Chapter- 4: Defining the problem and the research objectives

Learning objectives
After completion of this chapter students will be able to:
 Define problems
 Explain the basic difference between managers and researchers in defining the research problem.
 Identify how to dissect a management problem
 Describe the basic procedures used to define the research
 Describe how to itemize the objectives of a research project

4.1. Introduction
This chapter addresses what some researchers claim is the most important phase in the research process-
defining the nature of the problem confronting the manager, specifying constructs, and determine research
objectives. This chapter also discusses the difference between managers and researchers, describing their
difference orientations so you will understand why a continuous dialogue must take place between these
two roles during the problem- formulation and objectives-setting steps. Finally, the components of a
decision problem are described, so you will understand how the researcher goes about dissecting in to
manageable parts.

4.2. Define the Marketing Manager’s Problem

Defining the problem is critical to setting the direction for all subsequent phases of the research process.
This is particularly true for custom designed research, as opposed to standardized research. The
standardized, also called syndicated, research is generic research that is provided in identical fashion to all
buyers by the research supplier. Custom-designed research is research that is fashioned to address a
unique management problem confrontation a client manager. Custom-designed research requires that the
researcher fully understand the circumstances of the manger’s problem.
It is usual for a manager and researcher to conduct many discussions to define the problem as well as the
precise nature of the research needed to resolve the problem.
If the problem is not defined correctly, satisfactory performance at the other stages in the research process
will not remedy the situation.

4.3. Difference between managers and researchers

Commercial managers and researchers see the world differently because they have different job to
perform and their backgrounds differ markedly. As illustrated in table 4.1, managers and researchers
actually operate in different worlds. However, during the problem definition phase, their words overlap,
and they are forced in to a discussion of the symptoms perceived by the manager. They also discuss the
types of research envisions will be necessary to generate answers to the question of why the symptoms
have arisen and what the manager can do to resolve the problem.

4.4. Guidelines to resolve differences between managers and researchers

Obviously, despite their divergent orientations, researchers must work together to survive. Although
understanding the differences presented in table 4.1 goes a long way toward helping managers and
researchers forge a working relationship, much more is required. Alerk and settle have formulated six
questions that managers and nine questions that researchers should ask themselves to avoid potential
misunderstandings as they discuss the problem and determine the objectives of the research involved.

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Table 4.1 Eight fundamental differences between managers and researchers
Area of Difference Managers Researchers
Organizational position line staff
Responsibility to make profit to generate information
Training General Decision making Technical application
Disposition toward Wants answer to questions Wants to ask questions
Knowledge
Orientation pragmatic scholarly
Involvement Highly involved in, emotional detached, unemotional
Use of research political non-political
Research motivation to make symptom disappear to find the truth

The six questions for the manager include the following:

1. What is the background of the problem?
2. What issues or question prompted management to consider undertaking research?
3. What types of information could clarify or solve the problem?
4. What decisions, choices, or action will be based on the research results of findings?
5. How much is the information worth; that is what risks might be reduced or what opportunities
might be gained?
6. What is the time horizon and level of resources available to perform the research?

The nine questions for the researcher include the following:

1. What are the capabilities and limitations of the research being considered?
2. What is the history of the operations, policies, and procedures of the client?
3. What problems or issues appear to be the focus of the research, and what is uncertain or unknown
about them?
4. What decisions, choices and actions are to be based on the results of the proposed research?
5. What is a preliminary assessment of the worth of the research?
6. What are the time requirements for the research and what resources can e devoted to it?
7. What degrees of cooperation and participation will be expected of the clients?
8. What ethical issues are associated with the research?
9. How can I gain the client’s confidence and trust in a professional and ethical manner?

The proper way to consider these questions is in the context of what is to be gained or lost. When
managers do their homework and thoroughly describe the problem’s dimensions, and when they identify
reasonable alternatives, nothing the resources that can be applied or other pressures operating on the
research effort, the communication process is enhanced.
At the same time, it is necessary that researchers obtain as complete a preliminary picture as possible by
asking pointed questions, reviewing salient materials, or even probing the manager’s true motives. Recent
research has demonstrated that the quality of interactions that take place between managers and
researchers, plus the level of involvement on the part of researchers directly affect the managers’
utilization of the research. Ultimately, the problem definition stage of enlightened research must be
viewed as a partnership, can survive only with mutual respect, trust, and open communication.

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4.5. Decide when research is warranted
Managers are responsible for initiating the research process. This means that they must first determine
when to embark on a custom-designed research project. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to commission
research without a sober evaluation of whether or not research should be undertaken in the first place.

In general there are four instances in which marketing research should be undertaken:
1. If it clarifies problems or investigates changes.
2. If it resolves your selection of alternative course of action to achieve key objectives.
3. If it helps you gain a meaningful competitive advantage.
4. If it allows you to stay abreast of your market.

