The Μarket

THE CIM MARKETING SUMMIT 2011 MARKS ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS

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The CIM organized its annual Symposium on Saturday April 9th, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel. The Symposium of the CIM has established itself as the leading academic event of the year in relation to the Ad-ministrative Sciences and more specifically the sciences of mar-keting and management. This year’s Symposium focused on the “New trends in Global Mar-keting and the challenges of the global financial crisis”.

It is noteworthy that ‘giants’ of the 21st century in the field of Marketing, attended the Sympo-sium, which is a great honour for Cyprus and the CIM. The main speakers were Prof. Malcolm McDonald of the University of Cranfield and Prof. Howard Gospel, of Oxford University. Professor McDonald presented the topic “10 Questions CEOs should be asking their Chief Marketing Officers and the an-swers they should be getting” and Prof. Gospel presented the topic ‘Corporate Governance and Marketing’. Both speakers are widely respected and very distinguished in their fields of expertise and have published a great deal of articles, journals and books.

Given its enormous importance, the symposium has been placed under the auspices of the Ex - Honorary Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Mr. Antonis Paschalidis. Mr. Paschalidis her-alded the beginning of the Sym-posium and during his speech referred to the challenges that the economy of Cyprus is faced with, and congratulated the CIM for this Symposium that has es-tablished itself as the leading event of the year in its field.

More than 170 special guests, managers, academics, entre-preneurs, alumni and members of the CIM from Cyprus as well as the Middle East and Europe attended the Symposium.

In addition to this, the following businessmen were proclaimed

as Honorary Fellows:

1. Antonis Karpasitis (General Manager) - Alico2. Alkis Hadjikyriacos (General Manager) - Frou

Frou3. Ioannis Telonis (Manager) - Hellenic Bank,

Russia

The Summit provided everyone with an excellent opportunity for information and briefing re-garding the new trends in mar-keting. With the organization of this Summit, CIM confirms once again its enormous con-tribution to the development of businesses in Cyprus and the study of the science of Market-ing and promises that 3e years is only the beginning.

this issueWorld class collaboration p.2Marketing 3.0 p.4Marketing in Economic Crisis p.5Roadmap to exit from Crisis p.6Industrial exhibition as effective marketinginstrument p.7Construction Business in Russia p.8 - 9Interview with successful alumni p.11 - 13News p.14 - 16

E D I T O R I A L

Developments at the CIM since the last edition of ‘The Market’ have been very significant. The CIM team in the past 6 months has consolidat-ed its place in business education by coming into Agreement with the Internationally Acclaimed, Uni-versity of West London, by which CIM students will have the op-portunity to acquire a British BA (Hons) Business Studies with Mar-keting or a BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance, in only 3 years at our campus in Nicosia and Limassol.

This is a great achievement for ev-eryone at CIM as it provides new opportunities to the Cypriot in-career professional who can now earn an internationally recognized qualification without disrupting his/her career and personal life.

Moreover in the past 6 months, CIM organized several execu-tive training programs and Open Lectures. Added to this CIM rep-resentatives have participated in international forums promoting CIM as a truly International Business School.

Finally and very importantly, the CIM Marketing Summit 2011 marked another great success in the history of CIM. Professors Malcolm McDon-ald and Howard Gospel enlightened the participants with the latest trends in marketing and management.

The CIM team is very vibrant and ambitious and already engaged in many different projects with the aim of maintaining the high aca-demic standards and improving the services offered e.g. new website, participation in E.U. projects and this Journal is also sound proof of aspi-ration for preserving our role as the Oldest Business School in Cyprus.

Yangos Hadjiyannis L.B (Nott), PGDMS, LL.M (Cantab)Head of Editorial

T h e J o u r n a l o f t h e C y p r u s I n s t i t u t e o f M a r k e t i n g

Yangos Hadjiyannis, Prof. Malcolm Mcdonald, Theo Hadjiyannis and Prof. Howard Gospel

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The MarketThis Journal is issued by The Cyprus Institute of Marketing bi-annual basis. The aim of this publication is to bring the alumni, members and friends of the Institute closer. Moreover our aim is to inform the Cyprus busi-nessworld of the latest develop-ments in the field of marketing. Editorial Board:Yangos HadjiyannisPetros AlexandrouAnna AntoniouLaraine Philiotis

Contact: P.O.Box 25288 Nicosia, 1308Tel. +22778475Fax. +22779331e-mail: info@cima.ac.cywww.cima.ac.cy The Cyprus Institute of Marketing is wholly owned by THECYPIOM LTD registered in Nicosia, Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute of Marketing is registered with the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.

ATTENTION

All information appearing in this newsletter is copyright material. No part can be repro-duced in any way without the prior approval in writing of the Institute.

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The Market

After a long period of thorough inspection that the CIM repeatedly went through by a group of British academics, the UNIVERSITY OF WEST LONDON (UK) (formerly Thames Valley University) decided to recognize the CIM as an Academic Partner thus offering a unique opportunity to the students of CIM students to acquire British degrees in Cyprus.

