Internship Report Marketing Research

minute sound judgment of the inquiry Methodology utilise in SRG Bangladesh modified deprecative sagaciousness of the investigate Methodology utilise in SRG Bangladesh Limited Submitted to professor Golam Mohammed Chowdhury Chairman, Internship & Placement Program superin run away by Dr. M Z Mamun Professor and Director Submitted by Noman Ahmed Khan roll protrude No. 16 MBA 41 (D) Internship Period 23rd March to 14th June Institute Of billet Administration (IBA) University Of capital of Bangladesh get a line of Submission July 11, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all I must thank Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director, IBA for his insisting on the brevity of the answer for.He doed me determine the objective of the report and guided me through to get to the end. He made me grateful with his valuable suggestions from time to time during my internship. I outhouse neer forget his fatherly guidance and his utmost amicable and sincere attention toward me. The second person to ac acquaintance bequeath sure enough be my supervisor at SRGB Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing Director of SRG Bangladesh Limited. He has been a great support from the selection of the top offic, removeing of polar part of look and sympathy the difference between theory and trust.Special thank goes to Mr. Ziauddin Kamal, superior look Executive and Mr Emrul Kayes, Manager, HR for providing me every kind of information related to my speculate. I really should thank every former(a) employee of SRGB, whom I found during distinct phases of my internship. Most of them run through been very open and friendly with me and reard me with the answers I necessitate from them. Lastly I would like to thank my classmates working in OrgQuest and the Nielsen alliance Bangladesh Limited for providing me with brief alone useful information virtually the radiation patterns in their presidential term.July 11, 2009 Chairperson Internship and Placement Institute of Business Administration Un iversity of Dhaka Dhaka thousand Subject Submission of Internship report on Critical Assessment of the question Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited Dear Sir As a part of the internship program, I have lively this report on the proposition Critical Assessment of the look Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited. The report contains a detailed study and analysis on the qualitative and denary modeological analysis used by SRG Bangladesh Limited.I judged the matter through the ciphers in which I had to work as an internee. I have tried my best to utilize the opportunity of working as an internee in an established selling seek comp any(prenominal) like SRGB. This report is base on information acquired from the project Aw atomic number 18ness and bankers word meaning of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh, conducted by SRGB. Here I have tried to comp be the methodology used in that study with the thery we have been taught in the classroom and probable reason of differen ce with the theory if any.I have keep the internship learning as per the instructions I have got from my supervisor Dr M Z Mamun. I enjoyed preparing this report because it provides an opportunity for me to increase my d protest the stairs(a)standing of the real life merchandise look into entrusts. I thank you for much(prenominal)(prenominal) an opportunity. I exit be available for any clarification at your convenience. Sincerely yours Noman Ahemd Khan Roll 16 Batch 41(D) Table of Contents decision maker SUMMARYvii 1. 0 INTRODUCTION1 1. 1 Origin of the Report1 1. 2 Objective1 1. 3 Methodology2 1. 4 Scope2 1. 5 Limitations2 . 0 Industry Overview3 2. 1. Research and Consultancy Industry virtually the World3 2. 1. 1 market segments3 2. 1. 2Player groups5 2. 2 Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh7 2. 2. 1 ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest)7 2. 2. 2 Sirius marketing and companionable Research Ltd. 7 2. 2. 3 The Nielsen Company8 3. 0 Company Overview9 3. 1 minimi se and History of SRG Bangladesh Limited9 3. 2 presidential term graph10 3. 3 operate Offered11 3. 4 soft Research12 3. 5 Quantitative Research12 3. 6 late(a) sheds13 3. 7 primaeval Clients14 3. Key Person of SRG Bangladesh Limited18 4. 0 Jobs Performed During Internship20 4. 1 Duties and Responsibilities20 4. 2 point of the Assignments20 4. 2. 1 Aw atomic number 18ness and acceptance of UK Qualification20 4. 2. 2 Assessment of Grameen Kalyan Clinics21 4. 2. 3 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, toil Green, twine 921 4. 2. 4 conundrum Shopping on Banking Products and Service21 4. 3 Benefits of the Program21 5. 0 Critical Assessment of the Methodology of the figure Aw atomic number 18ness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh22 5. Background of the study22 5. 1. 1 comment of the Business Problem22 5. 1. 2 Research Objectives22 5. 2 Methodology23 5. 2. 1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study23 5. 2. 2 Crit icism on Selection and Implementation of qualitative Study (KII and IDI)25 5. 2. 3 Criticism on FGD26 5. 2. 4 A Mixed-Methodology onset to the Study27 6. 