Assessment Task 1: Knowledge Test

Q1:
Answer the following questions regarding the internal and external sources of
information-( 100-200 words)
1.1. Explain the following types of strategic objectives-
a) Financial strategic objectives
They allow a company to focus on the monetary needs of their organization with
specific steps to increase or decrease costs, re-evaluate spending, analyze
revenue trends and plan for financial growth.

b) Growth strategic objectives

Businesses use strategic growth goals to make actionable statements about
expanding and increasing their company influence in the market and developing
new internal processes. Strategic objectives for growth can help a company plan
for the future of the business with specific steps on how to achieve those long-
term goals.

c) Learning strategic objectives

Companies create strategic objectives for learning by planning to increase staff
knowledge and capabilities with specific actions. Strategic objectives for training
are ways that a business can plan to invest in their employees to address overall
performance goals.

d) Operations strategic objectives

Changing or restructuring the way a business operates is the focus of strategic
objectives for business processes and operations. To effectively make goals for
production, a business may choose to adjust and evaluate how they create a
product with the objective of implementing a more efficient process. Other
process and operational objectives might involve business-to-business strategies
or business-to-consumer tactics.

e) Strategic customer objectives

Some businesses want their strategic objectives to focus on the customer
experience. A business may want to work toward creating value for their
consumers based on the cost of a product or service. Or, a company may want to
set goals for outstanding customer service with actionable objectives to help
achieve this outcome.

1.2 Discuss in detail any five strategic business objectives of an organisation.

(100-200 words)
1. Improved Operational Efficiency
Efficiency in operations is one of the vital measures of a company's strength. In
order to achieve higher profits, companies continuously aim to improve the
efficiency and productivity of their operations. This could include streamlining
tasks, improving technology or cutting back on production waste. Cutting back
on unnecessary paperwork, for example, allows companies to save money on
supplies, as well as gives employees a chance to use that wasted time more
efficiently in other areas.

2. New Means of Making Money

For a company to sustain competitiveness, it needs to introduce new products,
services and business models every so often. Business models are the processes
in which businesses make money from their products or services, and remaining
stagnant is a sure-fire way for a company to become irrelevant. Even the most
successful companies have had to divert away from their initial bread and butter
and introduce new products, services and business models to remain relevant
and competitive in an ever-changing business landscape.

3. Customer and Supplier Relationships

When a company truly knows its customers well, that allows them to serve those
customers better. They know what their customers want, when they want it and
how they want it. In return, customers tend to become loyal and increase
spending over time, which, of course, increases a company's revenues and
profits.

4. Improving the Decision-Making

Before the prevalence of easily accessed and readily available data, most
company leadership had to make decisions based on best guesses and forecasts
by analysts. Now, with the availability of real-time data, company management
is much more equipped to set company strategic objectives based on accurate,
real-time information. Data-driven decision-making is much more effective for
improving business functions.

5. Keeping a Competitive Advantage

Whether it is a company's ability to perform a service more efficiently, charge
less for a product or provide better customer service, they must maintain a
competitive advantage to remain viable in the marketplace. Sectors are
continuously being disrupted by newer, more innovative companies, and to
survive, companies must provide something to their customer that they cannot
receive from their competitors. Doing so almost inevitably increases a company's
revenues and profits.

1.3 Discuss the various types of comparative market information related to

marketing. (100-200 words)
Mainly 3 types of marketing information related systems are available that
marketing decision-makers use to have valuable insights for wise marketing
decisions i.e. Internal Data-Based MIS, Marketing Research, and Competitive
Intelligence.
Internal data-based marketing information system
Internal data includes information related to current customers and prospective
customers of an organization that is part of its internal operating system.
Competitive Intelligence
Another type of marketing information system is competitive intelligence that is
used to closely monitor competitors, their marketing strategies, and competitive
market statistics. Competitive intelligence is considered as a systematic process
related to collecting, observing, and analyzing required information of the
business environment that is external to an organization. It further includes the
distribution of result data within the organization to make effective decisions.
The main objective of competitive intelligence is to analyze the external
environment to take appropriate decisions in a competitive market.
Marketing Research
A systematic process of identifying different marketing opportunities is known as
marketing research. Also, it includes solving marketing problems by customer
data that are captured through the analysis of marketing information.
1.4 How is the change in technology impacting market research. (100-200
words)
Technology has had a huge impact on market research, creating a new
generation of faster and easier-to-use tools that help brands discover what
consumers truly think.
Technology has made it possible to accelerate traditional market research
processes, making them more efficient and streamlining costs through
innovative approaches that can be used as either an alternative or supplement
to traditional methods.
As consumer behavior evolves ever more rapidly, insights play a vital role in
increasing business agility. Technology is democratizing market research while
still providing high-quality intelligence, allowing brands to move confidently –
and with speed.

