Internship Report Marketing Research

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I must thank Dr.M Z Mamun, Professor & Director, IBA for his insisting on the brevity of the
report.

He helped me determine the objective of the report and guided me through to get to the end.He made me
grateful with his valuable suggestions from time to time during my internship.

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I can never forget his fatherly guidance and his utmost friendly and sincere attention toward me. The second
person to acknowledge will surely be my supervisor at SRGB: Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing Director of
SRG Bangladesh Limited. He has been a great support from the choice of the topic, learning of different part
of research and understanding the difference between theory and practice.

Special thank goes to Mr. Ziauddin Kamal, Senior Research Executive and Mr Emrul Kayes, Manager, HR
for providing me every kind of information related to my study. I really should thank every other employee
of SRGB, whom I found during different phases of my internship. Most of them have been very open and
friendly with me and provided me with the answers I needed from them. Lastly I would like to thank my
classmates working in OrgQuest and the Nielsen Company Bangladesh Limited for providing me with brief
but useful information about the practices in their organization.

July 11, 2009 Chairperson Internship and Placement Institute of Business Administration University of
Dhaka Dhaka – 1000 Subject: Submission of Internship report on Critical Assessment of the Research
Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited Dear Sir: As a part of the internship program, I have
prepared this report on the topic “Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG
Bangladesh Limited”. The report contains a detailed study and analysis on the qualitative and quantitative
methodology used by SRG Bangladesh Limited.

I judged the matter through the projects in which I had to work as an internee. I have tried my best to utilize
the opportunity of working as an internee in an established marketing research company like SRGB. This
report is based on information acquired from the project Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in
Bangladesh, conducted by SRGB. Here I have tried to compare the methodology used in that study with the
thery we have been taught in the classroom and probable reason of difference with the theory if any.

I have maintained the internship learning as per the instructions I have got from my supervisor Dr M Z
Mamun. I enjoyed preparing this report because it provides an opportunity for me to increase my
understanding of the real life marketing research practices. I thank you for such an opportunity. I will be
available for any clarification at your convenience. Sincerely yours Noman Ahemd Khan Roll # 16 Batch –
41(D)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report has been written with a focused ultimate goal of identifying the gaps between theory and practice
of research in SRG Bangladesh Limited. It has been found that the effectiveness of a research firm SRGB in
preparing research works fairly supported by theory practitioners.

Difference between theory and practice is a very old phenomenon which we can see here too. But it can be
concluded easily that though the practice is not perfectly similar with the suggestions from theory, the
practice will work effectively to bring out the result, which is the goal of all research works. Market research
and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by day. The activities of
market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating
marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.

At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping
organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and
development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a
number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice, access to the consultants’
specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more
permanent employees is not required.

Internship opportunity in a market research and management consultancy house can be considered a great
opportunity for a student to learn some most important and effective skills. Bangladesh is comparatively new
in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find very few big players and a number of
small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day. The total revenue is also increasing every year.
Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this industry. One of them SRG
Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship.

The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh [SRGB] was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and
Industrial Consulting house. Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative
Research Services. Since then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad
based sectoral studies to micro level case studies for domestic and international clients. SRGB maintains a
countrywide panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting
in substantial cost efficiency.

Moreover, local investigators ensure operational efficiency and accuracy in collecting relevant information.
In terms of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey
research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in
constant touch with a number of overseas firms engaged in research and consulting. Most of the assignments
handled in SRGB were long-term projects that had already been started. Some were in the beginning phase
and some were in their final stages.

Some of them are also a type of continuous research with several waves. The discussed research study that
was used to prepare this report is Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh. It was an
ongoing project. It therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking
interviews of different types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take
interviews of different people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was
assigned.

Some visits to a private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis
Bangladesh Limited) helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong
was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice
opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of
heat and mango. It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences.
Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of
Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank,
BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed.

INTRODUCTION
Market research and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by day.
The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and
evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.

At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping
organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and
development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a
number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice, access to the consultants’
specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more
permanent employees is not required.

Internship opportunity in a market research and management consultancy house can be considered a great
opportunity for a student to learn some most important and effective skills.

Origin of the Report

As a compulsory part of Internship program, this particular report is being prepared by the author on the
proposed topic “Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited”. The
intention was to give an opportunity to the students to gain some real world experience by working in a
practical environment. The internship supervisor was Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing Director, SRG
Bangladesh Limited and the faculty advisor was Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director of Institute of
Business Administration.

Objective

The Primary Objective of this report is: • To measure the gap between theory and practice for the selection
of the methodology.

Secondary objectives are:

To study the methodology used in the project under study in SRGB.

To observe the implementation of the methods.
To measure the gap between selection and implementation of the methods.
Search for the justifications behind the gaps.

Methodology

The research will be composed of literature review for theories and qualitative research mainly. An
extensive study of the research methodology literature will be the base. Then the practical experiences and
observations from the project worked for during internship will be compared with the literature. Finally
qualitative in-depth interviews and key informant interviews will lead us to our answers.

Scope
SRGB selects and follows different kinds of methodology for different projects. It changes with the change
of projects.

