Research Strategies for Business Enhancement

Business Research Design

Research aimed at understanding customers
Explain which three of the HBR articles studied in the first five weeks would be most useful to
conducting business enhancing research in the industry that you are involved in (or want to be
involved in) and why.
Customers are the most important stakeholder of a company and the aim of the organization is to
satisfy the customers with products and services and corporate social responsibility. With
changing trends, income, economy and other factors, the consumers keep changing their mind-
set. Thus, their behaviour also changes.
A product launched in the market cannot survive until it is carefully placed amidst the
customers. This is backed by research study and surveys conducted before the product is
introduced. We often see cases of failed business in the very first stage. A lot of times, the reason
behind this is misperception of customer’s behaviour. The management team in any organization
should be dedicated in understanding customers.
Product engineering is something that is done after studying the customers and the response that
is received from the side of the consumers.
Understanding customers is going to be an amalgamation of psychology, marketing strategy and
economics. There are many factors that combine to influence the customers and it is important
that the management and the CEOs have the report of the current situation of the customers so
that the pricing and the product development can be done in that fashion (Andersen, Narus, and
Rossum, 2006).
Here, pricing is an important thing and many customers see and make the purchasing decision.
Pricing of a product is kept to cover the cost that has incurred in getting the product ready. That
cost will include everything from supply chain to employees. The prices of a product cannot be
top high as it is going to be problematic in having sales. On the other hand, it cannot be too low
as the sale will be go high but the sale will not be able to cover the cost of producing the product.
Hence, it should be a combination of both. A sales pitch is something that persuades the
consumers in buying a product. Hence, it should also be made sure that the sales team is an

effective and is headed by a competent customer’s manager. Customer relationship manager
plays the crucial role of influencing the customers in taking a positive decision to buy the
product or the service.
There are many issues that are faced by the customer relationship managers. The customers
usually expect low prices products and in a desire to have a product for low price even though
your pitch is laden with logic and reasons of a price higher than that. These are certain problems
that make research study quite important to understand the customers.
Knowing customers is going to include strategic thinking and without strategic thinking it is not
going to be possible to place the product in the right customer segment. Here, having a clear
understanding of the customer segmentation is also vital as the product is to be targeted to a
particular customer or more than or all, depending on the type of the product. Through reports,
being aware of the right consumer segment is going to rightly direct the publicity and brand
awareness activities so that there is minimum cost and maximum utility out of it.
In order to know what approach to have towards the customers, seeking and observing trends is
going a long way. The trends here will include having a strong understanding of the industry,
trend as well as the business drivers.
Here merely reading up the statistical report and reading literatures is not going to be enough
until it is brought to action with planning and strategic decision making.
The internal and the external trends need to be explored on a daily basis. This is going to help the
innovator to be updates with all the current trends so that the product design can take place
according to that.
Again, communication and pro-active attitude is going to help in making effective decision and
complete the task quickly.
The next thing that is going to help in strategically dealing with the customers is asking question.
The job of asking question is going to help in both internal and external environment of the
market. The questions are to be made to the sales team as well from the customers with the help
of the surveys, feedback and other sources. Knowing what the customers are very important and