Standardization in Marketing and its role within International and Global Markets.
There is no doubt that the easiest way to recognize an innovation as useful or useless is to assess the return on its use. This approach is convenient if the idea is easy to monetize and prove that each invested thousand will bring or save ten thousand. In addition to it, one can say that with ISO standards, the situation is more complicated, because they do not bring profit in such an obvious way.
ISO standards are developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The main goal of its activity is to simplify the international exchange of goods or services and increase the efficiency of enterprises. Now there are about 23,000 international standards that regulate various aspects of doing business.
ISO standards are the most popular, but apart from them there are, for example, IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), CEN (European Committee for Standardization) or ILO (International Labor Organization).
In practice, the Russian Federation often uses national standards that are identical to international ones. You can name some of the most popular of them:
-GOST R ISO 50001-2012 contains requirements for energy management systems (identical to the international standard ISO 50001:2011);
-GOST R ISO 45001 - for occupational health and safety management systems (under development, identical to the international standard ISO 45001:2018);
-GOST R ISO 13485-2004 - to the quality management system in the manufacture of medical devices (identical to the international standard ISO 13485);
-GOST R ISO 14001-2016 - to environmental management systems (identical to the international standard ISO 14001:2015);
-GOST R ISO 22000-2019 - to food safety management systems (identical to the international standard ISO 22000:2018).
ISO standards were originally conceived as criteria by which the ability of enterprises to provide a stable output of products that meet consumer requirements can be assessed. We can name the main advantages that their implementation gives companies.
The quality of goods and services is improving. Standards make it possible to create such mechanisms for managing companies, in which employees themselves are interested in maintaining stable product quality or improving it.
The company's image is growing. Certification for compliance improves the reputation of enterprises in the eyes of consumers, forms an opinion about the high reliability and stability of such enterprises.
Efficiency of work of the companies increases due to the growth of labor productivity of the personnel, as well as more reasonable and economical use of resources.
Growing competitiveness. With ISO certification, it is easier to work in government-controlled industries, obtain permits or licenses.
The investment attractiveness of companies is increasing. With an ISO certificate, cooperation with them is considered less risky.
The number of customers or buyers is growing. It is easier for companies to understand consumer expectations because ISO standards are designed specifically for them.
One can notice increased understanding and involvement of staff in business processes. As a result, the productivity of employees and their interest in improving the efficiency of the company is growing.
The standards imply a process approach, when the activity of any enterprise is a series of interrelated processes. They can be grouped into four blocks.
1. Operational management. These include:
relationships with suppliers;
production of products or provision of services;
product delivery;
Management of risks.
2. Relationships with clients. Here are the following processes:
Attraction of new clients;
their preservation;
maintaining relationships with them.
3. Innovation. These include:
designing new products;
their promotion to the market.
4. Relationship with society. Here are the following processes:
employment;
personnel safety;
preservation of the environment.
These are the main processes, and each of them also includes sub-processes. For example, relationships with suppliers include their search, ordering raw materials or materials, receiving them, conducting incoming control, storing raw materials and materials, and paying for them.
By managing processes, you can improve the company's activities, find optimal solutions to save resources and reduce the number of errors.
ISO standards do have a practical effect, but then why don't all companies get it? There are two reasons.
Many enterprises approach the issue of implementing standards formally and pursue a single goal: to obtain a certificate to participate in tenders, receive government orders, or solve other targeted tasks. As a result, instead of process improvements, they receive only an increased paper and bureaucratic burden in the form of instructions, journals and regulations that are not used in practice.
ISO standards imply a process approach to the activities of the enterprise. This means that processes need to be identified and managed by them. And here difficulties begin, because the standards do not spell out the mechanism for such actions. As a result, the enterprise is limited to fulfilling the requirements of ISO only formally, and the entire implementation of the process approach ends with a description of the processes.
The effectiveness of the application of standards contributes to the overall increase in technological compatibility and competitiveness of business, and also allows you to comply with the processes developing in the world aimed at interaction, integration and strengthening of economic partnership. It is important to reach a common understanding that standards contribute to the introduction of innovations, the dissemination of new technologies, and the development of new import-substituting industries.
Thus, the main argument in favor of product standardization is economies of scale in production and components of the company's marketing activities. Mass production of a standard product allows the fullest use of economies of scale in production. Additional cost savings come from reduced storage costs and simplified distribution. Savings in R&D result, in part, from the fact that if a standard product is offered in all countries, there is no need for R&D to develop product variations. The homogeneity of the product also contributes to the development of a standard worldwide promotion policy, which again results in cost savings.
These savings, in turn, will allow the company to have a greater range in its pricing policy and, alternatively, offer consumers more attractive prices. In addition, a smaller number of product units allows for greater specialization and competence in narrow areas, creates advantages in organizing, planning and controlling international marketing activities.
The significance of the potential benefits of product standardization varies depending on specific product policies. Cost savings arguments are likely to be most significant in the context of the physical characteristics of the product, the packaging. Standard labeling and service policies lead to less significant cost savings, but will play an important role in promoting a unified product image in global markets. In many situations, it is either not easy or desirable to fully standardize the essential components of an international commodity program. More important will be standardization at the level of strategic components of the product.
There are the following approaches to the standardization of goods in international marketing:
— modular approach;
— strategy of a universal product;
– assembly production in the foreign market;
— standard international product line;
- Purchasing a product from external firms.
In conclusion it is necessary to state that in recent years, standardization has been increasingly recognized in the world as an integral part of the sustainable development of society. But above all, it is a comprehensive tool for implementing an effective industrial policy and strengthening the national quality infrastructure for further integration with regional and global markets, the use of which contributes to an increase in output and, as a result, an increase in gross domestic product.