Here only the study project in which the author worked- ‘Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications
in Bangladesh’ will come under consideration. The author will try to reveal the theoretical requirements to
selection of methodology for this particular study project and the practical happenings in this project only.
The other two studies which were taking place at SRGB at the time of internship will not be considered
though the author worked for those in some few instances.

Limitations

Some limiting factors were faced while conducting the research and preparing the report.

These could be summarized as follows:

No secondary information was found, such as, any report or research papers on this particular issue.
For finding out reasons behind gap between theory and practice, enough number of projects could not
be studied due to shortage of time and scope.
Only internal specialists were interviewed.

Industry Overview
Before starting description of the main parts of the internship report, some light on the industry of the
worked for company should be addressed. A short story about the industry will help the reader understand
the situation with more depth.

Research and Consultancy

Industry around the World The management consultancy industry shows a very fragmented picture with
various segments and player groups. This first part of the industry analysis starts with an analysis of the
market segments and player groups. Afterwards it will elaborate on the competitive situation. The second
part of this analysis – Future Prospects – discusses driving forces and possible futures for the industry. Due
to availability of data here the focus is on the German market, for which it provides figures and statistics.

All statements about trends, competition, drivers and possible future developments, however, can easily be
transferred to management consultancies in all major markets.

Market segments

In Germany there are 14700 management consultancies and sole practitioners. They employ 68000
consultants. The market for management consultancy in Germany has shown rapid growth throughout the
last years. Total revenues rose from 16. 4 bn DM in 1997 to 18. 8 bn in 1998, 21. 3 bn in 1999, and 23. 8 bn
DM in 2000. Although the annual growth rate declined from 14. 6 % in 1998 to 11. % in 2000, it is still
significantly above the growth rate of the German GDP, being below 3 %. However, growth is not equally
spread across the market segments. Today management consultancy is much more than the traditional
strategy consulting. The Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater e. V. (BDU, Association of
German Management Consultants) distinguishes between consulting for strategy, organisation, IT and
human resources. Analysis of these segments reveals their different contributions to overall revenue and
growth: Figure 1: Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services pic] Figure 2: Growth Rate of
Research and Consultancy Firms by Services [pic] These figures indicate that IT- and organisational
consulting fuelled growth in 1999. This was driven by the current developments in the IT-sector. The BDU
names year 2000 solutions, Euro-implementations, SAP implementations and e-business activities. These
changes in the customers’ environment change their industries more or less and hence create enormous
needs for consulting. Without the impact of Y2K and Euro-implementation, the growth of IT consulting
slowed down in 2000.

However, this sector remains the most important field of consulting with 43. 4% of total consulting revenues
in 2000. The BDU predicts, that the proportion of consulting projects that include at least partly some e-
commerce consulting, will grow from 38% in 2000 to about 50% in 2001. All in all the whole industry
shows a dynamic growth. Besides the influence of IT this is driven by globalisation, technological change
and the deregulation of markets.

Player Groups

In recent years the industry has seen the entry of many non-traditional consultants into the market.

Barriers to entry are considerably low with little investments into fixed assets needed. In addition – on the
contrary to the auditing business – there are no legal regulations limiting the entry to this profession. Many
former employees of large consultancy firms or senior managers from other businesses start up as sole
practitioners or small consulting firms. On the other hand, many companies from outside the consulting
industry enter this market. These are mainly IT-companies as IBM or Cap Gemini, but also designers,
technologists, marketing agencies, employment agencies and others.

Figure 3: Groups of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin [pic] Rassam (1998) distinguishes
as follows: In Germany there are 14700 consulting businesses employing 68500 consultants. The BDU
distinguishes small, medium and large consultancies. Not surprisingly, the large consultancies, being
smallest in numbers make nearly a third of the total industries revenues: Figure 4. Percentage of Market
Share Depending on Size of Businesses [pic] This is an ongoing trend. By 2000 the market share of large
consultancies has risen to 47%, share of medium sized firms fell to 36% and share of small firms fell to 17%.

This is because large firms show by far the highest growth rates with an average of 18% in 2000. Medium
and small firms grew by an average of 9% and 2. 5% only. With this small number of large dominant players
the market can be characterised as an oligopoly. Competition is especially strong within the market segments
and within the player groups. Due to the limited growth rates in some segments and the entry of new players
there is also a rising competition across the segments and player groups. Smaller specialised consultants start
to serve customers of all sizes.

The large consultants discover small and start-up enterprises as customers, seeing them as future clients for
further consulting and auditing activities. According to this competition consultancies have developed
different strategies. The large consultancies establish themselves as generalist. They offer their clients a one-
stop-shop service for all the consulting needs they might have. Thus their focus is on long-lasting customer
relationships and cross-selling opportunities. Many smaller and medium sized consultancies have specialised
in certain areas of expertise like IT, HR or business recovery.

A number of them operate only in their home area. An important area of competition in consulting business
is the supply-side. Consultancies compete heavily to attract highly qualified people. Demand for these
people is rising due to the growth aspirations of the large consulting firms. The German member firm of
PricewaterhouseCoopers created more than 1000 additional jobs during its first year after the merger and
still continues to grow at high rates. On the other hand, many graduates from universities and business
schools choose to join start-ups in the “new economy” in 2000.

Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find
very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day. The total
revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this
industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship,
description of that company is coming latter. Here we find short description of other three firms.

ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest)

ORG-QUEST RESEARCH LTD. (OrQuest) is a joint venture company with ORG India (pvt) Ltd. It has
been founded in 2003, though serving from 1994. Number of employees is 40 and interviewers is 300. We
are a research & consulting firm with strong survey research and analytical skills that bring to bear a blend
of insights and Pan-Asian experience of a highly competent team of professionals. We have been providing
research services to our valued clients including MNCs, UN agencies, development partners (World Bank,
ADB, IFC-SEDF, Swisscontact, etc. , local conglomerates, international research agencies, etc. in the
country since 1994, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Our qualitative wing owns a viewing
facility with one way mirror in Dhaka. With a dedicated team of researchers, having client and agency side
experience and multi country exposures, we offer high standard market, social and opinion research services
in the areas mentioned under the fields of operation later.

Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd.

Sirius is a full service research organization and offers the entire spectrum of consumer and media research,
social research, syndicated Media and Panel research services and business-to-business research conforming
to international standards. It has been founded in 1995 and it has 60 employees and 350 interviewers
presently. The company is an associate of IMRB International and has full access to IMRB’s expertise.
Today, Sirius is one of the leading research agencies and the clientele includes multinationals based in
Bangladesh, bilateral agencies and international companies.

The company has conducted large scale national level studies (all Bangladesh) and has field offices in the 6
Divisional headquarters of Bangladesh. The company pioneered syndicated media research in the country
that includes TV audience measurement, National Media Study (covering all media), TV Ad tracking,and
has in place a national level household consumer panel since 2005. 2. 2. 3 The Nielsen Company The
Nielsen Company, offering services in over 100 countries, is the world’s leading provider of market
research, information, and analysis.

By delivering unrivalled combinations of insights, advanced analytical tools and integrated marketing
solutions, Nielsen provides complete views of consumers and their markets. Nielsen Consumer Research
helps clients address the issues of brand health, shopper loyalty and behavior, marketing mix management
and consumer motivations. By integrating proprietary research applications with in-market understanding
from our retail and consumer panel services we don’t conduct consumer research in a vacuum, and are
uniquely positioned to deliver business solutions in their market context.

BASES, a service of The Nielsen Company and a world leader in STM’s, uses industry-leading forecasting
models, rich databases, and proprietary analytical techniques to consult on a range of business issues,
including innovation strategy, concept and marketing plan optimization, and initiative commercialization.
BASES is widely known for expertise in the CPG sector, but tools have been adapted to sectors such as
pharmaceuticals, alcohol, quick-serve restaurants, and more.

Company Overview
The company selected for internship was Survey Research Group of Bangladesh (SRGB).
It is one of the leading Research and Consultancy firm of the country. A short description of the company
will complement the story.

Background and History of SRG Bangladesh Limited

The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh [SRGB] was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and
Industrial Consulting house. Its professional integrity and service excellence rapidly gained a lasting
reputation for delivering result-oriented consultancy services. Subsequently, activities were diversified to
provide development consultancy, continuing professional development programs, data processing &
analysis and event management services.

Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Services. Since
then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad based sectoral studies to
micro level case studies for domestic and international clients. SRGB’s studies are carried out under the
leadership of highly competent and experienced team members who are well acknowledged experts in their
respective fields, appropriately drawn from SRGB’s panel with their consent and total commitment.

Logistically, SRGB is more than well equipped with all necessary and state of the art office facilities
including computers, printers, photocopier, scanner, continuous power generator, etc. A team of highly
experienced staff remains dedicated to carry out survey research activities. Moreover, SRGB maintains a
countrywide panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting
in substantial cost efficiency. Moreover, local investigators ensure operational efficiency and accuracy in
collecting relevant information.

In terms of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey
research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in
constant touch with a number of overseas firms engaged in research and consulting. These close associations
have proved mutually rewarding and SRGB maintain an open-end policy in acquiring further overseas
strategic alliances. Moreover, SRGB’s consultants are well practiced in looking objectively at the challenges
that a business or an intervention faces and developing appropriate, workable and cost effective solutions.

SRGB’s role as a consultancy house is to provide expert, independent, practical and pragmatic decisions.
With the truest partnership spirit, SRGB works “alongside” with the clients instead of working “for” them.
SRGB’s approach is based on hard-earned experience, rather than on textbook solutions. The hard-core
professionalism, undaunted integrity and uncompromising excellence of service of SRGB have duly earned
high level of customer satisfaction and reliability.

The total range of services from SRGB is delivered through three distinct operating divisions: [pic] Centre
for Research & Management Consulting [pic]Centre for Continuing Professional Development [pic]Centre
for Data Processing & Analysis All three centres have both intellectual and logistical resource-base that is
unmatched in the country. Each of the centres is highly professional, unparalleled in functional efficiency
and strategically organized to provide ample scope for future expandability and relentless enhancement of
service quality.

