Market Research—An Important Management Tool
A successful market research effort needs to be framed with a specific set of goals and objectives. These goals and objectives are intended to support (or challenge) one or more actionable items by management. When decisions are made that are influenced by the market research that has been conducted, the process can be considered as having accomplished its mission.
Choosing to employ market research as part of a company’s strategy is driven by a variety of business circumstances individual to a particular business. The scope of the market research effort needed is always unique to each individual company and the business situation.
Reasons for Employing Market Research:
- Problem Solving
- Operations and/or organizational Issues
- Product line(s) assessment:
- Invest & grow; Divest; Re-focus; Acquire
- Strategic Direction
- In-depth assessment of current markets served and the competitive environment
- Analysis of adjacent market spaces for current product lines or technology platforms
- Tactical Approach
- Benchmark company’s current go-to-market approach against competition
- Re-assess present marketing tactics, growth strategies
- Understand trends and transitional issues in the markets currently served
- Long-term Strategic Planning
- In-depth analysis of current and adjacent market spaces
- Identify long-term trends at an industry level and on a global scal
- Diversification
- Evaluate, characterize options for business expansion outside the current business framework