The first stage of the cooperation involves two aca-demic programs: the BA (Hons) in Business Stud-ies with Marketing (3 years) and the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance (3 years).In particular, as far as the BA (Hons) in Business Studies with Market-ing is concerned, the UWL has certified the first two parts of the BSc in Business Administration (Marketing Studies, 1 year Diploma and Interim Advanced Diploma in Business Administration) of-fered by the CIM for more than 33 years, and as result the CIM students who successfully complete the first two years of the program can be accept-ed in the final year of the BA (Hons) in Business Studies with Marketing (3 years) and acquire the British title in 3 years with worldwide recognition.

As far as the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance (3 years) is concerned, students who will complete the full three-year program will receive the maxi-mum number of exemptions from the ACCA (9 out of 14), thus offering Cypriots a unique opportunity for academic as well as professional recognition.The University of West London was founded as a college in 1860 and until May 1, 2011 was called the Thames Valley University. Given its rapid growth in West London, it has recently renamed to University of West London. With more than 25.000 students it can be classified as one of the most rapidly growing and dynamic universities in Britain.It is important to note that according to the Times Higher Education Magazine, the UWL has the highest rate of employment with regards to its graduates,since 95% of its graduates are em-ployed within 6 months of their graduation. Furthermore, according to the Guardian’s Uni-versity guide 2010, the UWL was the univer-sity with the greatestimprovement in London.

This assessment is a resounding proof of the great contribution of the CIM in the academic life of Cy-prus and the recognition it enjoys in the European scene. It is particularly important, since it once more projects Cyprus as an International Training Center. It’s clearly a great honor for the CIM and it con-stitutes it into a truly European Business School. Finally, this partnership strengthens the role of CIM as a pioneer in Lifelong Learning thus providing an opportunity topeople currently working to ac-quire world-class degrees through evening classes.

WORLD CLASS COLLABORATION

Between the CYPRUS INSTITUTE OF MARKETINGand the UNIVERSITY OF WEST LONDON (UK)

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The Market

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to be here today and ad-dress this year’s Management Summit of the Cyprus Institute of Marketing, one of the most qualified and professional Institutions of Higher Education in our country.

I would like, at this point, to express my warmest congratulations to the Cyprus Institute of Marketing for this initiative to bring together the academics and professionals in the fields of management and mar-keting. Such events provide a forum for exchanging ideas and sharing best practices and new devel-opments, as well as for entrepreneurial networking between managers and executives in these fields.

Today, the Cyprus Institute of Marketing offers quality education to individuals of the highest stan-dard and its prominence in the marketing and man-agement world for 31 years is a testament to the immense impact it has had on the development of business activity in Cyprus.

Policy makers and the players in the market Given the dynamics of today’s global markets, as well as the impact of the international financial cri-sis, the interaction between policy makers and all the players in the market has increasingly become a necessity with regards to the formulation of ef-fective marketing policies. The aim is to strengthen our collective ability to anticipate and respond ef-fectively to developments.

We need to explore growth strategies that expand our trade relationships across diverse markets, responding to new opportunities and new chal-lenges.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, realizing the importance of developing new products and services, has introduced various schemes for the technological upgrading of existing industrial plants and machinery, the promotion of e-commerce, the production of competitive goods, and the attrac-tion of foreign investments.

The objective of our Ministry in the area of mar-keting is to create awareness for our products and services by influencing the perception of business decision makers in selected overseas markets. Various steps are taken by the Ministry towards achieving this objective, such as launching pro-motional campaigns in carefully selected markets, especially within Europe, in an effort to disseminate the message among international investors and buyers of products and services.

Cyprus is a service based economy; its develop-ment is mainly attributed to the talent pool available and the high quality of professional services it of-fers. Our country is a unique supplier of these ser-vices and by capitalising on its geographical and other advantages, our island is an attractive invest-ment destination for tangible business growth.

Furthermore, for the past few years we have fo-cused on the promotion of new service sectors, such as higher education. There is great poten-tial to attract foreign students in tertiary education and we thus call upon the Cyprus Universities and Higher Education Institutions to be more proactive and take initiatives for attracting more students to Cyprus.

With these thoughts in mind, I would like to con-clude by expressing the certainty that today’s Sum-mit will provide the opportunity to managers and executives to network, encouraging those open discussions that will help us to gain new insights in managing the exciting and challenging times that lie ahead.

I thank you for your attention and wish you all every success in today’s deliberations.

• The address was read by Mrs Nelli Koulia, Trade and Industry Director.

Address by Ex - Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Mr. Antonis Paschalides at the 2011 CIM Marketing Summit

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The Market

Marketing 3.0 is a new theory which comes to undermine and challenge the traditional theories of Marketing. John Markoff, an New York Times journalist, coined the phrase “Web 3.0″ in 2006 to refer to“a supposed third generation of Internet-based services that collectively comprise what might be called ‘the intelligent Web’–such as those using the semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies–which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience.”

