Designing a Business Strategy for Holland Fit - Case Study Example

Critical Review of the In-Depth Research Methodology Lecturer: Index of Contents Index of Contents 2 0 Introduction 3 2.0 Analysis of the research question and research design 3 2.1 Research question analysis 3 3.0 Analysis of Conceptual Research Design 5 3.1 Operationalisation: 5 3.2 Sub-questions: 5 4.0 Conclusion 7 5.0 References 8 1.0 Introduction A critical review entails a detailed investigation into the research subject in question. In addition to that, it involves operationalisation assessment, research questions and research methods analysis as well as the review of the final conclusions. Holland Fit is a Dutch Health Company that offers health services to a number of employees and companies in Netherlands. Their operations are optimally online; as such they have a total of 50,000 members. Their main problem is that they need to improve the number of “non active users” which currently stands at 31% of their total number of users – that is 50,000. In addition to that, they would also like to offer efficient and effective user engagement to their one time online users who are referred to as “participants”. The main aim of this strategy is to shift these users from their “participant’s” category to the “users” category which is more active in the usage of the company’s services. In that bid, they would increase their active “users” from 35% to a possible 50%. Based on that scenario, Holland Fit is looking for possible implementation strategies (methods or tools) that ought to align with their goals for the company. In the long run, these strategies will seek to solve their current problems and they will in turn experience growth in terms of gaining contracts with their clients and even other potential clients. 2.0 Analysis of the research question and research design 2.1 Research question analysis From a critical evaluation, it can be determined that the research question is indeed researchable. This is due to the fact that, the problem that Holland Fit currently have is that of having to increase their number of active users from the 35% to 50%. As such, they are looking for possible strategies (methods and tools) that can be integrated into their existing methods so as to increase user involvement. Due to the current advancements in technology, social media is a reasonable tool that can be used by Holland Fit in a bid to advertise more online on the products and services that they have. Through that, they can also be able to advertise their discounted health options and even benefits to the online audience. Not only will they have “participants” – one time users, but these are the same individuals who will be seeking to know more about the company online and in the long term, these “participants” will in turn out to be one of their active users. The use of social media also has to be strategic. That is, they have to be in a position to know where it is that they stand in terms of marketing. This is very crucial since they have to be aware of the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model by Keller (2003). The model describes four (4) key steps that have to be followed when it comes to marketing so as to ensure that the company aligns itself well with regard to the existing market challengers. These steps include: Brand Identity, Brand Meaning, Brand Response (Brand Judgement and Feelings) and finally Brand Resonance. Based on brand identity (awareness), Holland Fit are not fully and well strategized – they know exactly what products and services it is that they want to offer to employees and companies. However, they need to increase their market so that more people can be able to know that they offer health packages to employees and companies. As such, this is the stage that social media has to come in to make the difference and results that they need. This is the step that introduces a number of key sub questions based on the stated research question. These questions include: Why does Holland Fit have issues with its brand awareness? What could be the role of social media for Holland Fit in order to gain more brand awareness? What can be improved about current online platforms? What could be done to create a link between social media and online coach? What will be the best strategy for Holland Fit to attain potential clients to its social media platforms? 3.0 Analysis of Conceptual Research Design The research question in analysis is: In what ways should Holland Fit integrate social media and online platforms in order to improve communications with their users? Based on that, there are a number of concrete factors that have to be reviewed. These include: Abstract concepts? Indicators? Variable? 3.1 Operationalisation: Abstract Concept: Attraction Variable: Attitude, Attributes, Belief, Knowledge and Opinion Indicators: Engagement, Interest 3.2 Sub-questions: Based on the variable – Attitude, an element that should be measured is the feeling that users have about or with regard to Holland Fit and Fitpas. This variable can be measured by the use of research methods such as interviews, group discussions and even observations. For example an online user can be asked a question like: What do they feel about the products and services that Holland Fit has to offer? Are they beneficial to them or not? Based on the variable – Attributes, an element that should be measured is the ideology that users have about Holland Fit and Fitpas and their products and services. This variable can be measured by the use of reliable methods such as a survey and interviews. That is, questions like: What do you think about Holland Fit? Are their products and services fitted to the different types of employees and their needs? What should be improved? What should not? Can be posed to users and they should be entitled to respond to at least one or two questions. Based on the variables – Belief and opinion, an element that ought to be measured should be what exactly users believe about Holland Fit and their service Fitpas. It is worthy to note that there a number of factors that can make a user and/ or influence a user to have a specific opinion about a particular company and the products and services that they offer. As such, the measurement of this variable ought to clearly elaborate what users believe and what they do not. Based on that description, a question that could be posed to users through a survey could be something like: What have you heard about Holland Fit and Fitpas? Do you think it is true or false? From that, a clear intuition can be realized. Opinion on the other hand refers to what users think or what they would say about the existing services that Holland Fit is offering. This is an element that ought to be measured so as to know the exact opinion of the users of Fitpas. Surveys, interviews and even group discussions can aid to get this information. For example, a question that could be posed to the users could be: What are your beliefs about Holland Fit and Fitpas? What is your opinion about that? Based on the variable – Knowledge, an element that should be measured is what exactly users know about Holland Fit and Fitpas. Consumer knowledge is very critical for any company. If the company fails in its work of establishing a solid brand identity (awareness), then their consumers and/ or users would fail to know what exactly it is that the company specializes and/ or deals in. With regard to that, again interviews, surveys and even group discussions could be used in a bid to measure this variable. It is worthy to note that this variable should be measured by posing questions such as: What do you know about Holland Fit and Fitpas? Where did you get that information from? Indicators can be realized through the engagement and interest levels that users have with regard to Holland Fit and Fitpas. The measurable entities in this instance should be the engagement and interest that users have on the products and services that Holland Fit has. These entities can be measured through methods such as online surveys, interviews and even group discussions. The measurement can take the form of a question such as: How many times do you check out the Holland Fit website? Do you engage actively with Fitpas to know what products and services it is that you can use? Through such questions the responses recorded can be used to realize the levels of engagement and interest it is that users have. From that, if the results depict low engagement and interest, then Holland Fit can look into possible channels that they can implement in a bid to increase these indicator entities. 4.0 Conclusion The most crucial element to a critical review is the conceptual design of the research problem. As Wuyts says: “good conceptualisation is akin to an opening in a chess game: it sets the stage for the game but does not predetermine its final outcome.” (Thomas, Chataway and Wuyts, 1998) Conceptualisation of the research question helps in determining the approach to analysing the data. Based on this report, only a few elements need to be worked on with regard to the conceptual design. For example, the research methods and sub-questions should be mentioned while giving a description of the variables. In addition, the manner in which the variables and indicators ought to be measured also needs to be specified. 5.0 References Keller, K.L. (2003) Strategic Brand Management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Thomas, A., Chataway, J., & Wuyts, M. (Eds.). (1998). Finding out fast: investigative skills for policy and development. Sage. Read More