Another way to decide when to do research is to perform a cost-benefit analysis. To do this, the
commercial manager estimates how much will be lost if the problem (or opportunity) is not addressed. If
the anticipated cost of the research does not exceed this estimate, then the manager should proceed with
the research. Some managers fail to compare research cost with its benefits, which is a mistake.

4.6. Define the management and research problem

There are two types of problem with which a research must contend: the management problem and the
research problem.

A management problem is defined is in one of two ways:

(1). If the symptoms of failure to achieve are present, the manger must select a course of action to regain
the objective and,

(2). If the symptoms of the likelihood of achieving an objective are present, the manager must decide on
how best to seize the opportunity. Some researchers refer to the second way as opportunity identification.

Once the management problem is fully defined, the researcher must wrestle with the research problem,
which is defined as providing as relevant, accurate and unbiased information that managers can use to
solve their management problems. Obviously, the management problem is critical, for its improper
definition will invalidate the researcher’s identification of the research problem.

Poor problem definition can expose research to a range of undesirable consequences, including incorrect
research designs and inappropriate or needlessly expensive and collection, assembly of incorrect or
irrelevant data, and poor choice of the sample selection. It is critical, therefore, that the management
problem be defined accurately and fully.

There are eight assessment areas that help the researcher properly define the management problem (figure
5.1). They are:

(1). Asses the background of the company, product and market;

(2).understanding the decision-maker’s circumstances, objectives, and resources;
(3) clarify the symptom of problem;
(4) pinpoint suspected causes of the problem;

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(5) specify actions that may alleviate the problem;
(6) speculate on anticipated consequences of these actions;
(7) identify the manager’s assumptions about the consequences; and
(8) asses the adequacy of information on hand.

1. Asses the background of the company, product and market

It is during the initial meeting between the researches her and the commercial manager that the researcher
is informed regarding the background of the product or service under investigation, including its
performance history and any recent strategy changes. At his meeting, the manager also informs the
researcher regarding the company’s history, its organizational structure, ownership situation, and overall
mission.

2. Understand the decision maker’s circumstances, objectives and resources

Managers are employed for the purpose of achieving company or organizational objectives, and they are
provided various resources to accomplish these objectives. Moreover, they operate under various
pressures and expectations dictate by their superiors or, perhaps, corporate culture. So it is that the
researcher gain a feel for the manager’s operating circumstances, for they may well dictate the urgency or
timing of the research.

It will certainly help to know the reasons the manager has requested research help. This means that the
researcher should know the manager’s objectives, which are tangible statements of a company’s
expectations. Gaining a feel for the manager’s specific objectives will help the researcher understand the
gravity of the problem. By comparing recent sales, market share, or profitability level, for instance, with
objectives, the researcher can compare how far the brand has stayed from acceptable performance. A
pattern may be discerned; that it was the deviation a slow trend over time, or was it a sudden plunge in to
an unacceptable condition?

To achieve objectives, the manager uses a number of resources, including assets, capital, personnel,
company time and so on. Typically, a manager’s resources are apparent by inspecting the budget.
Understanding the level of the resources and how they have utilized may shed light on the real problem.

3. Clarify the symptoms of the problem

During the problem definition phase, the manager and researcher must distinguish between symptoms,
which are changes in the level of some key monitor that measures the achievement of an objective, and
their causes. A symptom may also be a perceived change in the behavior of some market factor that
suggest adverse consequences or, perhaps, implies an emerging opportunity.

Managers should continually monitor these situations for changes. a sampling of commonly used
monitors is provided in table 5.2. Often, these monitors are formal, which means that they are included in
the commercial plan or they are part of the company’s monitoring systems. Sometimes, they are informal
and much more subjective. With informal monitors, the problem definition phase is necessary more
protracted because the researcher must construct the activity monitors and track them back in time to gain
a feel for when the symptoms moved away from the company’s acceptable levels and how much they
have wandered in to dangerous territory.

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Even if informal monitors are in place, they may not present a sufficiently detailed or complete picture of
what has happened.

This is sometimes referred to as the “iceberg” phenomenon, a situation in which you must look beneath
the surface to see the complete picture. The researcher may request a breakdown by sales territory, for
example, to see if market share has fallen in all areas. Or he or she may want to look at sales for the
industry as a whole to see if the phenomenon is industry wide. An astute researcher will ask questions that
sometimes tax the manager’s patience, but they are necessary to gain an understanding of all of the facets
of the problem.

