Business Diploma Phrase Market Research

Question: Describe about the Business Diploma for Phrase Market Research. Answer: Introduction The phrase market research is indicative of a set of activity undergone to gather vital information regarding current requirements and preferences of the consumers (Bryman and Bell 2015). With the help of market research, an organization can determine whether their product or service can match with the demand and preferences of the current target market or not (Berry and Planning 2013). The present organization therefore can improvise their present operational and service style with the assistance of a thorough market research. The purpose of the present report is to make a detailed analysis of a market research plan for the organization DA Gardening Supplies, who is suffering from the steady drop down of its net profit for the last two years. DA Gardening Supplies has been a successful business enterprise for garden and nursery supplies for over 13 years though their sales growth for garden supplies have dropped by near about 5%. However, the company has been progressing on their business venture with the caf that the owners have opened inside their nursery. The main issue is found out to be the enterprise has never optimized a thorough market research. Hence, a plan for market research procedure should be designed for the considered company. The market research plan The five step process 1. Identifying and defining the problem It has been identified that DA Gardening supplies are suffering from steady downfall in the nursery sales and garden supplies. Additionally, the flat number of the landscaping project has strongly implied the problem of the enterprise. As per the outlined research proposal, the issues are Over the last two years, the enterprises net profit of the enterprise is dropping. Sales for nursery and gardening sales are running low by 5% for last two years, which respectively contribute near about 41% and 34% of the overall profit. The enterprise has earned very little profit from the landscaping project. 2. Required documents For the considered, issue of the DA Gardening Supplies, some valid informational documents had been required for outlining the established research proposal. The following data had been required The enterprises performance regarding gardening supplies and nursery sales of last three years DA Gardenings sales and profit margin of the cafeteria of last three years Details of the accountable person related to each business operation of the enterprise A detailed and valid data regarding the business hours of the nursery, the cafeteria, and a detail about the products the company sell. A detail about the existing and regular customers and their buying preferences 3. Research purpose Most significant to contemplate in the respect that the chief purpose of the research is to identify the recent buying behaviors and demands of the target market for both the cafeteria and the nursery and gardening supplies. Therefore, it should be said that without an immediate market research plan the company might find it difficult to stay fruitful at the current market (Calderon and Webber 2015). 4. Proposed timeframe Considering the purpose and the requirement to establish the market research plan, the following timeframe could be suggested - Activities Time Project design 2 days Survey and observation 3 weeks Consultation with the authorities of the company and with some authorial head of the local supermarkets, departmental stores and several specialty shops 5 days Data analysis 1 week For reviewing and determining the objectives underpinned in the initial research proposal, the following processes have been undertaken Evaluating every document provided by the enterprise regarding sales performance of the caf, nursery and the gardening supplies department Understanding the buying behavior of the existing customers Having done a brief background research on the considered company For the entire purpose, the market research manager has consulted with the local legal authority and with the supermarket heads of suburban area. 5. Research objectives The prime aim of this research is to realize the preferences and needs of the current target market. Except that, the other essential aim is to - To have a clear view regarding the activities of the rival organizations To increase the organizations core competencies, which will lead to enhance the sales growth To assist the company for regaining its successful position in the market The detailed plan Research locations The research will take place in the market places and popular community centers of Australia and specifically near the suburban area where DA Gardening is located. More specifically, the possible research location for the market research will initially be the supermarket, the departmental store and the cafeteria; those are situated opposite the concerned enterprise. However, these locations would not be enough to gain a coherent understanding regarding the target market. The researchers would have to acquire relevant data from all the supermarkets situated in the entire suburban area and the business park where the companys new caf is located. Hence, considering this necessity, the individuals who will be given the responsibility to do the research would have to locate to the area where the concerned enterprise is located. It is because of the plan, which is to undertake survey and observation on the market area beside DA Gardening. Research methodologies The planned research will possibly have the descriptive design as per the fact that the main motive of the research is to describe the relevant situations. Furthermore, with the help of this particular research design, the researchers would be able to present accurate characteristic features of the target population. It should be kept in mind in this respect that the aim is chiefly to identify the preferences and demands of a specifically categorized population who loves gardening. On the other hand, the gourmet food lovers also fall under the descriptive category of target market. Considering this particular issue, a convenient project for market research process will be to gather relevant data by exercising a quantitative research (Denscombe 2014). Most significant to state in this context that the research would require to exercise observation and survey method, which are not possible without descriptive research style as two of the most impactful methods of this research are surv ey and observation method (Gray 2013). Considering the particular research design, it should be now contemplated that convenient data will be gathered through questionnaires and survey, by evaluating previous records and observation. The researchers would initially proceed with the questionnaire and survey procedure, which will likely to be followed by the observation procedure. Nevertheless, it is to mention that the researchers in this case may need to undertake the method of ethnographies to have an in depth knowledge regarding the individual target phenomenon. In this case, it is required to say that the sampling process would be non-probable in case of gathering information for nursery and garden supplies. Nevertheless, it has been identified that there is a requirement for having secondary research to acquire data regarding selling performance of the existing rival companies. It is because of the fact that there is little chance for interviewing any