Market research is categorized into two distinct models, which are the bottom-up approach/ inductive model and the top-down approach/ the deductive model. The main difference between the two models is that deductive research, which is knowledge-driven, operates from a broader generalization to a narrow observation. On the other hand, the inductive research that is feature detective operates from narrow observations to wider generalizations.
Deductive/ inductive controversy
The deductive approach draws a clear-cut relationship between research and theory. The researcher formulates a hypothesis based on common knowledge about a specific domain, and of theoretical concerns about that domain. Such hypotheses are subsequently subjected to scientific or empirical examinations. The deductive approach is said to be systematic. For example, the process starts from an existing theory to hypothesis formulation, to observing, and finally to generalization (confirmation or rejection of the theory).
In the inductive approach, the theory represents the outcome of the research. The induction process entails converting observations into generalized inferences. In other words, the inductive approach is the reverse of the deductive approach because it operates from observation to theory. For example, Sackmann (1992) used the inductive theory to examine the creation and existence of organizational subcultures. She argued that this approach allowed the development of empirical knowledge, which in turn generated significant information into the complexity of culture.
This was through the understanding of various kinds of cultural knowledge shared by the organization members (Sackmann, 1992, p.143). She conducted open interviews among the respondents in three distinct research sites of medium-sized US corporations and compared the information to justify the existing theories. According to Sackmann, a new hypothesis emerged, which argued that cultural groupings might result based on functional differentiation. Subsequently, the interviewing members tested the hypothesis and discovered that operating subcultures circled the popularly known descriptions of events and things. Sackmann concluded that the findings or discoveries from her deductive approach might apply as a hypothesis for cultural studies.
Examples of Deductive/ inductive controversy
Powell (1995) carried out a study to confirm the economic value of total quality management to the company. This was to challenge the existing scientific research, which stated that total quality management is valuable. He argued that quality associations organized most of the studies or consulting firms with many interests in their products. Also, a great number of them did not follow the accepted form of methodological rigor. He later used 15 hypotheses to confirm whether the value of TQM was valuable. Some of these hypotheses were:
firms offset non-TQM firms;
term TQM offsets short term TQM firms;
TQM offsets service TQM firms.
He used a measurement scale that considered the organizational structure and climate of firms that affected their performance. He also administered questionnaires randomly to the CEOs of all the firms in North-Eastern USA, regardless of whether or not they used TQM services. He interviewed the quality executives and CEOs of thirty different firms excluded from the postal questionnaire survey. Of the thirty, approximately twenty-three possessed the TQM services. His findings supported the underlying assumption that TQM gives economic value to the company, long-term TQM users are more comfortable with the program as compared to short-term users, and finally, service firms were extremely satisfied with the TQM program, unlike manufactures. He argued that long-term TQM adopters were more successful because they had mastered the TQM techniques. He also suggested that TQM could generate economic value to all companies but failed in some firms because success does not only rely on the application of TQM techniques and tools but the intangible factors.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the two research models are inseparable. This is because of theory results in observations, which necessitate the identification of new patterns, resulting in the formulation of new theories.
Reference List
Powell, T. C. (2004)Social research methods. Third Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sackmann, C. Lewis, P., and Thorn-Hill, A. (2000). Research methods for business students. Harlow Essex, UK: Financial Times Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Limited.
The effective engineering of fundamental areas is key to a high quality of life. In agriculture, biotechnology plays a vital role in advancing the production of various crops and increasing the harvest. South et al. (2019) established three new metabolic pathways into the plant cell and increased the efficiency of photosynthesis by 40 percent, which is the main innovative element for commercialization. It should be clarified that such success inefficiency is measured by the result – the growth of the biomass of plants.
The theoretical estimates of this fundamental improvement gave from a 20 percent to 50 percent increase in the efficiency of photosynthetic processing (South et al. 2019). While the experiments were conducted with a tobacco plant, such food plants as rice, wheat, and soybeans are also belong to C3 crops with similar features. The native metabolic pathway was blocked so that the energy would not spend there, and the complete control of the entire internal mechanics of the cell was provided.
Technology Advantages
The enhancement of the process of photosynthesis in rice, wheat, and soybeans is advantageous since these are the main crops in the world. The soil and climatic conditions of many regions with the identified crops made it possible to organize their production. However, the agricultural and climatic features of these areas required the study of the characteristics of growth and development of tobacco, rice, et cetera in these conditions (Smyth, Phillips & Castle 2014).
In Mexico, Canada, India, and many other countries, golden grains are sown and reaped, which then come to the table in the form of fragrant bread. Nevertheless, wheat harvest is not enough to feed all the hungry. Because the climate on the planet has become warmer, crops lag in growth. Destructive fungi, droughts, and other factors are a serious threat to valuable food crops on the planet (Smyth, Phillips & Castle 2014).
This situation will adversely affect the domestic food production sector. The implementation of a set of measures will contribute to the development of advanced postgenomic and biotechnological methods in crop production and the formation of dynamic markets for transgenic seeds and plants demanded by agricultural producers.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), feeding humanity, which is predicted to be nine billion persons by 2050, requires boosting food production by 70 percent (How to feed the world in 2050 n.d.). Wheat remains the key source of protein in the poorest countries, and while the planet’s population is growing at a rate of 1.5 percent per year, the increase in wheat yield — the amount of grain harvested per hectare — is only one percent.
This means that the productivity of wheat in agriculture will increase. The scientists note that this could be the beginning of a new green revolution (Zhang & Wang 2015). Moreover, such a method is rather useful for scientists, as they will be able to quickly test genetic combinations to generate crop growth that is more adapted to various types of climate. Some say that even if people learn to grow wheat faster, the resulting plants will be small and infertile. New technology makes it possible to grow wheat and related crops, which is more effective than using standard methods.
Competition and Implementation
Speaking of the competition, it should be emphasized that South et al. (2019) were able to select the gene structures used by E. coli bacteria to optimize the process of photorespiration in wild tobacco. These gene mechanisms turned out to be much more efficient than natural ones during enzymatic reactions. The authors consider that the introduction of this so-called cell repair into plants, now grown only in one agricultural region, the American Midwest, would give 200 million people no additional food.
In comparison, one may focus on such methods of innovation of crop production as genetic modification, the reduced utilization of pesticides, and the development of herbicide- and insect-resistance in plants. To comprehend the target technology value, it is important to pinpoint some results demonstrated by the mentioned alternatives. Over the 15 years of commercial use of genetically modified crops, the income of farmers using these technologies has increased by more than $ 65 billion (Farrar, Bryant & Cope‐Selby 2014).
The product precautions happen to the reduction of pesticides, costs on soil treatment, the economy of combustion, and reduction of wages. The 8.8 percent reduction in pesticide use prevented the introduction of 393 million kg of pesticides, which is another option for improving the harvests. More to the point, herbicide-resistant crops allow the use of minimal and zero tillage, reducing soil erosion. The insect-resistant cultures showed an improvement in the quality of food — the absence of mycotoxin in corn, which is likely to cause cancer.
The implementation of the new metabolic pathway based on photosynthesis requires the application of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1-mediated transformation and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for glycolate dehydrogenase. These enzymes were used by the authors of the suggested biotechnology, which identifies their need for further implementation. There are four components of the biotechnology process, including the product, the object, raw materials, and the technology platform. As a result of the transformation of living or non-living materials, biotechnological products are obtained, which requires the use of one or more biotechnological methods, including intellectual efforts as well as research and development.
To introduce the given technology in practice, it is vital to find investors, the companies that want to use it and make agreements on the amount of the involved products and period. The basis for successfully using bioproducts is a biological synthesis that allows creating new products with desired properties. It is expected that the world biotechnology market in 2025 will reach a level of $2 trillion, and the growth rates in individual market segments will range from 5 to 30 percent annually (Ort et al. 2015). In this connection, one may suggest that the introduction of the technology would not be easy as it will require significant investment and additional efforts to prove that it will benefit enterprises.
Currently, in many developed countries, the introduction of innovative technologies in the agro-industrial complex that is the core target market allows creating products that are competitive in the world market. However, some barriers should be specified to address them during the implementation stage (Prasad, Kumar & Prasad 2014). First of all, as a result of the permanent use of herbicides, new weeds have emerged, which require the use of much larger amounts of highly toxic glyphosate herbicides.
In 2013, UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences documented that superweeds are the beginning of a global environmental catastrophe because they cannot be controlled and respectively destroy (Problems with herbicide-resistant weeds become crystal clear n.d.). Many farmers testify that in three months, they spent more than € 400,000 to destroy the new giant weeds. Moreover, agricultural machinery breaks at harvest because these plants are extremely tough. A lot of hectares of cotton and soybeans were contaminated by these mutants.
The uncertainty and attitudes of individual framers and the organizations working in this field are the key barriers to be addressed. In other words, it is important to take the mentioned barrier into account while promoting new technology. The focal reason is the lack of awareness of practitioners and the lack of a sufficient industrial manufactured range. Besides, the use of growth stimulants requires a high culture of farming and care utilization. Overdose is dangerous due to the threat of the exact opposite result compared to the initial goal. Moreover, the range of stimulating concentrations is rather narrow, and, therefore, the likelihood of an overdose is high.
The costs and prototyping of the solution to the need to increase the biomass of crops are two other barriers. The costs would include patent, research and development, adjustment of the technology to specific needs and crops, and the evaluation of the outcomes. As for prototyping that implies the raw product introduction to consider a full picture, it may be challenging to die to the need to pay attention to the context of partner organizations and farmers, environmental factors, and the risk of failing to properly design it.
Because of the mentioned barriers and opportunities, it is essential to propose additional research on the background of implementing the new metabolic pathway and photosynthesis. In particular, it should be recommended to reveal the advantageous and disadvantageous factors that may affect the technology use and develop the strategies to either facilitate or eliminate them. It is also beneficial to conduct the study with other crops, involving wheat, soybeans, and rice to understand the value of the developed photosynthesis technology. Even though tobacco and the mentioned crops have a similar structure, their response towards the new method may be different.
Preliminary research on costs and potential investment and the ways to optimize them should be performed to set objectives and start collaborating with customers. Thus, science shows the great potential of this technology, and the world organizations, such as FAO and WHO, enable biologists to reinvent crop-related innovations through research.