The Centre for Research & Management Consulting concentrates on providing consolidated business
management and development research solutions, while the Centre for Continuing Professional
Development offers wide range of skill development programs for practicing and prospective business
professionals to enhance their experience and functional capability. Finally, the Centre for Data Processing
& Analysis offer a spectrum of digitization services, which covers almost every document conversion
process including data, text, PDF, illustrator and XML/SGML conversion services.

Organization Chart
The organization is headed by the CEO or President. It has an organogram which is slim but centralized.
Here a diagram of the organization chart has been shown in the next page. [pic]

Services Offered

The services offered are modern and useful. They are as follows:

Social & Environmental Research

Business Communication Service
Automotive Research
Agricultural Research
Business to Business Research
HR Management Service
Media Research
Mystery Shopping
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Retail Study Healthcare Research
Sales Force Effectiveness

Practice Among the available services here we only highlight the qualitative and quantitative research. 3. 4
Qualitative Research SRGB has a specialist qualitative research division. This division forms a core part of
the overall business. This division has a team with an experience base of over 15 years. Keeping in mind the
need to bring in different perspectives in understanding human behavior, this team has been selected from
diverse backgrounds such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, marketing, economics and so on.

The qualitative division also has its own specialized field structure that handles all aspects of the field
operations. No fieldwork is sub-contracted. In addition to our own team of highly experienced and motivated
researchers, the qualitative division draws into the expertise of international consultants in the fields of
qualitative research and communication. This allows us access to global perspective as well. The qualitative
division has handled hundreds of studies spanning categories as diverse as FMCG products, financial
products, durables, automobiles, media, telecommunication and so on.

It has considerable experience in handling the following types of research studies:

Usage and attitude studies

Brand equity studies
Segmentation studies
Positioning research
Communication development and evaluation
Packaging evaluation studies
New product development studies

The experience pool also includes studies among a wide variety of target groups ranging from housewives,
chief wage earners, children, teenagers, young adults, different socio-economic groups including high net
worth individuals; specialist groups such as corporate, specific professions, etc.

The qualitative research division boasts of having a large number of specialized techniques such as:

Conflict Groups
Peer Interactions
Triads
Paired Interviews
 Slice of life
Semiotics
Extended creativity groups
Hybrid Approaches
Benefit Inhibitor chains
Thematic Apperception Tests
Mind Mapping
Value Equation
World views
Bring your
Homework etc.

Quantitative Research

The quantitative research division is a specialized research with a combined experience of over 18 years in
handling quantitative research in a wide range of areas – such as FMCGs, personal grooming products,
automobiles, durables, telecom, IT media, pharmaceutical products, cigarettes, retail, financial products and
web research. The team, of over 15 quantitative researchers is adept at handling all aspects of the research
right from problem definition, to the analysis and data interpretation, to providing implementable solutions
to the clients needs.

The use of a wide array of tools and techniques, such as multivariate techniques adds value and helps
provide meaningful insights to the client. A team of experienced programmers ensure a quick and efficient
data summarization and interpretation, which ensure a quicker turnaround time for the project. At any point
of time, there are 800+ investigators for collecting data and they are spread across the country.

High quality in data collection is ensured through a systemized and stringent data collection procedure-
training sessions, mock calls, pilot interviews, back-checks by the company staff ensure that data collected
adheres to the quality standards laid down by the company. Specialized teams of experts in various fields
with in-depth knowledge of the global market add value to the project. We have consultants with a global
experience of at least 20 years in the following areas.

Customer satisfaction • Mystery shopping • Product testing • Retailing sector • Modeling and data mining •
Insurance sector • Banking sector