management individual belonging to any rival organization. Sources of the research data According to the planned research methodologies, the market research plan has decided to collect all the valid details from doing a primary research. In other words, quantitative research method would be applied to do the analysis on the obtained data. The primary research would be convenient for the current purpose considering the fact that the company is mainly suffering with its sales performance. Therefore, the company immediately requires acquiring knowledge regarding the buying pattern of the customers, which is not possible through only secondary research methodology (Hollensen 2015). It is significant to identify and understand the profile of the primary data sources required for the market research prior to collect data from them (Krueger and Casey 2014). The prime sources are the customers of the cafeteria, which is situated around the suburban supermarket near DA Gardening. On the other hand, regular visitors of the departmental store, which includes both the middle class and the upper middle class individuals, would be the primary sources. The age groups of the people who will be chosen for the survey and observation method would possibly belong to 25-45 and 45-70 age group. On the other hand, for acquiring information regarding buying preference for the cafeteria, primary sources belonging to the age group of 16-25 and 25-65 would be chosen. However, it is significant to state in this respect that there is a requirement for secondary research to understand the strategies and performance of the potential competitors. Hence, the sources for the secondary research would be the annual reports of existing Australian companies who specialize in nursery and Gardening supplies. On the other side, to crowd up information regarding the selling performance and strategic policies of most of the reputed Cafes in the locality, most relevant source for secondary resource would be the organization websites and online sites those provide statistical data regarding the net profit of the restaurants situated near the place of DA Gardening Supplies. For the primary research, an approximate sample size would be 100 from the supermarket and departmental store and near about 50 from the restaurants and cafeterias near the location. For collecting information from these groups of individuals, random survey and observation method will be applied. For the 100 individuals from the supermarket area who will be mainly questioned for the nursery and gardening supplies, the sample will be bias sample, whereas for gathering data for the caf the sample will be random sample. Required resources For executing the entire market research plan, the company has said that they could afford an amount of AUD$50,000.00. The following is going to give a detailed picture regarding both financial and human resources, which will be required to accomplish the proposed market research plan. 15 researchers for doing random survey and observation Near about $30,000 to undertake the survey and observation method in both restaurants and supermarket and the departmental stores. Near about $10,000 to undertake the secondary research method There is may be a requirement of market research assistance for obtaining information regarding the management style of some of the leading restaurants beside the organization. Therefore, for taking help from this particular individual extra $10,000 will be needed. Timeline, budget Key milestones Proposed time To understand and note the buying preferences of the target market First three weeks To gather relevant statistics and data through secondary research to gather data regarding profit margin and tactics of the rival organizations Four days (Right after the first three weeks) Parts of the project Duration Estimated cost Observation One and half week $15,000 Survey One and half week $15,000 Online research One week $8,000 Assembling the research report Five days $2,000 Therefore, it can be said that DA Gardening can have a fruitful result within five weeks and the overall expenditure would not exceed $40000. Obtaining approval For exercising the proposed methodology, the researchers would have to gain permission from the supermarket owners and the business park. Additionally, approval would be required from the management of the restaurants and departmental and other shops. On the other hand, an approval is required from the local legislative authority. Credentials It is significant to provide detail information about the staffs that are going to be engaged in the entire market research plan. Hence, it is to say that the researchers who will be employed to practice both the primary and secondary research have credentials from some of the leading business management organizations of Australia, which are La Trobe Business school, AGSM MBA, UQ Business school and many more. Each of them has experience of near about 10 years in this particular field and they are well acquainted with the buying nature of the customers. Australian legislation For the entire plan, the research would be obliged to obey the Australian legislations like Privacy Code 2014 for maintaining the confidentiality of the acquired data. This particular legislation is considered to be followed with utmost priority by any organization who is attempting to undertake a thorough market research (Latimer 2012). On the other hand, the researcher would be accountable to gain a public register prior to apply the observation and survey process. However, it is to state in the respect that the researchers would consider the Australian Consumer Law with highest priority. References Berry, T. and Planning, B., 2013. Market Research. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Calderon, A.J. and Webber, K.L., 2015. Institutional research, planning, and decision support in higher education today.Institutional Research and Planning in Higher Education: Global Contexts and Themes, p.1. Denscombe, M., 2014.The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Gray, D.E., 2013.Doing research in the real world. Sage. Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Krueger, R.A. and Casey, M.A., 2014.Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Sage publications. Latimer, P., 2012.Australian Business Law 2012. CCH Australia Limited. Bibliography Berry, T. and Planning, B., 2013. Market Research. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Calderon, A.J. and Webber, K.L., 2015. Institutional research, planning, and decision support in higher education today.Institutional Research and Planning in Higher Education: Global Contexts and Themes, p.1. Denscombe, M., 2014.The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Gray, D.E., 2013.Doing research in the real world. Sage. Hanrahan, P.F., Ramsay, I. and Stapledon, G.P., 2013. Commercial applications of company law.COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF COMPANY LAW, CCH Australia Ltd,. Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Krueger, R.A. and Casey, M.A., 2014.Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Sage publications. Latimer, P., 2012.Australian Business Law 2012. CCH Australia Limited. Nunan, D. and Di Domenico, M., 2013. Market research and the ethics of big data.International Journal of Market Research,55(4), pp.2-13. Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C. and Griffin, M., 2013.Business research methods. Cengage Learning.