higher performance levels irrespective of the environments.
Launching the book, the Board Chairman of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Emmanuel Baba Mahama, said the book was essential for institutional development.
He said lecturers, students, researchers, business executives and policy makers would acquire a wealth of information and knowledge from the book and advised the author to make it widely available to all.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smartline Limited, Mr Elliot Agyare, said the storage, development and distribution of knowledge products had been a matter of great significance to societies.
The 108-page book is about marketing practices in industrialised and emerging economies, and provides the strategies for marketing excellence through the application of techniques.
The book has the endorsement of Mr Kwame Pianim, the Occupant of the Unilever Ishmeal Yamson Chair, at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Dr Paul A. Acquah, former Governor of the Bank of Ghana and other high ranking members of academia.