Now Marketing 3.0. Let’s translate these changes into marketing, especially retail marketing. Hayes and Malone, in Marketing in the World of the Web, speculate about what retail marketing means in a web 3.0 world. They call for different tools, concepts and practices. Here are their main points.

1. From Loyalty to Attention. Markers will focus on gaining and rewarding buyers for their attention, rather than their loyalty. Example: Virgin Mobile gives free air time to those who accept ads.

2. From Crowds to Clouds. The crowds in social networks will be turned into cloud-like, self-organizing “communities of interest.” Example: HP follows their brands on Twitter to find those communities. Then cultivate and reward malcon-tents?

3. From Places to Spaces. Consumersorganize themselves into mega-niches that brands will have to become a part of. This requires brands to do bottom-up “friending,” not mass advertising. Example: Gamefaq.com is a niche for gamers.

4. From Memes to bemes. Memes are ideas that pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. The authors coin the term business memes, or “bemes,” to mean messages sent by members of social communities to each other that contain rewards or special offers. Example: “The Subservient Chicken” from Burger King.

5. From Silos to Simultaneity. Offline and online retail will coexist and send customers to each other. Customers will often “experience” products in stores but buy from the web. And online commu-nities send customers to those stores. Example: Best Buy and Macy’s. (The afternoon I write this post I go to Orvis to try on a shirt that I then order in a different size, with additional items, online.)

Hayes and Malone conclude: “Marketing 3.0 is not only different from its predecessors, but actively undermines them. If your marketing program fails

to adapt to this new world, it won’t just become ir-relevant - it will actually work against you.”

On another perspective, leading companies now understand they must reach highly aware, tech-nology savvy customers. Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan say that the ‘old rules’ of product-based and consumer-based marketing will fail to do this. Companies need instead, to focus on creating products, services and entire corporate cultures, which are customer value driven at a more multi-dimensional, fundamental level.

To put the thesis of the book in context, the authors describe 3 ‘ages’ of marketing:Marketing 1.0 - product-centric, or the marketing

of the industrial age, when marketing was about selling factory outputs. Marketing was transaction orientated: how to make a sale.

Marketing 2.0 - consumer-based, where marketing is relationship orien-tated -how to keep customers coming back and buying more.

Marketing 3.0 - the linkage of three building blocks

Participation and collaborative marketing has been enabled by new wave technology, namely cheap computers and mobile phones, lower cost internet and open source, allowing individual self expres-sion and collaboration with others, facilitated by social media. Marketing has shifted to inviting consumers to participate in the company’s devel-opment of products and communications.Globalization paradox and cultural marketing. The authors argue that with globalization, comes a number of paradoxes: it liberates, but puts pressure on nations creating a level playing field for countries, but at the same time threatening them; it opens nations economically, but not politically. As a consequence, there is a need to put cultural issues at the heart of a company’s business model.The rise in the creative society shapes the search for experiences. Consumers are now not only looking for products and services that satisfy their needs, but also experiences and business models that touch their spiritual side.So marketing has evolved. The contention is that companies hoping to thrive in the 3.0 future cannot do so alone. In this interlinked economy, to thrive they must collaborate with one another, with their shareholders, channel partners, their employees and their consumers.

Market ing 3.0

Yangos HadjiyannisDeputy - DirectorLecturer in Marketing Management

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The Market

In a time of economic crisis, the negative results of sales are forcing business professionals to cut their costs to survive. The question is: should we from the funds of marketing? In a survey conducted in America, 100 senior company executives were asked whether the presence of marketing during a period of economic recession is necessary. 92% responded that marketing plays a key role in the survival and growth of their companies and that they will only make the necessary cuts.

Unfortunately in Cyprus this view does not prevail to such an extent. Cypriot businessmen cut marketing funds very easily, because it is the most direct and easiest way to reduce their expenses, ignoring though the consequences that their actions will bring.

My opinion is that you should not stop marketing, nor to keep the same marketing strategy that you had so far. Think of someone who is walking on the street. If you do not call their name will they turn to look at you? Definitely not. The same applies to the market. If you stop communicating your messages to your customers, the most likely outcome is that they will stop “visiting” you as well.

A marketing manager does not hold the magic wand in order to restore the good old company sales during a period of crisis. Nor will he apply secret techniques and sophisticated methods to develop the company again. His job is to put all the strengths of the company, the most important and immediate benefits you offer to your customers, the reasons that make you unique and special in the market, and then turn everything into a powerful marketing message that will vigorously promote

the sector of the market that you target, in the most economical way.

The cheapest price The view that the customer is no longer interested in any of this other that the cheapest price, is not true. Definitely the cheapest price is a major pur-chasing factor during this difficult economic crisis, but by it cannot by itself sustain or increase sales. On the contrary, turnover and company profits will decrease. Sooner or later the whole market will adjust to low prices, and then what will you do? Will you further reduce prices?But if you complete-ly stop your communication with the market, if you stop showing the benefits and advantages of your products, if you show inertia, then the chances are that when one of your customersis in need of your product, one of your competitors will first come to his mind, because he happened to see his advertisement somewhere. Do not forget that we are exposed to thousands of advertisements each day.

