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markets and products in that sphere of interest。 Virtually every online
newspaper in the world is listed here。 You can search straight from
the homepage； either by continent or country。 You can also find the 50
most popular online newspapers from a link in the top centre of the
homepage。 There is also a separate site for online magazines （
onlinenewspapers/SiteMap/magazines…sitemap。htm）。
116 The Thirty…Day MBA
。 Research and Markets （researchandmarkets。uk） is a onestop
shop that holds nearly 400；000 market research reports listed in
a hundred or so categories and across over 70 countries。 Reports are
priced from �20 upwards。
。 The Wholesaler UK （thewholesaler。uk） is a directory for a wide
range of products。 It is intended for businesses looking for additional
suppliers but as such provides a valuable first si。。 to see who is the
market。
。 Thomas Global Register （thomasglobal） is an online directory
in 11 languages with details of over 700；000 suppliers in 28 countries。 It
can be searched by industry sub…sector or name either for the world or
by country。
。 World Market Research Associations （mrweb）； while not
quite the world； does have web addresses for over 65 national market
research associations and a hundred or so other bodies such as the
Mystery Shopping Providers Association； which in turn has over 150
members； panies worldwide。
Using the internet
The internet is a rich source of market data； much of it free and immediately
available。 But you can’t always be certain that the information is reliable or
free of bias； as it can be difficult if not impossible to always work out who
exactly is providing it。 That being said； you can get some valuable pointers
as to whether or not what you plan to sell has a market； how big that market
is and who else trades in that space。 The following sources should be your
starting point：
。 Google Trends （google。uk 》 Labs 》 Google Trends） provides a
snapshot on what the world is most interested in at any one moment。 For
example； if you are thinking of starting a bookkeeping service； entering
that into the search pane produces a snazzy graph showing how interest
measured by the number of searches is growing （or contracting） since
January 2004 when they started collecting the data。 You can also see
that South Africa has the greatest interest and the Netherlands the
lowest。 You can tweak the graph to show seasonality； thus showing that
Croydon registers the greatest interest in the UK overall and ‘demand’
peaks in September and bo。。oms out in November。
。 Google News （google）； which you can tap into by selecting
‘News’ on the horizontal menu at the top of the page under the Google
banner。 Here you will find links to any newspaper article anywhere in
the world covering a particular topic over the past decade or so listed by
year。 Asking for information on baby clothes will reveal recent articles
Marketing 117
on how much the average family spends on baby clothes； the launch of
a thri。。 store specializing in second…hand baby clothes and the launch of
an Organic baby clothes catalogue。
。 Microso。。 （h。。p：//adlab。microso。。） is testing a product that can give
you masses of data on market demographics （age； sex； ine etc）；
purchase intentions and a search funnel tool that helps you understand
how your market searches the internet。 Using the demographics tool；
you can find that 76％ of people showing an interest in baby clothes are
female and surprisingly 24％ are male。 The peak age group is the 25–34…
year…olds and the lowest is the under…18s followed by the over…50s。
。 Inventory Overture （h。。p：//inventory。overture/d/searchinventory/
suggestion/） is a search tool showing how many people searched Yahoo
for a particular item。 So； for example； while 10；837 looked for either
baby or baby and toddler clothing； only 927 searched for organic baby
clothing； 167 for used baby clothing and 141 for cheap baby clothing：
facts that give useful pointers as to the likely price sensitivity in this
market。
。 Blogs are sites where people； informed and ignorant； converse about
a particular topic。 The information on blogs is more straw in the wind
than fact。 Globe of Blogs （globeo。。logs）； launched in 2002；
claims to be the first prehensive world weblog directory； which
links up to over 58；100 blogs； searchable by country； topic and just
about any other criteria you care to name。 Google （h。。p：//blogsearch。
google） is also a search engine to the world’s blogs。
。 Trade Association Forum （taforum 》 Directories 》 Association
Directory） is the directory of Trade Associations on whose websites are
links to industry…relevant online research sources。 For example； you
will find The Baby Products Association listed； at whose website you
can find details of the 238 panies operating in the sector； including
their contact details。
。 The Internet Public Library （ipl） is run by a consortium of
US universities whose aim is to provide internet users help with finding
information online。 There are extensive sections on business；
puters； education； leisure and health。
。 Find Articles （findarticles） aims to provide credible；
freely available information you can trust。 It has over 10 million articles
from thousands of resources； archived dating back to 1984； on its website。
You can see a summary of all articles and most are free； though in
some cases you may need a modest subscription； rarely more than a
few pounds。 You can restrict your search to those articles that are free
by selecting ‘free articles only’ from the right…hand pull…down menu。
118 The Thirty…Day MBA
Field research
Most fieldwork carried out consists of interviews； with the interviewer
pu。。ing questions to a respondent。 The more popular forms of interview
are currently：
。 personal （face…to…face） interview： 45％ （especially for the consumer
markets）；
。 telephone； e…mail and web surveys： 42％ （especially for surveying
panies）；
。 post： 6％ （especially for industrial markets）；
。 test and discussion group： 7％。
Personal interviews； web surveys and postal surveys are clearly less expensive
than ge。。ing together panels of interested parties or using expensive
telephone time。 Telephone interviewing requires a very positive a。。itude；
courtesy； an ability not to talk too quickly； and listening while sticking to
a rigid questionnaire。 Low response rates on postal services （less than 10
per cent is normal） can be improved by acpanying le。。ers explaining
