INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION OF 'RESEARCH REPORT'

A document prepared by an analyst or strategist who is a part of the
investment research team in a stock brokerage or investment bank. A
research report may focus on a specific stock or industry sector, a currency,
commodity or fixed-income instrument, or even on a geographic region or
country. Research reports generally, but not always, have "actionable"
recommendations (i.e. investment ideas that investors can act upon).
Research reports are produced by a variety of sources, ranging from market
research firms to in-house departments at large organizations. However, in
the investment industry, the term usually refers to "sell side" research, or
investment research produced by brokerage houses. Such research is
disseminated to the institutional and retail clients of the brokerage that
produces it. Research produced by the "buy side," which includes pension
funds, mutual funds and portfolio managers, is usually for internal use only
and is not distributed to external parties.

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD RESEARCH

Report provides factual information depending on which decisions are made.
So everyone should be taken to ensure that a report has all the essential
qualities which turn it into a good report. A good report must have the
following qualities:
1. Precision
In a good report, the report writer is very clear about the exact and definite
purpose of writing the report. His investigation, analysis, recommendations
and others are directed by this central purpose. Precision of a report provides
the unity to the report and makes it a valuable document for best usage.
2. Accuracy of Facts
Information contained in a report must be based on accurate fact. Since
decisions are taken on the basis of report information, any inaccurate
information or statistics will lead to wrong decision. It will hamper to achieve
the organizational goal.
3. Relevancy
The facts presented in a report should not be only accurate but also be
relevant. Irrelevant facts make a report confusing and likely to be misleading
to make proper decision.
4. Reader-Orientation
While drafting any report, it is necessary to keep in mind about the person
who is going to read it. That's why a good report is always reader oriented.
Readers knowledge and level of understanding should be considered by the

writer of report. Well reader-oriented information qualify a report to be a

good one.

5. Simple Language
This is just another essential features of a good report. A good report is
written in a simple language avoiding vague and unclear words. The
language of the report should not be influenced by the writer's emotion or
goal. The message of a good report should be self-explanatory.
6. Conciseness
A good report should be concise but it does not mean that a report can never
be long. Rather it means that a good report or a business report is one that
transmits maximum information with minimum words. It avoids unnecessary
detail and includes everything which are significant and necessary to present
proper information.
7. Grammatical Accuracy
A good report is free from errors. Any faulty construction of a sentence may
make its meaning different to the reader's mind. And sometimes it may
become confusing or ambiguous.
8. Unbiased Recommendation
Recommendation on report usually make effect on the reader mind. So if
recommendations are made at the end of a report, they must be impartial
and objective. They should come as logical conclusion for investigation and
analysis.
9. Clarity
Clarity depends on proper arrangement of facts. A good report is absolutely

clear. Reporter should make his purpose clear, define his sources, state his
findings and finally make necessary recommendation. To be an effective
communication through report, A report must be clear to understand for
making communication success.

10. Attractive Presentation

Presentation of a report is also a factor which should be consider for a good
report. A good report provides a catchy and smart look and creates attention
of the reader. Structure, content, language, typing and presentation style of
a good report should be attractive to make a clear impression in the mind of
its reader.
The inclusion of above factors, features or characteristics, make a good
report to be effective and fruitful. It also helps to achieve the report goal. A
reporter who is making the report, always should be careful about those
factors to make his report a good one.

STRUCTURE OF REPORT WRITING

The main features of a report are described below to provide a general
guide. These should be used in conjunction with the instructions or
guidelines provided by your department.
Title Page
This should briefly but explicitly describe the purpose of the report (if this is
not obvious from the title of the work). Other details you may include could
be your name, the date and for whom the report is written.
Summary (Abstract)

The summary should briefly describe the content of the report. It should
cover the aims of the report, what was found and what, if any, action is
called for. Aim for about 1/2 a page in length and avoid detail or discussion;
just outline the main points. Remember that the summary is the first thing
that is read. It should provide the reader with a clear, helpful overview of the
content of the report.

Contents (Table of Contents)

The contents page should list the different chapters and/or headings
together with the page numbers. Your contents page should be presented in
such a way that the reader can quickly scan the list of headings and locate a
particular part of the report. You may want to number chapter headings and
subheadings in addition to providing page references. Whatever numbering
system you use, be sure that it is clear and consistent throughout.
Introduction
The introduction sets the scene for the main body of the report. The aims
and objectives of the report should be explained in detail. Any problems or
limitations in the scope of the report should be identified, and a description
of research methods, the parameters of the research and any necessary
background history should be included.
In some reports, particularly in science subjects, separate headings
for Methods and Results are used prior to the main body (Discussion) of the
report as described below.
Methods

Information under this heading may include: a list of equipment used;

explanations of procedures followed; relevant information on materials used,
including sources of materials and details of any necessary preparation;
reference to any problems encountered and subsequent changes in
procedure.
Results
This section should include a summary of the results of the investigation or
experiment together with any necessary diagrams, graphs or tables of
gathered data that support your results. Present your results in a logical
order without comment. Discussion of your results should take place in the
main body of the report.

