Courses Details
Course Overview

Market research is an essential intelligence-gathering and interpreting activity in terms of helping firms optimize sales, seek new areas for expansion, and detect threats from competitors.  It is the aim of this course to provide participants with the necessary tools and skills in conducting effective research and forecasting.  The course will be practical, industry specific, and directly applicable to participants’ business.

Course Schedule
Target Audience
  • Market Researchers/Analysts in the telecom industry
  • Marketing Managers from the services sector
  • Communications and Database Managers 
  • Customer Relations Managers from the services sector
Course Prerequisites

A basic understanding of marketing
Expected Accomplishments
  • A broad understanding of the role and importance of obtaining continuous information on the market 
  • A good understanding of the interrelationship between ‘good’ information and ‘good’ decision-making in marketing
  • A detailed understanding of the market research process and forecasting methods
  • An appreciation of the need to be able to anticipate trends in the market
  • A detailed understanding of how market research and forecasting can enhance a firm’s competitiveness in the market
  • A strong awareness of the importance of being ethical in conducting market research
Course Outline
Introduction
Explaining the role of the “Progress Portfolio” in the course

The nature and scope of market research
The marketing environment
Market research and decision-making
Usefulness and applications of market research portfolio task

Marketing research and forecasting as a competitive tool
Understanding and forecasting market trends and customer behavior
Market research and segmentation
Market research and new product/service development (NPD)

Types of research
Secondary research – secondary sources of information
Primary research – quantitative versus qualitative research
Types of quantitative research methods - quantitative
Techniques

Market research process
Developing a research brief
Designing questionnaires
Sampling techniques and procedures
Analysing and interpreting data
Ethics in marketing research Portfolio task

Organizing information
Setting up a marketing information system (MIS)
The components of the MIS
Marketing decision support systems
Managing the MIS  portfolio task

Using information for effective decision-making
Product decisions
Pricing decisions
Distribution decisions
Promotion decisions
Competitive strategies

Analyzing and forecasting consumer behavior portfolio task