SWOT Analysis
PROJECT
Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is for you to develop a marketing research skill-set
and apply these skills to a real-world marketing problem. By the end of the project, you should
be familiar with:
1. Problem definition
2. Marketing research methodologies
3. Data analysis techniques
4. Deriving managerial implications from your results
Project Summary: You will choose a firm that you are interested in solving a marketing
research problem for (e.g., the company you work for or a company that you are interested in).
Assume that the firm has hired you to conduct marketing research on its behalf.
Based on the firm and the marketing problem/opportunity that you like to analyze, you will need
to design a comprehensive marketing research plan and execute it. You will present your results
in a final presentation.
Structure: The term project is composed of two phases. In the first phase you will provide a
proposal for your marketing research project. In the second phase you will provide the results of
executing said proposal.
For each phase there will be a presentation supported by PowerPoint and a written report. Please
submit hard copies and digital copies of each written report.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND PRESENTATION
Follow your textbook on how to write a proposal. Hint: make sure it describes a plan detailing
how you will collect all the components mentioned in the final report. The proposal should be
between 3-5 pages single space.
PHASE 1 (Tuesday June 13, 2019)
The presentation
• 10 minutes
• Describe your decision problem and research problems. o Project Title (Do not spend more than 1 minute describing the company) o Research Questions (Decision Problem & Research Problems) o Research Hypotheses o SWOT Analysis
• Leave 2-3 minutes for Q&A
• No note cards or reading from the slides
• No special attire required
• Ignore the budget section
THIS NEXT PART DESCRIBES PHASE 2 (Tuesday, July 2, 2019)
The presentation
• 15 minutes
• Describe your research. o Methodology (Show Survey Question) o Data Analysis o Results
o Recommendations Actions for Marketing Strategy
• Leave 2-3 minutes for Q&A
• No note cards or reading from slides
• Business casual attire
• Do not spend time discussing the situational analysis.
FINAL REPORT FORMATTING (not for Phase 1)
5 Single Space Pages. >>Use The following headings<<
Headings
1. Decision Problem
a. Short and concise b. Introduce relevant information regarding the background of the company c. Clearly state the decision problem. It should be in the first couple of sentences of
the first paragraph.
2. Research Problem
a. Describe how each problem relates and will help address the decision problem b. State at least 2~3 hypotheses. Provide justification for these hypotheses (e.g., why
did you choose these variables to focus on?)
3. Method – Collect the primary data that will help answer your research questions. They can include:
a. Questionnaires (required), In-depth interviews (telephone/face-to-face), Focus Groups,
Observational data (observing consumer behavior), Content Analysis. b. Describe the respondent profile used in each method including sample size, response
rate, characteristics of respondents, etc. c. Secondary background research is encouraged to be used to motivate the research
problem/opportunity and does not count as a method of data collection (Chapter 4:
Literature Search).
4. Data Analysis a. Using the data you collected, perform at least 3 of the following data analysis
techniques:
i. Correlation analysis
ii. Regression analysis
iii. Tests of Means iv. Chi-square tests
v. Cross-tabulations and frequency distributions
b. Describe each of your analysis techniques and why you perform those analyses.
5. Results – describe your results. You can describe or present percentages, descriptive statistics, hypotheses results (e.g., reject null or fail to reject), and results from regression
analysis, graphs, tables, etc.
a. Note: these firms have hired you to uncover novel and counter-intuitive findings. Make
sure that some of your results push managerial thinking.
6. Recommendations and Limitations a. NO DATA analysis or new information in this section b. Every single managerial recommendations (3-5) should be based on the results
i. E.g., We found that X is bigger than Y and that Z increases X. Based on these results we recommend to implement Z.
c. Limitations (2-3). Clearly describe the limitations of your research and methods i. E.g., We recommend a study with a different population as our sample
was not representative of your intended target market (senior citizens).
7. Work Cited and Appendices (include survey)
Helpful Suggestions- This is a marketing class. Therefore, position and your insights in such a
manner that an executive team at the hiring firm would find your presentation interesting and
actionable. The content should be clear, concise, and well-written.
GRADING RUBRIC OF FINAL REPORT
1. Formatting (25%)
a. Does it look professional? (headings, subheadings, graphs, etc.) b. Does it follow the requested structure?
i. Did you include the survey used? ii. Did you use the headings listed on page 1 of this document?
c. Writing style? (citations, etc.) d. Is it single space, ~5 pages? e. Did you submit both a digital and a hard copy?
2. Problem Definition (25%)
a. Is the decision problem and research problem clearly stated? b. Did you cite relevant information? c. Do the research problems help answer the decision problem?
3. Data Analysis and Results (25%)
a. Are the results presented clear enough for a manager to understand? (e.g., graphs and text explaining those graphs)
b. Were the data analyzed properly?
4. Recommendations (25%)
a. How well does the data answer the decision problem? b. Are the recommendations based on the data and results presented or is it your
opinion? (hint: not interested in opinions)
This document may change. Please refer to the latest version in Blackboard.