Business Research Applications - Essay Example

? Business Research Applications Business Research Applications Research is necessary for advancements in business because of the rapidly changing trends in business and the attitudes of the consumers or customers. Science and technology is advancing at a rapid pace and based on that business process is also undergoing changes. The business strategies used in a couple of decades before are outdated at present because of the entry of globalization, liberalization and privatization. Global economy has increased its interdependence. The problems occurred at some part of the world can affect other parts as well because of this increased interdependence of global economy. For example, the current problems in Libya can affect the life of people in United States because of America’s dependence on Libya for oil. In short, business climate is fluctuating rapidly and in order to the changes happening in the business world, proper research is necessary. Apple Inc is one company which successfully used the research process for its growth. Even though Apple struggled in the 80’s and 90’s, they succeeded in introducing some innovative products like ipads, ipods, iphones etc during the beginning of the twenty first century. Apple was able to measure the pulses of the consumers very well because of the proper business research they conducted and the correct interpretation of the data they received from these researches. This paper analyses the importance of business research, taking Apple Inc as the example. Form the illustration given below, it is evident that the normal business research process consist of five stages; collection of data, deriving information from the collected data, analysis of the information, knowledge and decision making. Primary and secondary researches are necessary for the collection of data. (Business research process, 2011) Information can be derived from the primary and secondary data collected. After the careful analysis of this information, knowledge about the current or future market trends can be obtained which can be used in the decision making process. “Conducting business market research in existing businesses is helpful in keeping in touch with consumer demand” (What is business research, 2011). Apple knows this fact better than any other organizations and they conduct regular business researches in order to know more about the changing trends in the market. Apple Inc introduced many of its i-series products such as iPods, iPads, iPhones, iTouch, iTunes, iMac etc at the beginning of 2000 because of their abilities in reading the market trends correctly through their business researches. The introduction of right product at the right time will always guarantee success. In fact Microsoft introduced tablet PC’s much before the introduction of Apple’s iPads. Microsoft introduced tablet PC’s in the 90’s, but failed to make an impression in the market because of the untimely introduction. However, Apple’s iPads succeeded heavily in the market because of its right time of introduction. In 1990’s the technologies were not much developed and the demand for tablet PC’s were less. On the other hand, the technologies developed rapidly during the end of twentieth century and at the beginning of twenty first century and the consumer trends were changed drastically. Apple was able to assess this change correctly through their business research and introduced their tablet PC, iPad at the beginning of 2000. Thus Apple succeeded in the market where Microsoft failed. “Apple's market capitalization - the sum of its outstanding shares multiplied by its stock price - finished at $222.07 billion, ahead of Microsoft's at $219.18 billion Wednesday, May 26, 2010” (Kim, 2010). In other words, Apple’s better abilities in conducting business research helped them to surpass even Microsoft in market capitalization. Moreover, Apple is currently raked the topmost technological company in the world, again pushing Microsoft behind to the second spot. Advertising is another area in which Apple succeeded in introducing revolutionary concepts. Apple was able to introduce revolutionary business ads because of the data they obtained from their market research about the changing trends in consumer psychology, life styles and buying behaviors. Apple uses mainly TV ads, print ads, and internet ads to market their products. “I think, therefore iMac”, the slogan introduced for the selling of iMac computers was an innovative advertising strategy” (Imac Computer: I THINK. THEREFORE, iMAC, n.d). The captions in the above advertisement were selected after careful thoughts and analysis. The consumers will think that all the thinking people will purchase only iMac computers. Apple succeeded in forcing the consumers think twice before they take any purchasing decision. Reisinger, (2010) has mentioned about another advertisement; “Apple's "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads have been widely regarded as one of the company's most effective campaigns” (Reisinger, 2010). This advertisement was actually intended for ridiculing Microsoft. Microsoft has the monopoly in PC market and Apple wanted to remind the consumers that they are also capable of making personal computers. All these advertisements were formulated and introduced by Apple after their business researches. They analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents well and developed ads to attack the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. (Riley, 2010) The above graph shows that, Apple is spending less for Research and Developments compared to Microsoft, IBM or Google. Yet they became the most valued technology oriented company in the world at present. This is because of the fact that they are far ahead of the competitors in reading the market well. Their market research or business research methods are far more superior to that of the competitors which helped them to assess the market trends correctly. The correct assessment helped them develop only the products with higher demand in the market. They worked on facts rather than instincts which helped them to spend money only on the development of winning products. Apple needs to make some changes in their business research methods in order to make it more effective and also to maintain their top spot in the market. For example, in Chinese market, Apple introduced the iphones without much market research and faced many problems. The iPhone has failed to thrive in China, due in part to an active black market and the Golden Shield Project (GSP), which censors certain Internet content. To comply with the GSP, devices that include wireless Internet have been required to use China's own WAPI standard. Meeting that requirement forced Apple to re-design the iPhone for China. In the meantime, a change in policy permitted devices to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi, but by then it was too late, and the 1st round of re-designed iPhones were released in China without Wi-Fi (Caolo, 2010) Apple calculated that they can introduce their new products anywhere in the world with the same features or technologies. They failed to forecast the peculiarities of Chinese market. Because of the increased security concerns, China never allows foreign manufacturers to use their Wi Fi technologies in Chinese territory, which was unknown to Apple. Apple forced to redesign its iphone in order to make it compatible for the Chinese market. In short, Apple forced to produce two types of iphones, one for Chinese market and other for the other for the rest of the global market. Apple could have avoided this problem if they conducted a separate market research for China. Conclusions Business research is as important as money, material, machine or manpower for an organization. It helps organization in identifying the trends in the market and in fine tuning the business strategies based on it. Apple Inc is perhaps the most successful company in the world in conducting business researches successfully and making changes in their business strategies time to time. They became the most valued technological company in the world at present because of the success of their business researches. Apple Company spends less for research and development compared to the R & D expenses of the competitors; yet they succeeded in attaining the second spot in market capitalization because of their ability in introducing the right product at the right time as a result of the high percentage of success or effectiveness in their market research. References 1. Business research process, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.dolcera.com/website_prod/knowledge-site-research-processes/business-research-process-approach 2. Caolo D (2010), Apple prepping Wi-Fi iPhone for China, Retrieved from http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/08/apple-prepping-wi-fi-iphone-for-china/ 3. Imac Computer: I THINK. THEREFORE, iMAC (n. d.) Retrieved from http://www.advertolog.com/mac-5404955/print-outdoor/i-think-therefore-imac-1292005/ 4. Kim R. (2010). Apple Passes Microsoft As Top Tech Company, Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/26/BUDJ1DL0IU.DTL 5. Reisinger, D. (2010). 'I'm a Mac/I'm a PC' ads Coming to an End? Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20002008-17.html 6. Riley J (2010). Some fascinating data on research & development data at Apple, Google & Microsoft. Retrieved from http://tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/some-facinating-data-on-research-development-data-at-apple-google-microsoft/ 7. What is business research, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-business-research.htm Read More