Academic Council

Dr. Braverman gave a lecture to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

On Friday, at a meeting of the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, First Deputy Minister of Property Relations Alexander Braverman, in order to improve the cultural level of entrepreneurs, gave them a lecture that convincingly proved that the presence of a marketing strategy increases the company's capitalization. For the sake of meeting with the oligarchs, Mr. Braverman even took a day off from his main job and acted exclusively as a Doctor of Economics. Marketing, he says, is a huge underutilized reserve that does not require large-scale investments. Mr. Braverman's calculations show that a marketing strategy as an asset can increase a company's capitalization from 11% in mechanical engineering to 22% in trade. The problem, according to Mr. Braverman, is that some of our entrepreneurs are afflicted with “market blindness.” According to his data, no more than a third of Russian companies are engaged in marketing strategy. He spoke about a marketing audit conducted a month ago of one of “the most famous Russian oil companies.” An analysis of just three gas stations showed that due to non-use of additional opportunities (including opening a cafe on the territory of the gas station), the company loses 7.2-10.7% of profits. However, on the Russian market there is someone to follow in this regard. According to Mr. Braverman, the strategy of Wimm-Bill-Dann, Yukos, TNK and Rosneft not only increases their profits, but also serves as a tool for competition.

The report clearly convinced board members of the need for marketing activity. It was even decided to instruct the Russian Marketing Association (Mr. Braverman headed it before joining the ministry) to develop a concept for capitalization growth using a marketing strategy, including methodological instructions for it.

But the entrepreneurs were not only engaged in listening to an extremely informative lecture, they were also solving their own internal issues. It was decided to hold the next congress in September-October 2003, so that, as RSPP President Arkady Volsky explained, “to decide on the position before the elections.” At this congress a declaration of principles of activity should be approved. The document begins with a chapter entitled “Who We Are,” and from it the interested person can learn that “we” are representatives of the business community, supporters of a strong democratic state, and even supporters of government responsible to society.

Also at the meeting, the Charter of Business and Corporate Ethics was approved. Within the RSPP, an ethics commission was formed, designed to resolve disputes between members of the RSPP. Initially, it was planned to build its work on the basis of the ten biblical commandments, but for some reason only eight were recorded in the charter. The Charter invites businessmen to conduct their business on the principles of integrity and fairness, and not to involve authorities to sort out relations with competitors. The commission will be headed by Boris Titov, member of the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, head of the Mineral Fertilizer Industry Development Fund. But the “shape of morality” of warring businessmen will be determined by respected people from the outside, and those with both national and international authority. Perhaps scientists and cultural figures will be less biased than entrepreneurs, but it is unlikely that any of them will be sufficiently knowledgeable in business matters. However, businessmen really need a commission. Despite the fact that it has not yet begun to work, the RSPP, according to Mr. Volsky, has already received “hundreds of applications from members of the RSPP against each other.”

Vera SITNINA