Kellogg’s Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Kellogg’s

1) Name the symptom(s) that lead David Mackey, CEO of Kellogg’s to realize there was a problem. Select all that apply.

Cereal sales were declining.

2) Which of the following best describes the difference between symptoms and a problem? Select all that apply

Symptoms are signals that alert the business that there may be a problem.

3) What is/are the underlying problem/s in this situation? Select all that apply

Kellogg’s is targeting the wrong segment which is the kids segment.
Competition for bagels and muffins is stiff.
Kellogg’s prices are too high.

4) What types of research design and information sources did Kellogg’s use to identify the problem(s)?

Exploratory research design has been followed.

5) Please provide an explanation/rationale for your answer. Be sure to cite examples from the situation.

Exploratory research helps in examination of a situation or problem, which gives actual insights to the researcher. The research uses a range of methods such as interview industry experts, discussions, experiments, conducted analysis of available data or other ways for the purpose of receiving information. For example, the Kellogg’s faced a decline in sales of cereal that leads him towards the decision of conducting the marketing research. Kellogg’s has been performing well since a long time and had been enjoying a market share of around 30%. A sudden decrease in sales of cereal forces the CEO to take this necessary action. The researcher conducted detailed interviews of the industry experts so that they would highlight proper facts related to the issue. Furthermore, the researcher discussed and interviewed the decision makers of the company regarding the current issue of low sales. Since, the product category is directly associated with the daily usage of the customer and also belongs to fast moving consumers good category; therefore, the researcher also did a qualitative analysis because it is all about exploring concerns, understanding experiences and providing solution by scrutinizing and making a common sense of un-structured data.

6) Which research method(s) were used to collect the data? Select all that apply.

Experience Surveys.

7) Please provide an explanation/rationale for your answer. Be sure to cite examples from the situation.

The experience survey is all about discussing the issue with educated individuals, both outside and inside the organization, which may come up with factual insights into the problem. In case of Kellogg’s, the researcher had conducted the experience survey because he made sure the involvement of internal decision makers of the company and the involvement of the external forces like industry experts and conducted the analysis of some other qualitative data. The reason for doing this survey is to have the detail problem identification regarding the decline in Kellogg’s sales. Since, internal decision makers are the actual mind behind the strategy of the company, so questioning them as a part of experiential survey would be beneficial for sure; furthermore the customer who are the part of the qualitative research cab also play an optimistic role for proper findings.

8) What type of information sources/data did Kellogg’s use to collect this information? Select all that apply.

Primary data.

9) The Research Objective

“The research objective is to identify the customer’s new requirements for the cereal category so that the declining trend in cereal sales can be avoided”.

Explanation

This is presented as the research objective because the actual purpose of conducting the research is to identify the actual issue, which is playing a vital role in declining the sales of the cereal for Kellogg’s. Kellogg’s had been doing a tremendous job but a decline in the cereal makes the CEO worried. Furthermore, by conducting these researches the company can also recognize and come up with the expected changes in the market or they can identify the new target segments other than kids and adults. This objective would also help them to bring an appropriate product diversification, which would help them in capturing the old as well as the new potential customers.

10) The Research Design

11) The Research Method

Method of Data Collection

Survey will be carried out to perform this research by using the primary data (questionnaires) and personal interviews. General consumers, employees of Kellogg’s and industry experts will be contacted personally by the researcher with the help of a questionnaire.