solution

Joe Brown, a 30-year market researcher, is ready to enter the coffee shop business. He has some key research questions:

?What markets in Canada hold the most promise for a new coffee shop?

?What type of location is best for a coffee shop?

?What is it that makes a coffee shop popular?

?What coffee do Canadians prefer?

The Internet offers considerable information from studies on taste done by individual researchers, usually themselves as the only sample respondent. Joe doesn’t find much on consumption patterns and the number of coffee shops around Canada. Joe wonders about the relevance of previous research and questions whether he can do any primary research himself. He considers hiring someone to do a feasibility study for him.

Questions

1. Name all four functions of business research and write which function(s) would Joe’s research fulfill?

2. What are the top three key decisions faced by Joe?

3. What are the key deliverables that an outside researcher should produce to help Joe with the key decisions?

4. Would it be better for Joe to do the research himself or have a consultant perform the work?

5. What four factors should Joe take into account to decide whether he should or should not do the research all together? Briefly list them from what you learned in Chapter 1.

6. Compare and contrast pull technology and push technology. Give an example of each.