Customer Development (Validation): Market Research
The market base (a one-sentence description): The biotechnology industry focusing on agriculture advancements composes the foundation for the proposed technology.
The US market of biotechnology is the primary developer of innovative crop technology in the world. In particular, the “American companies spent US$33.9 billion on R&D, 18% more than the previous year and that their revenues increased 16% to US$107.7 billion” (The US biotechnology industry: a market report 2017, p. 3). At the same time, the UK biotechnology industry is also marked by rapid growth, which is characterized by more venture capital compared to that obtained by San Diego and San Francisco companies in the US.
The Telegraph reports that “UK-based biotech firms raised a total of £1.13bn last year, with £681m coming from venture capital funding and £105m from the Initial Public Offering (IPOs)” in 2016 (Dean 2017, para. 4). As stated by Ibis World, the market revenue is £12.2bn, and annual growth is 7.3 percent (Biotechnology – UK market research report 2018). These estimates show that the market of biotechnology provides valuable opportunities for entrance and commercialization.
Speaking of the market distribution, one should stress that the target technology is expected to be implemented in the US. Since the conditions are most favorable in the mentioned country, it is possible to anticipate that the project should be started there. For example, organizations and individual farmers may be contacted with the proposition to adopt the new method for the increase in crop growth. The technological foundations also seem to be appropriate to initiate the direct introduction and further research.
After success would be achieved, it is beneficial to extend the company to European countries, especially the UK since it is also open to agriculture-related bioscience. The value of this market cannot be overestimated since it is likely to resolve the problem of hunger in developing countries and ensure a high-quality life in developed ones.
Since the 2000s, several leaders have emerged in the agrochemical and plant breeding sectors, which is accountable for more than 50 percent of the whole market sales. Specifically, according to researchers in the agricultural sector, the so-called big six exists, including Monsanto, DuPont, Dow BASF, Syngenta, and Bayer. They jointly control over 75 percent of the global agrochemical market, 63 percent of the seed market, and almost 2/3 of research and development related to the seed and pesticide market (Breaking bad: big AG mega-mergers in play; Dow + Dupont in the pocket? Next: Demonsanto? 2015).
As of 2013, the cumulative research and development budget allocated by the big six competitors was 15 times higher than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget for conducting relevant research. Thus, even with the partial limitation of rights to assets and/or dilution of shares in consolidated companies, it is challenging for independent participants to enter the market, which could affect the economic and political course of start-ups and, thus, competitive supply in the market.
The alternatives offered by the mentioned companies are well-accepted by customers since these big six corporations have the authority that was proved for years. Therefore, the start-up company should focus on building cooperation with smaller partners who cannot afford the services provided by the identified giants or consider more innovative options. It is also important to build customer confidence by clearly explaining the benefits of the product (Lucht 2015).
Among other alternatives, there are non-genetic methods that allow avoiding gene transformation. Even though they are usually perceived as organic ones that are regarded as the state-of-the-art, their effectiveness may be lower than that of genetic variants (Wilson et al. 2014). There is the tendency of shifting towards healthier strategies to increase the biomass of wheat and soybeans, as proposed by the advocates of healthy lifestyles. Awareness of these specifics is useful to understand how to position the innovative technology and successfully compete in the existing conditions.
The start-up company advantage lies in offering a completely new method to raise crop biomass, working primarily with small businesses. Tobacco growing is a highly profitable and profitable industry with its established cultivation regions. Likewise, rice, wheat, and soybeans are essential for populations as the main resource for many foods and the basics of nutrition. However, due to the changing socio-demographic situation, the majority of C3-processing enterprises found themselves in a difficult economic situation due to the unstable supply of raw materials. It leads to the fact that purchases of raw materials had to be done in other countries at the established world prices.
Accordingly, the start-up company that would consider utilizing the discussed technology would benefit from assisting the organizations that work in the area of producing C3 crops (Fochler 2016). Providing them with the opportunity to reduce risks and increase profits, the start-up would capitalize on its research and further adjustments. Such an approach to commercialization would also allow covering patent costs and the issues related to constant development and market research.
Within the next five years, it is expected to cover 2-3 percent of the US market of biotechnology associated with crops. These estimates seem to appropriate since there is strong competition in the field, and it may be challenging to gain customers’ trust. To enter and gain market share, smaller steps are more preferred. According to Barrows, Sexton, and Zilberman (2014, p. 100), “while the next wave of genetic engineering has potential to improve crop response to climate change and boost the nutrient density of staple crops, attention must be paid to the unique risks each new trait may pose”.
Based on this approach, it would be possible to learn from mistakes and avoid big failures by adjusting to emerging problems. The timely improvements of the technology and the work with customers are likely to lead to covering some parts of the market shortly.
To ensure that the developed technology would be used only by the given start-up company, it is significant to consider intellectual property (IP). A patent, as a type of security document provided for the results of scientific and technical activities, assigns to its owner the priority and exclusive right to use the relevant IP (Petruzzelli, Rotolo & Albino 2015). It guarantees the possibility of receiving remuneration for the resources invested in its creation.
Patent statistics can be considered a reflection of the current level of inventive activity in various segments of the technology market: for example, the number of patent applications filed or patents granted. This approach seems to be justified for the proposed biotechnology. It is the most common way to protect the associated IP, and alternative strategies are not widely used here (Miralpeix et al. 2014). Thus, a significant part of inventions in this area relates to agriculture, therefore, the release of products manufactured on their basis requires a detailed description of its composition, which makes it impossible to observe a trade secret regime.
For accomplishing effective customer validation, it is essential to overcome several hurdles, such as IP landscape, investment channels, as well as ensuring desirability and usability. Also, “the growth of commercial GM stacks potentially constitutes an additional cause of the low-level presence of modified crops in the EU because non-authorized stacks … might end up in shipments to countries that regulate them” (Parisi, Tillie & Rodríguez-Cerezo 2016, p. 35). First of all, patents are costly and should be prolonged within several years, which makes scientists to thoroughly review their innovations to decide whether to continue operating in the given field or not.
Second, a critical factor for companies engaged in this sector is the availability of different levels and forms of support – from subsidizing interest rates on loans to direct support in the form of targeted subsidies and other forms of investment. Although investments cannot be considered a stable factor, it is still of great importance to have interested organizations that are willing to contribute to the start-up development (Kim 2015).
Ultimately, desirability and usability should be taken into account that the company is expected to empathize with customers to understand the problems they need to resolve. In this case, the problem is transparent yet can be varied across organizations. The start-up company should remain beneficial to its customers, offering the most suitable and effective options.
Summary of Customer Discovery and Validation
The process of customer discovery will be based on the translation of the target technology into the practical application option. Its benefits and the markets that are favorable for the entry are to be identified. At the same time, it is critical to determine the way the technology can be implemented as well as barriers that can be encountered in this process. The focus on additional research is useful for the start-up company to follow the principle of continuous development and remain competitive.
The customer validation process is expected to consist of market research, problem specification, and fitting the product in the context of customer needs. Patenting, challenges regarding customer validation anticipated market share coverage, and the company’s advantages are identified as the most significant elements of the mentioned process.
Reference List
Barrows, G, Sexton, S & Zilberman, D 2014, ‘Agricultural biotechnology: the promise and prospects of genetically modified crops’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 99-120.
Biotechnology – UK market research report 2018. Web.
Farrar, K, Bryant, D & Cope‐Selby, N 2014, ‘Understanding and engineering beneficial plant–microbe interactions: plant growth promotion in energy crops’, Plant Biotechnology Journal, vol. 12, no. 9, pp. 1193-1206.
Fochler, M 2016, ‘Beyond and between academia and business: how Austrian biotechnology researchers describe high-tech start-up companies as spaces of knowledge production’, Social Studies of Science, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 259-281.
Kim, ST 2015, ‘Regional advantage of cluster development: a case study of the San Diego biotechnology cluster’, European Planning Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 238-261.
Lucht, J 2015, ‘Public acceptance of plant biotechnology and GM crops’, Viruses, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 4254-4281.
Miralpeix, B, Sabalza, M, Twyman, RM, Capell, T & Christou, P 2014, ‘Strategic patent analysis in plant biotechnology: terpenoid indole alkaloid metabolic engineering as a case study’, Plant Biotechnology Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 117-134.
Ort, DR, Merchant, SS, Alric, J, Barkan, A, Blankenship, RE, Bock, R, Croce, R, Hanson, MR, Hibberd, JM, Long, SP, Moore, TA, Moroney, J, Niyogi, KK, Parry, MAJ, Peralta-Yahya, PP, Prince, RC, Redding, KE, Spalding, MH, van Wijk, KJ, Vermaas, WFJ, von Caemmerer, S, Weber, APM, Yeates, TO, Yuan, JS & Zhu, XG 2015, ‘Redesigning photosynthesis to sustainably meet global food and bioenergy demand’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 112, no. 28, pp. 8529-8536.
Parisi, C, Tillie, P & Rodríguez-Cerezo, E 2016, ‘The global pipeline of GM crops out to 2020’, Nature Biotechnology, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 31-36.
Petruzzelli, AM, Rotolo, D & Albino, V 2015, ‘Determinants of patent citations in biotechnology: an analysis of patent influence across the industrial and organizational boundaries’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 91, pp. 208-221.
Prasad, R, Kumar, V & Prasad, KS 2014, Nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture: present concerns and future aspects’, African Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 705-713.
Problems with herbicide-resistant weeds become crystal clear n.d. Web.
Smyth, SJ, Phillips, PW & Castle, D 2014, Handbook on agriculture, biotechnology and development, Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, MA.
South, PF, Cavanagh, AP, Liu, HW & Ort, DR 2019, ‘Synthetic glycolate metabolism pathways stimulate crop growth and productivity in the field’, Science, vol. 363, no. 6422, pp. 1-9.
The US biotechnology industry: a market report. 2017. Web.
Wilson, GA, Perepelkin, J, Zhang, DD & Vachon, MA 2014, ‘Market orientation, alliance orientation, and business performance in the biotechnology industry’, Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 32-40.
Zhang, B & Wang, Q 2015, ‘MicroRNA‐based biotechnology for plant improvement’, Journal of Cellular Physiology, vol. 230, no. 1, pp. 1-15.