Recent Projects

There were twelve ongoing projects during internship of the author. Among them three were bigger and
more important. The author worked in various jobs of four projects, project number 4, 5, 6 and 7. Table 1:
Recent Projects by SRGB |Sl No. Project Name |Client |Period of Study | |1 |Monitoring and Evaluation
Consulting: |CPTU, IMED |June 2009 to | | |Public Procurement Reform Project–II |Ministry of Planning
|June 2013 | | |(PPRP-II) [A World Bank funded Project] |Govt. f Bangladesh |[Ongoing Study] | |2
|Employee Preference Survey for |British America Tobacco (through Engage |June to July 2009 | |
|Bangladesh |HR, Pakistan) |[Ongoing Study] | |3 |Monitoring and Evaluation of Cross Border
Communication – South Asia|AED, USA |April to | | |(Multi-country study involving Bangladesh, Nepal &
India) |[USAID funded |June 2009 | | | |AI. COMM Project] |[Ongoing Study] | |4 |Global Opinion Poll on
Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, |Princeton Survey Research Associates |April to | | |Project
Green, Wave 9 |International (PSRAI), Washington, USA |June 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |5 |Grameen
Kalyan Clinics Needs Assessment |Pfizer Inc. March to October 2009 | | | |USA |[Ongoing Study] | |6 |Market
Research on Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in |British Council |January to | | |Bangladesh
|Dhaka |July 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |7 |Mystery Shopping on Banking Products |HSBC Bangladesh
|August 2008 to | | |and Services |Dhaka |December 2009 | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |8 |Social Impact Assessment
|The World Bank |May 2008 to | | |For Bangladesh Railway DPL Project |Dhaka, Bangladesh |June 2009 | | | |
|[Ongoing Study] | |9 |Surrogate Value Research on Fish, 2009 |Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, |January to | |
| |Silverman & Klestadt LLP |December 2009 | | | |USA |[Ongoing Study] | |10 |Mystery Shopping on Cisco
Certified |Pearson VUE/AQ Services |January to | | |Examination Centre Performance |International,
Singapore |December 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |11 |Mystery Shopping on GMAT Registration &
|Pearson VUE/AQ Services |January to | | |Scheduling Procedures |International, Singapore |December 2009 |
| | | |[Ongoing Study] | |12 |Mystery Shopping – CompTIA |Pearson VUE through |January to | | | |AQ
Services, Singapore |December 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |13 |Police Perception Survey in Chittagong,
|US Embassy |October 2008 to | | |Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari |Dhaka, Bangladesh |March
2009 | | |Districts | | | 3. 7 Key Clients SRGB has a huge number of different category clients. They have been
listed below: A: International Clients • Cisco, USA • HSBC, Hong Kong • Telenor, Norway • Nokia, Hong
Kong • Microsoft, USA Hewlett-Packard (HP) Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore • ARD Inc, USA • BHP-
Engineering, Australia • BHP-Laysaght (SEA) Pte Ltd, Singapore • Nomura Research Institute, Japan •
International Executive Service Corps (IESC), USA • Carana Corporation, USA • International Trade Centre
(ITC), Switzerland • SKF Distribution Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore • ECI Telecom Inc, USA • Dacom
Corporation, Korea • Korea Telecom, Korea • Tata Steel, India • Bare Associates International, USA •
Bharat Starch Industries Ltd, India • Tessival SPA, Italy • G P Group of Companies, Thailand • Singer
Worldwide, USA • Overseas Projects Corporation of Victoria (OPCV), Australia • Carana Corporation,
USA TOTAL FINA ELF, France • Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA), USA • Tianjin
Machinery Import Export Group, China • Quantum Market Research, India • BAIGlobal Inc (A Market
Facts Company), USA • Pew Research Centre, USA • Mitsubishi Corporation, Singapore • Kuraray
Specialties Pte Ltd, Singapore • Thai Wah Public Co. Ltd, Thailand • Horizon Research, Singapore • Tashi
Group of Companies, Bhutan • Kalasha Woolen Industry (Pvt) Ltd, Nepal • Ecotech Pty Ltd, Australia •
Habib Bank Ltd, Pakistan • Asia Market Intelligence (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia • Syngenta, Hong Kong
• Arthur D. Little, Singapore/Malaysia • Sungwon Corporation, Korea Kong Ma Engineering Co Ltd,
Taiwan • Fullway Enterprises Co Ltd, Taiwan • Quest International, UK • Veraz Telecom, USA • Canadian
High Commission, Dhaka • Rhone Poulence Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Australia • China Resources Ltd, Hong
Kong • BlueScope Steel, Australia • International Business Linkages, Inc. (IBL), USA • WorldFish Centre,
Malaysia • Redma Consultants Ltd, Canada • Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants, Hong Kong •
Synovate, Hong Kong • Cairn Energy Bangladesh • AQ Services International, Singapore • Access Markets
International (AMI) Partners, Inc, USA • Columbia University, USA B: International Development
Agencies/NGOs Clients • The World Bank United Nations Development Program (UNDP) • United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) • UNICEF Bangladesh • Asian Development Bank (ADB) • International
Finance Corporation (IFC) • Commonwealth Secretariat, UK • Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) • Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) • United States Agency For International
Development (USAID) • Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan • Japan International Co-
operation Agency (JICA) • International Jute Organization (IJO) • CARE Bangladesh • SouthAsia Enterprise
Development Facility (SEDF) • Swisscontact-Katalyst • World Vision of Bangladesh • JOBS [A USAID
Project] • OXFAM Bangladesh Concern Bangladesh • German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Bangladesh •
DFID Bangladesh C: Domestic Clients • Unilever Bangladesh • British America Tobacco • Syngenta
(Bangladesh) Ltd • Social Marketing Company (SMC) • Olympic Industries • Bengal Group of Industries •
A K Khan Group • Bashundhara Group of Companies • Mutual Group • Baraka Group • SQ Group • Rangs
Electronics Ltd • Alfa Tobacco Group • Micro Industries Development Assistance Society (MIDAS) • Sea
Resources Group (Rangs Group) • Sena Kalyan Sangstha (SKS) • M M Ispahani Ltd (Ispahani Group) •
Givenchy Group • Grameen Bank • Alfa Tobacco Group • Toka Ink (BD) Ltd (A Bangladesh Japan Joint
Venture) BASIC Bank Ltd • Grameen Uddog • Holycrescent Hospital Ltd • McDonald Bangladesh Ltd •
Grameen Shamogree • Tripti Industries • Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Bangladesh •
Ministry of Jute, Govt of Bangladesh • Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Ltd (IDLC)
• Brothers Group • Syngenta • Giant Group • Bell Corporation • Anlima Group • Grameen Telecom •
Grameen Phone • Pacific Telecom Ltd (City Cell) • Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) •
Department of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh • Ministry of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh • Modern
Erection, Dhaka • BRAC Bank Bangladesh 3. 8 Key Person of SRG Bangladesh Limited

