Issue 2, September 2011
A successful business needs a deep understanding of potential and existing customers, and the marketplace in which they work. This understanding allows a company to analyse the market need, market size and competition, and identify new opportunities. Carrying out market research on potential customers and competitors will help a company to gain this vital knowledge, and is a very important component of business strategy.
Market research can be done by building a picture of general trends using either published secondary data from free government statistics and or paid-for market reports from commercial providers, or a combination of both. Company contacts and sales records are also good resources to tap on. Primary data provide another rich source of information, and they can be gathered from surveys and focus group discussions and product tests to investigate customers' attitudes and examine questions specific to a business.
In this second issue, you will find out from three companies how they have benefitted from the market research projects done by SMU student consultants who were mentored by project advisers with the requisite domain expertise.
The Learning and Discovery starts here!
CommGate (S) Pte Ltd: Providing More with Less The office computer system is down, and your external IT vendor is not picking up the phone. When you finally do get through to them, they tell you the earliest an IT specialist can be dispatched to your office is tomorrow afternoon! In the meantime, no work gets done. Because IT is so entrenched in today's modern office that without it, all work processes are disrupted... read on |
Domus Integration: Power at Your Fingertips Lights that dim without the human touch. A home-theatre system with surround sound. A cinematic experience that puts you in the heart of the “action”. A security system that looks after the people and assets nearest and dearest to you. An intelligent lifestyle synonymous only with the rich and famous? Not true!… read on
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Food & Nutrition Specialists Pte Ltd: Eat Well, Live Better “Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like,” writes Mark Twain. His quote would strike a chord with gourmands and gourmets alike, although where health is concerned, what would health professionals whose job it is to expound the benefits of healthy eating add to that? Well, the team of nutritionists and dieticians from Food & Nutrition Specialists Pte Ltd do believe that good food and good health can go hand-in-hand... read on
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