Corporate based research strategies
One of the research firms is Markets Strategies International. This company according to its website is a market research firm that majorly deals with research in the industries of consumer and retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, technology and telecommunication. The company works by designing and implementing intellectually based qualitative and quantitative research and offers meaningful results that enable businesses to make sound decisions with total confidence. The company uses techniques and tools that are customized according to the needs of a particular company. They for example use interactive desktop simulators which are optimized according to a product design, pricing and forecasting. They isolate the most effective messaging and predict what best efforts in an organization can combine to create customer loyalty. These tools therefore enable a company to make sound decisions in the company to sustain a customer base and extend its market reach.
Another company is eMarketer this company also deals with market research but methods used in this one are different from that in Market Strategies International it uses purely digital marketing research as its tool. The data they use is also based on digital based type of data. What this company basically does is to gather data points. Their source of information unlike Market Strategies International is other research firms, measurement companies, the media and Marketing agencies. To add on this they also interview some of the most successful and influential experts in research. The company digs out information from its source and then question underlying assumptions of each of their findings. Therefore this company unlike the former, concentrates on combined methodologies from the best researchers outside the company and analyse them.
The advantages of using an independent company to carry out research for a company are many. According to DJS research Ltd, using an external consultant firm, removes any aspect of biasness in findings. Internal research methodologies may be full of biasness since the company’s employees are involved therefore they may at some point favour certain ideologies being researched as compared to external research firms. Biasness may cast a shadow of doubt on research findings since such information may not be accurate. Secondly a company may lack the expertise of carrying out a research its employees may also be inexperienced or even the company may be unwilling to employ people with research expertise in this case, research firms come in handy. An experienced researcher will use special techniques that are specially made to extract the required information and also accuracy of the information is guaranteed. Also these type of research will be effective and thus the recommendations will be heavier and considered with a keen interest and also results will be delivered within strict timelines.
Apart from this an article by LITERATED a research based company on the benefits of a marketing research company, such a company aids the selling process. The research finding of its analysis may help a company understand the business environment and thus understand the interests of clients. The company will therefore strive to satisfy these needs. A market research firm also ensures a company meets its objectives this is by offering complete research solutions. The knowledge, skills and experience results in improvement of the way the company handles its business. A research company also enables a company to save on cost since they do not have to employ permanent research staff since research is a seasonal activity which is not carried out throughout the year if the company was to employ permanent research staff, the company would have to pay salaries for underutilised labour during the low seasons.
A company may result into using an in-house based research team based on a number of factors. For instance a company may be too small to be able to afford the services of an external researcher and also the level of their research needs may be too low therefore removing the need of having an external researcher who consumes a lot of time and expenses. Another concern according to the Society for Human Resource Management magazine Weighing Internal Vs External hires (2015) is that external companies may not actually fit into the culture of a certain company. Therefore they do not know how such a company carries out its business and thus find it difficult to accomplish its tasks. It therefore takes time before the research can begin because they have to first understand how the company operates. In-house based research would be easier to carry out because the staff already know how the company works. There is also the question of matters of interest. Will the external researcher be interested in helping the company out or the money they get paid? Most research companies may do a shoddy job because they are after the profits not working for the interests of the company. Also external researcher may not be reliable since it may be also be serving the company’s competitors and in the process may sell out the company’s trade secrets to their competitors.
Internal research based on the research tools explained can be achieved by first setting up a research department in the company this department may acquire its data for analysis from several sources such as salespersons. They provide first-hand information since they know how a company’s product is performing in the market. They can also know about the retailers’ reaction towards the firm’s product. This can be aided by creating periodical reports on such behaviour. Consumer data using representative samples can also be used for investigation with regards to price, quality and use of the company’s product. The company should also be willing to avail company sales reports to the research department so that thorough analysis of such data is done with ease to enable the department carry out successful market research
REFERENCES
-Society for Human Resource Management magazine Weighing Internal Vs External hires (2015)
-A research by LITERATED – on the benefits of a marketing research company.
– Market Strategies International website- www.marketstrategies.com
– The eMarketer website – www.emarketer.com
