Case Studies

General Instructions

• Start with an outline of the case, defining the problem or opportunity.

• Answer the questions given, based on theory. Make sure to make it relevant to the given case.

• Feel free to use relevant concepts that may not be given in the hints.

• Give a conclusion and summary at the end, outlining the solution.

Uses/Benefits of Business ResearchThe following points may be used for most case studies:

Uses/Benefits of Business Research

• Identify potential market, opportunities and threats

• Understand existing and potential customers and their needs

• Helps in new product development, branding marketing, advertising, distribution, pricing and promotion.

• Explore the market for opportunities and test new products

• Helps in decision making and reduces risks

• Helps forecast future trends

• Set targets for business and form strategic alliances

• Develop new, effective strategies

• Understand causes of problems and potential problems

• Understand the competition

1. WBRU

1. Outline how WBRU caters to the needs of variety of individuals and explain the type of information it requires to stay ahead of its competitors.

2. Q 1: Yes, it does require research information like, the age distribution of the listeners, the time in which they tune in, the relationship between the demographic aspects and choice of the genre, etc.

Explain the importance of research in any business, especially ones like WBRU which caters to a diverse group of customers and requires up to date knowledge about latest trends.

3. Q 2: The type of research required here would be descriptive research. Explain what a descriptive research is, and its relevance to this case.

4. Conclusion: Outline the problem/opportunity and explain how business research can help provide information to stay ahead of competitors.

1. WBRU - Hints

2. Ben & Jerry’s

1. Ben & Jerry’s is a type of company that likes to explore new products and launches them after ensuring that it produces authentic, flawless products.

2. They need information on customer preferences, needs and wants. Though it’s an established brand, to stay ahead of its competitors, they must churn out new products while maintaining its quality and brand name.

3. There are plenty of benefits of thorough and comprehensive market research to a company like Ben & Jerry’s. At first glance it helps the company understand what their target audience is looking for – but it can go so much further than that. It can help to establish how they communicate with potential customers, it can help identify new opportunities in the marketplace, and it can also minimize the risk of any potential product launch. Businesses can measure their reputation using market research, as well as identifying any problems with their service, branding, packaging, website or other influential feature of the product. Planning ahead is crucial in today’s unpredictable markets, and market research can help with that too, as well as providing useful insight into future trends and the direction a market might be heading in. Effective market research helps keep their nose ahead of competitors – crucial in today’s saturated markets.

4. Explain how research helps in branding

5. Conclusion

Read the ‘Nivea Market Research Case’ to know more about the role of research in new product launch.

2. Ben & Jerry’s - Hints

3. Fossil – A Watch for Every Wrist

1. Give an outline of the case, possibly including the following paragraph:

The world we live in throws up many images from the past, that bring memories and tell everlasting stories that remain etched in our memory. Every successful brand has a story that will revive in the future, evoking senses that lie dormant in the deep. The brand that can tap into these insoluble puzzles offers lasting engagement and meaningful connection that can persist through the decade. Thus, it is significant for a brand to consider its retro image for marketing.

Write the opportunities and threats involved in marketing retro brands.

2. Q1: Yes it does. Explain what BR (Business Research) can do – like, helping the firm understand market trends, demographics of the market, their tastes, preferences, etc.

3. Q 2: When a company markets through distribution channels, the information required are related to the market alone, whereas the information required when it markets through its own channel requires background knowledge of labor availability, distribution cost, promotion cost, etc. in addition to the knowledge about the product.

4. Q 3:Ways in which BR helps determine the best product to sell:

Answer: Write a few benefits of marketing/business research.

5. Q 4: Explain what kind of information can be provided by BR to those considering purchase of retro watches.

6. Conclusion: Give a summary and conclusion like: True retro revival is never over. This refashioning and revaluing, if successful, continues just as the gift continues to circulate—ever added to, never put down for very long. It may stop and rest, but it is ever subject to rediscovery. In our contemporary culture, the main source of energy and invention is in the past. And, in the moment of rediscovery itself, there is value.

3. Fossil – A Watch for Every Wrist

4. IBM’s ERP

1. Please read the case and give your answer

4. IBM’s ERP

5. Up John’s Rogaine

6. Trading Cards Focus Group

7. V8

1. Give an outline of the case, highlighting the SWOT of V8

2. Q1: Research objectives:a. To understand the reason for drop in sales

b. To establish the causal relationship between lack of awareness and drop in sales

c. To understand the perceived effectiveness of the product among the customers

d. To know if the customer expectations are met

e. To study the existing competition and find out its role in reduced sales

f. To study the relationship between price, quality, competition, substitution, (etc.), and drop in sales

g. Add more…

3. Q 2: The company will require a causal study to establish the causes

leading to the drop in sales. (describe descriptive study)

4. Conclusion: Give a summary and conclusion. When a company reaches

the top, some chinks may go unnoticed and if left without attention, they

may cause the doom of the company. This could well be the case with V8.

They must undertake the causal study to understand the causes leading to

drop in sales and implement the recommendations backed up by the

findings.

