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Complex Situation frequency

› Pricing problems Dramatic changes

› Sudden fall in the sales How widespread are the symptoms?

› Situations with multiple symptoms/widespread symptoms

Symptom ambiguity› Decreased turnover/lower job satisfaction

An automobile company may exhibit symptoms such as increasing complaints about car handling, increased warranty costs, higher labor costs, lower performance rating, etc› Production as problem area

Mileage problems, unpleasant environment, car appearance, etc› Widespread symptoms

Situation analysis

Identify the symptoms

Write managerial decision statements

Determine the unit of analysis

Determine relevant variables

Write research questions

Situation analysis






Gathering of background information Gaining awareness of the market place

conditions Some exploratory research to be

conducted Interviews with key people

Situation analysis






Interviews with key decision makers Once symptoms are identified, the

researcher must probe to identify possible causes of these changes

Probing is a technique that draws deeper explanations from the discussion

To know, ‘What has changed?” Identify potential causes of change

› Changes in documents, financial statements, etc

› Changes can be identified by tracking news about competitors and customers

Eg A firm has a problem with advertising

effectiveness, the possible causes may be› low brand awareness› wrong brand image› use of wrong media › too small budget

Situation analysis






Decision statements capture the objectives in a way that invites multiple solutions

Decision statements may be translated into research objectives

Researcher should visualise what will need to be measured and what type of study will be needed

Note: Each research objective states a potential result

To determine how committed customers are to the restaurant

To determine how frequently the customers visit one restaurant relative to the competition

To find out the profile of customers that spend significantly more than average each time they visit the restaurant

A research study will be conducted that › Shows how much each of several key

variables relates to customer commitment and patronage frequency

› Provides a description of the type of customer that spends most of the money

Situation analysis






The unit of analysis of a study indicates what or who should provide the data and at what levels of aggregation

Researchers specify whether an investigation will collect data about individuals, households, organizations, departments, geographical areas or objects

In studies of home buying , husband wife is the unit of analysis rather than individual because most purchase decisions are made jointly by them.

Situation analysis






What is a Variable? A variable is anything that changes

from one instance to another. Variables exhibit differences in value, in

magnitude, strength, direction, etc In research, variable is either observed

or manipulated.

What is a constant? It is converse of variable It is something that does not change Constants are not useful in addressing

research questions Since constants don’t change,

management is not very interested in them

It is important in Causal research

Continuous Categorical Dependant Independent

It can take on a range of values in numbers

Eg: Consumer attitude towards different Airlines is a variable that would generally be captured by numbers, higher numbers indicating more positive attitude. Each attribute of services like seats, food, safety, etc can be scored in this way

It is one that indicates membership in some group

Eg: People may be categorised as Male or Female.

It is an outcome that is predicted or explained by other variables

It is expected to influence the dependant variable in some way.

Eg: Average customer loyalty may be a

dependant variable that is influenced by independent variables like food quality, service quality, ambience, etc

Situation analysis





Write research questions/ objectives

At the end of problem definition stage, the researcher should prepare a written statement that clarifies any ambiguity about what the research hopes to accomplish.

“Are consumer perceptions of food quality, price and atmosphere related to customer loyalty?”

The idea that the dangerous part of many business problems is neither visible nor understood by managers

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Situation analysis - The informal gathering of background information to familiarize researchers or managers with the decision area.

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Symptoms can be confusing

Problem DefinitionOrganization Symptoms Based on Symptom True Problem

Twenty-year-old neighborhood swimming association in a major city.

Membership has been declining for years. New water park with wave pool and water slides moved into town a few years ago.

Neighborhood residents prefer the expensive water park and have negative image of swimming pool.

Demographic changes: Children in this 20-year-old neighborhood have grown up. Older residents no longer swim anywhere.

TOTIEMULESTO

TOTIEMULESTO

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Individuals, households, organizations, etc.

In many studies, the family rather than the individual is the appropriate unit of analysis.

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Anything that may assume different numerical values

Categorical Continuous Dependent Independent

An unproven proposition A possible solution to a problem Guess

Small budget affects advertising effectivity.

Use of wrong media affects advertising effectivity.

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Documents

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