Enhancing Employee and Organizational Performance - Research Paper Example

Marketing Research Plan Name Date Course Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive summary 3 Marketing Research Plan 4 Introduction 4 Discussion 5 Problem definition 5 Market research objectives 5 Research design 6 Fieldwork/Data collection 7 Data analysis 8 Limitations of the study 10 Recommendations 11 List of References 12 Executive summary The report is a market research plan for a ZARA which is a retail shop dealing with Spanish clothing and accessories. It is aimed at establishing the customer service feedback. The concepts of a mystery shopper will be used for the purposes of collecting the data. However some concepts of qualitative research will also be used during the analysis of the data. The data collection will involve fieldwork where the mystery shopper will be required to visit the retail shop and operate like an ordinary customer. However, the mystery shopper will be collecting information during the process. The data analysis will be carried out after the collection of data. Some statistical analysis will be carried out in order to interpret the data. The limitation of the study is however on the method of data collection which may not be effective and accurate. It is recommended that the ethical considerations and professionalism should be involved during the process. Marketing Research Plan Introduction A well designed market research plan is useful to an organization for the purposes of making informed decisions regarding the business. This is because it provides the managers with the data that is required for the purpose of making the informed business decisions. The market plan also plays an essential role in ensuring that the business is able to increase its sales, revenue and customer awareness. Spotting problems and uncovering the unmet marketing needs can also be achieved through the use of a market research plan (Tzabbar, 2012). This is considering that problems hinder the growth and development of a business and hence impacting negatively on the aims and objectives of the business. The market demands also determine the ability of the company to meet the needs of the customers. On the other hand, the insights of how products and services are perceived by the customers can only be obtained through the use of a well designed marketing plan. The direction required to take in order to improve on the performance of the business can therefore be taken in the presence of a well designed market research plan. The feedback of the customers can also be determined through the use of a market research plan. This is useful in useful in the retail market with mystery shoppers. The feedback can be used for the purposes of making decisions on how to improve on the products and services of a company (Chang, 2013). ZARA is a Spanish retail shop that was founded in 1975 and it deals with the clothing accessories. The paper is a report of a market research plan for ZARA retail shop in relation to customer service feedback using the concepts of a mystery shopper and focus group. Discussion Problem definition The market research plans in tends to address the customer service feedback for the retail shop. This is through the use of mystery shopper concepts. The market research plan aims at determining the feedback of the retail shop in terms of the customer service. This involves how long it takes for the retail shop to respond to the feedback of the customers and also how the company treats the feedback of the customers. Through the concepts of the mystery shopper, the research will also intend to determine the efficiency of ZARA retail shop in dealing with the customers. A focus group will also be used for obtaining information by engaging freely with the customers in an informal way in order to gain their views regarding the customer feedback at the retail store. Market research objectives To determine the effectiveness of the channel used by the retail shop when responding to the issues raised by the customers. To determine the time taken for the company to respond to the issues raised by the customers. Top determine the effectiveness of the relationship to solve the issues or problems raised by the customers. To determine the levels of commitment of the company to dealing with the customer complaints and concerns. To determine whether the response of the company is satisfactory. Research design A research design is a method that is used for the purposes of studying a problem. The research design used is important since the research problems usually differ. The type of research questions and the expected results are useful in determining the type of research design (Hair, 2010). The research design that will be used during the process will be exploratory. Through the use of this research design, a hypothesis will not be required before the research. The research will instead be focused on the research questions during the entire process. This method will also be suitable for the research as it will play an essential role in ensuring that new information is also discovered during the process which will impact positively on the results of the research. Descriptive methodology will also be used during the research. This is because some of the information required will be obtained through observation. The design of the study will be fixed before the process of data collection. The research will therefore utilize the concepts of fixed design. This will play an essential role in ensuring that adequate preparation is carried out before the data collection process begins. The qualitative method of research will mainly be used during the process of carrying out the research. The use of the qualitative research is due to the nature of the information required. It is difficult to quantify