7. V8

8. The Census Bureau: Census 2000

1. Give an outline of the case

2. Q 1: The purposes of census:

a. Provide the facts essential to government for policy-making, planning and administration.

b. Decision-making that facilitates the development of socio-economic policies -enhance the welfare of the population.

c. Provides important data for the analysis and appraisal of the changing patterns of rural/urban movement and concentration, the development of urbanized areas, geographical distribution of the population according to such variables as occupation and education, as well as the socio-economic characteristics of the population and the labor force.

d. Aids in the decision-making processes of the private sector. Population size and characteristics influence the location of businesses and services that satisfy the needs of the target population.

e. Population censuses also constitute the principal source of records for use as a sampling frame for the household surveys during the years between censuses.

3. Q 2: Enumeration of a sector of a population in a census at a lower figure than the actual figure is called population undercount. This may lead to some serious consequences in policy framing and budgeting. (Give more details)

4. Q 3: Awareness campaigns, celebrity endorsement, participation of non-profit organizations, census advertisements and TV commercials, partnership with leading companies, providing support and communications through schools and public entities, newsletters, etc. this must be done through geographic stratification such that it reaches every home.

5. Conclusion

8. The Census Bureau: Census 2000

9. Burke Inc.

1. Give an outline of the case, highlighting the contribution of specialized research firms.

2. Since marketing research firms have the expertise, taking their expertise can help organizations save time, cost and energy. There are 4 types of market research firms:a. Syndicated MR firmb. Custom MR firmc. Specialty MR firmd. Online MR firm

Based on the information need of the firm, they may choose a research firm.

3. Q1: Survey Research Process:Step 1: Determining the objectives of the researchStep 2: Determining the sample frameStep 3: Choosing the methodologyStep 4: Designing the questionnaireStep 5: Collecting dataStep 6: Analyzing the dataStep 7: Reporting and presenting the data

4. Q 2: Explain how a marketing research firm uses its expertise to help in each of these steps

5. Conclusion: Firms like Burke which have market expertise are a boon to organizations, because they can provide secondary data or provide syndicated data or carry out custom research, they can get information easily and present them based on the needs of the organization. (and write more)

9. Burke Inc.

10. Harvard Cooperative Society

11. Middlemist Precision Tool Company

Note: This case may not be important as the second question involves secondary data collection.

1. Give an outline of the case, highlighting the breakthrough invention of Middlemist and the challenges that lie ahead after getting the patent.

2. Q1: Types of information required:

Middlemist requires much secondary data such as:

a. Availability of other radial arm saw and their special features

b. Price of competitors’ products

c. Existing customer profile

d. Sales data and forecasts

It also needs primary data concerning the new product, such as:

a. Consumer needs and preferences

b. Market potential

c. Forecasts and trends

d. Test market data

3. Conclusion: Explain how research helps in new product launch

11. Middlemist Precision Tool Company

12. Today’s Man

1. Give an outline of the case, highlighting the practice of hypnosis to collect information, and the importance of ethics in business research

2. Describe the hypothesis – men equated buying clothes to going to the dentist. This could be proved using a simple random survey, or a panel of experts. The problem here is that David Feld went to the extreme of using hypnosis to collect data. This is unethical. (Explain a few unethical practices in research process given on next page, related to the issue in this case.)

3. Q 1: Explain what is focus group, the advantages and disadvantages of focus group, and when it is used.

4. Q 2: Some research methods that could be followed are:1. Secondary data analysis

2. Experience surveys

3. Focus Groups

5. Conclusion: Explain briefly the unethical practice of using hypnosis and suggest the ethical ways of conducting research.

12. Today’s Man

Ethical Issues in Business ResearchEthics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choice about our behavior and relationships with others. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities. Unethical activities are widespread and include:

1. Violating non-disclosure agreement

2. Breaking participants’ confidentiality

3. Mis-representing results

4. Exposing people or respondent names

5. Plagiarism

6. Avoiding legal liability

Ethical research requires personal integrity from the researcher, project manager and research sponsor. As research is designed, several ethical considerations must be balanced.

a. Protect the right of the participants or subjects, which includes:

i. Right to privacy

ii. Right to choose

iii.Right to safety

iv.Right to be informed

b. Ensuring that the sponsor receives ethically conducted and reported research.

c. Follow ethical standards when designing research

d. Protect the safety of the researcher and the team

13. EZ Pass

1. Give an outline of the case, highlighting the need for tags on highways to save commuters’ time

2. Q 1: Yes, it has been adequately explained.1. Implementing ETC for collecting highway tolls

2. While some agencies had implemented it individually, the benefits of integrating them are too good to ignore.

3. Now, what’s the best way to implement ETC?

4. Explain how the research questions given in the case would contribute to achieving the objectives of the study.

3. Q 2: Research design this project requires:1. Secondary data analysis from other agencies

2. Qualitative research design which may be a depth interview or focus group

3. The project does not require consumer survey as the task force feels that it was committed to implementing the system, projection of demand is not necessary and neither is any consumer survey.

4. Conclusion: Explain briefly how these methods could help in easy decision making.

13. EZ Pass

14. Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes (Additional Case)