Marketing is the function of a business, the medium if you prefer, that attracts and ensures your customers. It’s really the food that keeps your company alive. We do not indiscriminately cut ev-erything. We do not completely stop advertising. We do not shut down the Marketing Department. We must learn to adapt to market developments, to new trends and to new consumer psychol-ogy.We need to watch more closely the way our customers and the whole of the market are buying. There is the need to re-evaluate the methods used so far to attract customers. There is the need to redesign marketing strategy in order to come out of this economic crisis not only as winners but also strong.

Andros ChristodoulouCIM Lecturer in Marketing Management (Limassol)

Marketing in Economic Crisis

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The Market

On April 9, 2011, the annual con-ference of the Cyprus Institute of Marketing was held in Cyprus, its main focus being on the creative management and marketing in times of serious economic crisis. In this important conference we had the opportunity to hear the lectures of distinguished pro-fessors from leading Business Schools in England: Professor Howard Gospel (Oxford Univer-sity and King’s College-Univer-sity of London) and Professor Malcolm McDonald (Cranfield University). Briefly we note the following:

Many companies face the Great Depression of 2008-2011 by making cuts that have seriously eroded their ability to satisfy their customers. These compa-nies should not worry about the vague possibility of a double dip recession. They must worry about the most likely case of a second recession that they will have caused themselves and will specifically concern their own company.

The roadmap to exit from the crisis passes through a set of mutually-reinforcing actions:

1. Electronic Governance. The support of public ad-ministration in innovation is essential for the healthy development of innovative activity in each country. It is important to record the actions and initiatives that must be taken by the public administration for the pen-etration of Information and Communication Technolo-gies in the public sector as

well as the support private innovative initiatives.The ac-tions of public administration to reinforce the penetration of new technologies in the operation of the public sec-tor is dictated by the need for constant improvement of services to citizens, en-hancement of transparency and easing the accessibility of businesses to innovation. The economic recovery will be digital.The state can offer incentives to the private sec-tor to utilize the tools of IT in order to reinforce competi-tiveness, cover new markets and business models, cre-ate new jobs and improve economic performance in all sectors.

2. Efficiency - Productivity.

3. Cost innovation in redesign-ing products and processes in order to reduce costs.

4. «Value–for–money».

5. Innovative products and services.

6. Differentiation - sustainable competitive advantage.

7. Internal and external brand-ing. Dominant feature for the success of a product is the reputation of the brand. The reputation of the brand has a significant impact on sales and market share, but also the culture of the organization.

8. Creative marketing.

9. Amid crisis we do not re-duce advertising funds but we invest them more wisely.

The aim should be to adopt ways of projection that rep-resent a high proportion of impact-costs.

10. Marketing accountability.

11. Cypriot companies must not only be better than their competitors, but should at the same time differentiate from them. Small Cypriot businesses will either have to find a small place where they can be small, but prof-itable, or, if they plan to go against bigger competitors, they will have to ensure that they will not collide head on with them.

12. Competitiveness. The “trian-gle of knowledge” expresses the close relationship between the three basic elements of development strategy in the modern era, namely research, education and innovation.Research produces new knowl-edge, which is transmitted through education and, afterwards, well trained workforce is able to imple-ment new technological and organizational methods and processes that increase productivity and improve the quality of producing products and services. The increase of productiv-ity and the improvement of quality increasethe quantity and value of output without increasing inputs, thus lowering production costs and improves the interna-tional competitiveness of an economy, while it can simul-taneously also increase the salaries of workers.

Nicos G. SykasStrategy & Communication Specialist

Roadmap to exi t f rom the cr is is

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The Market

Today B2B market is character-ized by fierce competition and numerous diverse goods, so the most effective way of getting competitive advantages is inno-vations, especially innovations in communication. One of the most important instruments of innovative communication policy is industrial exhibitions [1]. It’s a high- capacity and rather com-fortable communication channel for industrial articles distribution. It has many advantages - suppli-ers, manufacturers, intermediate sellers and consumers can moni-tor market very fast, exchange information, visiting numerous exhibition stands of various com-panies including rival ones.

Nowadays there are more than 1000 diverse industrial exhibi-tions in Russian Federation according to Russian Union of Fairs and Exhibitions. To choose an exhibition with an optimal budget industrial enterprises use a ranking score based on an expert poll. The next step is preparation of costs calcula-tion and exhibition stands. The stands inform visitors about competitive advantages of in-dustrial articles and of an en-terprise as a whole. The final phase is making - up, that in-cludes costs and contract prices comparison, visitors’ opinions analysis and singed agreement assessment.

According to some research, an industrial exhibition is an effec-tive way of an enterprise market promotion [1,2,3]. It’s connected with the main marketing activity and is required for a good im-age and a stable position on the market. A positive result of

an exhibition activity depends on many external and internal factors, its effectiveness stands on a quality of planning and a structure of goals. The main marketing goals of an industrial enterprise, participating in the exhibition, are the following:• its goods presentation;• marketing research of a branch

market and competitive envi-ronment;

• strengthening of relations with present and potential customers;

• search for companies - part-ners: suppliers and interme-diate sellers;

• solving complex marketing problems.