Market research is one of the varieties of marketing research that studies all aspects of customers’ preferences and needs. The purpose of market research is to gather information and design an analytical basis for making market decisions, thereby reducing the level of uncertainty associated with them (Bont & Hamersveld, 2007). The result of market research implies understanding competitors’ activities, market structure, government decisions in the field of regulation and stimulation of the market, economic trends, research of technical achievements, and many other factors that shape the business environment (McQuarrie, 2015). The significant objective of market research is to determine the capacity of the market, which allows being closer to customers and anticipating their expectations. The exploration of the capacity of the market helps to correctly assess one’s chances in this market and avoid unjustified risks and losses (McGivern, 2013). By determining a company’s market share, it is possible to build on it and formulate the future plans as it is an indicator of a company’s success.
Two data gathering methods in terms of market research that are rather important to learn are focus groups and interviews. A focus group presents a collective interview performed by a moderator as a shared discussion on a pre-designed scenario involving typical representatives of the studied part of the target audience (McGivern, 2013). Held in the format of a group discussion, this method allows participants to freely communicate with each other and express their feelings and emotions, thus promoting the generation of new ideas, evaluation of new products or advertising, and obtaining preliminary information on the topic of interest. In its turn, an in-depth interview is a semi-structured personal interview with a respondent in a form that encourages the latter to give detailed answers to the questions asked (McQuarrie, 2015). It should also be emphasized that such interview takes place in the form of free conversation on the topic of interest to a researcher, during which he or she receives detailed information about a respondent’s reasons for actions and the attitude to various issues. Using in-depth interviews, one can get more complete information about the behavior of a person, the reasons for this behavior, and its underlying motives, which is not always possible in a focus group, where respondents exert pressure on each other, and it is difficult to determine who gave this or that answer.
The following set of questions was prepared for the interview:
What are advantages and disadvantages of focus groups and in-depth interviews as methods of data gathering for market research?
How to obtain the most accurate data regarding different areas of market research and how to avoid bias?
What are the main limitations to using focus groups and in-depth interviews?
To receive more information regarding the identified market research tools, it is possible to contact my current employer, who has significant experience in market research. Namely, he was working in the mentioned area for ten years, and it would be useful to ask the above questions. It is important to stress the fact that no difficulties occurred while identifying this Subject Matter Expert (SME). In the course of the interview, the questions were answered in a rather detailed manner. Accordingly, the greatest learning is associated with the areas pointed out in questions. For example, I learned that among the shortcomings of focus groups there are possible non-representativeness (the opinions expressed by the focus group members cannot be considered the opinion of all customers) and the subjective interpretation of the results obtained. The advantages of focus groups are a maximum opportunity for the generation of new ideas as well as a variety of ways to use this method. At the same time, in-depth interviews present such challenges as expertise level and data interpretation, while completeness of information and revealing of motives compose their benefits.
The received information may be applied to the Market Simulation to understand the methods of market research that would best fit the given situation. They may also be used to studying the concept of market segmentation, as noted by Weinstein (2013). The interview provided new ideas to learn, including the one regarding the fact that it is necessary to be aware of different existing tools that may be useful to one or another market research and may vary depending on a target audience, product, and so on. However, there were no surprises. The links between this interview results and the simulation are quite evident since the information received would be useful to apply while making decisions during learning activities. Therefore, the recommendations are as follows: to learn more about the identified data collecting methods on real-life examples; identify any limitations and challenges that may occur while using them as well as the ways to eliminate them. More to the point, it seems that knowledge sharing would be useful to come up with further ideas on how to use them in Market Simulation since the review of others’ ideas would promote new opportunities.
References
Bont, C., & Hamersveld, M. (2007). Market research handbook. Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons.
McGivern, Y. (2013). The practice of market research: An introduction (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
McQuarrie, E. F. (2015). The market research toolbox: A concise guide for beginners (4th ed.). New York, NY: Sage Publications.
Weinstein, A. (2013). Handbook of market segmentation: Strategic targeting for business and technology firms. New York, NY: Routledge.
Comp Tech is a US-based company that operates in the IT industry. The company was founded ten years ago, and currently, it is headquartered in San Jose, California (Comp Tech: About the company, 2016). It is important to note that representatives and distributors of the company are located in more than three states of the country. Comp Tech’s mission is to provide the efficient IT solutions for clients and develop the high-quality systems and software in order to address the clients’ needs (Comp Tech: About the company, 2016).
From this point, the company proposes such types of products as the software developed for customers to meet their interests and address their particular needs, database systems, networking systems and solutions, and data management and security systems among other services (Comp Tech: About the company, 2016). The company also provides clients with the necessary hardware, and it guarantees the installation and monitoring of the quality. Thus, Comp Tech works to ensure that clients use the advanced IT systems, and their data exchange and communication are protected. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the possible foreign markets for this company with the focus on comparing the market research tools.
The Market Research Data Base
The preliminary research on the possibilities for Comp Tech to expand to new markets indicates that Singapore is a good choice for this company because the IT market actively develops in the selected country. However, the further research also demonstrates that the Chinese market is one of the largest IT markets in the world, and the provision of more opportunities for Comp Tech to enter this market is important in order to contribute to the company’s development as an industry leader.
It is important to note that in 2010, the total size of the import and export related to the computer industry in China was about $55 billion, and these numbers increased for the period of 2010-2015 (IT and Telecommunications: International trade, 2014, para. 2). Therefore, in order to preserve the competitive positions in the United States and attract more clients globally, Comp Tech should focus on expanding to China.
One of the approaches for the company to develop in the new market is to focus on the diversification strategy (Morrison, 2013; Wen, Wang, & You, 2015). It is possible to create new products and services that can become popular in the Chinese market. Still, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that these products can be presented only in China because the goal is to develop goods or services that are suitable for the particular market (Murphree & Breznitz, 2013). From this perspective, the additional research is necessary in order to choose the service that would be provided by Comp Tech in order to address the interests and needs of the Chinese consumers.
Market Research Information
The current market research indicates that Hong Kong is one more country that should be recommended for Comp Tech in order to guarantee its successful global expansion. The reason is that in spite of the fact that the IT equipment and software import decreased in 2014 and 2015, the export increased. As a result, this market remains to be one of the largest IT markets in the world (more than $2 billion) (Computer and information technology equipment, 2015, para. 3).
Furthermore, the US IT equipment and software export in Hong Kong is still high (more than $1.5 billion) (Computer and information technology equipment, 2015, para. 3). Currently, the main focus is on developing the cloud computing technologies that allow companies to work distantly (Tarafdar, Gupta, & Turel, 2013). The number of clients who need developing corporate cloud services increased significantly in 2014 and 2015 (Computer and information technology equipment, 2015).
From this point, in order to expand to Hong Kong, Comp Tech needs to pay more attention to developing such branch as the development of cloud and network services for corporate clients in order to enter the market of Hong Kong (Tarafdar et al., 2013). It is also important to concentrate on providing the consulting services for users of cloud systems. Comp Tech is expected to reorganize one corporate unit in order to focus on proposing cloud services and products and become competitive in the IT market of Hong Kong.
It’s Your Call – Where Are You Going to Look When You Need Information?
Comparison of Two Websites
While comparing the results received after searching such website as GlobalTrade.net and collecting the data provided by the U.S. Commercial Services, it is possible to state that the official website provides more significant and accurate information. These data are available on the Export.gov website. In order to check the accuracy of the information provided on the websites and evaluate their credibility, it is necessary to pay attention to the sources from which the data are collected for the site, as well as on the frequency of updating the information.
GlobalTrade.net is a website that was founded in order to provide businesses with the details on the global trade relations and inform corporate users regarding the recent tendencies in the field. However, the problem is in the fact that the information that is posted on this website is often out-of-date, and moreover, the international market analysis reports are posted by specialists in the sphere, but not by the representatives of the government (IT and Telecommunications: International trade, 2014).
Therefore, it is rather difficult to test the accuracy of the provided data, and the results can be referred to as findings of the market research conducted by analysts, importers, and exporters (Morrison, 2012). In addition, in spite of the easy navigation, the website provides the information on the trade tendencies in the form of reports that are not categorized. Therefore, Export.gov can be regarded as the more advantageous tool for conducting the market research for the company.
The information that is located on Export.gov is provided from the governmental sources. It is possible to find reports and trade agreements, as well as notes regarding the export and import between the United States and foreign countries while using the website (Computer and information technology equipment, 2015).
From this perspective, Export.gov provides the better marketing research results because the available information is divided into categories, and it is possible to find the information regarding the aspects of doing business in the certain country, details of the market research, as well as the information on services and programs. In addition, the available information is updated, and it is possible to search the findings of the market research that are related to the period of 2015-2016. These details allow for the easy use of the website, and a researcher and a corporate leader receive a good opportunity to check the statistical data regarding the changes in the global market.
Reputability of the Market Research
It is possible to state that the market research that is found on the Export.gov website is more reputable than the research found on the GlobalTrade.net website. The reason is that the information provided on the Export.gov website comes from the governmental sources, and conclusions stated in articles are based on the statistical analysis and industry reports supported by the government. From this perspective, it is possible to refer to the data located on this website as credible in order to conclude regarding the choice of the country to which the business can plan to expand. Furthermore, in order to refer to the reputable information that is supported by the market, industry, and governmental research, it is necessary to search appropriate countries on both websites.
The reason is that the filters available on the GlobalTrade.net website allows for determining which countries are most popular and discussed in the association with the concrete industry. For the IT industry, 832 market analyses are available (IT and Telecommunications: International trade, 2014). It is possible to narrow the search while specifying the subsector of the industry. In this case, it is relevant to choose such subsector as Programming and Software, as well as Computers. The search indicates that the majority of reports on this industry are related to China and Hong Kong (Breznitz & Murphree, 2013).
These data are important to conclude regarding the countries that should be searched with the help of the Export.gov website. From this point, it is reasonable to find the accurate information regarding the global trade tendencies referring to the data on the Export.gov website. Still, the GlobalTrade.net website is important in order to narrow the search regarding the countries of interest. In addition, it is possible to compare the information that is related to selected countries and located on these two websites.