the customer feedback and hence the need for the concept of qualitative research (Parker, 2012). The focus group will also target the customers of the company by engaging them on informal questions in order to obtain more information regarding the feedback of the company. Fieldwork/Data collection The fieldwork and data collection is the most important step of a marketing research (Zikmund, 2012). During the process of collecting data, a visit will be made to the retail shop. However, since the mystery shopper concept will be used, the visit will not be direct. The employees of the organization will not be informed of the visit. A mystery shopper will visit ZARA retail shop and purchase products of the company. During the visit, the mystery shopper will ask the employees a few questions without revealing their identity or intentions. The mystery shopper will also purchase the products of the company just like the other ordinary customers. However, after the purchase, a complaint will also be launched to the company involving the products that have been purchased. This will form the main basis of the data collection of the company. The research objectives will be measured in accordance to the response of the company towards the complaints that will be made. It is also important to note that the mystery shopper will ensure that the questions are asked during the process of solving the complaints. The different reactions of the employees of the company in responding to the customer issues will be tested. In order to determine the abilities and response of the company, serious complaints which are realistic and relevant will be raised during the process. This is for the purposes of obtaining a full reaction and response of the retail shop when handling the customer service feedback. To some extent, the focus group will also be used for the purpose of obtaining information from the customers. This will involve informal questions which will allow the customers to talk freely about the organization. This will be carried out by the mystery shopper in order to obtain more information. In order to capture all the information regarding the process, the ZARA shopper will have to record the conversations with the management. This will be done secretly in order to avoid any suspicions. The telephone calls with the company will also be used for the purposes of collecting the data. Any feedback through the emails or text messages from ZARA shop will also provide an important source of information during the data collection method. The ethical concepts will be considered during the data collection method. Any private conversations will not be recorded or used for the purposes of analysis. ZARA shopper will not be engaged in any unethical practices but will instead act as any other ordinary shopper. The identity of the mystery shopper will not be revealed throughout the process of collecting data. This is because it may influence the response of the retail shop during the process. A high level of accuracy will also be maintained during the process. This is will be achieved by ensuring that only the information obtained is directly from the employees and management of the company in relation to the feedback. The mystery shopper will also use professional method during the process in order to obtain information from the retail shop. The data collection process will not interfere with the processes of the retail shop and the shopping process of the other customers. The questionnaires will not be used during the process as it will reveal the identity of ZARA shopper (Rathi, 2012). Data analysis The data analysis process is important as it usually determines the outcome of the research. The qualitative method of data analysis will be used during the research. The qualitative method of data analysis is important for a business research when the issues under research involve the services offered to the customers (Samouel, 2011). The qualitative method of analyzing the research data will not involve much statistical work. The quality of the data will be checked for the purpose of ensuring that errors are not carried forward. The standard deviation will be used for the purpose of checking the quality of the data. The data analysis process will also ensure that the requirements of the research design are met. This will be useful in terms of ensuring that the research problems are addressed. The data cleaning process will also be carried out during the analysis of data. This will be for the purposes of ensuring that the common mistakes and errors are corrected early. Such errors also have negative impacts on the quality of the data and it may lead to wrong results. The concepts of exploratory data analysis will be used in order to obtain the new information regarding the retail shop in relation to the data collected. This method of data collection usually involves a careful interpretation of the data. The stability of the results will also be checked during the data analysis process. The stability of the data will play an essential role in terms of determining its reliability (Spiekermann, 2012). On the other hand, a sensitivity analysis will also be carried out due to the nature of the data. High levels of accuracy will also be maintained during the data analysis process. This is for the purposes of ensuring that the results are credible. Some of the data collected will be analyzed through the use of computer software in order to ensure that the data is accurate. This will play an essential role in ensuring that the data has automatically been corrected (Joo, 2013). Experts will also be involved during the data analysis for the purposes of ensuring that it meets the required standards. The involvement of the experts will also play an essential role in ensuring that the data is correctly