0 Conclusion and Recommendation28 Bibliography29 Annexure I Questionnaire of Key Informant Interview (KII)30 Annexure II Questionnaire for In-Depth Interview (IDI)35 List of FiguresFigure 1 Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by go4 Figure 2 Growth Rate of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services4 Figure 3 congregations of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin5 Figure 4. Percentage of Market Sh ar Depending on Size of Businesses6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report has been written with a contracted ultimate mark of identifying the gaps between theory and practice of query in SRG Bangladesh Limited. It has been found that the impellingness of a interrogation firm SRGB in preparing question works fairly supported by theory practiti starrs.Difference between theory and practice is a very gray-haired phenom enon which we barelyt see here too. But it stub be concluded easily that though the practice is non perfectly similar with the suggestions from theory, the practice will work effectively to bring out the result, which is the goal of all enquiry works. Market enquiry and consultancy is an old art which is be culmination more(prenominal) distinguished in Bangladesh twenty- iv hour distributor point by twenty-four hours. The activities of market investigate include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and sagaciousness the marketing process.At the same time perplexity consultancy refers to both the intentness of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their performance, in the offshoot place through the analysis of existing barter line problems and study of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the assists of way consultants for a upshot of reasons, including gaining ext ernal (and presumably objective) advice, vex to the consultants narrow expertness, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more permanent employees is not required.Internship opportunity in a market research and focusing consultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student to learn well-nigh most important and effective skills. Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find very few big players and a number of micro players here. But the industry is expanding twenty-four hours by day. The primitive revenue is similarly increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship.The Survey Research convocation of Bangladesh SRGB was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and industrial Consulting house. Since the other(a) 90s, SRGB v entured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Services. Since thus SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad based sectoral studies to micro level occurrence studies for domestic and multinational clients. SRGB maintains a comprehensive panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting in substantial be efficiency.Moreover, local investigators get wind operational efficiency and accuracy in appeal relevant information. In basis of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned familiarity of essential economies, SRGB remains in constant touch with a number of foreign firms engaged in research and consulting. Most of the assignments handled in SRGB were long-term projects that had already been started. whatsoever were in the beginning phase and rough were in their concluding stages.Some of them are also a type of continuous research with several waves. The discussed research study that was used to prepare this report is Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh. It was an ongoing project. It therefore made mother wit to continue doing what the rest of the team up was doing (taking querys of contrastive types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of distinct people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned.Some visits to a clubby university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the job takee. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day ecstasy to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of foment and mango. It was also a very succ essful tour with acquiring of huge stupefys.Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka, internationalistic Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC and so forth were interviewed. 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Market research and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by day. The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objecti ve) advice, access to the consultants specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more permanent employees is not required.Internship opportunity in a market research and management consultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student to learn some most important and effective skills. 1. 1 Origin of the Report As a compulsory part of Internship program, this particular proposition report is being prepared by the author on the proposed topic Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited. The intention was to give an opportunity to the students to gain some real world experience by working in a practical environment. The internship supervisor was Mr.M Saidul Haq, Managing Director, SRG Bangladesh Limited and the faculty advisor was Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director of Institute of Business Administration. 