1.5 Highlight the three (3) main types of industry trends. (100-200 words)
Secular Trends
A secular trend, one that can last for one to three decades, holds within its
parameters many primary trends, and, for the most part, is easy to recognize
because of the time frame. The price-action chart, for a period of 25 years or so,
would appear to be nothing more than a number of straight lines moving
gradually up or down.
Intermediate-Trends
Within all primary trends are intermediate trends, which keep the business
journalists and market analysts constantly searching for the answers for why an
issue or a market suddenly turns and heads in the direction opposite to that of
yesterday or last week. Sudden rallies and directional turnarounds make up the
intermediate trends and, for the most part, are the results of some kind of
economic or political action and its subsequent reaction.
Long-Term Trends
To determine the long-term trends that appear on the charts of their favorite
stocks, veteran analysts will use a stochastics indicator.

1.6 Define industry trends with examples. (50-100 words)

Industry trends can be influenced by a number of factors. A trend toward
increased safety standards in automobiles might be tied to government
legislation, for example. Likewise, a trend toward shorter hemlines in women's
fashion may be the result of the popularity of a celebrity who is known to wear
short skirts.
IoT and Industry 4.0 are being compared to the industrial revolution and Henry
Ford's mass production because they are changing the industry so drastically.
Along with that comes AI and machine learning, robots providing safer work
environments, improved speed and efficiency, and data/analytics.

1.8 How can we evaluate the political activity and legislative changes in market
research? (50-100 words)
The stability of a political system can affect the appeal of a particular local
market. Governments view business organizations as a critical vehicle for social
reform. Governments pass legislation, which impacts the relationship between
the firm and its customers, suppliers, and other companies.
Governments can raise or lower corporation tax, which will impact on profits.
They can also affect businesses by increasing value-added tax on products or
business rates. They can bring in new laws like the National Minimum Wage,
which impacts on profits and employment rights.

Q2: Answer the following questions:

2.1. Explain the content of a marketing research plan. (100-150 words)
A market research plan should provide a thorough examination of how your
product or service will fare in a defined area. It should include: An examination of
the current marketplace and an analysis of the need for your product or service.
An assessment of the competition. Brief statement of goals and
recommendations based on hard data. Market Situation: Data on target market,
size and growth for past years and each segment. Data on customer needs,
perceptions, and buying behavior trends.
Undertaking actions based on a marketing plan can place a company better than
its competitors. Preparing the plan requires a few sequential steps, which should
be followed for a better plan to follow. A marketing plan should contain, among
others, an executive summary, statement of the current marketing situation,
analysis of the opportunities and issues, objectives of the firm, marketing
strategy to be pursued, action programs to be taken, projected Profit-and-loss
statement, and the control measures to be taken.
2.2 Discuss the steps to develop a market research plan. (100-200 words)
Step 1: Defining the marketing research problem
Defining a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways,
research starts with a problem facing management. This problem needs to be
understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.

Step 2: Developing a research program: method of inquiry

The scientific method is the standard for investigation. It provides an opportunity
for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point, and proceed impartially.
The scientific method includes the following steps:
Define a problem
Develop a hypothesis
Make predictions based on the hypothesis
Devise a test of the hypothesis

Step 3: Developing a research program: research method

As well as selecting a method of inquiry (objective or subjective), you must select
a research method.

Step 4: Developing a research program: research design

Research design is a plan or framework for conducting marketing research and
collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to
get the information you need.

Step 5: Choose your sample

Your marketing research project will rarely examine an entire population. It’s
more practical to use a sample - a smaller but accurate representation of the
greater population.

Step 6: Gather data

Your research design will develop as you select techniques to use. There are
many channels for collecting data, and it’s helpful to differentiate it into O-data
(Operational) and X-data (Experience)

Step 7: Analysis and interpretation

The words ‘statistical analysis methods’ aren’t usually guaranteed to set a room
alight with excitement, but when you understand what they can do, the
problems they can solve and the insights they can uncover, they seem a whole
lot more compelling.

Step 8: The marketing research results

Your marketing research process culminates in the research results. These
should provide all the information the stakeholders and decision-makers need to
understand the project.