analyzed. It is also important to note that the data analysis process will play an essential role in the establishment of a hypothesis. This is also because the qualitative approach will be taken and it does not require the development of a hypothesis before the data analysis process. The ethical considerations during the data analysis will also be put in place. This is for the purposes of ensuring that the process is credible and it meets the required standards (Westwood, 2013). For the purposes of ethics, the no results will be manipulated during the process. High levels of integrity will also be observed during the process in order to ensure that the results are a true reflection of the operations at the retail store. The data analysis process plays an essential role in determining the quality of the research. The data analysis will also ensure that the results of the analysis enable the easy interpretation of the data. Limitations of the study Although the study will play important role in providing information regarding the customer feedback service, it also has some notable limitations. The main limitation of the method is that it may not be able to obtain the views of the company regarding some of the practices. This may affect the quality of the results of the study. It is usually important to obtain an explanation regarding the practices that within an organization in order to make conclusions. On the other hand, the use of interviews and questionnaires will be limited during the study as the focus group will be used. This is because of using the mystery shopper concepts. The failure of using interviews and questionnaires limits the amount of information obtained from an organization. The method used to collect data may also fail to collect adequate information regarding the customer feedback of the company. This is because the research will mainly rely on the results from ZARA shopper. The results ignore the fact that other customers may be subjected to different experiences when seeking the feedback from the retail shop. The data collected during the research may not be quantified and hence affecting the analysis process. This may lead to errors during the research. The number of people who will be involved in the research will be few due to the method used. This will impact negatively on the quality of the research as will only represent a small percentage of the customer experience. The method of data collection will also be impacted negatively o the process. This is because it may not be able to capture all the data required for the analysis. Recommendations It is recommended that the process should be carried out with a high degree of professionalism and integrity. This is for the purposes of ensuring that the quality of the results is high. The mystery shopper should be professional and experienced in order to collect as much information as possible. This is considering the difficulties that may be involved during data collection process. It is also recommended that ZARA shopper should record all the details regarding their experience on the customer service feedback. More focus groups should also be targeted in order to obtain more information. This is for the purposes of ensuring that the information obtained is a true reflection of the retail store. The mystery shopper should also make observations withy regards to the customer service in the retail store. This will play an important role in obtaining additional information regarding the customer service. It is also recommended that the data analysis should be carried out by experts in order to enhance its accuracy and integrity. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the market research plan plays an important role in ensuring that information is obtained regarding the business practices. The market research plan will be useful to the retail shop in making decisions regarding the customer service. The research design that will be used will also plays an important role in determining the customer service that is offered in the organization. It is also evident that the use of the mystery shopper will play an essential role in obtaining the customer service information of the retail shop without the knowledge of the employees. The data analysis methods will also impact positively on the process as it will lead to the accuracy of the results. The ethical considerations during the process will be useful in providing accurate information regarding the customer service feedback in the retail shop. The limitations of the study however lie on the data collection method as it may not capture much information. List of References Tzabbar, D, 2012, Enhancing employee and organizational performance through coaching based on mystery shopper feedback: A quasi‐experimental study, Human Resource Management, 51(2), 213-229. Chang, S, 2013, How Improving the Customer Experience Quality and Business Performance? A Case Study by Mystery Shopper Practices, International Journal of Marketing Studies, 5(6). Hair, J, 2010, Essentials of marketing research, New Jersey: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Zikmund, W, 2012, Business research methods, London: Cengage Learning. Rathi, D, 2011, Market Research 2.0: An Inclusive Approach to. Innovations in SMEs and Conducting E-Business: Technologies, Trends and Solutions, 169. Samouel, P, 2011, Essentials of business research methods, ME Sharpe. Westwood, J, 2013, How to write a marketing plan, New York: Kogan Page Publishers. Joo, H, 2013, Using market basket analysis in management research, Journal of Management, 39(7), 1799-1824. Parker, R, 2012, Designing and conducting survey research: A comprehensive guide, London: John Wiley & Sons. Spiekermann, U, 2012, The Rise of Marketing and Market Research, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More