M Saidul Haq, MBA, CMC (Australia), FCIM (UK), FIMC, is the Founder President of SRG Bangladesh
Limited [SRGB]. He is an entrepreneurship/business development specialist. He did his MBA from Institute
of Business Administration, University of Dhaka in its 14th batch. He has unparallel combination of
multivariate qualifications and achievements. Some are highlighted below: • CMC (Certified Management
Consultant) from Institute of Management Consultants, Australia • FCIM (Fellow Member) of The
Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK – the top marketing professionals’ organization of the world. • More
than twenty(20) years experience in Management Consulting and Market/Social Research (qualitative and
quantitative) • Conducted hundreds of research and consulting projects as Project Director/Team Leader •
Organized and conducted hundreds of training programs, workshop, seminar, technical • presentation on
various management and business promotion issues. • Extensive experience in trade & business
development, promotions, investment and joint venture match-making. • Extensive experience in private
sector and SME enterprises development, entrepreneurship development. • National Consultant,
International Trade Centre, WTO/UNCTAD, Geneva • Retainer consultant/adviser of about a dozen leading
business houses in Bangladesh Experience with many international organizations including World Bank,
ADB, International Labor Organization (ILO), USAID, CIDA, UNDP, UNIDO, UNICEF, UNEP, SDC,
commonwealth Secretariat, etc. • Worked for about five years as the Consultant/National Monitor for
Industrial Commodity Program, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Canadian High
Commission, Dhaka. • Registered Consultant of Asian Development Bank (ADB), The World Bank,
Commonwealth Secretariat, International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, etc. • Served as Member of
the Advisory Board of GERIAP, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Regional Office for Asia
and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. Founder President of the Institute of Management Consultants
Bangladesh [IMCB], the • national forum for the consultants of Bangladesh. • Trustee of The International
Council of Management Consulting Institutes [ICMCI], the apex body of the consulting institutes
worldwide. • ICMCI representative to ECOSOC, United Nations (UN) for Geneva/Vienna and Asia-Pacific
region. • Immediate past National Representative for Bangladesh and Member of European Society for
Opinion and Market Research [ESOMAR]. • Member of the American Marketing Association [AMA] •
Widely traveled person and visited more than hundred countries/cities of the world.

Jobs Performed During Internship

While the work performed during this period was particularly glamorous and equally thrilling, true is that
this internship period exposed the author to experiences which have significantly altered the perception of
marketing research and management related issues towards a more real and global holistic model.

Duties and Responsibilities

The internship program was started on 23rd March, 2009. The internship was to last for twelve (12) weeks to
three (3) months and as a result my internship came to an end on 14th June, 2009. In somewhat more
concrete terms, SRGB provides the country and the world with timely, scientifically credible, policy-
relevant research answers for decision-making and action planning for development.

While with SRGB, it was involved in a range of different tasks and smaller explorations that extensively
helped learning of the methods of marketing research. The central themes around which most of the works at
SRGB was organized is presented here.

Completion of the Assignments

Most of the assignments handled were long-term projects that had already been started. Some were in the
beginning phase and some were in their final stages. Some of them are also a type of continuous research
with several waves. The four research studies that were been participated are described here.

Awareness and acceptance of UK Qualification

It was an ongoing project.

It therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking interviews of different
types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of different people.
At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned. Some visits to a private
university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the
job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a
number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to learn interview
and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of heat and mango.

It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences. Finally different top management
personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka, International Islamic
University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC etc. were
interviewed.

Assessment of Grameen Kalyan Clinics

This was a new project altogether. The preparation and translating of questionnaires were taking place.
Tough job of doing most effective translation to Bangla of the English questionnaires were done effectively.

Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Project Green, Wave 9

This is a regular project taken by SRGB every year. The author participated in a three day internal training
session to see how the field coordinators trained and assigned their jobs. It is a survey that takes place
throughout Bangladesh. The real world way of survey was learned here.

Mystery Shopping on Banking Products and Service

It was done for HSBC Bank. The author visited GEC and Agrabad branch in Chittagong where he observed
the customer care quality of the branches and wrote a report with assigning points.

Benefits of the Program

Benefit from the internship programme was more than what was expected in a number of ways:

Having a rare opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that had been acquired back at the institute to
provide critical real world research method information. Career-wise, the internship programme undoubtedly
enriched my curriculum vitae (CV). Also, having gotten a chance to interact with most staff, it gave an
insight on how to shape the career towards a research job in the near future. The internship programme gave
me a chance not only to work with SRGB but also a chance to learn from the research experts and
consultants. Working with people from different parts of the world was a rare chance that you can’t easily
get from any other organization in Kenya. Therefore to me this was another opportunity to make friends and
share ideas.

