Budgeting

Budgeting, Scheduling & Research Proposal

Budgeting the research project

•budget is a portion of your overall marketing budget

•popularly allocate a small percentage of gross sales for the most recent year. This usually amounts to about 2% for an existing business.

•planning on launching a new product or business, budget figure may be as much as 10% of expected gross sales

Where to Begin?

•Define what you need to know.

•Define whom you need the information from.

•Ask yourself, does anyone else have the information? Is the information available from another source?

•What would be the best way to get information from the target group?

Look Internally First

• Has anyone else captured this information before?

• Are there any existing databases that provide the information?

• Are there any existing data collection procedures that could be amended? Internal Data Collection Options

• Internal surveys or interviews with employees

• Talk to "front line" employees to hear what your customers are saying.

• Have your employees distribute surveys to customers — BUT Beware of bias

• Be your own "mystery shopper"

• professional whose identity is not known

• visits stores in search of information to assist companies in their marketing efforts

• report back

Secondary Research

•Look to other similar companies/ organizations. What have they done? Do they have any information that would apply to you?

•Census Data

•Industry Organizations

•Internet

Low Cost Options

•Local or Regional Studies

•Check out your local University Marketing Research Department

•Go to places where your target market congregates

•Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVR)

Sometimes you just have to spend a lot

•Partner with other entities that would benefit from getting the same information from the same populations.

•Be efficient in your questionnaire design — separate what you WANT to know from what you NEED to know.

•Get competitive bids, but remember, cheaper is not always better.

Things to Remember

•Many times there are untapped resources at your fingertips

•Be willing to invest when its time to spend the money. Bad research is worse than no research

•Find a research partner you can trust

Scheduling the research project

•Setting the project start date

•Setting the project completion date

•Selecting the project methodology or project life cycle to be used

•Determining the scope of the project in terms of the phases of the selected project methodology or project life cycle

•Identifying or selecting the project review methods to be used

•Identifying any predetermined interim milestone or other critical dates which must be met.

•Listing tasks, by project phase, in the order in which they might be accomplished.

•Estimating the personnel necessary to accomplish each task

•Estimating the personnel available to accomplish each task

•Determining skill level necessary to perform each task

•Determining task dependencies- Which tasks can be done in parallel- Which tasks require the completion of other tasks before they can start

•Project control or review points

•Performing project cost estimation and cost-benefit analysis

Gantt chart consists of a horizontal bar for each task connecting the period start and period ending columns

Month Oct, 05

Nov, 05 Dec, 05 Jan, 06

Week 5 1 2 3, 4 5 1, 2 3 4 5 1

Activity

Formation of groups + deciding the project + submission of names + submission of hypothetical perceptual map

FGD

Draft of questionnaire 1 based on FGD findings – to be shown to the instructor

Survey based on questionnaire 1

PCA results and draft of questionnaire 2 based on– to be shown to the instructor

Survey based on questionnaire 2

MDA results – Perceptual Map - brief presentation in class – viva voce

• It is a specific document that serves as a written contract between the decision maker and the researcher

• It communicates to the decision maker the overall research framework including the important activities that would be under-taken and the expenses that are likely to be incurred

• Proposals are often used to make a choice among competing suppliers

• Proposals are also used to influence positively the decision to oppose research

• The final research report may deviate from the research proposal

• There is no one acceptable way of writing the research proposal

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

General outline of a Research Proposal

•Tittle of the Research Proposal

•Purpose of the Proposed Research Project •Type of Study •Definition of the target population and sample Size •Sample Design, Technique, and data Collection Method •Specific Research Instruments •Potential Managerial Benefits of the Proposed Study

•Proposed Cost Structure for the Total Project

•Profile of the Researcher and Company

•Optional Dummy Tables of the Projected Results

Example

1) Title

The JP Hotel Preferred Guest Card Information Research Proposal

2) Purpose of the Proposed Research Topic

To collect specific attitudinal, behavioural, motivational and general demographic information to be used in addressing several key questions jointly posed by management of Louis Benito Advertis-ing and W.B.Johnson Properties, Inc., concerning the J P Hotel PGC, a newly implemented marketing strategy within J P Hotel’s overall marketing programme.

