Market Research For New Businesses

Abstract

With that, one went to see an example of how employee engagement has to be used to ensure that energy savings are taken care of. There were instances as simple as employees were asked to turn off the lights when they were leaving the office premises. This was an important part as not only did GE show that they were concerned about the environment, but they also allowed a certain degree of control in that regard, and the resource allocation was certainly improved on their part. These efforts have reaped benefits for them as well. Per some estimates, they have been able to save as much as $ 100 million during the course of their organizational operations, which is a big amount for something as elemental as it. Businesses these days are under constant scrutiny, and people these days are not only interested in the product but the same level of interest as far as how sincere an organization is when it comes to the cause of the community and the way it is taking care of all the people that surround her. In that regard, these organizations have done well as they have a conscious effort on their part when it comes to the development of the business.

Background Information

This paper is going to talk about the underlying strategies that the organization has to take care of during the course of the business and the business objectives that they have to take care of. At the same time, it will be seen what role the concept of value chain plays in an organization and what the role of sustainability is in these businesses (Fearne et al. 2012). The threat of new entrants is always prevailing when one talks about any business, but the fact of the matter is that these organizations have expanded their scale to such an extent that they are now working on the becomes of the scale (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014). Suppliers always want the organization with which they are conducting business to allow them greater flexibility, and this is where these organizations have done well that they are not relying on one supplier to fulfil their business needs (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014). As a matter of fact, what they are doing is that they have diversified as far as their suppliers are concerned, and when that happens, the bargaining power of the suppliers declines as they cannot dictate their terms to the business (Antràs & Chor, 2013). Now, coming towards the expansion of the concept of Porter, it can be said that the same rationale can be applied to the whole value chain of the business, and it can be seen how they are needed to ensure that the value that is transmitted to the customer is carried out in the right manner (Fearne et al. 2012). There are many aspects these days that the business have to take care of, for instance, they inbound logistics might turn out an important part for the business and business has to make sure that they allow efficiency in the storage and the distribution of the products (Antràs & Chor, 2013). At the same time, they also have to increase their operational efficiency as well so that the value transmission is carried out more smoothly and in a more refined manner (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014). The important thing in this regard is to make sure that the outbound logistics of the product are taken care of, and that can only happen when the distribution of the final product is carried out in the right manner (Antràs & Chor, 2013). This is an important aspect as far as the whole thing is concerned (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014).

Problem Definition

The scope of these organizations is so large that smaller businesses may find it very hard to break into the market (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014). The other thing that is damaging the prospect of the new entrants is that these firms are making decent profits while the new business has to wait for a considerable time before it can generate profit (Antràs & Chor, 2013). These organizations have neutralized the threat of the new entrants as they have focused on the innovation and they re brand themselv4es time after time, when that happens, the organizations acquire certain position in the business and due to that, they are able to further consolidate their position (Marufuzzaman et al, 2014). Even if there is a new product in the market, the product range of these organizations is so large that the other businesses would find it hard to compete with them in the first place (Antràs & Chor, 2013). The major reason that there was so much discussion in this regard was due to the fact that Nike was under the scanner all these days as people had started to question their commitment to the way labour practices were carried out in the organization (Chou & Chou, 2012). Nike did not focus much on compliance and social responsibility (Fearne et al. 2012). All that became a sourer for Nike was that questions were being asked regarding the material that was used during the course of production as well as other components of their value chain (Chou & Chou, 2012). There was a lot of scope regarding how it could have been achieved in the right manner (Fearne et al., 2012). They were the ones then who adopted the concept of lean management and manufacturing as they determined the way the overall design of the product could be made more efficient and less prone to error (Miller & Mork, 2013). As a matter of fact, it contributed tremendously towards Nike’s goal and value chain, and it was able to save about $ 700 million in that regard (Chou & Chou, 2012). Quite successfully, they were able to achieve the goal of zero waste in the coming years (Chou & Chou, 2012), which played much to their advantage (Miller & Mork, 2013). Now, whenever there is any discussion about the value chain, the marketing and sales aspects of the product are the definitive things that must be looked at. This is due to the fact that marketing is actually the creation of value, and it is an integral part of the whole value chain of the customer (Antràs & Chor, 2013). All these things, when efficiently combined, would definitely increase the prospect of sales and allow superior service (Trondsen, 2015). But these things would not do the job as far as the value transmission is concerned as to round off the whole process, the procurement, the whole infrastructure of the firm and finance would also need to play its part (Marufuzzaman et al, 2014).