1. 2 Objective The Primary Objective of this report is To placard th e gap between theory and practice for the selection of the methodology. Secondary objectives are To study the methodology used in the project under study in SRGB. To observe the implementation of the methods. To gradation the gap between selection and implementation of the methods. Search for the justifications bottomland the gaps. . 3 Methodology The research will be represent of literature review for theories and qualitative research mainly. An extensive study of the research methodology literature will be the base. Then the practical experiences and honorings from the project worked for during internship will be compared with the literature. Finally qualitative in-depth interviews and key viewer interviews will lead us to our answers. 1. 4 Scope SRGB selects and follows different kinds of methodology for different projects. It changes with the change of projects.Here however if the study project in which the author worked- Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh will come under consideration. The author will try to reveal the theoretical requirements to selection of methodology for this particular study project and the practical happenings in this project only. The other deuce studies which were taking place at SRGB at the time of internship will not be considered though the author worked for those in some few instances. 1. 5 Limitations Some peg downing cistrons were faced plot of ground conducting the research and preparing the report.These could be summarized as follows No secondary information was found, such as, any report or research papers on this particular issue. For finding out reasons behind gap between theory and practice, enough number of projects could not be studied due to dearth of time and scope. Only internal specialists were interviewed. 2. 0 Industry Overview Before starting description of the main split of the internship report, some light on the industry of the worked for company should be addres sed. A short story almost the industry will help the reader understand the situation with more depth. . 1. Research and Consultancy Industry around the World The management consultancy industry shows a very fragmented picture with various segments and player groups. This first part of the industry analysis starts with an analysis of the market segments and player groups. Afterwards it will elaborate on the competitive situation. The second part of this analysis Future Prospects discusses driving forces and possible futures for the industry. Due to availability of info here the focus is on the German market, for which it provides figures and statistics.All statements about trends, competition, drivers and possible future developments, however, can easily be transferred to management consultancies in all major markets. 2. 1. 1Market segments In Germany there are 14700 management consultancies and sole practitioners. They employ 68000 consultants. The market for management consult ancy in Germany has shown rapid perplexth throughout the last years. entireness revenues rose from 16. 4 bn DM in 1997 to 18. 8 bn in 1998, 21. 3 bn in 1999, and 23. 8 bn DM in 2000. Although the annual growth rate declined from 14. 6 % in 1998 to 11. % in 2000, it is still significantly above the growth rate of the German GDP, being below 3 %. However, growth is not equally feast across the market segments. Today management consultancy is much more than the traditional strategy consulting. The Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater e. V. (BDU, Association of German Management Consultants) distinguishes between consulting for strategy, organisation, IT and human resources. Analysis of these segments reveals their different contributions to boilersuit revenue and growth Figure 1 Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services pic Figure 2 Growth Rate of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services pic These figures indicate that IT- and organisational consulting fuelled growth in 1999. This was driven by the current developments in the IT-sector. The BDU names year 2000 solutions, Euro-implementations, use up implementations and e-business activities. These changes in the nodes environment change their industries more or less and hence create enormous involve for consulting. Without the contact of Y2K and Euro-implementation, the growth of IT consulting slowed down in 2000.However, this sector remains the most important field of consulting with 43. 4% of total consulting revenues in 2000. The BDU predicts, that the proportion of consulting projects that include at least(prenominal) partly some e-commerce consulting, will grow from 38% in 2000 to about 50% in 2001. All in all the whole industry shows a dynamic growth. Besides the influence of IT this is driven by globalisation, technological change and the deregulation of markets. 2. 1. 