BUSI600 CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT 2
Q1. What of the four types of studies are presented in this case?
Of the four types of studies – reporting, descriptive, casual-explanatory, and casual-
predictive – the study that is presented in the HeroBuilers case is a descriptive study. A
descriptive study “attempts to determine who, what, where, when, or how much” (Schindler,
2022, p. 77, para. 10). Descriptive studies seek to describe what is being studied as it exists,
without interaction from the researcher. Prior to launching a full-scale action figure business,
Emil Vicale, president of HeroBuilders, sought out an understanding of both the market for his
custom action figures as well as the legality behind the operation. Exploration of the viability of
beginning an action figure business showed Vicale that there was a massive market for action
figures, the biggest player in the business being Hasbro. Vicale found that most of the aisle space
in a toy store was taken up by action figures, these being marketed to both boys and girls.
Looking into the competitors, buying habits, and buying preferences answered the who, what,
and where questions of a descriptive study. In addition to a market study, Vicale consulted a
lawyer on the legality of creating action figures in someone’s likeness. What Vicale was assured
was that likenesses were used for many commercial ventures already, including newspapers and
magazine sales, so the action figure idea would be legal, helping to answer the how and when
questions of the descriptive study (Schindler, 2022).
Q2. Using the criteria in Exhibit 2-1, evaluate the research that HeroBuilders.com
conducted prior to launching its hero and villain action figure business.
After an evaluation of what constitutes quality research, the research done by
HeroBuilders prior to launching its action figure business was not adequate. Exhibit 2-1
summarizes six quality standards that distinguish good research from poor research. The first of
these is a clearly defined purpose. A clearly defined purpose should focus on a single, broadly
BUSI600 CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT 3
defined concept and should identify the participants in the study(Adamson, 2023). Vicale was
able to identify the target audience and the unique product that he would offer before beginning
his research. The second quality standard of good research is a thoroughly planned and executed
research design. It did not seem that a substantial amount of thought went into identifying a
methodology that would be used to conduct the research. The research that was described –
strolling the internet and the toy store – did not, from the information available in the case study,
follow any sort of design. There was no justification for the choice of research design nor
evidence of rejection of alternative research designs. Additionally, it does not seem that there was
a focus on the target audience when conducting the research. The market for store-bought,
generic action figures could have been different than the market for custom action figures. The
third standard is the application of high ethical standards. From the information in the case study,
it did seem that the design attempted to protect the organization by thinking ahead of legal
implications. Another standard of good research is an adequate analysis of the data collected.
Again, it seemed as though there was a lack of true data collection and data analysis associated
with the research that HeroBuilders conducted prior to launching its business. Data serves to
benchmark what currently exists and understand the impact that a decision may have in a logical
and concrete way (Stobierski, 2019). There were opportunities to collect quantitative data when
investigating which producers had how much of the market share and how much of the toy store
was filled with action figures. The fifth standard of quality research is the frank revelation of
limitations. There was no mentioned evaluation of the shortcomings of the research design. The
last standard of good research is that findings are reported unambiguously and that insights and
conclusions are justified. This includes providing logically organized findings, insights, and
conclusions to help reach a decision. While findings were summarized and provided, there was
BUSI600 CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT 4
no organization, mostly due to a lack of evidence of collected data. Another part of reporting
these findings includes reporting procedural details so others can evaluate the validity of the data
collection and analysis (Schindler, 2022). Despite having a summary of what was done to collect
data and what assumptions were reached by Vicale, there was a lack of details.
Q3. What issues, other than those Vicale chose to evaluate, would you have included in
your research plan for HeroBuilders.com?
Outside of the analysis of the competitors in the action figure production industry, the
ratio of action figures at the stores compared to other toys, and the legalities of the operations,
one thing that I would have wanted to include in my research plan was surveys. This would be to
assess an estimated amount of people who would want to purchase a custom action figure or a
figure with a “celebrity” likeness. Since it seems as though sales would be mostly online, given
the nature of the custom production, I would administer a random survey to internet shoppers
since that would be the target audience. To judge if it would be a good idea to mass-produce
certain dolls to sell in stores or at events, I would do the surveys at those locations. One specific
location would be a presidential rally to assess the market for an action figure with a president’s
likeness. An important question I would want to be answered would be the cost people would be
willing to pay for the product and use that information when evaluating the cost of quality
(COQ) measures I would go through when producing my figurines (“Cost of Quality”, n.d.). The
last thing I would have done before starting the business would have been investigating my
ability to scale. One thing that Vicale said in the case study was that once the company got media
attention, they were unprepared for the amount of attention they got. This would include meeting
with equipment manufacturers and outsourced manufacturers to ensure that as operations scaled,
the company could maintain speed, accuracy, visibility, transparency, agility, and reputation
BUSI600 CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT 6
Adamson, D. (2023, June 21). Libguides: Section 1: Purpose statement. Purpose Statements
Section 1 - LibGuides at NorthcentralUniversity.https://resources.nu.edu/c.php?g=101
3602&p=7638199#:~:text=your%20work%20progresses.-,The%20purpose%20statement
%20should%20specifically%20address%20the%20reason%20for%20conducting,of
%20your%20project%20or%20study.
Charpentier, L. (2022, April 21). Council post: Six goals to consider when determining how to
scale your operations. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil /
2021/12/07/six-goals-to-consider-when-determining-how-to-scale-your-operations/?
sh=1632553f6efd
Schindler, P. S. (2022). Business research methods (14th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Stobierski, T. (2019, August 26). The advantages of data-driven decision-making: HBS Online.
Harvard Business Insights Blog. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/data-driven-decision-
making
What is cost of Quality (COQ)? | ASQ. Cost of Quality. (n.d.). https://asq.org/quality-
resources/cost-of-quality
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