Participation in the exhibition is rather costly, the expenses fall into marketing expenditure budget, decisions about partici-pation in exhibitions are usually taken through various alterna-tives analysis.

B2B market is rather specific, it differs from the consumer mar-ket, so sometimes methods of consumer trade marks’ promo-tion are not very effective for industrial articles. Industrial exhibitions have a number of obvious advantages for enter-prises, they are the following:• contacts with potential clients;• direct familiarization with an

industrial article (for example, people taking decisions about purchase of equipment (PTD) can see how various devices work or even try out them some days before the begin-ning of the exhibition);

• unique opportunities for mar-keting research, since indus-trial branch exhibitions present

a snapshot of their market, they are a very good field for competitive environment and consumer preferences analy-sis. It’s possible to analyze an attitude of consumers, busi-ness - partners and specialists to exhibited articles without additional expenses.

• additional resources for indus-trial articles promotion, such as various awards - a permanent attribute of almost all Russian exhibitions, playing a role of quality guaranty.

Industrial exhibitions are classi-fied into specialized, highly spe-cialized, regional and internation-al. The advantages of specialized exhibitions are the following - par-ticipants can meet their potential clients to diversify the activity, such exhibitions are accessible for a large number of companies. Highly specialized exhibitions are hold mainly for small and medium businesses. The ways of participation are various, they depend on an enterprise’s finan-cial position. The participation is classified into the following types: an exhibition stand, a col-lective exposition with presenta-tions, round - table discussions, seminars, conferences etc.

The main aim of a participant is to find new clients and business - partners, usually they respond in 3 - 12 months after the exhibi-tion. It’s very important to react to their respond very fast. A per-son responsible for participation should write a detailed report about sales growth, cost/result ratio, market share and make a conclusion about effectiveness of an exhibition.

Industr ial exhibi t ions as effect ive market ing instrument of communication on B2B market

Sopilko N.U., Zhuravleva E.A.Peoples’ Friendship University of RussiaEngineering Business and Enterprise Management Department

Sopilko Nataliya, PhD, associate professor, Engineering Business and Enterprise Management Department, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia

Zhuravleva Ekaterina, PhD, senior teacher, Engineering Business and Enterprise Management Department, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia

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The Market

Before we start the analysis let us explain why we have chosen the housing construction segment as the object of our research:

• The housing construction segment is supposed to satisfy one of the basic needs of a human being - to have a shelter, a roof above his head which would protect him from all the disasters and calamities;

• Russian people having lost 2/3 of the housing capacity in the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) are still in need of modern and comfortable houses which would correspond to their requirements;

• Housing construction and housing purchasing in Russia in the 3d millennium until now has been considered to be the best form of money savings and money investment;

• Urban and rural housing construction differenti-ates due to financial capacities of different social layers;

• Housing construction market varies from gigantic enterprises composed by construction teams, pro-duction of tools, machinery, equipment and building material branches, technology development firms, service groups, and banks and small and medium size companies that specialize in only one or two spheres of activity.

Any person who is smart and full of desire to reach success at every stage of his life streams to learn. His learning is not only based and concentrated

on scientific books and theoretical ideas though they are extremely important but on observing his own and others’ experience. It is considered today to be one of the most effective ways towards perfection in any sphere, including economics and manage-ment. The proper life offers us brilliant examples of the most famous and world-known researchers who were great observers, passionately gather-ing pieces of experience to analyze and to make breakthrough conclusions.

Analysis of the experience no matter if it was suc-cessful or not, is especially required nowadays as the situation in the business world is becom-ing more and more unpredictable, particularly in housing construction.

The Russian housing construction market What are the factors which cause the unpredict-ability in the Russian housing construction mar-ket? The analysis of these factors may advise us which business size and why is more economically viable in the Russian business frameworks.

First is globalization. Generally globalization is known to makes concurrent struggle very sharp and tough. But the concept of globalization is much wider as it embraces and affects all the spheres of human life. Last events in Japan changed much the peoples’ mentality towards the usage of atomic energy and construction of atomic power stations.

How can housing construction Business in Russia survive?

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The Market

Tatiana Ivanova, PhDPeoples’ Friendship University of RussiaRussia, Moscow, 2011

Another question which is put after the Japanese tragedy is where is it safe to live – in the rural area or in big town? It is known that most houses dam-aged by tsunami and earthquakes belong to the rural area. Lessons drawn from housing destruc-tion forces Russian civil engineers and architects in particular in Moscow as the city is apt to pos-sible and sudden earthquakes to be more attentive to design of houses with due consideration to the ground investigation and construction technolo-gies and materials. Small and even medium size building companies cannot afford such research and will be pushed out off cities to the rural area construction sites though they may fail to find cus-tomers with proper income there to satisfy their needs.