2Player groups In recent years the industry has seen the entry of many non-traditional consultants into the market.Barriers to entry are comfortably low with little investments into fixed assets needed. In addition on the contrary to the auditing business there are no legal regulations limiting the entry to this profession. Many former employees of immense consultancy firms or senior managers from other businesses start up as sole practitioners or small consulting firms. On the other hand, many companies from right(prenominal) the consulting industry enter this market. These are mainly IT-companies as IBM or Cap Gemini, but also designers, technologists, marketing agencies, employment agencies and others.Figure 3 roots of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin pic Rassam (1998) distinguishes as follows In Germany there are 14700 consulting businesses employing 68500 consultants. The BDU distinguishes small, medium and large consultancies. Not surprisingly, the large consultancies, being smallest in numbers make nearly a third of the total industries revenues Figure 4. Percentage of Market Share Depending on Size of Businesses pic This is an ongoing trend. By 2000 the market share of large consultancies has risen to 47%, share of medium sized firms fell to 36% and share of small firms fell to 17%.This is because large firms show by far the highest growth place with an average of 18% in 2000. Medium and small firms grew by an average of 9% and 2. 5% only. With this small number of large dominant players the market can be characterised as an oligopoly. Competition is especially impregnable inside the market segments and inwardly the player groups. Due to the limited growth rates in some segments and the entry of new players there is also a rising competition across the segments and player groups. smaller specialised consultants start to serve nodes of all sizes.The large consultants discover small and start-up enterprises as customers, seeing them as future clients for further consulting and auditing activities. According to this competition co nsultancies have developed different strategies. The large consultancies establish themselves as generalist. They offer their clients a one-stop-shop service for all the consulting needs they might have. Thus their focus is on long-wearing customer relationships and cross-selling opportunities. Many smaller and medium sized consultancies have specialised in certain areas of expertise like IT, HR or business recovery.A number of them operate only in their home area. An important area of competition in consulting business is the supply-side. Consultancies compete heavily to attract highly qualified people. conduct for these people is rising due to the growth aspirations of the large consulting firms. The German member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers created more than 1000 additional jobs during its first year after the merger and still continues to grow at high rates. On the other hand, many graduates from universities and business schools choose to join start-ups in the new economy in 2000. . 2 Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day. The total revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship, description of that company is coming latter. Here we find short description of other three firms. 2. 2. ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest) ORG-QUEST RESEARCH LTD. (OrQuest) is a formulate venture company with ORG India (pvt) Ltd. It has been founded in 2003, though serving from 1994. Number of employees is 40 and interviewers is 300. We are a research & consulting firm with strong survey research and analytical skills that bring to bear a blend of insights and Pan-Asian experience of a highly competent team of pa sse-partouts. We have been providing research services to our valued clients including MNCs, UN agencies, development partners (World Bank, ADB, IFC-SEDF, Swisscontact, etc. , local conglomerates, international research agencies, etc. in the country since 1994, using both numerical and qualitative techniques. Our qualitative wing owns a viewing facility with one way mirror in Dhaka. With a dedicated team of researchers, having client and agency side experience and multi country exposures, we offer high standardize market, affectionate and opinion research services in the areas mentioned under the fields of operation later. 2. 2. 2 Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd.Sirius is a full service research organization and offers the entire spectrum of consumer and media research, social research, syndicated Media and impanel research services and business-to-business research conforming to international standards. It has been founded in 1995 and it has 60 employees and 350 inter viewers presently. The company is an associate of IMRB international and has full access to IMRBs expertise. Today, Sirius is one of the leadership research agencies and the clientele includes multinationals based in Bangladesh, bilateral agencies and international companies.The company has conducted large scale national level studies (all Bangladesh) and has field offices in the 6 Divisional furnish of Bangladesh. The company pioneered syndicated media research in the country that includes TV audience measurement, National Media Study (covering all media), TV Ad tracking,and has in place a national level household consumer panel since 2005. 2. 2. 