1. MBE Research Module 5

2. Week 1234567891011 Prepare for Kick-off Meeting Assign teams Team forming Review and execute consulting contract Interview and research business Draft, revise and execute team contact Draft and revise project management plan Start secondary research Draft and revise business case statement Analyze and organize secondary research Plan, draft and test primary research Conduct primary research Analyze and organize primary research Draft and revise preliminary recommendations Draft final report Draft, revise, rehearse presentation Revise final report DUE Consulting Contract Team Contract Project Manage- ment Plan Business Case Statement including SWOT analysis Primary Research Instrument Prelimin- ary Recom- mend- ations Draft report Final Present- ation Final Report

4. MBE Research requires more categories of data gathering CustomersThe FirmThe Market Demographic Age, ethnicity, education, household size, gender, income Financial Growth rates, financial characteristics, business model Economic Conditions Local employment, economic growth, housing starts Geographic Region, state, community Competitors Branding, positioning, merchandising, locations, advertising, product offerings, pricing, size and resources of competitors Industry Trends Sector growth, industry dynamics Socio- economic/psychographic Lower-, middle- or upper-class Experience Human capital, owner’s capabilities, successes Regulations Federal, state and local regulations Cultural Religious traditions, ethnic customs, music preferences, artistic sensibilities Managerial Benchmarking, or other performance measures; elements of strategy Socio-cultural Issues Official observance of community celebrations, ethnic holidays

5. Secondary Research Allow for plenty of time Consult with the librarian Apply CARS to your research

6. Common Research Using American Factfinder to do queries by zip code www.census.govwww.census.gov Finding out about competitors using ReferenceUSA Doing industry analysis

7. Primary Research Do secondary research first Refine the purpose Who is to be surveyed? What do you need to know?

8. The Survey Type of survey Formulating the questions Ordering the questions Pretest the survey Evaluate the research process

9. Typical Questions Asked on Student Projects How does the customer get information about the client? What attracts the customer to the client? What is the customer’s reasons for using the product or service? What product or service features are desired? What does the customer like about the client? What competitive products are used and how much? How does the business compare to competitors? Why does the customer prefer the competitor over the client? What factors are important in making the buy decision? What price is the customer willing to pay for various attributes? What mode of communication or marketing does the customer prefer? What is the optimal timing and frequency of marketing promotions? What is the level of customer satisfaction with key attributes of the client? What improvements the customer would like to see? What are customer characteristics such as age, gender, income, or frequency of purchase? What incentives will motivate sales staff? How can relationships, processes, or pricing with suppliers be improved ?

10. Qualitative Research METHODBENEFITSLIMITATIONS Focus Groups: Usually a group of 8- 10 people who are led by a moderator in a discussion of a specific topic. Provides information (opinions, experiences, etc.) to understand what people want, like and how they respond to new ideas and products. Subjective and judgmental; difficult to put in numbers; relatively expensive to administer, record and complete. In-Depth Interviews: Long, probing individual interview without the use of a formal questionnaire. Designed to uncover motivations or reasons behind behavior, attitudes and perceptions. Data based on thoughts of a single individual; heavily reliant on the meaning given by the interviewer. Ethnographic Studies: Participant- observer exchanges that reveal insights into the psycho- social and cultural aspects of behavior. Uncovers the lived expressions and meanings that explain behavior in defined cultural contexts groups, and institutional arrangements. Can be important in understanding the cultural context of a multicultural market. May require considerable academic and technological resources (understanding of ethnography, videography) to use effectively. Observational Studies: Obtaining information by observing and recording behavior. Captures behavior as it occurs in the moment. Insights limited to what can be observed; description that requires attribution and explanation. Mystery Shopping Procedures: Interviewer simulates buying or other transactions in a store. Provides detailed evaluations of actual performance and shopping satisfaction Heavily reliant on interviewer recall from the interview experience

11. Steps to take: Conduct secondary research first. Typical research instruments may be available or trade associations may have done research already. Conduct preliminary research. If the survey involves customers, find a few customers to ask exploratory questions of. If the primary research involves businesses, ask the client to recommend some representative businesses to speak to. The goal is to understand as completely as possible the issues that are to be studied, therefore, it is more helpful to ask open-ended questions. Ensure that respondents are available. Pretest any customer lists to see if they are viable. Create a research instrument and review it with mentors and faculty. Specify the objective each question is addressing. Revise the instrument based on feedback. Pretest the instrument on a few typical respondents. Revise the instrument based on observations and feedback. Submit the instrument to faculty for final approval. Include a description of what the sample will consist of and how the respondents will be selected. Administer the instrument.

12. All teams to have survey to pretest next class