Second is market domination which turns the planning system into nothing. It requires extreme business mobility and chooses the customer to be the main element in business activity. At the same time market development offers a customer wide span of companies to be chosen. The construction companies are to create new forms of selling them-selves in the market of construction services seg-ment which requires certain financial investments.

For all the housing construction companies the main point is the correspondence between decent quality and reasonable prices. A small firm as a rule hires the working power in the regions with high level of unemployment. This labor power may not be expensive as the difference in wages in Moscow and region is great and it differs in 2 or more times. The regional labor power brought to Moscow and Moscow region is not qualified. The maximum background level of the workers is a technical college. Most of the builders are selfmade who got their practical experience in construction helping their villagers or joining small autonomous project groups. So the prestige of small firms and companies mostly depends on the level of compe-tencies which a manager may have, and his ability to know the mentality of the social layer to which his workers belong as well as his capacity to have good contacts with raw materials’ suppliers.

The market domination today even causes changes in the nature of management. Vertically structured companies are not living for long as the strict and tough hierarchy kills any entrepreneurship capacity.

Third is Internet that is called by some researchers as a “destructive technology” because it destroys the familiar relations between all the agents of the business process. The customer or consumer is much smarter today thanks to world net. Inter-net enables the customer to compare the prices on services, material, labor power and make his own conclusion. A customer may even be more advanced to suggest the newest materials or tech-nologies to be used which makes the company be mobile and up-to-date.Internet shows that a cus-tomer must insist on legal forms of relations with a construction company, avoiding cash payments and verbal promises. Which companies survive in this situation? Those which are strict in their honest policy, which can afford hiring an attorney, which have an accountant and ready to pay taxes.

Fourth - destruction of former social links based on traditional values and creation of very mobile, flexible and independent on existing conservative rules and ideas forms of social links and commu-nication.All the housing construction in the rural area until 90th of the previous century has been mostly per-formed on social bases. It meant the following: to-day I help my neighbor and tomorrow he helps me. It was a kind of services and goods exchange that helped population to survive in hard times. In mar-ket economy nobody would help you if he is not paid for his work. It opens a great window of op-portunity for small and medium companies in the market of housing construction services. Another factor of the Russian social and demographic re-ality is a turn from a multinuclear family that was composed of representatives of different genera-tions such as grandparents, parents and children to a mononuclear family, formed around a couple with children or without then. This change in social family structure leads to extension of the housing construction companies of different size as more customers appear.

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The Market

What’s one of the best ways to gain market share, defy the vagaries of the economy, and adapt to rapidly advancing technology?

Develop a capabilities driven strategy focusing on what you do, not what you make or sell. That’s ac-cording to Paul Leinwand, co-author of a recently published book The Essential Advantage: How to Win With a Capabilities-Driven Strategy.

“Good strategy, good value creation, is based on what you do really well and then matching that up with a very good market-backed view of where those capabilities are going to create value,” ex-plains Leinwand, a partner at Booz & Company in Chicago.

Too often companies define themselves by what they make and not by what they do. In a volatile or shifting market, that can be disastrous, says Lein-wand. Take the case of Polaroid. “The company made the mistake of defining themselves in instant film,” says Leinwand. “And as the instant film mar-ket went away,” he says, “so did Polaroid.”

Plotting your capabilities-driven strategy

Instead, in order to ensure long-term success, companies should decide what exactly it is that they do best. These capabilities should either set them apart from competitors, or be superior to those of their main rivals.

It’s not about quantity, but quality, stresses Lein-wand, adding that the ideal number is three to six capabilities, tops. Those capabilities can range from procurement, to specialised production or a particular know-how in a given sector, such as rapid-flavour innovation in the food and flavours industry.

Once capabilities are determined, the next step is aligning the right capabilities with the right market. That’s what Leinwand calls the “right to play.” In other words, a company is prepared to participate, or play, in a market. It’s like having the right rules

for the right game. “You could be great at capabili-ties in a market that doesn’t value those capabili-ties. That will certainly be a recipe for failure,” af-firms Leinwand.

In addition to the “right to play,” there is another el-ement crucial to achieving success. It’s called the “right to win.” According to Leinwand, that’s “the ability to know that you have what it takes to re-ally satisfy the customers in that market and beat the competitors that are facing you.” That means that your capabilities have to be stronger than your competitors’ and based on the long, not short, term. Just because a golden opportunity exists, there is no guarantee everyone is going to benefit from it.

This “right to win” works by prioritising what you do well and is the basis of most corporate strate-gies. In tandem with the “right to play,” it creates a strong model for success. Basically, it means defining what you do well and putting it into prac-tice in the appropriate market for those particular talents. It sounds simple - and it is, or could be, but companies are all too often their own worst enemies. “The first road block that we often see is the company’s portfolio. If you’re in many dif-ferent businesses that require different capabilities to win, already it’s going to be a challenge picking the three to six that are going to matter,” explains Leinwand.

Reprinted INSEAD Knowledge

Wi l l your strategy succeed?