3 The Nielsen Company The Nielsen Company, offering services in over 100 countries, is the worlds leading provider of market research, information, and analysis.By delivering unrivalled combinations of insights, go analytical tools and integrated marketing solutions, Nielsen provides complete views of consumers and their markets. Niels en Consumer Research helps clients address the issues of brand health, shopper loyalty and behavior, marketing commix management and consumer motivations. By integrating proprietary research applications with in-market understanding from our retail and consumer panel services we dont conduct consumer research in a vacuum, and are uniquely positioned to deliver business solutions in their market context.BASES, a service of The Nielsen Company and a world leader in STMs, uses industry-leading prophecy models, rich selective informationbases, and proprietary analytical techniques to consult on a range of business issues, including innovation strategy, concept and marketing plan optimization, and initiative commercialization. BASES is wide of the markly k straight offn for expertise in the CPG sector, but tools have been satisfactory to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, quick-serve restaurants, and more. 3. 0 Company Overview The company selected for internship was Survey Re search Group of Bangladesh (SRGB).It is one of the leading Research and Consultancy firm of the country. A short description of the company will complement the story. 3. 1 Background and History of SRG Bangladesh Limited The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh SRGB was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and Industrial Consulting house. Its professional integrity and service excellence rapidly gained a lasting reputation for delivering result-oriented consultancy services. Subsequently, activities were diversified to provide development consultancy, continuing professional development programs, info processing & analysis and event management services.Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Services. Since then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad based sectoral studies to micro level case studies for domestic and international clients. SRGBs studies are carried out under the leadership of highl y competent and experienced team members who are well ac acquaintanced experts in their respective fields, prehendly drawn from SRGBs panel with their consent and total commitment.Logistically, SRGB is more than well equipped with all necessary and state of the art office facilities including computers, printers, photocopier, scanner, continuous billet generator, etc. A team of highly experienced staff remains dedicated to carry out survey research activities. Moreover, SRGB maintains a countrywide panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting in substantial cost efficiency. Moreover, local investigators ensure operational efficiency and accuracy in collecting relevant information.In terms of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in constant touch with a number of overseas firms en gaged in research and consulting. These close associations have proved mutually rewarding and SRGB maintain an open-end indemnity in acquiring further overseas strategic alliances. Moreover, SRGBs consultants are well practiced in looking objectively at the challenges that a business or an intervention faces and developing appropriate, workable and cost effective solutions.SRGBs role as a consultancy house is to provide expert, independent, practical and pragmatic decisions. With the truest partnership spirit, SRGB works alongside with the clients instead of working for them. SRGBs approach is based on hard-earned experience, sort of than on textbook solutions. The hard-core professionalism, chivalric integrity and uncompromising excellence of service of SRGB have duly earned high level of customer satisfaction and reliability.The total range of services from SRGB is delivered through three distinct operating divisions picCentre for Research & Management Consulting picCentre fo r Continuing Professional Development picCentre for Data Processing & Analysis All three centres have both intellectual and logistical resource-base that is unmatched in the country. Each of the centres is highly professional, unparalleled in operative efficiency and strategically organized to provide ample scope for future expandability and relentless enhancement of service quality.The Centre for Research & Management Consulting concentrates on providing consolidated business management and development research solutions, while the Centre for Continuing Professional Development offers wide range of skill development programs for practicing and prospective business professionals to enhance their experience and functional capability. Finally, the Centre for Data Processing & Analysis offer a spectrum of digitization services, which covers almost every document conversion process including data, text, PDF, illustrator and XML/SGML conversion services. . 2 Organization Chart The organ ization is headed by the CEO or President. It has an organogram which is slim but centralized. Here a diagram of the organization chart has been shown in the next page. pic 3. 