Conclusion
In order to choose the country where it is necessary to expand, it is relevant to use market research tools. Today, it is possible to use different websites that provide the categorized information regarding market trends in the world that is easy to navigate and examine. Therefore, the success of the market research depends on the choice of the credible source of the information. While comparing two websites that can be used for the market research, such as the GlobalTrade.net website and the Export.gov website, it is possible to note that the website based on the governmental data can provide more accurate details regarding changes in the global trade.
Therefore, while assuming that Comp Tech plans to expand to the Asian market, it is necessary to choose the Asian countries from the available market list for the further examination. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the information located on the Export.gov website seems to be credible and relevant to the country and industry, more research is often required in order to state what approach should be selected by the company for the expansion. As a result, both websites need to be used in order to examine the situation in the market in detail. Moreover, the data collected with the help of this market research is often not enough in order to make conclusions regarding the business expansion.
References
Breznitz, D., & Murphree, M. (2013). The rise of China in technology standards: New norms in old institutions. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 16(1), 15-22.
Comp Tech: About the company. (2016). Web.
Computer and information technology equipment. (2015). Web.
IT and Telecommunications: International trade. (2014). Web.
Morrison, W. M. (2012). China’s economic conditions. Current Politics and Economics of Northern and Western Asia, 21(3), 289-310.
Morrison, W. M. (2013). China’s economic rise: History, trends, challenges, and implications for the United States. Current Politics and Economics of Northern and Western Asia, 22(4), 461-478.
Murphree, M., & Breznitz, D. (2013). Innovation in China: Fragmentation, structured uncertainty, and technology standards. Cardozo Law Review, 2013(1), 196-268.
Tarafdar, M., Gupta, A., & Turel, O. (2013). The dark side of information technology use. Information Systems Journal, 23(3), 269-275.
Wen, J., Wang, J., & You, H. B. (2015). Relationship between e-commerce and foreign trade: Evidence from China. Journal of International Trade, 6(1), 4-12.
The company Healthy Alternative offers healthy fast food products that are hardly available currently. Much advantage can be received if focusing on the needs of the target market that includes the average American family with busy lifestyles (parents with long working hours and children involved in athletic programs, dance, ballet, etc.). In addition to that, individuals who travel by car for business or vacation should be considered (even with pets, as they are not allowed to enter restaurants). As the majority of Americans are expected to be interested in the provided products, the possibility to start this company should be considered.
Context
The creation of fast food establishments can be traced back to the beginning of the 1920s (White Castle). Almost thirty years later McDonald’s was created. By 1969, there already have been Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s (Wilson). Numerous other restaurants were opened with time. Nevertheless, they tend to provide low-quality products. Fortunately, by the end of the 20th century, healthy options (salads) were offered.
The whole fast food industry in the USA has almost $200 billion in revenue, and it grows by about 1.5% annually. There are more than 230,000 fast food establishments in the country, and about 200,000 of them are franchised. Almost 4 million people are employed in this industry (“Fast Food Industry”).
The industry is constantly growing, which proves that the possibility to develop a new company in it is worth considering. This very tendency depends greatly on the population and economy. As people receive an opportunity to earn more, they have more chances to purchase food instead of cooking it, as well as to travel by car. As the population increases, the industry obtains new clients.
Provided products are likely to be purchased by brand-conscious clients who are looking for healthy fast food. These are likely to be the members of American families with busy lifestyles, as they do not have enough time to cook. In addition to that, impulse buyers, such as travelers, are expected to become clients of Healthy Alternative because they become hungry while riding a car. In this way, restaurants should be placed near busy roads and in populated neighborhoods.
While the number of fast-food restaurants increases significantly over time, there is not much competition in the sphere of healthy fast food because this option is rarely considered. Thus, it is possible to position Healthy Alternatives as a unique establishment that is greatly differentiated from other companies in the industry.
The provision of healthy fast food is likely to be supported by fitness experts and healthcare professionals who encourage people to keep to a healthy diet. Moreover, the number of healthy food shopping establishments (such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s) increases significantly. Healthy food delivery choices are greatly emphasized by Blue Apron and Fresh Foods.
Governments and healthcare organizations focus on the fact that fast food has a poor influence on people’s health and leads to the increased rate of obesity among adults and children (“Health Matters”; Zhao et al. 933). In this way, the Healthy Alternative seems to be a great resolution of the existing problem, as it presupposes the reduction of low-quality products consumed by the public.
Task Segment
The company Healthy Alternatives provides healthy fast food products that are hardly available currently meeting the need of customers to obtain already cooked healthy products as fast as possible. To develop Healthy Alternatives and make it a successful organization, $1 million will be needed. This money will be spent for construction purposes and cover start-up expenditures. A return of 4% of monthly sales at the first location is expected. In addition to that, a future opportunity to franchise out will be considered.
Closing
Thus, Healthy Alternatives is a company that is worth developing. Please, consider an opportunity of providing financial support for this start-up. Thank you for your attention.
Zhao, Y. et al. “Fast Food Consumption and Its Association with Obesity and Hypertension Among Children: Results From the Baseline Data of the Childhood Obesity Study in China Mega-Cities. BMC Public Health, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 933.
The best research process to be used by the orchard is descriptive research because they are trying to target a particular market and analyze a customer category. The descriptive research will help to analyze the customer base, its behaviors, and demographics (Cavugil et al. 2009). It can be administered through surveys of the orchard visitors or employees to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise from a customer perspective.
Demand forecasting is the process of predicting economic growth and profit potential of each business opportunity. It is critical to predict a potential demand for the product, particularly after a marketing campaign, to generate sales forecasts which can be used for finance purposes. Therefore, descriptive research can directly quantify demand for a product (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Marketing communications is the process of managing the public domain of an organization to provide information and establish brand awareness that makes the product or service more appealing. The company website can be redesigned and rewritten to be more appealing to certain audiences. There may be a broader availability of information such as prices, directions to the orchard, and unique events. The website can include more visuals to attract visitors on a larger-scale.
Based on Anthony’s Orchard website, they are taking a very broad marketing approach by attracting customers with its aesthetics in combination with a high quality of apple-related products. They are leaning on the concept of being a local family-owned business and using the history of tending the orchard to produce the best customer experience (Anthony’s Orchard n.d.).
Maintaining profits in agriculture is difficult since a variety of uncontrollable external factors known as macro-forces can have an impact on the return on investment. Socio-economic factors make prices on fruit and agricultural equipment extremely volatile. Some environmental factors such as climate, weather, soil nutrition, pest infestations, and water supply directly affect the number and quality of fruit available and visitation trends from customers (Victoria State Government 2013).
Descriptive marketing research uses a combination of qualitative and informal methods mixed with quantitative analysis. Quantitative data includes averages, percentages, and statistics which are analyzed using empirical assumptions. Surveys or questionnaires are most efficient tools. Cross-sectional research can be used to test various population samples while longitudinal research tracks responses over time (DeVault 2017). Since competent demand forecasting is responsible for a variety of business decisions from supply management to budgeting, the descriptive research process, which provides a holistic evaluation of the marketing situation, can be significantly beneficial.
Market research provides data that gives businesses an opportunity to comprehensively analyze target markets, consumer demands, and competition challenges. Marketing trends provide an understanding of the effectiveness of various business strategies. In the end, it is critical for the improvement as a company can understand consumer needs and act accordingly to increase customer service quality which will attract more potential visitors (British Library n.d.). Since the orchard values its mission and tradition of providing excellent quality, it is critical the owners have overarching data about consumer behavior to implement further marketing campaigns.
Reference List
Anthony’s Orchard n.d., Wenatchee Valley. Web.
British Library n.d., Why is market research important for business ideas?. Web.
Cavugil, T, Knight, G, Riesenberger, J & Yaprak, A 2009 ‘Fundamentals of international marketing research’, in T Cavusgil, G Knight, J Riesenberger & A Yaprak (eds), Conducting marketing research for international business, Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA, pp. 35-53.
DeVault, G 2017, Descriptive market research. Web.
Kotler, P & Keller, K 2012, Marketing management (14th ed), Pearson, New York.
Victoria State Government 2013, Establishing a fruit or nut orchard. Web.
Farmways Enterprise will be a farm-input supplier serving Katsina state in Nigeria. The start-up intends to target farmers in the low to middle-income level. Moreover, Farmways anticipates to sell a wide variety of farm products ranging in the sphere of dairy, horticulture and poultry. These products will include: agrochemicals, seeds, supplements, fertilizers, farm equipment, and allied products. Furthermore, the agrovet intends to partner with the Nigerian Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to grant loans to farmers to purchase farm inputs being sold. Therefore, farmers will be able to buy agro-supplies in-store using loans obtained from BOA. This will give Farmways Enterprises a competitive advantage against its competitors. Consequentially, its customers will be able to enjoy high-quality products and services at affordable prices. Occasionally, as a way of giving back to society, Farmways will be teaming up with a local veterinary organization to organize open field days through which farmers will be educated on crop and livestock production.
Market summary
Crop and Livestock Production
The recent slump in oil prices, coupled with the global economic recession, has considerably hampered Nigeria’s oil and gas sector (Adefila, 2014). Therefore, the country has shifted its focus to agricultural production. Consequentially, with Katsina being one of the major states practicing agriculture, it is seeking to partner with investors to facilitate the establishment and improvement of value addition practices that can significantly improve agricultural production. Katsina is a state in Nigeria covering a land area of approximately 24, 192km2 and lies within North latitude 12°15 ′ and East longitude 7°30′. It borders Kano, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Jigawa (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2019). The state’s citizenry constitutes about 6.50 million people. Furthermore, it is made up of thirty-four local governments (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2019). The state has a climatic and geologic environment which is suitable for farming.
Agriculture is the key to Katsina’s potential growth and development. It is estimated that 1.6million ha of land is dedicated to crop cultivation. Farmers in the region grow several varieties of crops which include rice, sugarcane, cowpea, soybeans, cotton, sunflower, cassava, potatoes, peanuts, fruits, vegetables and fodder (El-ladan & Saminu, 2018). However, according to El-ladan & Saminu (2018), crops farmers are challenged with the unavailability of farm inputs. For instance, as of 2018, farmers required 23, 000 MT of assorted blends of NPK fertilizers out of which they received only 50% which was supplied via open market channels. On the other hand, livestock production in the region is also gaining momentum. The state has a capital asset of approximately two million sheep, 1 million cattle, and three million goats (El-ladan & Saminu, 2018). Furthermore, there are about 200, 000 rabbits, 2 million fish, 3 million poultry, 30, 000 camels, 160, 000 donkey, and 25, 000 horses. Moreover, Katsina is considered to be among the top five centers of livestock production in Nigeria.
