Global Business week 4

Global Business Study Notes

Week 4: Global Information Systems and Market Research

Learning Objectives

• 6.1 Discuss the roles of information technology, management information systems, and big data in a global company’s decision-making processes.
• 6.2 Describe the various sources of market information, including direct perception.
• 6.3 Identify the individual steps in the traditional market research process and explain some of the ways global marketers adapt them.
• 6.4 Compare the way a multinational firm organizes the marketing research effort with the way a global or transnational firm approaches the organizing issue.
• 6.5 Explain how information’s role as a strategic asset affects the structure of global corporations.

Learning Objective 6.1: Information Technology in Global Decision-Making

• Information Technology (IT):

  • Definition: An organization’s processes for creating, storing, exchanging, using, and managing information.

• Management Information Systems (MIS):

  • Definition: A means for gathering, analyzing, and reporting relevant data to provide managers and decision-makers with continuous information about markets, customers, competitors, and company operations.

• Big Data:

  • Definition: Extremely large data sets that can be subjected to computational analysis to reveal patterns and trends.

• Business Intelligence Network (BI):

  • A component of MIS that focuses on analyzing data in order to aid decision-making and strategy formulation.
  • Major Objective of BI: Investments in IT infrastructure to facilitate better data analysis.

Learning Objective 6.2: Sources of Market Information

• Personal Sources:

  • Significance: Account for up to 70% of corporate information.
  • Note: Domestic companies often fail to look beyond domestic borders, limiting their understanding of international opportunities and trends.

• Direct Sensory Perception:

  • Description: Involves firsthand experiences such as seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, or tasting to gather information about operations in a foreign country.

Learning Objective 6.3: Steps in the Traditional Market Research Process

• Market Research Definition:

  • Project-specific data gathering aimed at addressing a particular business need.

• Global Market Research:

  • Adapts to new parameters of doing business, often described as encountering a "cultural megashock" due to differing values and practices.
  • Requires consideration of various interacting factors and broadening the definition of competitors.

• Market Research Process Steps:

  1. Information requirements
  2. Problem definition
  3. Choosing the unit of analysis
  4. Examining data availability
  5. Assessing the value of research
  6. Research design
  7. Data analysis
  8. Interpretation and presentation

Information Requirements

• Supplement direct perception; ask the following two questions:
  • "What information do I need?"
  • "Why do I need this information?"

Problem Definition

• Awareness of the Self-Reference Criterion:
  • A tendency where one’s home-country values influence the evaluation of other cultures. Examples:
  • Mattel and Disney experienced misalignments due to this bias.

Choosing a Unit of Analysis

• Units can be:
  • Single country, region, global, city, state, or province.

Examining Data Availability

• Considerations:
  • Can secondary data be utilized?
  • Necessity of information timing relative to decision-making.
  • Secondary Data:
  • Considered a cost-effective alternative to longer and more expensive formal studies.

Assessing the Value of Research

• Factors:
  • Cost versus value of research; determine if entering a market merit research expense.

Research Design

• Primary Data:
  • Used when secondary data is unavailable, with potential complexities in gathering data, increased costs, and longer collection times.
• Guidelines for Data Gathering:
  • Utilize multiple indicators for measurement.
  • Develop customized indicators for individual companies.
  • Conduct comparative assessments across multiple markets.
  • Weight observational data more heavily than self-reported intentions.

Issues in Data Collection

• Differentiate between existing markets (currently served) and potential markets (latent and incipient).

Research Design Techniques

• Survey Research: Qualitative or quantitative methods.
• Consumer Panels: Monitoring respondent behaviors over time.
• Focus Groups: Discussions facilitated by a moderator, typically involving 6-10 participants.
  • Scale Development: Likert scales are commonly used; awareness of biases is crucial.
• Sampling Techniques: Convenience or quota sampling is common.

Data Analysis Techniques

• Data must be cleaned and tabulated.
  • Interdependence Techniques include:
  • Factor analysis, cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling/perceptual mapping.
  • Dependence Techniques include:
  • Conjoint analysis, comparative analysis, and market estimation by analogy.

Interpretation and Presentation

• Key aspects:
  • Reports must reference problems or opportunities identified earlier.
  • Use accessible language for information presentation.
  • Simplify complex quantitative analyses for clarity.

Learning Objective 6.4: Organizing Market Research Efforts

• Headquarters’ Control of Market Research:
  • Factors in determining where to control market research.
  • Emphasize comparability for valid inter-country comparisons.
  • Emic Analysis: Studies culture from within.
  • Etic Analysis: A detached perspective used in multi-country studies.

Learning Objective 6.5: Information as a Strategic Asset

• Marketing Information System:
  • Boundaries between firms and external environments are dissolving.
  • Integration between marketing and other functions is becoming more seamless.
  • Emergence of flattened organizational structures to enhance information flow.
  • Recognizes information intensity in decision-making and strategy formulation.