3 Services Offered The services offered are modern and useful. They are as follows Social & environmental Research Business Communication Service Automotive Research Agricultural Research Business to Business Research HR Management Service Media Research Mystery Shopping Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Retail Study Healthcare Research Sales Force dominance Practice Among the available services here we only highlight the qualitative and vicenary research. 3. 4 Qualitative Research SRGB has a specialist qualitative research division. This division forms a core part of the overall business. This division has a team with an experience base of over 15 years. Keeping in understanding the need to bring in different perspectives in understanding human behavior, this team has been selected fr om diverse backgrounds such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, marketing, economics and so on.The qualitative division also has its own specialized field construction that handles all aspects of the field operations. No fieldwork is sub-contracted. In addition to our own team of highly experienced and incite researchers, the qualitative division draws into the expertise of international consultants in the fields of qualitative research and communication. This allows us access to global perspective as well. The qualitative division has handled hundreds of studies spanning categories as diverse as FMCG products, financial products, durables, automobiles, media, telecommunication and so on.It has considerable experience in handling the following types of research studies Usage and attitude studies tick equity studies Segmentation studies Positioning research Communication development and evaluation Packaging evaluation studies impertinent product development studies The experience pool also includes studies among a wide variety of target groups ranging from housewives, forefront wage earners, children, teenagers, young adults, different socio-economic groups including high net worth individuals specialist groups such as corporate, circumstantial professions, etc.The qualitative research division boasts of having a large number of specialized techniques such as dispute Groups Peer Interactions Triads Paired Interviews Slice of life Semiotics Extended creativity groups Hybrid Approaches Benefit Inhibitor custody Thematic Apperception Tests Mind Mapping Value Equation World views Bring your Homework etc. 3. 5 Quantitative ResearchThe duodecimal research division is a specialized research with a combined experience of over 18 years in handling quantitative research in a wide range of areas such as FMCGs, personal grooming products, automobiles, durables, telecom, IT media, pharmaceutical products, cigarettes, retail, financial prod ucts and web research. The team, of over 15 quantitative researchers is adept at handling all aspects of the research right from problem definition, to the analysis and data interpretation, to providing implementable solutions to the clients needs.The use of a wide array of tools and techniques, such as multivariate techniques adds value and helps provide significant insights to the client. A team of experienced platformrs ensure a quick and efficient data summarization and interpretation, which ensure a quicker turnaround time for the project. At any point of time, there are 800+ investigators for collecting data and they are spread across the country.High quality in data collection is ensured through a systemized and stringent data collection procedure-training sessions, mock calls, pilot interviews, back-checks by the company staff ensure that data collected adheres to the quality standards laid down by the company. Specialized teams of experts in various fields with in-depth k nowledge of the global market add value to the project. We have consultants with a global experience of at least 20 years in the following areas. Customer satisfaction Mystery shopping Product interrogation Retailing sector Modeling and data mining Insurance sector Banking sector 3. 6 Recent Projects There were twelve ongoing projects during internship of the author. Among them three were bigger and more important. The author worked in various jobs of four projects, project number 4, 5, 6 and 7. Table 1 Recent Projects by SRGB Sl No. Project key Client Period of Study 1 Monitoring and Evaluation Consulting CPTU, IMED June 2009 to Public Procurement Reform ProjectII Ministry of Planning June 2013 (PPRP-II) A World Bank funded Project Govt. f Bangladesh Ongoing Study 2 Employee Preference Survey for British the States Tobacco (through Engage June to July 2009 Bangladesh HR, Pakistan) Ongoing Study 3 Monitoring and Evaluation of Cross B score Communication South Asi aAED, regular army April to (Multi-country study involving Bangladesh, Nepal & India) regular armyID funded June 2009 AI. COMM Project Ongoing Study 4 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Princeton Survey Research Associates April to Project Green, Wave 9 International (PSRAI), Washington, ground forces June 2009 Ongoing Study 5 Grameen Kalyan Clinics Needs Assessment Pfizer Inc. March to October 2009 USA Ongoing Study 6 Market Research on Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in British Council January to Bangladesh Dhaka July 2009 Ongoing Study 7 Mystery Shopping on Banking Products HSBC Bangladesh August 2008 to and Services Dhaka celestial latitude 2009 Ongoing Study 8 Social push Assessment The World Bank May 