As per the last population census held in Nigeria, Katsina state comprised of approximately 5.8 million individuals in which 2.7 million people are involved in crop farming (National Population Commission, 2006). Crop and livestock farming is the primary source of food and income to the vast population of both Katsina and the nation at large (Nigeria Data Portal, 2014). Therefore, this elucidates the magnitude of opportunities available in the state, considering its comparative reliance on agro-allied business enterprises (Obasi, 2015). However, agribusiness in the state is characterized by several factors that impede the growth of the sector. These include the presence of low-level technology, prevalence of subsistence farming, poor farm organization, high input costs, low quality of inputs, difficulty in accessing loans by farmers and decline of cash crop production (El-ladan & Saminu, 2018).
Agricultural funding
As to any other industry, finance plays a major role in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. Consequentially, over time, the Nigerian government has been coming up with ways through which funds can be continuously invested to revive and develop agriculture in the country. To achieve this, the government has formed several schemes, for example, the Agricultural Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) and the Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS) to serve the purpose of providing financial support with respect to loans awarded by any banking institution for agricultural purposes (Famogbiele, 2013). The BOA is presently the leading financial institution used by the government to facilitate this objective. The BOA is the principal rural development and agricultural finance provider. It is wholly owned by the Nigerian federal government, and its mission is to offer affordable financial and advisory services to underserved groups of the society who have minimal access to conventional banks (Bank of Agriculture, 2019). However, according to Muhammad, Sheng and Hosain (2017), the bank does not adequately fulfill its objectives. Farmers in Katsina are complaining that the bank has relatively few branches in the area, for instance, the BOA Funtua serves six local towns.
Farm-input suppliers
Farm-input suppliers in Katsina operate either on physical stores or on the digital platform. Some of the common physical stores in the region include the Farmfields agro-allied services, Niyya Agrovet Services limited and the Naskada Agrovet. On the other hand, Verdant Agri-tech is among the main agro-suppliers operating on the digital platform that serves the region (Unah, 2018). Moreover, unlike other mentioned suppliers, Naskada Agrovet explicitly focuses on offering services relating to poultry farming.
The before-mentioned statements theoretically depict the possible success of a properly established farm-input supplier business start-up. So long as the enterprise attends to the needs of farmers, that is, provide farm inputs and financial assistance at a community level, the business is likely to be profitable. Nevertheless, to have a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the feasibility of the farm-input supplier business start-up, it was necessary to conduct market research.
Pilot Study
Research objectives
The primary aim of this pilot study is to gauge the feasibility of a farm input supplier start-up in Katsina. The following research questions steered the study:
What is the market potential and concentration of the farm input supplier market segment in Katsina?
Which are the best avenues for access to the farm input supplier market segment for the start-up?
Method
Study design
The research adopted a case study design. The respondents were randomly selected from the population. They were then given a semi-structured interview that contained a series of 10 close-ended questions.
Participants
The study sample comprised of 200 individuals who were randomly selected from Dankama Farmer’s market in Nigeria. Dankama Farmer’s market was chosen as it considered to be one of the most popular markets in Katsina state. Random selection was carried out to eliminate any limitations of bias. Furthermore, all these individuals were farmers involved in various agricultural activities in Katsina State, that is, crop and livestock farmers. The participants were adequately informed on the procedures of the study, and informed consent was obtained.
Procedure
Each participant was given a semi-structured questionnaire containing 10 close-ended questions. The questions collected information regarding the participants’ socio-economic characteristics, needs, and demand for farm input supplies and loans. Eighty-three usable responses were received, therefore, eliciting a response rate of 42%. For a pilot study, the response rate was deemed acceptable.
Data analysis and Discussion
Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the information presented in the questionnaires.
Socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers
The study evaluated the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, and the results are illustrated in Table 1. The age-group of 21-30 that could be regarded as to comprise of able-bodied individuals constituted of 31.5% of the sampled population in Katsina. Comparatively, this is a good indicator for the potential labor force in relation to agricultural development. Moreover, the study evaluated the annual income of farmers. The results illustrated that 31% of the farmers receive an annual income of more than N150, 000, while 18% had an income of less than N50, 000. This indicates that income earnings provided by agricultural cooperatives are still insufficient for meaningful development.
Farming experience was evaluated in regards to the years spent on agricultural practices. For example, most (35.5%) had 11 – 20 years of experience, while the least (6.5%) had more than 30 years of farming experience. Experience goes hand-in-hand with skill acquisition, which is essential to effectiveness and efficiency in various operations. The results suggest that farmers, especially those with considerable experience, are more probable to adopt innovative techniques that function to increase productivity.
On the other hand, the results regarding the level of education indicated that a majority of the respondents (40%) had a maximum of primary education, followed by secondary education with 29%, then non-formal education with 24%, and lastly tertiary education with 6.5%. Furthermore, 46% of the farmers practice crop cultivation.
Table 1: Socio-economic traits of the farmers.
Variable
Category
Frequency
Percentage (%)
Age
0-20
15
7.5
21-30
63
31.5
31-50
87
43.5
>50
35
17.5
Level of education
Non-formal
48
24
Primary
81
40.5
Secondary
58
29
Tertiary
13
6.5
Level of income (p.a.)
0 – 50,000
36
18
51,000 – 100,000
47
23.5
101,000 – 150,000
55
27.5
>150,000
62
31
Type of agriculture
Livestock farming
45
22.5
Crop cultivation
92
46
Mixed farming
63
31.5
Farming experience (Years)
0 – 10
62
31
11 – 20
71
35.5
21 – 30
56
28
>30
13
6.5
Challenges facing agriculture
There are several challenges affecting agriculture in Katsina. However, based on the results, the primary challenges include fluctuations in market prices, inadequacy, and high cost of agrochemicals and insufficient funds. Taking into account the objective of the pilot study, that is, the demand for farm inputs, inadequacy and high cost of agro-chemicals was considered as the main challenge. For instance, farmers complained that a bag of fertilizer is sold for N2, 000 at a controlled price from the government, and it reaches to the farmer in the village at an average price of N5, 000.
Based on the results of the survey, farmers viewed price as one of the main factors affecting their purchasing characteristics (70%). This was followed by quality with 23%, then distance with 5%, and lastly reliability with 2%.
Figure 1: Factors affecting purchasing.
Factors affecting loan acquisition
41.5% of the respondents viewed inadequacy of banks to be the major problem affecting loan acquisition. This is further mirrored in literature in which the Bank of Agriculture, Funtua has been identified to serve almost 6 towns. Therefore, it is incapable of efficiently attending to the needs of farmers in Katsina. More so, the study discovered that farmers residing far from the bank possess limited information on the bank and the types of loans provided. 33.5% of the participants complained about the stressful loan acquisition procedures, and the least challenge was disbursement delays, with 4.5% of the participants complaining so.
Figure 2: Perceived borrower problems in loan acquisition.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Farmways Enterprise has the potential to become a real and profitable business. The market research results of the pilot study showed that agriculture in the region was dominated by crop farmers. This suggests that for a farm input supplier business to be profitable, it should be majorly tailored for the crop farming audience. Secondly, the results have shown that although the farmers mostly use cash in their transactions, they are very willing to use alternatives such as loans obtained from banking institutions. Thirdly, majority of the farmers in Katsina state fall in the middle and lower class, hence this suggests that commodity prices have to be set at a relatively affordable standard. Moreover, the potential clients value price over reliability, distance and quality, therefore, it would be best to stress Farmway’s products based on the affordable pricing module. Last but not least, as compared to its competitors, Farmways Enterprises is the only business that allows farmers to purchase agro-supplies using loans provided by Banks thus, this gives it a competitive advantage.
References
Adefila, J. O. (2014). Pattern of Agricultural Development in Southern Parts of Katsina State, Nigeria: Notion for Rational Planning. IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, 7(1), 14-20.
Bank of Agriculture. (2019). Products and services. Web.
Famogbiele, A. (2013). The challenges of agricultural finance in Nigeria: Constraints for sustainable agricultural and economic revival. International Journal of Business and Social Research, 3, 234-244.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2019). Katsina state. Web.
Muhammad, A., Sheng, G. Z., & Hossain, S. A. (2017). Performance Review of the Bank of Agriculture in Katsina State, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics and Sociology. 17(3), 1-9.
Obasi, P.C. (2015). Evaluation of the performance of agricultural lending schemes in Nigeria. European Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Research, 3(2), 52-63.
Market research study is considered to be an important element in the process of the new product introduction. The marketing research is a complex study covering a lot of steps and methods of the particular marketplace. The seminars carried out managed to disclose all the necessary strategies of the marketing evaluation and perfect research fulfillment.
As it was shown the complex analysis of the market position demands a variety of plans and steps. Thus, the first section of the market research covers the evaluation of the effects of the long range plans. The case studies provided at the seminars showed that one of the most important and difficult tasks for every developing company is a new product management. It should be mentioned that the right price and particular perception of the product are the main problems of the companies. To carry out a perfect research of the market one should clarify the task and the purpose of it. This aspect is very important for the questionnaire designing.
The seminars contributed a lot to my personal professional carrier because they provided me with the most important aspects of the company development and market research conduction. I learned the peculiarities, importance and nuances of the questionnaire design. This tool is considered to be quite vital for the marketing research professionalism. This process covers all the aspects of the necessary research making. It is considered to be a perfect guide for marketers.
A professional and skilled researcher should be acquainted with the nuances and intricacies of the questionnaire development. The seminars highlighted the main steps of the appropriate questionnaire making on the examples of the real case studies of the great companies such as McDonalds and helped to understand the major points in order to avoid grave mistakes in the process of questionnaire designing and research conduction. The main task of the questionnaire is considered to be the examination and evaluation of the customer’s perception as to the introduction of the new product. It can help in the identification of the expected price and demand of the customers.