To conclude, the internship at SRGB was a rewarding experience and provided with some new perspectives
that was not came across during studies back at the institute.

Critical Assessment of the Methodology of the Project

“Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh” This is the main focus of this report.
Methodology is one of the most important part of any research study. Literally methodology is the way in
which the data are collected for the research project. Methodology can be defined as: ? “the analysis of the
principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline” ? “the systematic study of methods
that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline” or ? “a particular procedure or set of procedures. “

Selection of methodology mainly depends on the objective of the research, but in real life the objective
comes with different factors and dimensions unlike pure independent research. Here it will be shown what
the methodology for this project was, probable mistakes both in crafting and executing of the methodology
and finally the justification for it.

Background of the study

This study was taken for British Council, the United Kingdom’s cultural relation’s organization. Here some
important parts of the research will be shown. These will help us understand the requirements and the goal of
this study.

Definition of the Business Problem

The business was defined as – “Although UK qualifications are popular and growing, recognition and
acceptance by employers, government and higher education providers is variable. We need to be able to: 1.
Identify where recognition and acceptance are weak but critical 2. Identify new sectors for growth 3. Review
our product portfolio so that it meets market requirements.

Research Objectives

• To ascertain the current level of awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications (school levels and
professional) among the leading Bangladeshi private and public sector employers and the higher education
institutions (both public and private). • To identify the main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and
acceptance. Assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of privatizing of
state run assets by the government. In order to achieve this we would require research to be carried out with:
1. Top 6 public universities. 2. Top 5 private universities. 3. Professional associations 4. Government 5.
Private sector Suggested areas of research: • Which foreign qualifications are known • Which foreign
qualifications are accepted • Apart from subject knowledge what skills are essential and how are they
currently assessed • Reasons for acceptance/non-acceptance • Number of students from English medium
schools applying for places- at private universities (plus which ones) at public universities and overseas.
Profile of students following professional/vocational exams – school medium attended (English/Bangla),
reason for doing this rather university course.

Methodology
After turning the idea into a research question and reviewing any necessary literature, the method of research
must be considered. The methodology selected should be the one that will be the most effective to collect the
data needed to answer the research question or to test the hypothesis. Research studies may be either
quantitative or qualitative, although it is possible to use both approaches in the same research project and
this has been used in this project on UK qualifications. The choice of research design must be appropriate to
the subject under investigation (Patton, 1987).

So it should be investigated that whether a research on education really admits the opportunity of blending
two methodologies.

Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study

In quantitative research the data collected takes the form of measurements or counts which can be
statistically analysed. The process of quantitative research follows standard procedures, methods, forms of
analysis and reporting the results of the research undertaken. This standardisation maximises objectivity.
Quantitative methods can be used for comparison of subgroups and analysis is generally conducted through
statistics. The method is based on meanings derived from numbers and results are numerical and
standardised data.

Quantitative methods use numbers and statistics. General sequence is as follows:

1. Observe/present questionnaire/ask questions with fixed answers

2. Tabulate
3. Summarise data
4. Analyse data
5. Draw conclusions

Quantitative research designs are characterised by the assumption that human behaviour can be explained by
what may be termed “social facts”, which can be investigated by methodologies that utilise “the deductive
logic of the natural sciences” (Horna, 1994, p. 121). Quantitative investigations look for “distinguishing
characteristics, elemental properties and empirical boundaries” (p. 121) and tend to measure “how much”, or
“how often” (Nau, 1995).

They are appropriate to examine the behavioural component, such as attendance at class. So, it can be seen
that quantitative methodologies do have strengths for becoming appropriate for educational research like this
project on UK qualifications. These may be summarised as follows:

Quantitative methodologies are appropriate to measure overt behaviour.

They are also strong in measuring descriptive aspects, such as the composition of the students.
Quantitative methodologies allow comparison and replication.
Reliability and validity may be determined more objectively than qualitative techniques.

These strengths however, are not the sole prerogative of quantitative designs.

Indeed, many of the arguments for the use of quantitative research, especially in an academic climate where
resources are limited, have pragmatic origins in terms of allowing large scale data collection and analysis at
reasonable cost and effort, as well as providing statistical “proof”. So this problem of large scale data
collection could also be proved unwise in this situation. So this shows a negative opinion about the choice of
quantitative methodology for this study. A further weakness of quantitative approaches lies in their
tendencies to take a “snapshot” of a situation, that is to measure variables at a specific moment in time.
Acceptance of UK may be affected by temporal changes, such as the current image of the country, or the
quality of opposition (like USA, Australia), which cannot always be identified within a single quantitative
study.