Table 5.2. Formal monitors those are helpful in alerting managers to possible problems

4. Pinpoint suspected causes of the problem

Problems do not arise out the blue- there always is an underlying cause. For example, sales do not drop
without buyers doing something from what they have been doing in the past, customers complaints do not
increase unless some dissatisfaction has occurred, and dealers do not report returns unless there is a flow
in the product. In other words, changes in market behavior do not occur randomly. Often a manager
suspects or even has strong opinions concerning the cause of a bothersome symptom. In fact, he or she
may even begin the conversation by telling the researcher what to research.

However, it is important that the researcher list all possible causes in as objective a manner as possible,
because if a possible cause is overlooked, and that causes turns out to be the real cause, all researcher will
have been wasted.

To illustrate the importance of pursuing all possible causes of a problem, we present an example
involving Delta Business College, a small, private two year college that specializes in business education
curricula. Delta Business College suddenly experiences a decline in its enrollment.

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 The researcher and the director of the college’s enrollment office met and began discussing this symptom,
asking themselves why enrollment t was declining. Over the course of their discussion, they identified
four general areas of possible causes:

(1) Competitors’ actions, which had drawn prospective students away;

(2) Changes in the consumers (student target population);
(3) Something about the business college itself; and
(4) General environmental factors. Given this long list, it was necessary to narrow down the possible
causes to a small set of probable causes.

An informal situation analysis was used to determine which of the several factors likely culprits were.
Common sense suggests that if a possible cause had not changed over the course of the symptoms change, it
is unlikely that it was probable causes of the problem. On the other hand, if a possible cause had changed
prior to or at about the time of symptom’s appearance, it should remain on the ‘likely culprit’ or probable
cause list. That is, any factor that changed prior to or concurrent with the symptoms was a probable cause of
the problem. It turned out that, during the past year, Delta had changed advertising time in an effort to
increase advertising exposure by buying less expensive television spots. As a result, the changes in
advertising became prime suspects as to the causes because no other probable causes could be identified.

5. Specify actions that may alleviate the problem

As you learned earlier, managers have at their disposal certain resources, and these resources constitute the
solutions they may attempt to employ to resolve the decision problem at hand. Essentially, possible
solutions include any action that the manager thinks may resolve the problem. It is during this phase that the
researcher’s education and knowledge fully come in to play; often, both the manager and the researcher
brainstorm possible solutions. Sometimes, this phase is moderated by the researcher. At other times, the
manager may independently generate several tactics that might resolve the problem once the probable
causes are identified.

6. Speculate on anticipated consequences of the actions

Research on anticipated consequences of each action under consideration will help determine whether the
solution is correct or not. For example, a solution might resolve the problem; on the other, it might
intensify the problem if the solution is not the correct action. To avoid resolving the problem incorrectly,
the manager asks “what if” questions regarding possible consequences of each action being considered.
These questions include:

 What will be the impact not only on the problem at hand, but throughout the program, if a
specific action is implemented?
 What additional problems will be created if a proposed solution to the current problem is
implemented?

Typically, the range of consequences of possible actions is readily apparent. For example, if your
advertising medium is changed from the reported to fortune, customers will either see less, see more, see
the same amount of advertising.

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7. Identify the manager’s assumptions about the consequences
As they define the problem, the manager and the researcher make certain assumptions, which are
assertions that certain conditions exist or that certain reactions will take place if the considered actions are
implemented. For example, the manager may say, “I am positive that our lost customers will come back if
we drop the price to birr 150,” or “our sales should go up if we gain more awareness by using advertising
inserts in the Sunday paper.”

However if a researcher questions a manager about his or her beliefs regarding the consequences of
certain proposed actions, it may turn out that the manager is not really as certain as he or she sounds.
Conversely the manager may be quite certain and cite several reasons why his or her assumptions are
valid. It is imperative, therefore, that the manager’s assumptions be analyzed for accuracy.

Assumptions bear researcher attention because they are glue that holds the decision problem together.
Given a symptom, the manager assumes that certain causes are at fault. She or He assumes that, by taking
corrective actions, the problem will be resolved and that the symptoms will disappear. If the manager is
completely certain of all of these things, there is no need for research. But typically uncertainness
prevails, and critical assumptions about which the manager is uncertain will ultimately factor in heavily
when the researcher addresses the researcher problem. Research will help eliminate this uncertainty. At
the same time, there may be disagreement on key assumption with in the manager’s company, and
research is needed to determine which competing assumption is true.

8. Asses the adequacy of information on hand

As the manager attempts to formulate a decision problem, available information varies in both quantity
and quality. As just noted, the manager may have information that greatly reinforces his or her beliefs, or
she or he may not have anything more than a “gut feeling” you should recall that it is the researcher’s
responsibility to provide information to the manager that will help resolve the manager’s problem.

Obviously, if the manager knows something with a high degree of certainty, it is of little value for the
researcher to conduct research to reiterate that knowledge.