Q3: 3.1Discuss the following software applications that are used in qualitative
market data analysis. (100-200 words)
1.Hubspot
As part of its Service Hub suite, HubSpot offers a customer feedback tool that
provides detailed analytics for surveys and customer reviews. Your data gets
centralized into one accessible dashboard which includes different charts and
graphs summarizing your customers' responses. With this simple setup, your
team has a quick and clean way to review their daily analytics without navigating
around the site.

2.MAXQDA
MAXQDA is a qualitative data analysis software that's designed for companies
analyzing different types of customer data. The software allows you to import
data from interviews, focus groups, surveys, videos, and even social media. This
way you can review all of your qualitative data in one central location.

3.Quirkos
Quirkos includes a variety of tools that analyze and review qualitative data. One
of its most notable tools is its text analyzer which can find common keywords
and phrases throughout different text documents. Your team can upload it's
customer reviews or survey responses and use this tool to identify recurring
roadblocks in the customer experience.
4. Qualtrics
Qualtrics uses AI to review your survey data and forecast trends in customer
behavior. Its “Predictive Analysis” tool evaluates data and makes predictions
about customer satisfaction based on past survey responses. Use this
information to interpret how customers will react to changes you make to the
customer experience.

3.2 Explain the following software used to analyse quantitative market data.
(100-200 words)
1. SPSS
SPSS provides data analysis for descriptive and bivariate statistics, numeral
outcome predictions and predictions for identifying groups. The software also
provides data transformation, graphing and direct marketing features. The
software interface displays open data similarly to a spreadsheet in its main view.

2. STATA
Stata is a powerful statistical software that enables users to analyze, manage,
and produce graphical visualizations of data. It is primarily used by researchers
in the fields of economics, biomedicine, and political science to examine data
patterns.

3. SAS
Statistical Analysis System (SAS) is an integrated system of software products
provided by SAS Institute Inc., which enables programmers to perform:
Information retrieval and data management. Report writing and graphics.
Statistical analysis, econometrics and data mining.

Q4: Answer the following questions:

4.1 Explain the meaning and types of code of practice. What specific terms are
used while complying with marketing codes of practice? (100-200 words)
Marketing codes of practice, as defined by the ADMA (Association for data-driven
marketing & advertising), are a set of standards of conduct for marketers to
minimise the risk of breaking legislation laws and to promote a culture of best
practice.
Codes of practice attempt to explain and illustrate the values and principles of
the business. Instead of providing strict rules to follow, codes of practice educate
employees on how things are done in the business. These codes attempt to
empower the employee by making the employee an ethical decision maker.

4.2 Discuss the following codes of conduct affecting marketing. (100-200 words)
1. Code of ethics
According to the AMA, there are six core ethical values to be practiced by
members of the marketing system. They include honesty, responsibility, fairness,
respect, transparency and citizenship. Though some of these values may seem
obvious, it is important to emphasize how they affect the everyday actions of
marketers.

2. Environmental claim code

The object of this Code is to ensure that advertisers and marketers develop and
maintain rigorous standards when making Environmental Claims and to increase
consumer confidence to the benefit of the environment, consumers and industry.
This Code is accompanied by a Practice Note which has been developed by the
AANA.

3. Wagering advertising code

Advertisements and inducements with most influence were direct messages
from wagering operators; ads on betting websites and apps; betting brands
promoted during live and televised race/sports events; commentary promoting
betting or betting odds during events; stake-back offers; multi-bet offers.

Q5: Answer the following questions related to market research principles and
practices:
5.1. How can you estimate the timelines for a market research project. (100-200
words)
A timeline is a very important part of a project proposal. It basically shows the
chronological order of events that you plan to do in your project. It is supposed
to give the reader a broad overview of the project at a glance. It does not have
to be very detailed.
However, these timelines are never compressed – only made longer when you hit
unexpected roadbumps. A typical market research project takes six-seven
weeks. This is pretty standard for a small project, say 10-30 in-depth interviews
or 4-8 focus groups. Larger projects take longer, of course.

5.2 How can you determine the project budget for market research? (100-200
words)
The best way to develop a detailed budget for your upcoming project is
consulting with the firm who will be leading your market research. They can give
you a custom quote for how much your research project will cost, based on what
services you require, your objectives, and a myriad of other variables.

5.3 What is the research hypothesis? Discuss the steps in formulating an

effective research hypothesis. (100-200 words)
A research hypothesis is a statement of expectation or prediction that will be
tested by research. Before formulating your research hypothesis, read about the
topic of interest to you.
How to Formulate an Effective Research Hypothesis
State the problem that you are trying to solve. Make sure that the hypothesis
clearly defines the topic and the focus of the experiment.
Try to write the hypothesis as an if-then statement. ...
Define the variables.