the questionnaire’s purpose and why respondents should reply； by offering
rewards for pleted questionnaires （small gi。。）； by sending reminder
le。。ers and； of course； by providing pre…paid reply envelopes。 Personally
addressed e…mail questionnaires have secured higher response rates – as
high as 10–15 per cent – as recipients have a greater tendency to read and
respond to e…mail received in their private e…mail boxes。 However； unsolicited
e…mails （‘spam’） can cause vehement reactions： the key to success is
the same as with postal surveys – the mailing should feature an explanatory
le。。er and incentives for the recipient to ‘open’ the questionnaire。
There are the basic rules for good questionnaire design； however the
questions are to be administered：
1。 Keep the number of questions to a minimum。
2。 Keep the questions simple！ Answers should be either ‘Yes/No/Don’t
know’ or offer at least four alternatives。
3。 Avoid ambiguity – make sure the respondent really understands the
question （avoid ‘generally’； ‘usually’； ‘regularly’）。
4。 Seek factual answers； avoid opinions。
5。 Make sure that at the beginning you have a cut…out question to eliminate
unsuitable respondents （eg those who never use the product/service）。
6。 At the end； make sure you have an identifying question to show the
cross…section of respondents。
Sample size is vital if reliance is to be placed on survey data。 How to calculate
the appropriate sample size is explained in Chapter 11 in the section
headed ‘Survey sample size’。
Marketing 119
Testing the market
The ultimate form of market research is to find some real customers to
buy and use your product or service before you spend too much time and
money in se。。ing up。 The ideal way to do this is to sell into a limited area or
a small section of your market。 In that way； if things don’t quite work out as
you expect； you won’t have upset too many people。
This may involve buying in a small quantity of product； as you need
to fulfil the order in order to fully test your ideas。 Once you have found a
small number of people who are happy with your product； price； delivery/
execution and have paid up； you can proceed with a bit more confidence
than if all your ideas are just on paper。
Pick potential customers whose demand is likely to be small and easy to
meet。 For example； if you are going to run a bookkeeping business； select
5 to 10 small businesses from an area reasonably close to home and make
your pitch。 The same approach would work with a gardening； baby…si。。ing
or any other service…related venture。 It’s a li。。le more difficult with products；
but you could buy in a small quantity of similar items from a petitor or
make up a trial batch yourself。
Organizational
behaviour
。 Structural options
。 Line and staff relationships
。 Building and leading teams
。 Understanding motivation
。 Managing people effectively
。 Directors’ roles
。 Handling change
Organizational behaviour； usually shortened to OB； is the whole rather
amorphous area that deals with people； why they behave the way they
do and how to create and manage an organization that can achieve the
goals set for the business。 As one cynical CEO summarized the task： ‘to get
people to do what I want them to do because they want to do it’。
The single most prevalent reason for a strategy failing lies in its implementation；
the analysis and planning behind a proposed course of action
are rarely the root of the problem。 That is more likely to lie in the selection
of the people to implement strategy； their management； motivation； rewards
and the way in which they are organized and led。 Stated like that；
it sounds a fairly simple task。 Just work your way through those headings
and any MBA worth their salt should be able to get the desired results。
Unfortunately； people both individually and collectively are rarely malleable
and infinitely variable in their likely responses to situations。 The
famous German military strategist Moltke’s statement that ‘No campaign
plan survives first contact with the enemy’ applies here if the word enemy
is replaced by organization。
However； by understanding and applying a number of principles and
concepts on the typical MBA syllabus you can improve an organization’s
chances of achieving its objectives。
4
Organizational Behaviour 121
STRATEGY VS STRUCTURE； PEOPLE AND
SYSTEMS
This is the ‘which came first’ question akin to that of the chicken and the
egg。 Unless you are starting up an organization on a greenfield site with no
people other than yourself and only a pile of cash； every business situation
involves some promise between the ideal and the possible when it
es to people and structures。
The theory is clear。 An organization’s strategy； itself a product of its
business environment； determines the shape of the organization’s structure；
the sort of people it will employ and how they will be managed； controlled
and rewarded。 But in the real world the business environment is
constantly changing as the economy fluctuates； petitors e and go；
and consumer needs； desires and aspirations alter。 In any event a business
is limited in its freedom of action。 However violent and essential a change
in strategy； a business will rarely be free to hire and fire staff at will simply
to change direction。 The exception is in the case of a plete closure or
withdrawal from an activity such as that of Marks & Spencer’s controversial
closure of its French outlets in 2001。 This move was considered vital to the
survival of the whole business and despite May Day protests in France the
pany’s shares rose 7 per cent on the announcement。
Figure 4。1 is a useful aid to understanding how to approach OB。 The
concentric circles are a metaphor to remind us of the circular nature of
subject。 You can’t just tackle one area without having an impact on others。
Figure 4。1 A framework for understanding organizational behaviour
Environment
Strategy
People
Recruit
Motivate
Manage
Lead
Structure
Organization
Teams
Systems
Reward
Appraise
Develop
Change
122 The Thirty…Day MBA
STRUCTURES – THE OPTIONS
Just as the skeleton is the structure that holds a body together； a business
too has its framework。 The goal of any framework is to provide some
boundaries while at the same time allowing the whole ‘body’ flexibility to
respond in order to go about its business。 While human bodies keep a very
similar skeleton to the one they start out with； a business has a number of
very different organizational structures to choose from。 Also； it is unlikely
that an