A list of interesting research scenarios1: 1. Imagine you are the head of a large chain of hotels operating in major cities in Australia. You have noticed a decline in your ratings by TripAdvisor and subsequently the profitability of your organization. Propose a research plan to investigate this problem and develop potential solutions. 2. Qantas group, the largest airline company in Australia, is considering a new partnership agreement either with Air India or Air Indonesia. Executives at Qantas need to research different aspects of these two options to make a decision. Propose a research plan for this scenario. 3. Holden motors is planning to develop an electric compact car. The Product Development Division (PDD) needs to understand the overall attitude and opinion of the general public about this move by engaging a consulting company. You are the manager of a consulting company capable of providing Holden with the information and insight they need. What would be your research proposal?* 4. Tourism Australia realizes that thee composition and magnitude of Asian tourists coming to Australia is changing. They need to know what new tourists expect and are after. So they decided to use the expertise of a market research company. You are the head of a research firm capable of doing this project. Develop a research proposal for your upcoming meeting with the senior management team of Tourism Australia. 5. A beauty salon in Bondi is going to import a new state-of-the-art laser technology fat-burning machine to help people lose weight more quickly and efficiently. The technology has a reputation and a growing market share in the UK and the US but never been introduced before in Australia. Mangers of this beauty salon are willing to commission a market research to understand the market potential, as well as risks and opportunities of this new technology before investing in it. Propose a research plan to help managers of this salon gain necessary insights they need to make a more educated decision*. 6. The managing board of a public regional hospital in Victoria are interested in understanding how patients who are immigrant and refugee with different religious and linguistic backgrounds perceive their services and what the hospital can do to improve its services to these growing group of patients. Propose a research plan for this project*. 7. A group of Japanese immigrants living in Sydney have decided to open up a new Japanese sushi bar and restaurant in Sydney’s CBD. They know that the market is saturated and competition is tough. So they have come up with a novel menu that includes new sushi with a novel twist but they don’t know how to test market it. Propose a research plan to help these people test market their products and understand its market worthiness*. 8. A new yet fast-growing university in Australia aims to develop a new master of business administration (MBA) course in addition to their existing one and different from the existing one offered by other universities. The executives at the administration board of the university have decided to do a research to understand the potential format, length, structure, delivery mode and content of this new course and its potential market value. Develop a research proposal for this project. * 1 All scenarios are inspired by real world situations and those with * are based on real work cases.9. Credit card customers of a large multinational bank in Australia have started to switch to local banks and transfer their accounts. This transfer has costed the bank a lot of money. So managers are desperately trying to understand why and also want to devise a way to win new customers. Propose a research proposal helping them to resolve this problem. 10. Managers of a famous multinational fast-food chain operating across Australia are thinking about adding Pizza to their menus in order to gain additional market share. The design, taste and style of their pizza will be different from those of Domino’s, crust and Pizza’ Hut. However managers are not sure if and how this change to their product portfolio will affect their brand and also the perception of their current customers. Propose a research plan to help them understand these issues. 11. Managers of a retail chain (e.g. Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, etc.) have noticed that their regular customers are buying less at their stores while switching to and buying more at a new recently opened retail chain. They want to know why and how to reverse this trend. Imagine you are the consumer insights manager of a market research company. You were asked to develop a research proposal for this project. What would your proposal be?* 12. A large multinational supplier of beauty and grooming products has a line of products supplied only to beauty salons. Managers of the company found that there are very few salons that meet the sales benchmark. They are wondering why a majority of salons in their distribution chain underperform and what needs to be done to improve sales in them. They approached you as a research expert for a research proposal. What would you propose?* 13. Managers of an event company based in Sydney are concerned with an increasing rate of staff turnover at their regional branches. They need to know what factors drive this trend and how they can retain their staff. You are the managing director of a consultancy firm who can help this company. Develop a research proposal for this problem and send it to them*. 14. Marketing managers of a fashion company producing various brands of performs want to know if buyers of two of their best-selling brands (let say Dior and Gucci) have different perceptions of these two brands, so they can develop separate advertising campaign for these two. They contacted your research company and asked for a research that compares and contrasts these two brands from the customers’ point of view. What would your proposal be? 15. An IT company providing small and large businesses with It services mainly web design, web maintenance, storage and other server-based services has an office in Sydney but a portfolio of clients all over Australia. Two of their most important clients moved their offices to Melbourne last month. Managers of this IT Company are facing a complex issue. They don’t know if they need to move to Melbourne, open a new branch in Melbourne or stay in Sydney and manage their Melbourne clients from Sydney. They need to work with a consultancy firm to find the best solution for this issue. As the manager of a consulting firm, how would you help managers of this company make the best decision? Describe your approach via a research proposal. * 16. Government officials in the health care system have noticed that the level of collaboration and communication among different workers at different professional levels such as nurses, receptionists, GPs and specialists in major hospitals are very low and this situation is negatively affecting the quality of service they provide. they want to design and commission a research to find best innovative ways to tackle and overcome this situation. As the manager of a consulting firm, how would you design this issue? Describe your approach via a research proposal. *Develop a mini proposal: Develop a research proposal. Your proposal should have a clear and complete structure with the following components: I. Background or introduction to the issue (150-200 words) o A brief problem statement o A set of objectives o A set of research questions II. A mini review of the relevant literature (300-500 words) o Definition of key concepts o Synthesis and relation of them with respect to the problem at hand III. Research design and conduct (200-250 words): o Choice of methodology o choice of research instruments o Sampling scheme and sample size o Data collection approach o Choice of analytic method o Limitations of the research