Research Objectives

This is the ability of the customer to put the firm under pressure; now, if one looks at the business model of these organizations, it becomes clear that these firms are some of the more distinguished names in the industry in which they are operating and due to that, they acquire a position that in sync with their overall objectives (Marufuzzaman et al., 2014). They make their customers stakeholders in their business process, but due to the higher concentration of these firms, the customers cannot pressure them (Antràs & Chor, 2013). There are certain instances when competition is all that is needed to bring out the best in you, and the same rationale can be applied to these organizations as well due to the strong competitors that are doing well on their own; not only do they have to emphasize on the quality of the product, they also have to take care of their business practices (Antràs & Chor, 2013). The other thing that the research is going to attempt to underline is how crucial it is for smaller businesses to have a better grasp of their surroundings.

Research Design

During the course of the research, two approaches were used at the predominant level (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). The first one was about making sure that how the primary component of the research was going to work out, which constituted the selection of the information coming from the questionnaires and surveys (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). The other aspect was the information that was available in the public sector about this organization and what were some of the key market factors that were taken into consideration when decision-making was carried out in this regard, to say the least (Bititci & Carrie, 2013).

Data Collection Techniques

As far as the data collection is concerned, the key consideration is to make sure that the determination of the sample size is carried out in a manner that makes sure that all the determinants of the population are kept in mind (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). Thus, the all-inclusive questionnaire was developed that allows the inclusion of the information in a manner that ensures that not only the ethical boundaries are met that are important when conducting the research but also allows better integration and management of the data one way or the another (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). The other aspect of the research was about ensuring that, in the long run, the validity of the data is being taken care of (Bititci & Carrie, 2013).

Findings

Now, if one looks at the way Nike worked, they had to make sure that the threat of the new entrants did not affect their whole business process, so they had to make sure that the overall operations and practices that are carried out at the organizational level had to be organized in a manner that the value loss is minimized (Trondsen et al. 2015). The challenge that they faced at that point in time was that their labour practices were not really popular, and they had to automate their processes (Trondsen et al. 2015). This was important due to the fact that the labour practices were under the scanner, and the stakeholders were not really happy with what was going on (Marufuzzaman et al. 2014). One thing that was done during the course of their operations was that they made an effort to control waste, and the production and operations were made more streamlined during course operations (Trondsen et al. 2015). The effort was carried out specifically in the operational areas, and they ensured that the production efficiencies were taken off in the right manner and the improvement in the business process was carried out (Fearne et al., 2012). The example of General Electric is important when one has to consider how sustainability is concerned as far as the overall efficiency is concerned (Miller & Mork, 2013). The intention was right on their part as they ensured that they made sustainability part of their business process (Trondsen et al. 2015). The realization on their part is that the carbon must be considered a cost, and thus, there was the implementation of the regulations that allowed them to view the environment and make sure that the effects of acid rain are limited to an extent (Chou & Chou, 2012). They were the first organization to actually go into a climate coalition with other governments, and the trading system was the main reason that they were able to do that (Miller & Mork, 2013). The main rationale behind their going into an environmental alliance was that they wanted to ensure that some sort of cap was introduced during the course of their operations (Miller & Mork, 2013). Another thing that they wanted to do was that they wanted a certain sense of certainty as far as their whole organization was concerned (Miller & Mork, 2013).

They have ensured to an extent that they do their part in the development of the community as far as it is concerned (Trondsen et al. 2015). The reason that some businesses give for their lack of sustainable alternatives is that they allow complacency on their part. Many threats to biodiversity have been faced in the last few years in Rio Tinto (Antràs & Chor, 2013). The idea that came from Rio Tinto was about the development of the economic potential of the community in which they are living, as well as increasing their social outreach (Miller & Mork, 2013). There is a slight background behind the whole issue as well (Chou & Chou, 2012). At that time, Madagascar had gained some unwanted controversy as some of the NGOs were not really comfortable regarding the way this whole project was carried out (Miller & Mork, 2013). As the plan moved forward, the majority of the island, 90 % by some estimates, was cleared by farming as well as grazing and charcoal protection (The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations). The island was considered one of the last of the pristine, and due to that, the NGOs were overly concerned by the state of the island, so getting it right was one of their primary agendas (The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations). It can be seen here that even for the smaller businesses, it is important to make sure that they get it right when it comes to community development and how the regard for the people is supposed to be carried out. The other aspect that it shows is how, in the future, environmental sustainability is going to be extremely crucial for the business.

