Strategy For Conducting Market Research Assessment Answer

Introduction to Company : Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is an American based corporation established in the year 1925 by Benjamin Holt (Caterpillar Retrieved on 5 th August 2016). The company is into designing, engineering, manufacturing and developing of engines, machinery worldwide. The company’s revenue as on 2015 is US$3.25 billion and employs around 114,233 employees worldwide.

Market Research Approaches 

Market research approaches is used by managers and leaders in organizations in order to make strategic decisions regarding products and in taking informed decisions in dynamic environment with fluctuating macro variables. Market research can be of qualitative or quantitative nature that a company can adopt in its market research approach.

Y McGivern in his article, “The practice of market research :an introduction” discussed the several qualitative techniques employed in conducting market research (McGivern 2013). The several qualitative tools discussed by him are interviews, social groups, questionnaires and so on.

B.Cova and R.Elliott in their article, “Everything you always wanted to know about interpretive consumer research but were afraid to ask” also discussed the several qualitative techniques and their applicability (Cova 2008).

H. Mc Milan and S. Schumacher in their article, “Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry” discussed the various quantitative approaches that are used in market research(McMillan 2014). Quantitative techniques as data collection and thereafter their analysis are discussed in the article.

Introduction of Product Idea in International market 

Caterpillar is identified as an international brand name in engineering, manufacturing equipment and is a pioneer brand. The company on the basis of market research has identified the need of  earth digging equipment in Turkey. The product has substantial market demand and can generate immense revenues for the company. However, Turkey is relatively new market hence qualitative and quantitative research was pertinent for development of the new product category.

Turkey is one of the fast developing economies amongst the MINT countries and significant research has been going around the several development stimulants (Durotoye 2014). The country has a stable political and economic situation which is attracting large amount of foreign investments. The country is ideally suited to MNEs to start their operations.

Figure 1: Turkey growth rate

Source: (Durotoye 2014)

Market Approaches

Caterpillar has used relevant articles in order to develop a new product for its brand in international market of Turkey. The research included qualitative survey regarding the demand gap in the market and quantitative analysis, on basis of the market demand that could be met by the product.

The quantitative market research helped in assessing the market size and growth potential. Whereas qualitative market research has been used by the company to analyze the brand strength of Caterpillar, customer segment and characteristics in Turkey. Competitors and use of digital marketing to market the products was also assessed by qualitative research.

Conclusion

Market research approaches offers companies with data and significant information that allows them to take important strategic decisions. Caterpillar in its new product introduction in a new international market has deployed quantitative as well as qualitative data in order to yield valuable strategic information. The market research approaches have enabled the company to develop a new product idea and decide on a new international country to enter such that it can significantly be profitable to the company.

References

Brace, I 2008, Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure and write survey material for effective market research., Kogan Page Publishers.

Caterpillar Retrieved on 5 th August 2016, 'Company Brands', https://www.caterpillar.com/en/companybrands.html.

Cova, B. and Elliott, R., 2008. Everything you always wanted to know about interpretive consumer research but were afraid to ask. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11(2), pp.121-129.

Durotoye, A 2014, 'The MINT Countries as Emerging Economic Power Bloc: Prospects and Challenges.', Developing Country Studies, vol 4, no. 15, pp. 99-107.

McGivern, Y 2013, The practice of market research: an introduction. , Pearson Higher Ed.

McMillan, J.H. and Schumacher, S., 2014. Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry. Pearson Higher Ed.