PROBLEM

DEFINITION

Shweta Verma (2k91A-71)

Anshu Kumar Mona (2k91A-19)
Apurva Baranwal (2k91A-22)
Arif Ahmad Nizami (2k91A-66)

BRM (Business Research Method)

A Sea Horse’s Story
What is the Moral of the
story?
Business Research

 The Systematic and Objective process of gathering,

and analyzing data for aid in making business
decision.
Stages of Business Research are:
• Problem Definition
• Selection of basic research design
• Selection of sample
• Data gathering
• Data analysis and evaluation
• Type of report
• Overall evaluation
 The Nature Of Business problem

Clarity Decision Making Situation Ambiguity

Objectives are Clear Vague Objectives Decision

Decision Making easy Making difficult
Coca-Cola Classic vs “new” Coke
 Coca-Cola introduced “new” coke, a reformulated
version , after a series of taste tests in shopping malls .
 It decided to withdraw the regular Coke from the
market.

 Emotional protests followed from Coca-Cola

loyalists.

What do you think was the main problem with Coca

Cola research?
 Iceberg principal

The dangerous part of many business problems is neither

visible nor understood by business managers.
If the invisible part of the problem is ignored, the decision
based on visible part only will be less than optimal.
 Problem definition

 Crucial first stage in the research process

determining the problem to be solved and the
objectives of the research.

 Specifies research questions to be answered.

 Specifies objectives of the research.

 The Process of
Problem Definition
Ascertain the Determine unit of
decision maker’s analysis
objectives

Understand Determine relevant

background of the variables
problem

Isolate/identify the State research

problem, not the questions and
symptoms objectives
1. Ascertain in the Decision Maker’s
objectives
Researcher must satisfy the objectives of the line
manager who requests the project.

It is the job of the researcher to extract the objectives

from the manager.

An effective technique for uncovering hidden research

objectives is asking the right questions.
2. Understanding the background of
the problem
It is important for the researcher to gain an
awareness about an organization, background,
environmental conditions.
A situation analysis can be the logical first step

in defining the problem.

 3.Isolate and Identify the problem, not
the symptoms

Organization Symptoms Problem Definition True Problem

Based on
Symptoms

Cellular phone Woman employees Salaries need to be Benefits Program

manufacturer complain compared to not suited to
Symptoms can that
be salaries
confused as industry
the problem
average
are too low
women’s needs.

Brewery Consumers prefer Taste of brewery’s Old-fashioned

taste of needs to be package is
competitors product

reformulated influencing
taste
 4.Determine the unit of Analysis
 In studies of home-buying, what should be unit of
analysis for study, the husband-wife combination or
the individual?
 The husband-wife combination should be the unit

of analysis as purchase decision will be made

jointly by both.
 Determining the unit of analysis is

important aspect for problem definition.

Determining the relevant variables
 While studying the effectiveness of an
advertisement, the relevant variables would be the
after sales, brand awareness, intentions to buy.
 Key variables should be identified in the problem
definition stage.
 Categorical and continuous variable.
 Dependant and independent variable.
5.State the Research Questions and
Research Objectives
 The researchers must prepare a formal written
questions and objectives.
 The research is expected to accomplish the
objectives.
The Problem statement can be clarified by-

1.Being specific in nature

“Is advertising copy X better than advertising copy
Y”-the statement is too general.
“Which advertisement has a higher day-after recall
score”-the statement is specific.

2.A clarity to the problem statement can be introduced

by formulating research questions.
 Research Objectives

 Purpose of research expressed in measurable terms.

 A researcher’s version of the problem.
 The definition of what the research should
accomplish.
 FEEDBACK

Specific
Objective 1

Broad research Specific

Statement of objectives Research
Objective 2 Design
problem

Exploratory Results
research Specific
(optional) Objective 3
Time Constraint
 Not feasible to search for every possible cause and
minor influence.

 Identification of correct problem or variable is

important for optimum utilization of time and
money.
Research Proposal

 A written statement of the research design that

includes a statement explaining the purpose of the
study and a detailed, Systematic outline of a
particular research methodology.
Advantage of Research Proposal
 It will force researcher to think critically about
each stage of the research process.
 All the vague plain and abstract ideas about
problem and procedure must become concrete
statements about specific statement.
 It acts as a communication function between client
and researcher.
CASE 1
 Case Appraisal
 Dennis Midddlemist enjoyed building furniture for his
own home. He decided to invent an alignment device
after his bad experience with trial & error adjustment of
his radial arm saw.
 He designed a solution & got his custom prototype built.
The device was perfectly according to his need & he
decided to get it patented.
 He started exploring the possibility of manufacturing the
device commercially through a company.
 He started dreaming of the company but, in reality he
didn’t know much about marketing & wondered what
marketing information he would require before
getting serious about manufacturing the device like
what market potential would be.

