Research Proposal: Assessing Aarong's Market Entry into Fiji (BUS 251)

This research proposal examines the feasibility of Aarong, a popular lifestyle retail chain in Bangladesh, expanding its operations into Fiji. The proposal begins with an introduction to Aarong and its current challenges, including competition and reliance on third-party producers. It then provides background information on Fiji, highlighting its economic stability, cultural aspects, and tourism industry. The research aims to investigate Fiji's economic and political situation, communication styles, decision-making processes, organizational structures, and attitudes toward foreign products. The methodology includes utilizing print and online resources, such as newspapers, books, websites, and online articles. The research seeks to determine if Fiji is a suitable market for Aarong and provide recommendations for setting up operations. The proposal concludes with a request for approval and offers of assistance in conducting the research and completing the project.

Research Proposal
BUS 251
Name ID
Saadman Rahman Rifat 1612490030
Emtiaz Shahriar 1521438630
Md. Arafat Ali 1530256030
Rashedul-Islam-Sifat 1811612030
Submitted To
Mohammad Asif Gazi
Department of Management

Introduction
Aarong is a well repeated and most popular lifestyle retail chain in Bangladesh. This
ethical brand began its journey in 1978. Today, with 21 retail locations across Bangladesh
and more than 100 design of life product offerings. Now a days the organization is worried
about their competitors are expending globally. Aarong wants to set up operations in an
international country, especially in the Oceania region. So as a team of consultants we have
chosen “Fiji” to do research to find out if the country is suitable to set up operations or not.
Problem that exists for Aarong.
Aarong has a well reputation as a lifestyle brand in Bangladesh but despite having a good
market share they also have some problem which they should improve. Aarong doesn’t
produce their own product they are depended on small independent third party producers. But
their product collection channel is not updated as it should be in a competitive market. Also
Aarong has faced penalty previously for charging different price of a same product in
different branch which is much unexpected from a well reputed brand. Moreover, Aarong has
reputation in handicraft industry but they invest less in the research and development.
About Fiji
The republic of Fiji is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. The country is
about 1300 miles. Fiji has a total population of about 889,953 (2019) peoples. Most of the
people of the country uses English and the language of their own ethnic community. Fijians
are mostly Christian. Also there are Hindus and significant minority are Muslim. Fijian way
of life is a casual blend of conventional culture and a solid faith in the family and local area.
Fijian culture is a gift-giving culture. Gifting large quantities of food for a community
ceremony is a long-standing tradition. The republic of Fiji has one of the most developed
economic stability in the pacific island region. Timber, fish, gold, copper and lastly
hydropower. Most importantly their ever growing tourism industry. Tourism contributes

nearly 40% to Fiji's gross domestic product. So we think the country Fiji has potential and an
interesting research site.
Layers of audience:
The audience for the research proposal will be the people who get to decide whether
or not the research deserve to be funded. They will be at least somewhat familiar with the line
of research, although it is rare that they will be complete experts in exact research topic.
We would like to present the proposal to the upper-level managers of AArong which
includes, Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, General Manager of e-commerce,
marketing and sustainability, General Manager of Finance Accounting and Head of Retail
marketing.
Topics we plan to investigate:
1. The country’s economic and political situation.
2. People tone of communication and mannerisms
3. Their Decision making, problem solving, and negotiation methods
4. What kind of organizational structure they follow.
5. Their political and economic relationship with Bangladesh
6. People’s Attitude toward foreign country’s products.
Impact of this research
By conducting the research we will know about country, its people and their way of
life. Most importantly we will able to give an accurate answer if Fiji is suitable for expanding
Aarong and setting up operations is feasible or not.
Research methodology and Resources
For the research data, the resources will be taken from print based sources and also
various reputed websites online. The internet will also be browsed and the standard search
engine like google will be used for data. We will use offline source like, newspaper, book,
magazines etc. also we will use online magazines, YouTube video, online article, online
newspaper etc. will be used to get the information for research.

Movono, A., Dahles, H., & Becken, S. (2017, August 17). Fijian culture and the
environment: a focus on the ecological and social interconnectedness of tourism
development. Taylor and Francis Online.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2017.1359280?
journalCode=rsus20
Fiji : Economy. (n.d.). The Commonwealth. https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-
countries/fiji/economy
Jayawardena, C. (1980). Culture and Ethnicity in Guyana and Fiji. Culture and Ethnicity in
Guyana and Fiji, 15, 430–450. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2801343?seq=1
Bangladesh - Fiji Trade Relation. (n.d.). Bangladesh High Commission.
https://www.bhcanberra.com/trade-investments/bangladesh-fiji-trade-relation
Fiji - Market Overview. (2019, May 8). Export.Gov. https://www.export.gov/article?
series=a0pt0000000PAtlAAG&type=Country_Commercial__kav
REQUEST FOR APPROVAL
We therefore request your endorsement for our research proposal. In the event that
you wish us to adjust or improve our proposal, we will submit it subsequent to consolidating
the important changes. We would likewise be appreciative for your recommendation and help
in directing our exploration and finishing the task.