NB.This assignment is a group task – it is rare that managers work in isolation and part of the learning outcome for this assignment is to develop your management skills and capacity to work effectively with others. As in assignment 1 writing concisely and to the point is an important skill to develop - please do not exceed the word limit. Assignment description Generally marketing managers do not perform the actual market research. However, they do frequently commission and oversee market research projects, as well as interpret data and make decisions on the basis of research findings. This assignment requires you to consider the research process and decision making for a satisfaction survey of guests staying at Hilton Hotels using the gap analysis approach covered in the unit. This is a very relevant topic since quantitative evaluation of customer satisfaction and service quality is a common research activity conducted by many businesses. NB – Please do not actually conduct any primary market research for this assignment, rather just consider the research design and process involved in gap analysis satisfaction research from the marketing manager's perspective. Purpose Marketing managers select research suppliers and brief the agencies on what they expect from the research. They should also monitor the research process to try to ensure that the research is performed in an effective manner and that the data produced is reliable. This assignment therefore requires you to set research objectives, consider the strategic role of the research and the type of information expected, as well as outline the key considerations at each stage in the research process. The assignment will also help develop your ability to work in a group, as well as skills in desk research (library and Internet search), collating presenting and interpreting information, as well as the ESSENTIAL SKILL of accurate referencing. Assignment tasks In this assignment be sure to cover the following: Marketing objective(s) of the research Initially you must outline the marketing objective(s) of your customer satisfaction research. With the gap analysis approach these might include aspects such as identifying strengths and weaknesses in the service mix; providing comparative data for competition, prioritising actions for improving the service mix (and overall customer satisfaction), etc. Information required to fulfill the marketing research objectives · In this section you should consider the information required, desired presentation format, as well as clearly illustrating what will be done with it / how it will fulfill the research objectives. · To do this effectively you should provide your own examples of the expected research output and clearly describe how it can be interpreted to assist the company decision making process. (To assist in this regard you might provide estimates of data and produce your own examples of the anticipated output)