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 peer-reviewed 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

• 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….

• 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 theResearch Process(ResearchersPerspective)

Determine Research Design

Analyze and Interpret the Data

Design Sample and Collect Data

Formulate Problem

Design Data Collection Method and Forms

Prepare the Research Report