The key questions are:

• To what extent is PGC being used by card holders?

• How do card holders evaluate the card on the basis of the specific privileges associated with it?

• What are the perceived benefits and weaknesses of the card? Why?

• To what extend does PGC serve as an important factor in select-ing a hotel?

• How often do the card holders use their PGC?

• When do the card holders use the card?

• Of those who have used the card what privileges have been used?

• How often were the privileges used?

• What general or specific improvements should be made regard-ing card or the specific extended privileges?

• How do the card holders obtain the card?

• Should the PGC membership be complementary or should card holders pay an annual fee?

• If latter, how much should it be? How much is the card holder willing to pay?

• What is the demographic profile of the card holders?

3) Type of Study

• The research should be structured, non-disguised, descriptive, exploratory, explanatory

• descriptive - questions identifying perceptual awareness, attitude and image pattern of JP Hotel PGC; demographic profiles of current card holders

• exploratory - investigation of possible improvements to the card , its present privileges and the price structure considerations

• explanatory - perceived benefits and weaknesses of the present features of the card

4) (a) Target Population

are current cardholders of the PGC

Adults who Population frame is approximately 17,000 individuals located across the USA

(b) Sample size

Statistically: 384

Realistically: 1,500

• assessment of likely response rate that could be expected by using current methodological and control factors in the sampling and questionnaire designs

• predetermined level of precision of not more than ± 5% sampling error

• desired level confidence level of 95%

• general administrative costs and trade-offs

• desirability of having a prespecified minimum number of randomly selected cardholders included in the analyses

5) (a) Sample Design

(b) Sampling Technique - probabilistic random sampling

(c) Data Collection Method -

~ Direct-mail survey

~ specifically tailored self-administered questionnaire

~ + a carefully designed cover letter that explains the generalities of the research and inducements for respondent participation

6) Questionnaire

7) Potential Managerial Benefits of the Proposed Study

Data and information gathered from the research would provide JPHotel with meaningful and useful insights toward:

• Better understanding what type of people hold and use PGC

• The extent of usage of the PGC

• Identifying specific feature problems that could serve as indicators for evaluating (and possibly modifying) current marketing and management strategies, policies or tactics pertaining to PGC and its privileges

• Identifying specific insights concerning the promotion and distribution of PGC to expanded marketable segments

The proposed research project would functionally serve:

• To initiate a customer-oriented database and collection system to assist JPHotel’s better understanding its customers’ needs and wants

• Database thus created would prove vital for the firm’s promotional strategies

• Database would be important for future pricing and service selection

Source Cost ($)

DevelopmentTypingPretest

Reproduction (1,500)

Questionnaire,CoverLetter Design and

ReproductionEnvelopes (3,000)

2,800

Sample Design andPlan

1,620

Coding, setting of final codesData Entry

Table DevelopmentComputer Programming

Coding and PredataAnalysis

Computer Time

4,000

Questionnaire PacketAssembly

Postage,P.O. Box Rental

Administration andData Collection

Address Labels

3,840

Data Analysis,Interpretation

6,500

Written Report,Presentation

2,850

Total Proposed Research Project 21,610

8) Proposed Cost Structure for the Total Research Project

9) Principal Researcher’s Profile

• Name and other details of the Research Organisation

• Name, academic and experience profile of the Research Project Leader

10) Dummy Table of Data Results

Summary of ocerall Importance Differences of Selected Hotel-Choice Criteria used by First-Time and Repeat Business Patrons

Importance Scale: A 6-point scale from 6 (“extremely important”) to

1 (“not at all important”)

SG: Significant groupings

(A): “Definitely strong factor” (C): “Moderately strong factor”

(B): “Strong factor” (D): “Weak factor”

TOTAL(N=880)

FIRST-TIMEPATRON(N=440)

REPEAT PATRON(N=440)

SELECTIONCRITERIA

Mean (SG) Mean SE (SG) Mean SE (SG) ZTEST

Cleanliness 5.65 (A) 5.75 .06 (A) 5.50 .05 (A) *

Qualitybedding etc.