5.4 Discuss the uses of the research hypothesis. ( 100-200 words)

A hypothesis is used in an experiment to define the relationship between two
variables. The purpose of a hypothesis is to find the answer to a question. A
formalized hypothesis will force us to think about what results we should look for
in an experiment. The first variable is called the independent variable.
A good research hypothesis involves more efforts than just a guess. In particular,
your hypothesis may begin with a question which could be further explored
through background research.
To help you formulate a promising research hypothesis, you should ask yourself
the following questions:
Is the language clear and focused?
What is the relationship between your hypothesis and your research topic?
Is your hypothesis testable? If yes, then how?

5.5 Highlight the role of research in developing enterprise. (100-200 words)

Many successful new businesses enjoy longevity because their owners conduct
regular market research to understand their target market, identify consumer
problems and pinpoint realistic competitors. Business research helps to identify
opportunities and threats. It helps identify problems and using this information,
wise decisions can be made to tackle the issue appropriately. It helps to
understand customers better and hence can be useful to communicate better
with the customers or stakeholders.
R&D is important for businesses because it provides powerful knowledge and
insights, leads to improvements to existing processes where efficiency can be
increased and costs reduced. It also allows businesses to develop new products
and services to allow it to survive and thrive in competitive markets.

Q6
6.1Explain the method of the conversion rate of leads to sales. (100-200 words)
The lead-to-sale conversion rate measures your company's effectiveness in
converting a lead into a customer. This metric focuses on how many leads turn
into sales and drive revenue. You take the number of converted leads divided by
the total lead volume and then multiply it by 100%. You can calculate your sales
conversion rate by dividing the number of leads that are converted into sales by
the number of qualified leads your team has received. Then simply multiply this
figure by 100 to get a percentage result.
Leads follow several steps on the way to becoming customers. This is not what
we do at Chili Piper, but the traditional conversion process involves nurturing:
Visitors to become leads
Leads to become marketing qualified leads (MQLs)
MQLs to become sales-qualified leads (SQLs)
SQLs to become customers

6.2 Discuss the methods to measure the central tendency. (100-200 words)
A measure of central tendency (also referred to as measures of centre or central
location) is a summary measure that attempts to describe a whole set of data
with a single value that represents the middle or centre of its distribution.
There are three main measures of central tendency: the mode, the median and
the mean. Each of these measures describes a different indication of the typical
or central value in the distribution
The median is the most informative measure of central tendency for skewed
distributions or distributions with outliers. For example, the median is often used
as a measure of central tendency for income distributions, which are generally
highly skewed.

6.3 Explain the types of measures of dispersion. (100-200 words)

Dispersion is a statistical term that describes the size of the distribution of values
expected for a particular variable and can be measured by several different
statistics, such as range, variance, and standard deviation.
Measures of dispersion describe the spread of the data. They include the range,
interquartile range, standard deviation and variance. The range is given as the
smallest and largest observations.
The examples of dispersion measures
Standard deviation, Range, Mean absolute difference, Median absolute deviation,
Interquartile change, and Average deviation are examples of measures of
dispersion.

6.4 Discuss the degree of relationship between two variables using the following:
(100-200 words)
1. Correlation coefficient
2. Scatterplots
A scatterplot displays the strength, direction, and form of the relationship
between two quantitative variables. A correlation coefficient measures the
strength of that relationship. Calculating a Pearson correlation coefficient
requires the assumption that the relationship between the two variables is linear.
A scatterplot is a type of data display that shows the relationship between two
numerical variables. Each member of the dataset gets plotted as a point whose
(x, y)(x,y)left parenthesis, x, comma, y, right parenthesis coordinates relates to
its values for the two variables.
We often see patterns or relationships in scatterplots.
When the yyy variable tends to increase as the xxx variable increases, we say
there is a positive correlation between the variables.

6.5 Explain the nature of the relationship between variables. (100-150 words)
Correlation is a statistical method used to determine whether a relationship
between variables exists. Regression is a statistical method used to describe the
nature of the relationship between variables — i.e., a positive or negative, linear
or nonlinear relationship.
It is very important to understand relationship between variables to draw the
right conclusion from a statistical analysis. The relationship between variables
determines how the right conclusions are reached. Without an understanding of
this, you can fall into many pitfalls that accompany statistical analysis and infer
wrong results from your data.