Recommendations And Limitations

The good thing, though, that was witnessed at that point in time was that the Rio Tinto did not out rightly ignore the concerns of these people, and they made sure that they addressed these concerns to some extent. So, they came up with a plan which talked about how economic opportunities could be created for the people of that region (Miller & Mork, 2013). The idea on their part was to make sure that some standards are developed and the organizational goals are set up in the right manner (Chou & Chou, 2012). Then, these goals have to be aligned with the broader goals of the company, and the concept of environmental stewardship was created along these lines (The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations). Then, they have to make sure that they preserve the water quality that one gets to see around these mine locations (Miller & Mork, 2013). Now, the example of the Rio Tinto is unique in this regard as these initiatives did not create that much value for them, but it shows that in this day and age, organizations have to take care of sustainability and work for the betterment of the local community so that enough goodwill for the organization is created at the first place (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). Even though the monetary value is not created, they have done just about enough for themselves now that whatever natural inhabitants they would be part of, they would eventually make sure that the environmental concerns of the people are taken care of. (Miller & Mork, 2013) It is an important for the businesses these days, with the advent of the social media, any good or bad word of bad mouth about the business is going to spread at a very rapid pace. Thus, effort must be made so that businesses get it right the first time around when it comes to community development and how they are going to be facilitating the people the first time around rather than going into damage control mode.

Now, this strategy of selecting one location and using it for one’s own advantage might have worked for one organization, but that does not mean that the same rationale could be applied to any contemporary organization (Chou & Chou, 2012). Thus, there is a need to change the way things are done (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). The normal course of action that is applied by Better Place is that they seem to identify locations that are feasible for it (Antràs & Chor, 2013). They were also adamant about the sort of adjustments one needs to make at the organizational level to make sure that the technology is accepted at the local level (Chou & Chou, 2012). What Better Place did was that they were the ones that made an attempt to bring electronic cars to real life and towards the end user (Antràs & Chor, 2013). They identified many nations that were adaptable to this concept, and the country that showed the greatest interest was Israel, as they wanted to convert to electronic cars in 2020 (Antràs & Chor, 2013). From these examples, it is clear that if any business wants to be sustainable, it has to at least make an attempt to ensure that these sustainability initiatives add value to the business (Bititci & Carrie, 2013). The idea at the end of the business has to be that they should allow themselves some leverage in that regard and use the market situation to their advantage (Chou & Chou, 2012). Now, one of the limitations of the research was the time constraint (The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations). Due to the limited time window, the sample size was limited, due to which the data collection could not be carried out in the right manner and enough consideration was not carried out in that aspect (The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations).

References

Antràs, P., & Chor, D. (2013). Organizing the global value chain. Econometrica,81(6), 2127-2204.

Bititci, U. S., & Carrie, A. S. (2013). Strategic Management of the Manufacturing Value Chain: Proceedings of the International Conference of the Manufacturing Value-Chain August ‘98, Troon, Scotland, UK (Vol. 2). Springer.

Chou, D. C., & Chou, A. Y. (2012). Awareness of Green IT and its value model.Computer Standards & Interfaces, 34(5), 447-451.

Fearne, A., Garcia Martinez, M., & Dent, B. (2012). Dimensions of sustainable value chains: implications for value chain analysis. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 17(6), 575-581.

Marufuzzaman, M., Ekşioğlu, S. D., & Hernandez, R. (2014). Environmentally friendly supply chain planning and design for biodiesel production via wastewater sludge. Transportation Science, 48(4), 555-574.

Miller, H. G., & Mork, P. (2013). From data to decisions: a value chain for big data. IT Professional, 15(1), 57-59.

The Mini-Cases: 5 Companies, 5 Strategies, 5 Transformations (MIT Sloan Management Review RSS)

Trondsen, T. (2015). Value Chain Policy, Industrial Conventions and Market Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Norwegian and Icelandic Cod Exports to Spain. In Nordic-Iberian Cod Value Chains (pp. 115-135). Springer International Publishing