5.60 (A) 5.55 .06 (A) 5.62 .07 (A)

Guest CardOptions

5.57 (A) 5.42 .07 (A) 5.71 .06 (A) *

Friendly Staff 5.10 (B) 4.85 .09 (B) 5.45 .07 (B) *

Free VIPServices

5.06 (B) 4.35 .10 (B) 5.38 .11 (B) *

ConvenientLocation

5.04 (B) 5.25 .09 (B) 4.92 .10 (B) *

In-roomentertainment

3.63 (D) 3.30 .13 (D) 4.56 .11 (C) *

* Mean importance difference between the two patron groups is significant at p< 0.5

Systematic, Logical, Empirical, Replicable

• Purpose of research should be absolutely devoid of ambiguity.

• Steps in the research process should be described and explained in sufficient detail to enable another researcher to conduct a similar research.

• The research process should be sufficiently clear and lucid, so that another researcher can take up the research at any stage.

•The qualitative and quantitative methodologies, tools and techniques should be as objective as possible to ensure objective and unbiased results.

• Researcher should have sound knowledge of any theoretical and practical aspect related to the research.

• Personnel involved in every stage of the research process should be well trained and well versed in his task.

Criteria of a Good Research

• Conclusions drawn from the research should not be confined to those derived from the data used in the research.

• Researcher should be able to detect any fallacy in the research process.

• Researcher should report candidly about his research findings – whether favourable or otherwise.

Sometimes research is used to validate an already existing idea or notion – more often a person’s personal opinion.

• Data are collected, analysed and interpreted in a distorted manner to deliberately prove or disprove certain ideas.

•The process of research is deliberately delayed in order to delay decision making.

•The business problem and research problem is purposely made ambiguous and complex to bring forth confusion.

Misuse of Research

Management of Scotty’s Inc., a popular hardware dealer wanted to know about the overall image among known customers within the Atlanta metropolitan market. The initial question was “What marketing strategies need to be either developed or modified to increase satisfaction among our current and future segments?”

It thus became imperative to know if the present ‘satisfaction level’ of Scotty’s among its customers.

The logic was simple - if the ‘satisfaction level’ which was 3.9 the previous year, shows any improvement this year, then Scotty’s would adopt the same marketing strategies as it done for the last few months!

• A research may be so fragmentary in nature, that it becomes difficult to have an overall and focused perspective in which it is to studied.

• Research might be too superficial and artificial to reflect the true problem it is intended to analyse.

• Research results and findings may have no practical implications.

• Suggestions and recommendations given by the research is too expensive for implementation.

• Absence or inadequacy of communication between the researcher and his client may lead to misunderstanding the correct problem.

• Research often deals with ambiguous and unfathomable factors which can not be measured.

• Analytical tools of research are still not sufficient enough and hence cannot give us clear and precise idea (especially on psychological aspects) of the true situation.

Limitations of Research

• Personnel conducting and analysing the research tend to take a casual view towards research.

• Sometimes they are not be competent or skilled enough to conduct a research.

• An on-going research may trigger off ideas in the minds of competitors, and thus create unwanted opportunities for the latter.

• Internal or external policies is a hurdle to the management to act on the results.

• Bickering and under-currents of discordance hamper the acceptance of the suggestions and recommendations given by the research. .

•Sincerity and integrity should be the fundamental characteristics of a researcher.

•During the phase of data collection, the persons engaged in doing so should exhibit responsible conduct.

•Respondents and informers should be treated cordially with due respect and nothing should be said or done so as to offend.

•Proper and adequate payments / remunerations / honorarium must be given to respondents if such a rule exists.

•Although in reality the researcher has to encounter several inevitable and unavoidable circumstances during the research process, every effort should be made to avoid bias, unfairness and subjectivity.

•Rules, regulations, copy-rights and other similar protocols must be respected and adhered to. Violations of such may lead to undesired legal complications.

Ethics in Research

•The problem is too diverse to set up a formal plan for solving it.

• The problem itself is a mammoth compilation of enumerable micro problems - in such situations it is sometimes recommended that the micro problems be solved at their own levels – a formal structured plan may not be required.

• Relevant and pertinent information about the problem is already available.

• A similar research has been conducted and the results tried and tested.

• The time required for arriving at a solution may be grossly insufficient.

• The resources needed for information is inadequate.

• The cost of information exceeds the value of information.

Situations in which Research might not be needed