6.6 What is the net response rate? How do you calculate it? (100-150 words)
The response rate can be calculated by dividing the number of completed survey
responses by the number of people who viewed or started the survey. To convert
this to a percentage, multiple your final number by 100.
net response. gross response (see response rate) to a mailing minus unpaid
credit orders and cancellations. Net response may also be expressed as the total
cash orders plus paid credit orders. The success of a sales promotion is
measured in terms of net response, which is a more accurate measure than
gross response.

6.7 Define normal distribution? Highlight the importance of normal distribution.

(100-150 words)
Normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian distribution, is a probability
distribution that is symmetric about the mean, showing that data near the mean
are more frequent in occurrence than data far from the mean. In graphical form,
the normal distribution appears as a "bell curve".
The normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian distribution, is the most
important probability distribution in statistics for independent, random variables.
Most people recognize its familiar bell-shaped curve in statistical reports.
The normal distribution is the most important probability distribution in statistics
because many continuous data in nature and psychology displays this bell-
shaped curve when compiled and graphed.

6.9 Discuss the concept of recency and frequency grids. Also, explain the
formula to calculate them.(100-200 words)
RFM analysis is a marketing technique used to quantitatively rank and group
customers based on the recency, frequency and monetary total of their recent
transactions to identify the best customers and perform targeted marketing
campaigns. Recency = the maximum of "10 – the number of months that have
passed since the customer last purchased" and 1. Frequency = the maximum of
"the number of purchases by the customer in the last 12 months (with a limit of
10)" and 1.

6.10 Highlight the key points related to life time value of customer.(100-150
words)
Key Takeaways. Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a measure of the average
customer's revenue generated over their entire relationship with a company.
Comparing CLV to customer acquisition cost is a quick method of estimating a
customer's profitability and the business's potential for long-term growth.
Customer lifetime value is one of the most important ecommerce metrics. It
provides a picture of the business long-term and its financial viability. High CLV
is an indicator of product-market fit, brand loyalty and recurring revenue from
existing customers.

6.11 Explain the methods of caluclating the lifetime value of customer.(100-200

words)
Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a measure of the average customer's revenue
generated over their entire relationship with a company. Comparing CLV to
customer acquisition cost is a quick method of estimating a customer's
profitability and the business's potential for long-term growth. Lifetime value
calculation – The LTV is calculated by multiplying the value of the customer to
the business by their average lifespan. It helps a company identify how much
revenue they can expect to earn from a customer over the life of their
relationship with the company.
Customer Lifetime Value = (Customer Value * Average Customer Lifespan) To
find CLTV, you need to calculate the average purchase value and then multiply
that number by the average number of purchases to determine customer value.

6.12 Discuss the concept of net present value of customer. Give the formula to
calculate NPV of customer.(100-200 words)
NPV is calculated by taking the present value of all cash flows over the life of a
project. Then, the present value of cash flows is subtracted from the
investment's initial investment.
The net present value (NPV) of a customer is just the value today of all of all
future revenue minus the cost today of all future expenses associated with them.
The key is that it factors in a "discount rate" to account for the fact that cash in
the future is worth less than cash today.
It is calculated by taking the difference between the present value of cash
inflows and present value of cash outflows over a period of time. As the name
suggests, net present value is nothing but net off of the present value of cash
inflows and outflows by discounting the flows at a specified rate.

Referent

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-are-strategic-
objectives
https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/importance-market-orientation-emerging-
firms-13647.html
https://studiousguy.com/types-of-marketing-information-system/
https://www.aboutmechanics.com/what-are-industry-trends.htm
https://www.google.co.th/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjDl
b_aidP5AhU34jgGHYaeBqEQFnoECAwQAw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fsteadysales.com%2Fthe-contents-of-a-marketing-plan
%2F&usg=AOvVaw0chOaDrjKk0PafeXnDLTUk
https://www.google.co.th/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjDl
b_aidP5AhU34jgGHYaeBqEQFnoECAcQAw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.iedunote.com%2Fmarketing-plan&usg=AOvVaw14loJewMFV3YSPov-
pP7Un
https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/marketing-research-process/
https://monkeylearn.com/blog/qualitative-data-analysis-software/
https://www.google.co.th/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjVp
6mmj9P5AhUW6jgGHSmCCxsQFnoECAoQAw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.enago.com%2Facademy%2Fhow-to-develop-a-good-research-
hypothesis%2F&usg=AOvVaw33P-c62hz4adgm0rrDwHi4
https://www.enago.com/academy/how-to-develop-a-good-research-hypothesis/