Transcript Class 1 Slides

Research Driven Decision
Making (MBA 8652)
Jeremy Kees, Ph.D.
Tonight’s Agenda
1. Review Course Structure /
Expectations
2. Get to know each other
3. Introduction to Research
4. Start forming “teams”
Who is Jeremy Kees??
My (Academic) Research
• I am consumer researcher
– research focus on consumer behavior
• I am interested in public policy / social
marketing issues
– e.g., nutrition, obesity, tobacco, pharma
• I have authored 25+ articles in peerreviewed academic journals
– invited research talks in various countries
around the word
– lots of “popular press” mentions (NBC Today
Show, NPR, USA Today, etc)
My (Practitioner) Research
• Pharma
– Spent a semester as a Special Government Employee for FDA
– Sit on the FDA Risk Communications Advisory Committee
– Consult for major pharma firms around risk communication
and fair balance
• Food/Nutrition
– Work closely with FDA on nutrition-labeling initiatives
– Consult for Grocery Manufactures Association and Food
Marketing Institute on food labeling initiatives
• Advertising
– Consult for Saatchi & Saatchi and other major ad agencies
– Animal Health
Course Overview
• Application Focused
– Focus on “non-technical” research
topics
– Real examples
– Experienced guest speakers
– No “text”
– Project-focused weekly assignments
• Exam
General Course Outline
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The Research Process
Problem Identification
Study Design
Measurement
Sampling
Data Collection
No data analysis
Classroom Environment
• Come prepared!
• Speak freely
• Bring your experiences
• Please….no cell phones
Let’s get to know each other...
1. Your name
2. What you do
3. One thing you like about the Villanova
MBA Program
4. One thing you dislike about the
Villanova MBA Program
5. Something you have done that nobody
else in this room has done
Break time….
• Over break, think about 2-3 other people
you might want to work with over the
next few weeks
– Perhaps people that work in a similar industry
– Or people that have a similar background
So, let’s get started with some
basic content….
The purpose of research within an
organizational context is….
__________________
Research to make Business /
Marketing Decisions
• Marketing research focuses on the use of
information as a source of strategic
advantage
• As managers, we should strive for a
thorough knowledge of customers, and
their attitudes, tastes, preferences
• We should also want to keep an eye on
competition (e.g., benchmarking)
• This information will help us making
strategic marketing decisions (e.g., 4 P’s)
Research to Influence Public Policy /
Regulations
• Federal agencies make laws / regulations
that can have major impact on industries
and organizations
– Front-of-package nutrition disclosures
– Advisories on fish consumption
– Graphic warnings on tobacco packages/ads
• Industry groups use research to lobby for
favorable laws /regulations
– Very challenging….why?
Let’s examine what marketing
research is…
1. Managerial Function
2. It is the marketer’s (or firm’s) link to:
1. The External Environment
2. Customers
3. Consumers
3. Contributes to Marketing Knowledge
Who Uses Marketing Research?
• Fortune-500 Firms
– e.g., product tweeks, shelf location,
IMC campaigns, determining price
points
• Entrepreneurs
– e.g., Market size, growth potential,
viability
• And everyone in-between…
Research Can Tell Us….
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How our customer service is perceived by our customers and what
particular areas we can improve on or emphasize
How customers shop and how we can adjust our atmospherics to
maximize sales
What new products or new product features do customers want
How customers perceive us in relation to our key competitor (or do they
even recognize us as a key player in the industry)
Who our most loyal customers are and how do we cater to this important
segment (CRM)
Who our prototypical customer is
How can we segment the market in more manageable groups
What marketing communications are most effective at reaching various
segments of the market
What is going to be the demand for a new product or an existing product
in a new market
Where should we build our next retail location
At what price point we can maximize profitability and maintain consumer
demand
Which media vehicles will be most effective to communicate our
advertising message
Etc.
Project vs. Process Approach
• Process Approach
– “Ongoing” Research
• Marketing Information Systems (MIS)
• Decision Support Systems (DSS)
– Based on the premise of collecting as
much data as possible and building
decision models that help us achieve
optimal decisions
Project vs. Process Approach
• Project Approach
– Our perspective for this course
– Unique problems require unique
designs, measures, samples, analyses,
etc.
– Each component is separate, but all
components are highly interrelated
Research Projects as Starting
rather than Ending Points
• More often than not, a project
reveals more questions than answers
• Research is an iterative process; each
project contributes to knowledge
(hopefully)
Research Projects as Starting
rather than Ending Points
• MOST research is exploratory in
nature
– Secondary sources; informal
observations, personal interviews, and
focus groups; convenience samples,
etc.
– Output of exploratory research is ____?
Research Projects as Starting
rather than Ending Points
• Once exploratory research has been
exhausted and relationships are
hypothesized, then we can move
onto descriptive or causal designs
– Much more structured—must lay out
the who, what, when, where, why
before data collection begins
Stages
in the
Research
Process
(Researchers
Perspective)
Formulate Problem
Determine Research Design
Design Data Collection
Method and Forms
Design Sample and Collect Data
Analyze and Interpret the Data
Prepare the Research Report