It is vital, therefore, that the researcher asses the existing information state, which is the quantity and
quality of evidence a manager possesses for each of his or her assumptions.

During this assessment, the researcher should ask questions about the current information state and
determine what the desired information state is.

Conceptually, the researcher seeks to identify information gaps, which are discrepancies between the
current information level and the desired level of information at which the manager feel comfortable
resolving the problem at hand. Ultimately, information gaps are the basis for research objective.

Research objectives are specific bits of knowledge that need to be gathered and that serve to close
information gaps. These objectives become the basis for the researcher’s work. In order to formulate the
research objectives, the researcher considers all the current information surrounding the management
problem.

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4.7. Specify constructs and operational definitions
A researcher generally thinks in terms of constructs when she or he listen the commercial manager
articulate the problem.

A construct is a research term or concept that is somehow involved in the management problem that will
be researched. Examples of constructs that are often investigated in research studies are listed in the
following table.

Although managers and researchers share the language of constructs, the researcher translates the
construct in to an operational definition, which describe show a researcher measures the construct. That
is, an operational definition implies a specific question format that will be used in a survey to gather
information about the construct at hand. You can see by examining the operational definitions in table
how the researcher measures each construct.

Table 5.3. A representative list of construct s often investigated by researchers.

constructs Operational definition

Brand awareness Percent of respondents having heard of brand
Recall, recognition of The number who remember seeing a specific ad
advertisement
Knowledge of product, features What they can tell about the product
Brand familiarity Those who have seen the brand or tried it
Comprehension of product What respondents think the product does for them
benefits
Attitude, feelings towards brand The number who feel positive, negative or neutral
Intention to purchase The number that are planning to buy it
Past purchase or use The percent that bought it
satisfaction How they evaluate its performance
Importance of some purchase What factors determine their purchase choice
demographics How hold, what gender, and so on.
Disposal of product and package What they did with the box, wrapping of product
Brand loyalty How many times they bought the brand in the last six
months

In actuality, there are several alternatives operational definitions possible for any construct, and these are
important considerations that must be determined before the operational definition is finalized.

Identify relation ships

A relationship is a meaningful link believed to exist between two constructs. For instance, one such
relationship might be that customers will buy more of a product when the price is lowered, and that they
will buy less of it when the price is increased. Another relationship might be that a particular advertising
campaign will generate more positive attitude toward your brand. You should note that these relationships
typically link the manager’s decision factors with their anticipated outcomes.

4.8. Specify Research Objectives

As we indicated earlier, research objectives address information gaps that must be closed in order for the
manger to go about the current problem. Generally, the researcher prepares an itemized listing of the
information objections agreed upon by the manager as essential for this purpose. In creating this list, the

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researcher must keep I mind four important qualities. Each research objective must be precise, detailed,
clear and operational. We illustrate these qualities, using the following example of research objectives. A
researcher has formulated the research problem with a model specifying that Sheraton Addis customers
will differ along demographic factors from non-Sheraton Addis customers.

 The research objective: “compare the demographic profile of Sheraton Addis customers to non
customers using age, sex, education and annual family income.”
 To be precise means that the terminology is understandable to the commercial manager and that it
accurately captures the essence of each construct to be researched. In the objective just stated, the
use of the term “demographic” indicates what type of profile will be investigated.
 Detail is provided by including the four demographic measures of age, sex, education, and annual
family income.
 The objective is clear in that there is no doubt as to what will be researched and how the
information will be presented to the manager. That is the age; sex, education, and income of
buyer will be determined and compared to those of non-buyers.
Finally, the objective is operational. In other words, it implies specific measurement scales and statistical
analyses. These do not need to be in the list of research objectives; however, the manager and researcher
will have discussed theses in general, and the researcher should have specific operational plans in mind.
The operational factor is especially useful to the staff member who will probably perform much of the
mechanical aspects such as questionnaire design or data analysis.
4.9. Summary
The management problem is often complex. It is important that the researcher gain background on the company,
product, and market involved. The manager’s circumstances, objectives and resource must be identified as well as
any other salient factors in the environment. Symptoms may compel the manager to action, but the researcher and
the manager must enumerate the possible causes and reasonable courses of action to resolve the problem. During the
dialogue the researcher will become aware of any assumptions or beliefs about the possible solutions held by the
manager, and will determine whether the information gaps exist and the needs that must be addressed with a
research effort.

The researcher thinks in terms of constructs or basic concepts. Theses constructs are arranged in logical relationships
and sometimes there are models of how they fit together. Ultimately, the researcher must create a research proposal
that states the problem, specifies the research objectives, and suggests a research plan that indicates how the
researcher will address the management problem at hand.