Discussion
The main body of the report is where you discuss your material. The facts
and evidence you have gathered should be analysed and discussed with
specific reference to the problem or issue. If your discussion section is
lengthy you might divide it into section headings. Your points should be
grouped and arranged in an order that is logical and easy to follow. Use
headings and subheadings to create a clear structure for your material. Use
bullet points to present a series of points in an easy-to-follow list. As with the
whole report, all sources used should be acknowledged and correctly
referenced..

Conclusion

In the conclusion you should show the overall significance of what has been
covered. You may want to remind the reader of the most important points
that have been made in the report or highlight what you consider to be the
most central issues or findings. However, no new material should be
introduced in the conclusion.
Appendices
Under this heading you should include all the supporting information you
have used that is not published. This might include tables, graphs,
questionnaires, surveys or transcripts. Refer to the appendices in the body of
your report.
In order to assess the popularity of this change, a questionnaire (Appendix 2)
was distributed to 60 employees. The results (Appendix 3) suggest the
change is well received by the majority of employees.
Example of use of appendices

Bibliography
Your bibliography should list, in alphabetical order by author, all published
sources referred to in your report. There are different styles of using
references and bibliographies. Refer to the study guide Referencing and
Bibliographies and check your departmental handbook for guidelines. Texts
which you consulted but did not refer to directly could be grouped under a
separate heading such as 'Background Reading' and listed in alphabetical
order using the same format as in your bibliography.
Acknowledgements

Where appropriate you may wish to acknowledge the assistance of particular

organisations or individuals who provided information, advice or help.
Glossary of Technical Terms
It is useful to provide an alphabetical list of technical terms with a brief, clear
description of each term. You can also include in this section explanations of
the acronyms, abbreviations or standard units used in your report.

DEVELOPING A PROJECT REPORT

10 Steps to writing a report
The following steps provide a guide to the writing process :
1. Clarify Purpose & Expectations
Be clear about purpose, audience(s), resources to support report production,
roles and responsibilities. Make sure this understanding is shared by other
key people involved.

2. Decide on appropriate structure for report

Usually funders will have a specific pro forma they would like you to follow.
It's worth being familiar with this well before you start writing the report. This
way you can be on the look out for what to include as your project
progresses. If you have no proforma provided, you will need to choose some
appropriate headings as a guide.
3. Produce 1st draft
Get it all down, worry about editing, length, style etc. later. Cut and paste
from previous progress reports and evaluation plans etc. Leave gaps for
others to fill in if necessary.
4. Re-draft
Read and edit 1st draft, trying to read it from the perspective of a key person
you would like the report to influence, or a member of your audience.
5. Circulate
Circulate the draft to the project team or advisory committee if appropriate.
Ask for written comments and ideas for recommendations by a fixed date,
allowing readers enough time to do so. Be specific about what aspects you
would like feedback about, eg. content, specific sections you are unsure
about, style, tone, language, flow, recommendations, layout, typos,
grammar. If you have only a few people and enough time, circulate just one
copy for all comments, so as to make editing easier.

6. Integrate Comments, Develop Recommendations

Decide which comments to incorporate, preferably in a small project team
meeting. Discuss recommendations. If your recommendations involve others
taking action, it may be advisable to involve these people in the process.
This can help make sure they are drafted in a way that is most likely to be
well received, and acted upon. It is important to put the most important

recommendations first. It can also be helpful to sort your recommendations

according to who you would like to be taking action. This way they have
quick and clear access to the implications for them.
7. Write Executive Summary
This is a VERY important part of your project report. Executive summaries are
the most used source of information about project outcomes. It is necessary
to keep the executive summary short, preferably 1-4 pages. It is useful to
contain a brief summary of the project purpose, key strategies, findings of
relevance to the audience. Make clear the implications of the findings,
possibly including the recommendations as part of the executive summary,
or following just after it.
8. Circulate Final Draft
Include: acknowledgements, title page, contents page, Executive Summary,
recommendations, references, lists of acronyms, appendices (eg. any
questionnaires used, background info examples of publicity,etc.)
9. Do final Edits
10. Layout

TYPES OF RESEARCH REPORT

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge or deepen
understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms
(although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be
obscure):

Exploratory research, which helps to identify and define a problem or

question.