The sales generation and cost information are useful for the complementation of the marketing intelligence and research. The main step is the question identification. It is very important to follow this step correctly as appropriate questions can lead to the underlining of the major marketing strategies which cannot be observed by the marketers directly. Each questionnaire can be focused on the closed and open questions used for the evaluation of the quality expectations and necessary price.
The material provided at the seminars appeared to be important for the understanding of the marketing effectiveness peculiarities. The ability of the company managers to meet sales quotas results not only in the profitable operations but also in the customers’ satisfaction increase and new sales goals establishment. It should be stressed that sales organizations are to be flexible to meet the changing of the business conditions.
The marketing research strategies also involve such areas as adequacy of the inventory management in order to make planning for the optimum inventory levels. Thus, it is clear that the questionnaire is considered to be important for the price and qualities identification. This aspect of the marketing research showed the importance of the step covering the product perception and problems connected with it. The information analyzed highlighted the methods of the main company objectives achievements. (Brace, 2008)
The next point in the appropriate marketing research development concerns the involvement of the measurement tools. As it was shown at the seminars different measurement techniques were developed for the purpose of attitudes measurement to various objects such as products, price, perception etc. the development of this aspect caused the usage of two basic responses:
Qualitative;
Quantitative;
In order to identify the negative or positive value of the attitude statements the investigators try to create their own strategies of the statements positive functioning. For this process the usage of the scales is considered to be rather important. As it was shown during the seminars and researches processes attributes can be measured on the following scales:
Nominal (identifying scales);
Interval (they are considered to be very important because of maintenance of equal interval);
Ordinal (used in the marketing researches for ranking);
Ratio (scales which are referenced to completely zero values).
For different types of statements researchers use various scales in order to identify the total score. The attitude of the customers to the product and their perception of its position at the market are considered to be stimulating point in the company strategies development. (Malhotra, 2002)
The concept of the scale is basically used in case of the systems proportion in the process of the marketing research. It helps to evaluate the customers’ needs and wants; the researchers fulfill their operations through the market communication and innovations promotion. The reflection of the results with the help of the measurement scales helps to evaluate the economic well-being and marketing impact on the consumers’ decisions. Different scales help to identify the buyers’ behavior and possible reaction to the innovation introduction.
The effectiveness of the marketing is closely connected with the appropriate decision making. The usage of the qualitative and quantitative models in the process of the business conduction and research making depends upon the major decisions and identification of the target audience. The decision making process in the marketing research is considered to be vital for the usage of the appropriate strategies. The development of marketing goals and approaches to use merely depends on the right decisions accepted in the business process.
To understand the value of the seminars it should be stressed that they appeared to disclose the main issues of the marketing problems solutions carried out with the help of marketing strategies and models of analysis. The designing of the questionnaire in the research process is regarded to be the way to many important answers concerning marketing positions and customers’ perception of the product. The involvement of the scales and measurements as it was proved previously can be regarded the helpful tools for the successful quantitative analysis and research.
The seminars helped to understand the fact that the usage of the important and appropriate methods and models would allow to solute a lot of complicated and significant problems related to the particular area of study. The meaning of the decision making and the effectiveness of the marketing appeared to be closely connected. It is difficult to criticize any point of the seminars as they appeared to be beneficial for my future career and skills development.
References
Brace, Ian. 2008. Questionnaire Design. The Second Edition. Kogan Page, Limited.
American Express, a global banking and financial organization, is well established in credit card business in Malaysia, with its HQ in Kuala Lumpur and 4 Branches at Penang, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. Operating in the country for the past 20 years, it has become market leader in the charge card segment and has been steadily improving its charge card sales year on year. Thus, its yearly sales target is 15,000 new cards but it has been consistently achieving over 24,000 new charge accounts per year. However, the bank management now find that the Penang Branch, which otherwise is the top performer in sales of charge cards among all Amex Branches in Malaysia, has been steadily losing ethnic Chinese charge card customers over the past 12 months.
Research is needed to find out why the Penang Branch of the American Express Bank is facing decline in charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people. The research needs to investigate the factors affecting choice of charge cards by this community and seek out what the community members seek in their preferred charge card, find out what factors like social, economic, demographic, cultural, etc influence such choice, and collect information that may help the bank adopt suitable strategy for helping it recover and improve its charge card client base among ethnic Chinese people in Penang.
The American Express Bank management is aware of the intense competition in the small Penang market where so many local and foreign banks compete amongst themselves for improving card sales. It also realizes the changed situation after its acquisition by Maybank. While it is aware of the fact that increase in card usage depends on extent of their acceptability by merchant establishments as also the customer’s preference for card over cash when making payments, it also realizes that it may have to resort to tailor made strategies by way of product differentiation, target marketing or innovative marketing communications for driving up its charge card sales volumes in a close market like Penang. It also hypothesizes the given situation as one of market saturation in a limited-demand environment characterized by multiple product and service providers (banks).
Under the circumstances, a research on charge card usage by ethnic Chinese in Penang would provide vital information for evolving and implementing suitable strategy, which could invariably improve corporate profitability of the bank in the long run.
Objectives
Identify the factors that determine choice of charge cards by the ethnic. Chinese community in Penang; this will include any factors that restrict usage of cards or general factors that may determine consumer preferences.
Find out the features or facilities that ethnic Chinese seek in a charge card.
To determine the size of the market, the market trends, and consumer needs and buying patterns.
Draw conclusion from factors so determined which might be successfully used to evolve and implement suitable marketing strategies to improve Amex charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people of Penang.
Hierarchy of Information
Information is vital to for any research process and choice of information sources depends on the qualitative or quantitative nature of the research. Accordingly, owing to the qualitative nature of the research under consideration, following information may be considered for sourcing and basing research on
Essential Information
Information on how the Penang ethnic Chinese community take consumer decisions and what may be the factors like social, economic, demographic, cultural, etc., that may influence their choice of particular charge cards. What mass communications and media like television, radio, Internet, newspapers, films, etc., are used by the ethnic Chinese population for gathering information and how this information influences their consumer preferences, particularly for choosing charge cards.
What are the expectations of the ethnic Chinese in a charge card as regards product features, convenience, costs, service delivery, etc., and what gaps are identified between present product features and expectations so determined; this includes the consideration of features presently provided by charge cards of other competing banks in Penang.
Desirable Information
Details of income and expenditure patterns of the Penang ethnic Chinese.
The economic characteristics and data on Penang in particular and on Malaysia in general.
An overview of government banking and financial policies, and card purchase and holding criteria based on local regulations and laws in force.
Details on how the card system functions, particularly use of POS at Merchant establishments, shopping malls, etc.
Competitor Information
Comparison of features and cost structure of payment cards-credit, debit and charge – sold by leading banks in the captive market.
Information on trends in the charge card industry and innovations adopted by other competing banks in the captive market.
Background
Charge Cards
Charge cards are payment cards similar to credit and debit cards and can be used to pay for purchase of products and services. The difference is in their terms of payment. Unlike credit cards, which require only a minimum percent to be paid by due date of a bill and interest as applicable is charged on outstanding amount, charge cards require the holder to pay in full by due date and do not charge any interest. The card issuer sets a preset limit on the card, which is based on customer’s transaction history on the card.
Presently, the minimum income required of a charge card applicant in Malaysia is around RM 18,000 per annum. Some charge cards also provide withdrawals of cash and charge the cash transactions. Examples of charge cards are the American Express Card, Diners Club International Card, HSBC Amanah MasterCard, etc.
American Express Malaysia
American Express Company is an internal banking and finance organizations with Branches and presence across the world. In Malaysia, it has 4 Branches located one each at Penang, Sarawak, Joho and Sabah. The charge cards issued by American Express Malaysia are the American Express Personal Card, the American Express Gold Card, the American Express Platinum Card and the American Express Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Gold Card
Maybank
This is another name for the Malayan Banking Berhad. It is licensed by the Malaysian Central Bank the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and is in operation since 1960. It is now one of the largest commercial banks of Malaysia. In 2006, it acquired the American Express charge card business in Malaysia for RM 80 million to consolidate its position as the national leader in bank lending.
Research Methodology
Considering the limited budget of £ 2,000, the mostly qualitative and semi-quantitative nature of the research, which is involved, the small catchment area to be studied, the time in which to complete entire research project and the ready availability of information resources on media like the Internet, the following methodologies are recommended:
Desk Research
Various sources of information and data are nowadays available on the internet and can be accessed readily, conveniently and at low cost even from one’s desk at home by searching and downloading from the websites and without going to external source sites. Hence, following information sources may be recommended for sourcing and obtaining relevant, authentic, reliable, and accurate and upto-date information relating to the topic under research:
Peer reviewed and online journals like the following:
The International Journal of Market Research
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Harvard Business Review
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods
Journal of Empirical Generalizations in Marketing Science
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of Marketing Communications
Journal of Strategic Marketing
Advances in Consumer Research
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Psychology and Marketing
Journal of Financial Services Marketing
Websites with links to various journals/online articles/scholarly papers:
www.highbeam.com
www.worldbank.org
www.jstor.org
econpapers.repec.org
Other online databases hosting innumerable peer-reviewed work papers, research papers, reports, articles, papers, etc:
ERIC Database
EBSCOhost
SSRN library
Other online resources of well known publishers:
John Wiley & Sons
Blackwell Publishing
McGraw Hill
Government & Company websites providing free information on American Express, Malaysian banking and financial regulations, banking statistics, data on Malaysian banking, details on Penang and information on cultural, social, etc issues relating to local ethnic Chinese and other population:
www.americanexpress.com
www.bankinginfo.com.my
www.maybank2u.com.my
www.unescap.org
www.americanexpress.com.my
www.global-eshop.biz
In-depth Interviews
In-depth and non-directive interviews to be taken of 10 customers visiting American Express Branch in Penang and cover questions like whether the customer uses the American Express charge cards, where (s) he uses it, what (s)he likes in the card’s features, what more (s)he expects from it, etc.
This would need to be done during rush hours or when maximum transactions are envisaged (e.g. end or beginning of a month) and target those customers who can spare the time required for the interview, which may range anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour Also, the interviews need to address general research objectives.
In-depth and focused interviews of 10 customers visiting popular Penang shopping malls like Kompleks Bukit Jambul, Island Plaza, Gurney Plaza and Prangin Mall and based on prepared set of questions relating to the research objective, including upon their purchase behaviour, consumer choice, etc. This would also require an interview time of around 1 hour per interview.
