SURVEY BASED RESEARCH AND SEMI-STRUCTURE INTERVIEWS Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Survey based research and semi-structure interviews Case Study Solution

Survey-based research and Semi-Structured interviews

Compare and contrast the use of survey-based research with that of semi-structured interviewing in business and management research. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method for the conduct of practical research investigations in this field?

Compare and contrast Survey-based research and Semi-Structured interviews

Most business owners fail because they fail to understand the needs and wants of consumers. This makes it important for management to conduct surveys and research to pledge the performance of the business. A Survey is a traditional way of conducting research and it is one of the most powerful tools that business and market research use to collect data.As a business owner, you must be aware of the latest and most effective marketing trends in the market.

On the other hand, a semi-structured interview is the method of qualitative research which is most often used in social sciences. It has a pre-determined set of open-ended questions with opportunity for the interviewer to discover certain responses further. On the other hand, questionnaire and interviews are the types of data collection.In most cases, semi-structured interviews are used to hire the best talent in your organization while asking open-ended questions to the interviewee. But sometimes, semi-structured interviews are used to gather the data related to business and management research. For instance,management wants to do research on the importance of training in retaining the best people in the organization.

Then management can ask the open-ended questions like can you describe the various kinds of training you use? These open-ended questions will ensure that complete and consistent information is received across different interviews.

While in surveys, there are mainly three methods, face-to-face interviews, telephonic interviews, and questionnaires.(Nigel Mathers, 2009).In both interviews, we can employ a semi-structured type of interview to gather the data.

Proper research will help the businesses to learn about the latest developments in the market, as creative ways of doing businesses are being introduced daily. Technology has changed the way things get done. Moreover, surveys (Method of research) can help businesses for a most effective solution to the problems.This is one of the most important things to do while running a business. Especially for the small businesses, owners can understand the market trends and it will help them to alter their business operations to suit their targeted demographics.With proper surveys, an investor can better understand customer needs and wants and learn better ways to address them.

Business people are using surveys to get information about their target market and what their customers think of their product. The responses given by the participants will allow them to develop an implementation plan for the current problem.It is also possible to identify errors in running of your business through surveys and semi-structured interviews.Proper semi-structured interviews from retailers or customers will help the businesses to understand the strategies used by the competitors.Through open-ended interviews, customers can explain why they are purchasing the competitor’s product and how that product is better than company’s product in satisfying their needs, however retailers can define why they are giving priority to the competitor’s product.

On the other hand, surveys will help you better understand the needs and wants of consumers and learn about better ways to address those needs and surveys can lead to an increase in the response rate and the response can be collected on timely basis if survey is compared with other methods of research.

Through surveys, the owner will be able to gather data regarding what is the problem with their products, why it is a failure in the market?When owners understand what the customer need they effectively fulfill their needs.(Utz)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method for the conduct of practical research investigations in this field?

Advantages of survey-based research

Cost-effective

Survey research is cost-effective in comparison to the other research methods. It also depends upon the survey mode and samplings. How many people you are going to target, the more the people the more the cost, the company will have to pay for the survey research. Moreover, the survey will not cost a huge amount for the company as compared to the national televisions ads which will cost a lot to the company and hence the company can survey in less amount being invested in marketing.(Wyse, 2012)

Competitive advantage

The survey can lead to a competitive advantage for the company as the company can act when it is well informed rather than when the company does not have enough information for the decision making and this can lead to an easiness for the company in launching new products and the company would make those products which it thinks will be consumed more by the population. This will lead to an increase in the profitability of the company and the company can further increase its market share in this way and the wide variety of the products will lead to a lower per unit fixed cost on the products which will increase the overall profitability of the company...............

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