Constructive research, which tests theories and proposes solutions to a

problem or question.

Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution

using empirical evidence.

The research room at the New York Public Library, an example ofsecondary
research in progress.
There are two major types of research design: qualitative research and
quantitative research. Researchers choose qualitative or quantitative
methods according to the nature of the research topic they want to
investigate and the research questions they aim to answer:

Qualitative research
Understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such
behavior. Asking a broad question and collecting data in the form of words,

images, video etc that is analyzed and searching for themes. This type of
research aims to investigate a question without attempting to quantifiably
measure variables or look to potential relationships between variables. It is
viewed as more restrictive in testing hypotheses because it can be expensive
and time consuming, and typically limited to a single set of research
subjects. Qualitative research is often used as a method of exploratory
research as a basis for later quantitative research hypotheses. Qualitative
research is linked with the philosophical and theoretical stance of social
constructionism.
Quantitative research
Systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena
and their relationships. Asking a narrow question and collecting numerical
data to analyze utilizing statistical methods. The quantitative research
designs are experimental, correlational, and survey (or descriptive). Statistics
derived from quantitative research can be used to establish the existence of
associative or causal relationships between variables. Quantitative research
is linked with the philosophical and theoretical stance of positivism.
The Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories.] These methods produce results that are
easy to summarize, compare, and generalize. Quantitative research is
concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory and/or being able to
estimate the size of a phenomenon of interest. Depending on the research
question, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments
(this is the only way that a quantitative study can be considered a true
experiment). If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on
participant and situational characteristics in order to statistically control for
their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable. If the intent is to

generalize from the research participants to a larger population, the

researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants.
In either qualitative or quantitative research, the researcher(s) may collect
primary or secondary data. Primary data is data collected specifically for the
research, such as through interviews or questionnaires. Secondary data is
data that already exists, such as census data, which can be re-used for the
research. It is good ethical research practice to use secondary data wherever
possible.
Mixed-method research, i.e. research that includes qualitative and
quantitative elements, using both primary and secondary data, is becoming
more common.

RESEARCH REPORT ON LAKME

BRAND INTRODUCTION
Lakm is an Indian brand of cosmetics, owned by Hindustan Unileverand run by CEO
pushkaraj shenai. Lakme started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (Tomco), part
of the Tata Group; it was named after the French opera Lakm, which itself is the
French form of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, also renowned for her beauty. Indian
cosmet Lakme was started in 1952, famously because the then Prime
Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was concerned that Indian women were spending
precious foreign exchange on beauty products, and personally requested JRD Tata to
manufacture them in India. Simone Tata joined the company as director, and went
on to become its chairman.In 1996 Tata sold off their stakes in Lakm Lever to HLL,
for Rs 200 Crore (45 million US$), and went on to create Trent and Westside. Even
today, when most multinational beauty products are available in India, Lakme still
occupies a special place in the hearts of Indian women.
Lakme also started its new business in the beauty industry by setting up Lakme
Beauty Salons all over India. Now HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) has about 110
salons all over India providing beauty services. In the Brand Trust Report 2012,
Lakme was ranked 104th among India's most trusted brands and subsequently,
according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, Lakme was ranked 71st among India's
most trusted brands. In 2014 however, Lakme was ranked 36th among India's most
trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by
Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics company. The company is the title
sponsor for Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) a bi-annual fashion event which takes place
in Mumbai.
High priestess of sacred Indian temple meets English army officer who's unwittingly
strayed into holy ground. They fall in love. Her orthodox father vows vengeance...
That's the story of Lakm, a 19th century opera written by Frenchman Leo Delibes,

from which Simone Tata borrowed the name Lakm (French for Lakshmi, the name
of the priestess).
The current size of the Indian cosmetic market is approximately US$ 600 million. Of
this, the fastest growing segment is color cosmetics, accounting for around US$ 60
million of the market. Industry sources estimate a rapid growth rate of 20 percent
per annum across different segments of the cosmetics industry reflecting an
increasing demand for all kinds of beauty and personal care product. Growth has
come mainly from the low and medium-priced categories that account for 90
percent of the cosmetics market in terms of volume.

Even with a 20 percent average growth rate, the per capita consumption of
cosmetics is very low in India. Current per capita expenditure on cosmetics is
approximately US$ 0.68 cents as compared to US$ 36.65 in other Asian countries.
However, with changing lifestyles, higher disposable incomes, increasing
advertising, penetration of satellite television, awareness of the western world and
growing importance of beauty pageants, there have been significant changes and
use of cosmetics is on the rise.