Interviews shall attempt to obtain as representative a sample/data as possible by including participants (both external interviews and FGD participants) across diverse social, economic, cultural, vocational origin as possible. The interview shall be structured and face-to-face ones and the sample of respondents need to be interviewed and re-interviewed in course of a semi-longitudinal study, as time constraints may permit research. All interviews in which the respondents are not forthcoming with direct answers to given questions, a probe needs to help obtain the acceptable responses from them.
Focus Group Discussion
A focus group comprising essentially of ethnic Chinese needs to be selected and interviewed as a collective group or community in a quite and ideal location where, with a note-taker, the moderator would be able to pilot research related questions and record the same in a tape recorder or audio-visual recording devices A sample size of say 12 participants from diverse age groups, economic status and vocations need to be assembled so as to provide as representative a sample as is possible. Time taken for the FGD would be around 2 hours with two separate sessions with sufficient break in between The group members could be successfully sourced from any one or more of the following associations in Penang:
Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC)
Penang Chingay Association
Malaysia Chinese Association
Chinese Penang Association
Chinese Town Hall
The Teong Guan Association
As operational staff involved in daily functions in the bank, front line staff provide customer services, market bank’s products and attend to customer issues They could provide valuable feedback on customer requirements, issues relating to services, customer feedback on charge cards, etc which could substantially influence research outcomes The interview needs to be well designed led by a well prepared, qualified researcher and an assistant, lasting for around 1 hour for each session and is to be scheduled so as to include all staff across hierarchy, or may be based on a sample size of 10-12.
Reporting
A report is to be prepared based on the research, summarizing it, deriving an objective and analytical conclusion, and mentioning the outcomes and implications that need to be factored into future market strategy for improving sales of Amex charge cards to ethnic Chinese in Penang-the key objective of the research. The report may be written and few copies made. However, as most corporates now require, a power Point presentation is also to be made that can be shown to key stakeholders of the Bank.
Accuracy
The research is qualitative and its objective is to determine as yet unknown factors that determine charge card sales to ethnic Chinese community in Penang. It necessitates no hypothesis to be tested or any analysis of research data to be made for arriving at measurable and quantitative outcomes. The research shall only attempt to examine previous or existing data sources relating to the issues under research and help identify the broader determinants of consumer choice that impact consumer preferences in the close charge card market in Penang by considering a particular community and provide a basis for formulating strategic marketing plans for improving market share to that community. The research outcome is only limited as to its reliability and integrity by the researcher’s own bias, if any and only needs an objective and unbiased attitude to be maintained throughout.
Resources
A specialist person well qualified and equipped to act as Moderator for interviews and focus group discussions: £750
Expenses for Focus Group Discussions @ £40 per head for 12 persons: £480
Room and audio-visual equipment hiring and refreshments for FGD: £400
Cost of printed questionnaires and reports: £70
Total Expenses approximated: £1,700
Staffing
2 persons would be deputed to conduct the interviews and FGD, take notes, record audio-visual information and write their observations in detail later on. They would also interact regularly with management of Amex, Penang to ensure that the quality, ethics, integrity and research methods adopted are of high standards and are as per client specifications. On completion of the project, a final reports would be made and presented by the deputed persons
Ethics
The entire research shall be conducted as per the Code of Professional Conduct outlined by the market Research Society, UK and personal data access and storage shall be within the provisions of the Data Protection Act, 2001 It shall be ensured that the information obtained from participants shall be through informed consent, maintain confidentiality of research results and information derived, honour right to privacy of the participants among other issues.
Timetable
When an approval for the research is granted, work shall be commenced. The design of the interviews and FGD shall begin on the 3rd Nov 2008 and the final report will be presented in the last week of Dec 2008 ending on the 31st at the most. The plan is thus to complete the entire project within a total timeline of 8 weeks.
Quality Issues
The individual in charge of the research project is a marketing professional with in-depth experience in the banking and finance sectors and has prepared various other reports relating to the card industry. His resume and list of clients serviced are available for perusal if requested. The assistant has been with the university since 2006 and both are members of the market Research Society and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Their qualifications and experience in the field is extensive and they shall strive to execute the project by following all ethical and quality issues professionally and in client’s best interests.
Terms of Proposal
20% payable as and when the contract is awarded.
30% payable at the start of the project.
50% on completing project and on submission of final report to the client.
Critical Commentary of the Market Research Proposal for American Express Malaysia
The document critically examines the research proposal for American Express Malaysia to be undertaken for identifying factors responsible for decline in sales of American Express Charge Cards to a captive ethnic Chinese community in Penang, Malaysia. It tries to discern the relevance of the rationale behind the proposal, examines the objectives, research methodology to be adopted and the pros and cons of adopting such methodology in the instant case.
According to Sekaran, U. (1992, p. 4), research is a ‘systematic and organized effort to investigate a specific problem that needs a solution’. Kotler, P. (2000, p.103) states that ‘Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company’. White states that a proposal is a ‘sophisticated advertisement of approaches and abilities’ (1997, p. 218)The proposal under study considers a research that combines the above stated characteristics of a research related to a marketing problem in an organization American Express and further clearly outlines a scientific and qualitative methodology to be adopted. It tries to attract a sponsor for the research and states the problem simply and effectively.
In so far as the effectiveness of a proposal is concerned, it needs to have a clearly defined objective. As Easterby-Smith et al (1991) have stated: “Most organizations will only see research as valid if it is seen to lead to practical outcomes’. The practical outcomes and qualitative or quantitative results are based on a clearly defined objective and a well executed research design based upon sound research principles, methods and practices. It is desirable of research to produce concrete statistical outcomes that can stand the test of reliability, accuracy, validity, quality, etc. The specific research objective, research environment, type of research data required and nature of the participants do influence the research outcomes.
Kerlinger (1986) points out, that ‘the most satisfying and usable relationships are those that can be generalized, that is, applied from the specific instance of the research findings to many phenomena and to many people’. In the instant case, where a particular problem is to be researched upon, the research methods do appear to indicate this underlying generalization, so much a nature of theories and principles. In this respect, also, the proposal under study does follow along well tread research paths and attempts to find out and identify specific objectives which can influence future course of more generalized marketing strategies that American Express may adopt in sales of charge cards or even similar products or services in a macro environment.
The scope of a research project or the rationale for selecting a particular methodology or design depends to a considerable extent on the cost of the project and how much a sponsor is willing to spare for the same, if it cannot be self-financed Costs do limit further research on initial findings of research and any research which can proceed only midway and fails because of cost considerations may best not be started at all. The resources, time and money are all wasted. Also, cost is a limiting factor not only for the completion of the research for obtaining definite results or outcomes but also in the methods that may or may not be adopted in the research.
Zigmund (2000) recommends that “a cost-benefit analysis be undertaken before starting off on a research project.” The cost budget of £2,000 is a limiting factor and needs a cost controlled research design based upon intelligent use of available resources, some free, others cheap or some more costly than others. A clearly spelt out list of proposed expenditures in the instant case denotes an objective oriented approach to achieving results through the proposed research. However, Diener and Crandall (1978), point out that the “costs and benefits of research are often both impossible to predict and difficult to measure”
The cost also constrains the choice of research methods. As Patton (1984) warns, “an inevitable trade-off will be faced between gathering as much data as possible (and then face the costs of doing so) or reducing costs, time and hence data….” The proposal under study being limited in time and cost constraints, does attempt to achieve maximum results from an intelligent use of free resources on the web. The choice of internet websites and other online resources also throws light on the preference of the researcher to choose reliable and accurate sources like American Express and government websites and this surmounts a substantial cost barrier to research.
Use of internet sources also reflects the growing trend among researchers to access readily available and cheap information sources, which may include e-books and authentic, peer reviewed online journal articles. But, as Sleeman (2002) points out, “with the growth of electronic environments such as the Internet, what is ‘unique’ and ‘published’ or ‘unpublished’ is increasingly blurred.” The research needs to exercise due care in this regard if the outcomes are to preserve its unique and stand-alone character.
Continuing along same lines, it appears that the study of Amex charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people in Penang is one of qualitative rather than a quantitative nature. It only attempts to find answers to ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ of the specific problem viz., that of decline in charge card sales to ethnic Penang Chinese population. “In so far as the study needs to determine and map the captive market’s social and cultural behaviour and attitudes towards a particular product, find out their motivations, and even evolve new marketing ideas based on the research outcomes, the research is best done by following a qualitative method” (Smith & Fischer 2001).
Willig (2001) asserts that, “qualitative researchers are interested in how people make sense of the world and how they experience events.” Also, “One of the greatest strengths of the qualitative approach is the richness and depth of explorations and descriptions and those who are not familiar with qualitative methodology may be surprised by the sheer volume of data and the detailed level of analysis that results even when research is confined to a small number of subjects” (Myers, 2002).
And again, Ragin (1994) distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative research thus: “The key features common to all qualitative methods can be seen when they are contrasted with quantitative methods. Most quantitative data techniques are data condensers. They condense data in order to see the big picture….Qualitative methods, by contrast, are best understood as data enhancers.
When data are enhanced, it is possible to see key aspects of cases more clearly” (p.3) A qualitative approach is based on cost constraints, need for discovering unknown factors behind real life phenomena as compared to a quantitative method relying on accurate measurements. The qualitative nature of the study contemplated in the case of Amex charge cards do justify the methods proposed to be adopted in this document.
The selection of research tools like the interview and focus group discussion depend on the nature and circumstances of the study. Desk research as proposed to be adopted in this document only attempt to circumvent the cost, time and resource limitations. The mode of research suggested is also quite effective in as much as it produces outcomes having reliability, validity, stability and consistency. Data sources used are both primary and secondary, although an initial secondary research is proposed which again, is a result of the cost and resource constraint. The choice of research tool is one of compromise, of weighing the options. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages and may be more suited to a particular case than another. The particular problem faced by American Express needs to determine the root cause of the issue by targeting a particular community.