According to Colon, Taylor, and Willis (2000) qualitative research emphasizes “participant observation”
whereas quantitative methods rely on the “research instrument through which measurements are made” (p.
2). Weiler (2001) adds that if teachers want “deeper understandings of their students and their learning,”
they will not be able to achieve this through quantitative research–they will need to be “intimately involved”
in the process (p. 415). Qualitative research would provide this opportunity. As Labuschagne (2003) says,
“qualitative data provide depth and detail through direct quotation and careful description of situations,
events, interactions and observed behaviours” (p. 1) or what Jones (1997) describes as “empathetic
understanding” (p. 3). Winter (2000) concurs that while “quantitative esearch limits itself to what can be
measured or quantified,” qualitative research “attempts to ‘pick up the pieces’ of the unquantifiable,
personal, in depth, descriptive and social aspects of the world” (p. 8). So now it looks like the decision for
this project should be more inclined toward qualitative approach.
Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI)

Qualitative research offers insights and understandings of participants, which is unobtainable by quantitative
research, but is more than just non-numerical research. It aims to study the subject in their natural
surroundings and to collect naturally occurring, non-biased data. It describes in words, rather than numbers,
the qualities of the subject through observation.

Methods of qualitative research include structured and unstructured interviews, group interviews and focus
groups. Qualitative methods can highlight key themes or patterns emerging in the project, are used to
comprehend and manage data and used to develop and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods use descriptions
and categories. General sequence here is as follows:

1. Observe/ask questions with open-ended answers

2. Record what is said and/or done
3. Interpret
4. Return to observe/ask more questions
5. (recurring cycles of 2-4 iteration)
6. Theorising
7. Draw conclusions

Qualitative research designs are associated with interpretative approaches, from the informants’ emic point
of view, rather than etically measuring discrete, observable behaviour.

Qualitative methodologies are strong in those areas that have been identified as potential weaknesses within
the quantitative approach, e. g. the use of interviews and observations to provide a deep, rather than broad,
set of knowledge about a particular phenomenon, and the appropriateness to investigate cognitive and
affective aspects of students. This depth allows the researcher to achieve “Verstehen”, or empathetic
“understanding”. The concept of Verstehen is the basis for a critique of quantitative research designs, and
their empiricist emphasis. The argument used is that quantitative methods measure human behaviour “from
outside”, without accessing the meanings that individuals give to their measurable behaviour.

If, as many authors have suggested, behavior of students contains psychological, as well as sociological
dimensions, then the emphasis should rather be upon gaining an understanding of how the subjects
themselves view their own particular situations. A qualitative research design allows these understandings to
be investigated from the informant’s point of view. So the choice of qualitative research is very appropriate
here. Both KII and IDI seem appropriate. The only problem that could be marked is the number of
qualitative interviews for this particular study; it is about around 200, which is practically most difficult to
make possible with effectiveness. Again accumulating such a high number of interview results to make a
summary is also so difficult.

But answer could be found on the real world practice to satisfy customer needs.

Criticism on FGD

By focus group discussions, we refer to a group of 4-12 people brought together to participate in the
discussion of an area of interest. Trained moderators run the discussions, and records are made of the course
of the discussions. Focus groups, of course, are a popular (some even think too popular) method in
marketing research (Nancarrow, Vir, & Barker, 2005), but they have had a role in serious social science
research since the seminal work of R. K. Merton and P. Lazarsfeld (Hollander, 2004; Morgan, 1988). During
the past decades, they have established their role in sociology and communications research.

In recent years, they have also become increasingly popular in applied fields such as nursing research, urban
and community studies, development studies, and educational research (e. g. , Barbour & Kitzinger, 2001;
Gibbs, 1997). A distinctive feature of focus groups is that they create research data by generating social
interaction. This is done by assembling a group of participants to discuss a specific topic and then observe
how the ensuing discussion evolves (Boddy, 2005). The underlying assumption is that meaning is created in
social interaction (e. g. , Wilkinson, 2001). Organized and focused group discussions provide a context for
participants to articulate the meaning of their experiences and elaborate on them in a collective sensemaking
process.

Of course, focus groups are also used to obtain individual viewpoints; it is typical to instruct discussants that
the aim is not to reach consensus, but to explore the different viewpoints that emerge. The method is popular
in marketing research because it is a quick and easy way to gain a wealth of perspectives on a novel or
relatively unexplored topic (Threlfall, 1999). By observing, recording, and analyzing the interaction in the
group, researchers can also gain an understanding of how the participants approach the topic and what kind
of language they use to frame the issues. Interaction also allows participants to pose questions to each other
and to redefine their own views as the discussion evolves. The result of FGD depends sometimes largely on
the skill of the moderator, which is a variable thing.

In this study on awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications it may suffer to this problem due to time and
budget constraints. 5. 2. 4 A Mixed-Methodology Approach to the Study Although the use of a single
methodology has been advocated by a number of authors, many of the supporting arguments are decidedly
pragmatic, such as time constraints, the need to limit the scope of a study, and the difficulty of publishing the
findings (Creswell, 1994). Here in this study, only time constraint is the factor which could have been
considered for a single methodology approach. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) write that “objective reality can
never be captured” (p. 2).

To assume that even with binocular vision one can “have” all the information, or even “know” what is true is
a dangerous positivistic position. The rub between the two methodologies comes when we analyze the
assumptions behind each one. These are clearly spelled out in detail by Denzin and Lincoln (1994, pp. 4-6)
and can be summarized as follows. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research is that the
first is positivist, limiting, unable to capture the subjects’ perspective, abstract, and based on flat
descriptions. Qualitative research, the critics claim, tends to be unscientific and based on slipshod
methodologies.