Lakme, a brand originally introduced by the Tata group of India, now bought over by
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) of the Unilever group, Tips & Toes, another domestic
player, and Revlon dominate the US$ 60 million color cosmetics market.
Multinationals, Revlon of the U.S. and L'Oreal's Maybelline has a dominant share of
the small premium lipsticks and nail enamels market. Mass-market products
account for a major share, while the premium segment accounts only for a mere 9
per cent in lipsticks and 5 per cent in nail enamels. Lipsticks account for nearly a
third of the market at US$ 21 million, while the market for nail enamels is estimated
at around US$ 23 million. The color cosmetics segment is very competitive and has
a high penetration level of 80 percent.The skin care market in India is estimated at
US$ 180 million. Within the last decade, this segment has seen many consumers
slowly shift from the mass to the premium end of the market. The penetration rate
is high in the skin-care segment as compared to color cosmetics. In the skin-care

segment, price and volume played an equal role in value growth. Moisturizing
lotions, fairness creams and face cleansers are the popular categories in the skincare segment and account for approximately 60 percent of the skin-care segment.
The major players in this segments are Lakme, Ponds, Fair & Lovely of the HUL
group with a 50 percent market share, followed by players such as J.L. Morison that
markets the Nivea range of products in India, Godrej and Revlon. Penetration levels
of international cosmetics brands in India are still low. Foreign brands currently
constitute only 20 percent of the market. A major reason for low penetration of
international brands can be attributed to high pricing. These companies initially
gained sales on their international brand image, however, repeat purchases were
not forthcoming and to retain their sales growth, several foreign companies
reformulated price strategies to tap the large Indian middle class. Urban women in
the middle and upper income groups in the age range of 23-50 is the target group
for international brands, as this group looks for better products and is willing to pay
a premium for international quality products. Industry estimates suggest that there
are close to 10 million such women in India.
SWOT ANALYSIS Of LAKME

Strengths :

local brand of specific relevance to India.

Strong R&D capability, well linked with business.

Integrated supply chain and well spread manufacturing units.

Ability to deliver Cost Savings.

Access to Unilever global technology capability and sharing of

best

practices from other Unilever

Weaknesses :

Price positioning in some categories allows for low price competition.

Varying quality range in its products.

Falling Quality of Lame salons

Opportunities :

Brand growth through increased consumption depth and frequency of usage

across all categories.

Upgrading consumers through innovation to new levels of quality and

performance.

Building brand image by collaborating with top designers in Lakme Fashion

week

Threats :

Aggressive price competition from local and multinational players.

Spurious/counterfeit products in rural areas and small towns.

Non Existence of brand image in long Run

Everything a girl wants

Lakm has a wide range of products in color cosmetics that bring visible results. To
add to this vast repertoire is a range of specialized skin care products for the
discerning women. Keeping skin looking healthy and glowing is also a part of
looking great. Lakm provide the complete package with the skin care range and
the wide range of colors to spice up the look.

Lakme products
Colours
From the spicy shades to the flattering look, Lakme offers a range of products in the
face, lips, eyes and nail segment for the beauty aficionados.

Face
Lakm Daily Wear Souffl ,Lakm Perfecting liquid Foundation - Lakm Radiance
Compact , Lakm Flawless Matte Complexion Compact
Lips
Lakm Enrich Lipcolor - . Perfecting Definition Lip Pencil - Starshine Lipgloss Glosses in lustrous shades available in 14 shades.
Eyes
From dramatic to natural look- a wide range of products are on offer to create the
perfect eyes.
1. Lakm Kajal:
2. Lame Insta Eyeliner eyelids
3. Lakme Lakm Shimmer Eye Cube:

Nails
True Wear Nail Enamel -Nail Enamel with Lacquer-like finish. Contains resins and
silicone with colour lock technology that gives brilliant long lasting shine
Skin
For radiant skin Lakm is there to pamper your skin with specialized products for
the diva in you.
Cleansing
Strawberry Silk Splash Face Wash , Lakm Fundamental Deep Pore Cleansing Milk Moisturizing
1. Lakm Fundamental Peach Milk Moisturiser skin.

2. Lakm Fundamental Winter Care Lotion Sun Protection

The range comprises of lotions to keep your skin healthy and younger looking.

Objective

Help in building a positive association with people thereby enhancing brand

personality

How to break the negative connotation of Being fashionable

Why has Lakme missed out on promotional gauge despite roping in top brand
ambassadors.