Paul Leinwand

11

The Market

Giorgos Georgiou, Chistodoulides Bros, Sales and Marketing Manager

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?Having missed out on the chance of going to col-lege after graduating from school, I began working as a salesperson at Christodoulides Bros. I soon realised that working in the Sales department was something I thoroughly enjoyed and felt the need to broaden my skills and enhance my career by gaining a formal edu-cation qualification. I asked around and everyone recommended study-ing at the CIM - and I soon came to see why!

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?I could not have gained a promotion without my degree from the CIM. Precisely because the CIM has such a good name in the market, Christodoulides Bros offered me a promotion immediately after my graduation. My studies at the CIM and my hard work have now paid off as I am presently the Sales and Marketing Manager of the company.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you benefited from their expertise?All the more! The CIM lecturers are all familiar with the subject that they teach and it was greatly help-ful for me as a student that they combined excellent knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the subject with solid, practical knowledge of the market. This is what separates the CIM from other tertiary insti-tutions on the island and what makes it so distinctly

competitive.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if anything, do you remem-ber most strikingly?What I remember strikingly from my time at CIM is how demanding the course was, yet also how rewarding the whole experience was. For me,

I’d urge anyone to study at the CIM because it of-fers the chance for high-quality education, with a combined emphasis on theory and practice, and because the course is designed in such a way as to facilitate in-career individuals.

CIM - The Business School with the leading Graduates

It was the first institution in Cyprus to offer Market-ing degrees - 33 years ago. Gradually, it began of-fering degrees in other related areas of Business. Widely considered as one of the top institutions in Cyprus, the Cyprus Institute of Marking is the sole Tuition Centre of Chartered Institute of Marketing UK on the island, offering its students the unique chance of earning degrees of international stature.

The Institute has been operating in Nicosia, Cy-prus, since September 1978, with the Limassol branch opening in 1984. Offering evening-only classes for in-career individuals at a time when

“life-long learning” was far from the norm, CIM is now firmly established as one of the top institutions in Cyprus. While offering high-quality degrees in Banking, Insurance, Tourism, Finance and Com-puter Studies and earning global recognition for its innovative methods of teaching, CIM insists on keeping its fees at a low, affordable rate, a distinct advantage that makes it all the more appealing to in-career individuals. To find out more about what it means to be studying at the CIM and to gain an insight into life-long learning, we interviewed five CIM graduates who are now leading figures in the Cyprus Business sector.

Theoretical aspects - practical knowledge

All the more! The CIM lecturers are all familiar

with the subject that they teach

12

The Market

Giorgos Theodorou, Eidikes Ekdoseis, Advertis-ing Manager

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?I chose CIM for a number of reasons. Perhaps most important of all was that I correctly judged that the CIM would be best fitted to accommodate my educational needs as an in-career student; that lectures were held in the evening meant that I could attend with-out having to take leave off work. At the same time, the fact that all lecturers were professionals with a lot of expertise and experience of the Cypriot market held a special appeal for me. I was able to learn a lot from their insight stories and their words of wisdom as to how things work in the local market.

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?CIM was instrumental to the furthering of my ca-reer. Besides the necessary professional quali-

fications needed for promotions, I gained a lot from networking, as all students and lecturers at the CIM are professionals working across a wide spectrum of the market.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you

benefited from their expertise?At CIM you are taught the theory by people who apply this theory every day in their working lives. By giving us case studies of real situations, and inviting us to contribute our own experiences, we were able to gain a broader, in-depth and most important very useful knowledge of how things work in the real market.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if anything, do you remember most strikingly?I recall vividly the classroom discussions that were very intriguing, sometimes even heated, and ulti-mately extremely useful and eye-opening. This type of knowledge as well as the method of teaching has stayed with me ever since.

Anna Antoniou, MADTV, Head of Client Service

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?After graduating with a degree in Public Relations and Media, I became interested in furthering my education. I decided to study for a Bachelor degree in Business so as to ultimately become a Char-tered Marketer, something that has always been a dream of mine. Having researched into the various educational bodies in Cyprus and enquired about ways of becoming a Chartered Marketer, I soon found out that CIM is the only college in Cyprus that offers the diploma of the UK Chartered Insti-tute of Marketing in Cyprus. It became immediately clear where I should pursue my studies!

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?Yes - to a great extent. At CIM one is given the chance to gain the expertise on which to build a very successful career.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you benefited from their expertise?Certainly. Not only are lecturers professionals with vast experience of the local market, but they happen to be very successful at what they do. Their experi-ences and their willingness to share these with the students were extremely beneficial to us as students. When I later became a lecturer for the college, I did my best to impart my experiences on my students.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if any-thing, do you remember most strikingly?What I remember most vividly is the founder of CIM, Theo Hadjiyannis, reiterating to us on many occa-sions that if we work hard, and are willing to take cal-culated risks, then there’s nothing stopping us from materialising our dreams! Theo Hadjiyannis himself had a secure position at the Central Bank before deciding to quit in order to start CIM. Beginning with one student in a tiny flat, we are all very proud now that CIM has international presence and stature. I recommend studying at CIM unreservedly.