The problem is that of bringing together member of a particular community, and involving them in thread-bare discussions enlightening their views on the issue and which could be profitably applied by the bank in achieving their research aims. Incidentally, Stringer (1999) also advises that “ you should ensure that the diversity of groups in a social setting are represented” The appropriate size and constitution of a given sample group from the larger target population need not be reemphasized as the correctly constituted representative group is required to be studied and the proper size/quality of data is required to be collected.
The choice of methods like interviews and focus group discussions is based on the nature of the research; it seeks to explore social and cultural issues relating to a particular group or community, the ethnic Chinese community in Penang. The captive market considered is small (Penang is a small part of Malaysia) and seeks to address problem of declining purchase of charge cards by a particular community. Thus, while phone or online interviews do not have that personal touch and are not preferable in this case, a face-to-face interview mode may be preferable here.
Arksey and Knight (1999) state: “Interviewing is a powerful way of helping people to make explicit things that have hitherto been implicit – to articulate their tacit perceptions, feelings and understandings”(p. 32) Gray, David E. (2004) also opines that “there are a number of situations in which the interview is the most logical research technique”, and that “if the objective of the research, for example, is largely exploratory, involving, say, the examination of feelings or attitudes, then interviews may be the best approach” (p. 214).
The sources of information outlined in the proposal fits this criteria of the researcher in as much as it seeks to explore Chinese socio-cultural practices and their supposed interactions with Amex charge card sales by focusing on three different groups or classes of respondents, namely the Amex staff at Penang Branch, the Chinese community frequenting well known local Chinese organizations and associations representing their values, choices, interests best among available choices of data sources, as also the focused discussions which will be facilitated by arranging to congregate and involve in face to face and detailed, focused and structured set of interview questions and focus group model developed by professional researchers well knowledgeable and trained in the field of market research. Use of audio as a recording tool is also recommended and the correct technique to derive correct outcomes of research, as has been proposed to be adopted by the proposal under study. “Audio is valuable because it can be used as a kind of talking diary that captures an entire conversation” (McNiff et al., 1996).
Ethical issues also are addressed in that, the research proposal tries to adhere to the professional code of ethics of marketing professionals and complies with the copyright acts prevalent in the UK and other places, including Malaysia. As Korac-Kakabadse et al. (2002) suggest: “one of the challenges of ethical behaviour is that it lies in a ‘grey zone’ where clear-cut dichotomies between what is right and wrong may not exist.” However, the researcher and those who avail their services do need to ensure participant safety, privacy, right to information related to research, right to freedom of speech, right to give informed consent, etc. “The ethics of research stipulate that the privacy and anonymity of participants must be respected during the research process” (American Psychology Association, 1992).
Carrigan and Kirkup (2001) suggest that “an important safety-net can be provided by ethical contracts.” This means that required effort needs to be reflected in research as also in the attitudes to research as reflected in the proposal itself to assuage any fears of risk to the participants and/or respondents. According to Willig (2001), “researchers should protect their participants from any harm or loss, and they should aim to preserve their psychological well-being and dignity at all times.” also, the research contemplated is also action oriented and necessarily so. “This kind of research is mainly carried out by the persons facing a problem or considering adopting a practice” (Krathwohl, 1998).
Analysis of the data stresses on the qualitative aspect rather than on quantitative method, as appropriate in the particular case. An answer to reasons for the decline of ethnic Chinese use of charge cards in Penang is specific to Penang, the Chinese community and the American Express company for whom the study is to be conducted. Further quantitative study on the mater may later be called for and conducted, which could help reinforce the outcomes that evolve from the research contemplated.
Reporting is also an important aspect that the proposal has focused on. The reports are professional result statements which need to convey appropriate inferences and outline the strategic direction that may need to be taken by American Express for improving the declining sales of their charge cards to the Penang ethnic Chinese population. If effective, it could base the launch of further studies and hence would be truly productive by effective use of scarce resources utilized by the research.
In a cost constrained time bound study of the kind envisaged, use must be made of the best available cheap resources and all relevant information sourced as effectively and productively as possible. Thus, in addition to individual interviews and focus group discussions, the researcher may do well to rely on already available research on the related field of study, that may be available in the market or the internet, or even in academic journals (online or printed) like approved research papers and working papers. Thus relevant research may borrow from studies by Davis (1989), Rogers (1995), Evans and Schmalensee (1999), Rochet and Tirole (2002), Chakravorti and To T (2000), Chakravorti and Shah (2001), Wright (2004) and Hayashi (2006).
Also, there is the study by Zmud (1979) and Assael (1981) who found that older people are expected to be more resistant towards new technology. Then, that by Hayashi and Klee (2003) that studied “the relationship between consumer’s choice of payment instrument and usage with the use of technology such as computers” and, though there may be many more, another study is notable: “the concept of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness” as put forth by Davis (1989), Davis et al (1992) and Rogers (1995) in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which may be useful for taking the research considered in this document in the right direction.
References
Arksey, H. and Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists. London: Sage.
Assael, H. (1981) Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Action, Kent: Boston, MA.
Carrigan, M. and Kirkup, M. (2001) ‘the ethical responsibility of marketers in retail observational research: protecting stakeholders through the ethical “research covenant”’, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 11(4): 415–35.
Chakravorti, S., and Shah, A. (2001) “A Study of Inter-related Bilateral Transactions in Credit Card Networks,” Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Policy Studies, EPS 2001-2.
Chakravorti, S., and To, T. (1999) “Toward a Theory of Merchant Credit Card Acceptance,” Working Paper Series WP: 99-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Davis, F. (1989) “Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology,” MIS Quarterly, September, 319-340.
Diener, E. and Crandall, R. (1978) Ethics in Social and Behavioural Research. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Easterby-Smith et al. (1991) Management Research: An Introduction. London: Sage.
Evaluation Research Methods: A Basic Guide, 2nd edn. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Evans, D., and Schmalensee, R. (1999) Paying with Plastic: The Digital Revolution in Buying and Borrowing, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gray, David E., (2004), Research in the Real World, London: Sage. – ISBN 0 7619 4878 3.
Hancock, D.R. and Flowers, C.P. (2001) ‘Comparing Social Desirability Responding on World Wide Web and Paper-administered Surveys’, Educational Technology Research and Development, 49(1): 5–13.
Hayashi, F. and Klee, E. (2003) “Technology Adoption and Consumer Payments: Evidence from Survey Data,” Review of Network Economics, 2: 175-190.
Kerlinger F.N. (1986) Foundations of Behavioural Research, 3rd Edn Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Korac-Kakabadse, N., Kakabadse, A. and Kouzmin, A. (2002) ‘Ethical Considerations in Management Research: a “Truth” Seeker’s Guide’, in D. Partington (ed.), Essential Skills for Management Research. London: Sage.
Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing Management, Tenth Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., p. 103.
Krathwohl, D.R. (1998), Methods of Educational and Social Science Research: an Integrated Approach, 2nd edition, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc.
McNiff, J., Lomax, P. and Whitehead, J., (1996), You and Your Action Research Project, London: Routledge.
Myers, M. (2000), Qualitative Research and the Generalizability question: Standing firm with Proteus, The Qualitative Report, Web.
Patton, M.Q. (1984) ‘Data Collection: Options, Strategies & Cautions’, in L. Rutman (Ed.).
Ragin, C. (1994), Constructing Social Research, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Rochet, J., and Tirole, J. (2002) “Cooperation among Competitors: Some Economics of Payment Card Associations,” RAND Journal of Economics, 33: 1-22.
Rogers, E.M. (1995) Diffusion of Innovations 4th Edition, N York: The Free Press.
Schreft, S. (2006) How and Why Do Consumers Choose Their Payment Methods? Research Working Papers, The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, RWP 06-04.
Sekaran, U. (1992) Research Methods for Business, 2nd Edn New York: John Wiley.
Sleeman, P. (2002) ‘Archives and statistics’, in N. Dochartaigh (ed.), The Internet Research Handbook: A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers in the Social Sciences. London: Sage.
Smith, D. V. L. & J.H. Fletcher (2001). Inside information: Making Sense of Marketing Data: Wiley, 2001. – 0471495433.
There are more than 5,000 animal shelters in the US. Pet owners obtain 23% of dogs and 31% of cats through shelters (ASPCA). These statistics show that shelters play a significant role in finding animals their homes. Fluffy is a web-based system for animal shelters that will make it easier for people to adopt pets. At the moment, there is a variety of similar applications for kennels (e.g., Revelation Pets, Pawfinity, PetLinx). These applications do not cater to the demand of customers to find pets in nearest shelters to adopt; rather, they specialize in recommending pet-care facilities and various grooming and veterinary services.
The current industry of pet shelters is suffering from extreme overcrowding, with 7.6 million animals entering the system annually in the USA (Underwood). Unfortunately, around 3 million of them are euthanized (Underwood). Because of this growing problem, Fluffy will become a unique platform that can fit in a specific industry niche and help animals to find new homes faster and with minimum risks.
Description of Target Customers
Fluffy’s target audience includes the general public looking to adopt a pet as well as the personnel of existing animal shelters around the country. This sector of consumers is conscious about their spending and takes into account the negative implications of buying a pet instead of adopting ones that are contained in shelters. According to the recent Statista data, in 2017, the total number of registered dogs in the US households was 89.7 million while the total number of cats was 94.2 million (“Number of pets in the United States in 2017/2018 (in millions)”).
This shows that pets are in high demand, which points to the possibility of the Fluffy app capturing the attention of millions of Americans and make them adopt. It is important to mention that younger generations that are more in tune with technologies are highly likely to discover the application and use it themselves or show it to their relatives.
Company Advantages
Most people find their pets “through word of mouth,” which points to the need for presenting potential customers with an application that will make it easier and quicker for them to find pets on their own (ASPCA). Therefore, the advantages of Fluffy as a product and Wuph as a company are associated with integrating technologies into such activities and finding pets. Overall, the company now has a great advantage over competitors because it offers a unique service that addresses the need for a more efficient way of finding and adopting pets from shelters.
Regulations
Animal shelter regulations vary by state, with amendments introduced each year to adjust the industry to the demand for shelters. Key requirements that shelters must follow include ensuring minimum holding periods, availability for adoption, public inspection for adoption, foster care, appropriate disposition, and viewing of lost pets. To comply with the mentioned regulations, the Fluffy app will take into account the specifics of the industry in each state and adjust the information it presents to customers.