How can the brand retain its lost spot?

Hypothesis of Research

In the classical tests of significance, two kinds of hypothesis are used the null
hypothesis and the alternate hypothesis. Null hypothesis ( Ho) is used for testing. It
is the statement that no difference exists between the parameter and the statistic
being compared. Second is Alternative hypothesis
(HA) is alternative hypothesis is alternative hypothesis which holds that there has
been a change.

Hypothetical testing can be viewed as a six steps procedure;

Establish a null hypothesis

Choose the statistical test on the basis of assumption about the population
distribution and measurement level

select the desired level of significance

Parametric and non parametric tests are applicable under various conditions
like parametric operates with the interval and ratio data and are preferred
when their assumptions can be met. Non parametric tests do not require
stringent assumptions about the population distribution and are less useful
with less nominal and ordinal values.

In this report our null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis are stated below:
Ho: Respondents are satisfied with the quality of Lakme products.
Ha: Respondents are not satisfied with the quality

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research is based on:Primary Data

Questionnaire
Secondary Data

Internet

Company Reports& Broachers

Magazines

Newspapers Articles &journals

Data is also gathered by talking to the respondents (Target Audience,

understanding their beauty needs, what aspire them to go for the (lakme)brand.
Also the level of : Brand awareness,
Price level,
Visibility of brand personality.
Expectancy of Communication

RESEARCH DESIGN

Our research is based on the Exploratory Study.

Research is exploratory when you use no earlier model as a basis of your study. The
most usual reason for using this approach is that you have no other choice.

Normally you would like to take an earlier theory as a support, but there perhaps is
none, or all available models come from wrong contexts.
Exploratory research means that hardly anything is known about the matter at the
outset of the project. You then have to begin with a rather vague impression of what
you should study, and it is also impossible to make a detailed work plan in advance.
The gradual process of accumulating intelligence about the object of study means
also that it will be impossible to start by defining the concepts of study. You have to
start with a preliminary notion of your object of study, and of its context. During the
exploratory research project, these provisional concepts then gradually gain
precision.
Sample design

The sampling procedure used to produce any type of sample

Sample size of 20 customers.

Questionnaire
Q) Do lakme provides Quality Products?

Quality
Yes 40%

No 60 %

Q) Are You Brand Loyal to Lakme?

Brand Loyalty
No 82%
Yes 18%

Q) For what purpose You use lakme products ?

20

10

20

50

Column2

Q) What do you think about the price level of Lakme products ?

Price Level
High 30 %
Optimun
65%

Low 5%

Q) If not Lakme then which Other brand ?

Competitors
Revlon
22%

Oriflame
18%

L'Oreal
39%

Lissome
7%

Blue
heaven
8%
Others
6%

Q) Do celebrity endorsements in advertisements attract you towards

Lakme products ?

Celebrity Endorsement effect

No 83%
Yes 17%

Q)What inspire you to go for any cosmetic product?

Color/
shades
30%
Versatility
14%

Quality
36%
Others
6%

Packaging
14%

Q) What changes you would like to see in the Lakme products?

Expectations
More Product Range
Better Packaging
17%

More Shades
All the above

1%
47%

35%

FINDING
The questionnaire helps us to find out that women are well aware of the
brand name LAKME. Only 40% of the sample size belive that the brand
offers quality products in the market. Whereas as only 18% of the sample
size are loyal customers of the brand. Most amount of people in the
sample size use Lakme products available for the face.The quality of
product attracts the most number of customers. Brands like loreal and
Revlon give Lakme the toughest competition in the market. The product
range of Lakme is limited according to the sample size. They also pick the
product getting attractec towards the quality 36% and color range (30%
of the sample size).
RECOMMENDATIONS
Promotions beyond fashion week
The brand should not lose its focus away from cosmetics. It can proved
to very detrimental.
For vast reach unlikely, in the short-term. Some sort of an alliance or
co-branding with the salons that already exist may, perhaps, have been
a better strategy.
The general perception is that company-owned salons are expensive.
Though Lakme beauty salons are reasonably priced, it has not been
communicated well enough.

CONCLUSION
Lakme needs to increase the product range in order to sustain their
market share . Because of the increasing competition they need to launch
competitive and strong products. Lakme has a vibrant name in India all
they need to do is maintain its goodwill in the market. As the most numbr
of women use their face and skin care product they should develop good
quality and affordable products to counter the demand in the Indian
market.Hence they need to provide a better overall satisfaction to its
consumers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.google.com
www.lakmeindia.com