 He thought US would be the best place to start up &

he made first objective of finding out “How many
radial arm user are there in US & what could be
potential customer base”
 Questions
1.What do you think would be the most important
information to the research consultant? Also identify
the problem.
Ans: The most important information can be gathered
by doing the primary as well as the secondary
research.
 Marketing strategies and the market potential.
 Market information about manufacturing the device.
Continue...
 Market information about the demand and the
potential customers of this device.
1.Ascertain the decision maker’s
objectives
 Gather the information about the market of
US.
 Objective: How many radial arm user are

there in US & what could be potential

customer base.
 Introduce some effective techniques like

questionnaires, interviews, on-site

observations.
 Comparison with other similar device.
2.Understanding the background of the
problem
 In this complete domain knowledge is necessary .To
see whether it is feasible, how to gain an awareness,
environmental conditions.
 Conduct exploratory research (analyze the situation,
screen the alternatives and discover the new ideas).
3.Isolate and identify the problem,
not the symptoms
 Symptom-Un availability of marketing
information.
 Problem definition based on symptom-Explore the
marketing information for the device.

 Actual Problem-Who are the prospective

customers for the new device.
4.Determine the unit of Analysis

 As it is important to determine the unit of analysis for

problem definition.
 Unit of Analysis will be our potential customer.
5.Determining the relevant variables

 As the Middlemist is not having any knowledge of

marketing.
 The relevant variables are:-
 Study the market and advertising modes.
 Brand awareness,
 Encourage the customer to buy and
 Re-purchase by providing them after sales service.
6.State the Research Questions and Research
Objectives
 We will prepare a formal written Questionnaire with
its objective, performed on papers or Online through
email.
 It will help in finding the facts and other people
opinion, and their valuable suggestions and ideas.
 This technique saves time and in shorter time we can
gather information.
 To determine the requirements of user in a precise
manner, a close-ended question is more preferred.
RQ: How many radial arms are there in Market?
H1: No of target customer in US Market.
H2: No of radial arm possess by each one.

RQ: What could be potential customer base?

H1: No of Potential buyers in the market.
H2: No of Company Manufacturing this product.
H3: Total Possible market share untapped.
 Interview is another method to gather requirement
from user and to understand the domain.
 Interview technique has been used as a primary
research.
 In interviews one to one communication is used so
that information can be interpreted the way it is
described with minimum distortion in information.
CASE 2
Introduction
 To introduce EZPass a steering committee was
formed to investigate feasibility and desirability of
implementing Electronic toll collection
 ETC can reduce the traffic jams by allowing tag
holder to pass through tool plaza at moderate
speeds.
Perception of Agencies
 During the time of study ETC has been
successfully used in Texas and Louisiana.
 Several agencies thought of implementing ETC
individually though they believe integrating them
will give more result
Task force targets
 They want similarity and dissimilarity in
configuration across agencies and service attribute
for each agency commuter’s.
 They receive a list of attributes which they clubbed
together to seven question.
Focus of task force
 They are interested in knowing how to implement
ETC
 They do not show much interest in knowing
desirability of ETC.
 The Process of Problem Definition are:

Ascertain the agencies objectives:

As it is clearly specified the objective of task force is

to investigate feasibility and desirability of adopting
electronic toll collection(ETC) for the inter regional
roadways of the area.
Understand the background of the problem

 What could be the background problem behind

formation of task force. Is it traffic jam?

 The Background of the specified problem is

Inadequacies of road Infrastructure resulted in
traffic jam.
Isolate and Identify the problem and not the
symptoms

 Problem of the case is Inadequacies of road

infrastructure and it is not traffic jam
Determine the unit of analysis
 Who will be the unit of analysis for task force?

 The unit of Analysis for task force is commuter of

New York, New jersey area.
Determine the relevant variable
 The relevant variable under given study are:
Commuter
Satisfaction
Efficiency
Infrastructure
Budget
Demand
State the research questions(hypotheses)
and research objective
 Research objective is to investigate feasibility and
desirability of ETC(electronic toll collection)

Research questions are:

RQ: EZPass is feasible
H1: There are traffic on the road?
H2: Road infrastructure are not adequate?
H3: Commuter want EZPass
 RQ: EZPass is feasible?
H1: There are many agency
H2: each agency have difference configuration
H3: Different configuration can be integrated
H4: EZPass is economically and operationally
viable.
Q: Evaluate the problem definition. Has
the problem been defined adequately?
 Task force have overseen the objective of
establishing task force as they are much interested
in how to implement the EZPass. They are looking
economical and technical feasibility but they are not
looking social and operational feasibility and
desirability of implementing the project.
 Thus we can conclude that problem has not been
defined adequately by task force
THANK YOU