Build a very successful career

How things work in the real market

At CIM you are taught the theory by people who apply this theory

every day in their working lives.

13

The Market

Stelios Athanasiou, Scandia, Manager

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?I decided to attend the CIM for two reasons. First, as a full-time working individual, I found the way the classes were structured, being taught in the evenings, very appealing. Secondly, I was really at-tracted to the fact that the teaching consisted of lec-turers-professionals who put a lot of emphasis on the practice of Business, as opposed to the theory.

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?The professional qualifications I gained from CIM helped me get promoted at Scandia, finally be-coming a Manager.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you benefited from their expertise?The fact that the lecturers at CIM are themselves professionals with an in-depth knowledge of the market means that they are more suited to com-municate ideas to the students. The fact that they are extremely successful at what they do means also that they may also act as an inspiration for the students.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if any-thing, do you remember most strikingly?I could never forget the passion and dedication of Theo Hadjiyannis for knowledge that certainly rubs off on the students!

Passion and dedication for knowledge

Aristos Anastasiou, Phil. Andreou, Group Com-mercial Manager

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?I was really interested in the way CIM combines theory and practice. It was recommended to me by friends and the decision to study at CIM now ranks amongst the best decisions I made in my life.

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?The expertise I gained at CIM, specifically the in-sightful knowledge of how things work in the Cy-priot market has greatly helped my career. Learn-ing, for instance, through the study of case studies from the local market, how wise it is to focus on the human factor in business, making sure employees

and clients are always kept motivated and content, proved an invaluable asset.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you benefited from their expertise?Certainly. The lecturers always made sure they substantiate theory with practical examples.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if any-thing, do you remember most strikingly?I remember the ethos of CIM, the noble belief that people always deserve a second-chance in life when it comes to their education. I am proud to have played my part in developing the ethos of the college and I am extremely delighted to see that the CIM is growing bigger and stronger!

People deserve a second-chance

Evros Papadopoulos, Cosmos Trading, Senior Brand Manager - Spirits

Why did you choose to enrol on the CIM pro-gramme?I chose CIM because the programme description appeared to satisfy my needs. I was also attracted to the fact that classes were held in the evenings because as a working individual this would make my life a lot easier, as well as the low fees.

How, if at all, did your studies help in furthering your career?I could not have progressed in my career without my tenure at CIM. The expertise I gained through at-tending classes, working on assignment and study-ing for exams made me a more confident individual

and a more competitive candidate for promotion.

At CIM you had the chance to be taught by in-career professionals. Did you find that you benefited from their expertise?Most certainly. In fact, it is this very fact, that the lecturers at CIM are professionals who teach in the evening what they learn from first-hand experience during the day, that makes the CIM different from all other educational institutions in Cyprus.

Looking back at your time at CIM, what, if any-thing, do you remember most strikingly?What I remember most strikingly is the excellent rapport between lecturers, administrative staff and students, relationships that remain to this day as strong as ever.

Competitive candidate for promotion

14

The Market

News

Yangos Hagjiyannis, Andreas Papoulas, Nicos Sykas and Marios Charalambides

Prof. Howard Gospel Karerina Kyprianou, Maria Matsentidou and Yangos Hagjiyannis

Prof. Malcolm Mcdonald

15

The Market

News

The Summit panel Mr. Alkis Hadjikyriakos being proclaimed to an Honorary Fellow of the Institute by George Liveras

Mr. Antonis Karpasitis being proclaimed to an Honorary Fel-low of the Institute by George Liveras Antonis Karpasitis and Prof. Howard Gospel

Participants Dr Marios Clerides Director of Strategy, Hellenic Bank

16

The Market

UPCOMING EVENTS 1. 21st September 2011 Graduation Ceremony 2011, Hilton Park Nicosia

Start of training course for Scandia on ‘Customer Service’

2. 23rd September 2011 Press Conference, CIM - University of West London

3. 3rd October 2011 Beginning of new academic year

Start of training course for Hermes Airports on ‘Modern Greek for Foreigners’

4. 9th and 16th November Open Lectures organised by CIM

5. 31st March 2012 CIM Marketing Summit 2012

6. 15th May 2012 CIM-IMH organising of Prof. Philip Kotler's visit to Cyprus.

The CIM and FrouFrou Group of Companies decided to further strengthen their cooperation for 2010 and 2011. Specifically, the CIM has already undertaken the training and development of members of the Department of Marketing of FROU FROU in matters relating to Marketing and Sales.

The ‘Basic Principles and Practical Application of Marketing in Cyprus’ program, that had a duration of 20 hours and which was subsidised by the Human Resources Development Authority, gave the opportunity to the executives of the FROU FROU Group to brief themselves about the latest trends in Marketing and

discuss ways of solving problems.This training program is part of the mission of CIM, an institution that for more than 33 years has contributed greatly to the upgrading of Cypriot companies by offering specialized programs to the needs of working students.

COOPERATION BETWEEN THE CIM AND FROU FROU PUBLIC COMPANY

News