2008 to For Bangladesh Railway DPL Project Dhaka, Bangladesh June 2009 Ongoing Study 9 Surrogate Value Research on Fish, 2009 Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, January to Silverman & Kle stadt LLP December 2009 USA Ongoing Study 10 Mystery Shopping on Cisco Certified Pearson VUE/AQ Services January to Examination Centre Performance International, capital of Singapore December 2009 Ongoing Study 11 Mystery Shopping on GMAT alteration & Pearson VUE/AQ Services January to Scheduling Procedures International, Singapore December 2009 Ongoing Study 12 Mystery Shopping CompTIA Pearson VUE through January to AQ Services, Singapore December 2009 Ongoing Study 13 Police Perception Survey in Chittagong, US Embassy October 2008 to Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari Dhaka, Bangladesh March 2009 Districts 3. 7 Key Clients SRGB has a huge number of different category clients. They have been listed below A International Clients Cisco, USA HSBC, Hong Kong Telenor, Norway Nokia, Hong Kong Microsoft, USA Hewlett-Packard (HP) Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore ARD Inc, USA BHP-Engineering, Australia BHP-Laysaght (SEA) Pte Ltd, Singapore Nomura Research Institute, Japan International Executive Service army corps (IESC), USA Carana Corporation, USA International dish out Centre (ITC), Switzerland SKF Distribution Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore ECI Telecom Inc, USA Dacom Corporation, Korea Korea Telecom, Korea Tata Steel, India extra Associates International, USA Bharat Starch Industries Ltd, India Tessival SPA, Italy G P Group of Companies, Thailand Singer Worldwide, USA Overseas Projects Corporation of capital of Seychelles (OPCV), Australia Carana Corporation, USA TOTAL FINA ELF, France Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA), USA Tianjin Machinery Import Export Group, mainland China Quantum Market Research, India BAIGlobal Inc (A Market Facts Company), USA Pew Research Centre, USA Mitsubishi Corporation, Singapore Kuraray Specialties Pte Ltd, Singapore Thai Wah Public Co. Ltd, Thailand Horizon Research, Singapore Tashi Group of Companies, Bhutan Kalasha Woolen Industry (Pvt) Ltd, Nepal E cotech Pty Ltd, Australia Habib Bank Ltd, Pakistan Asia Market Intelligence (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia Syngenta, Hong Kong Arthur D. Little, Singapore/Malaysia Sungwon Corporation, Korea Kong Ma Engineering Co Ltd, Taiwan Fullway Enterprises Co Ltd, Taiwan Quest International, UK Veraz Telecom, USA Canadian High Commission, Dhaka Rhone Poulence Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Australia China Resources Ltd, Hong Kong BlueScope Steel, Australia International Business Linkages, Inc. (IBL), USA WorldFish Centre, Malaysia Redma Consultants Ltd, Canada Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants, Hong Kong Synovate, Hong Kong Cairn Energy Bangladesh AQ Services International, Singapore admission Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc, USA Columbia University, USA B International Development Agencies/NGOs Clients The World Bank unify Nations Development Program (UNDP) United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) UNICEF Bangladesh Asian Development Bank (ADB) International finance Corporation (IFC) state Secretariat, UK Canadian International Development office (CIDA) Swedish International Development billet (SIDA) United States Agency For International Development (USAID) Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) International Jute Organization (IJO) CARE Bangladesh SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) Swisscontact-Katalyst World Vision of Bangladesh JOBS A USAID Project OXFAM Bangladesh Concern Bangladesh German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Bangladesh DFID Bangladesh C Domestic Clients Unilever Bangladesh British America Tobacco Syngenta (Bangladesh) Ltd Social Marketing Company (SMC) exceptional Industries Bengal Group of Industries A K Khan Group Bashundhara Group of Companies Mutual Group Baraka Group SQ Group Rangs Electronics Ltd Alfa Tobacco Group Micro Industries Development Assistance Society (MIDAS) Sea Resources Group (Rangs Group) Sena Kalyan Sangstha (SKS) M M Ispahani Ltd (Ispahani Group) Givenchy Group Grameen Bank Alfa Tobacco Group Toka Ink (BD) Ltd (A Bangladesh Japan Joint Venture) BASIC Bank Ltd Grameen Uddog Holycrescent infirmary Ltd McDonald Bangladesh Ltd Grameen Shamogree Tripti Industries Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Bangladesh Ministry of Jute, Govt of Bangladesh Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Ltd (IDLC) Brothers Group Syngenta Giant Group Bell Corporation Anlima Group Grameen Telecom Grameen Phone Pacific Telecom Ltd (City Cell) Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) Department of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh Ministry of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh Modern Erection, Dhaka BRAC Bank Bangladesh 3. 8 Key Person of SRG Bangladesh LimitedM Saidul Haq, MBA, CMC (Australia), FCIM (UK), FIMC, is the Founder President of SRG Bangladesh Limited SRGB. He is an entrepreneurship/business development specialist. He did his MBA from Ins titute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka in its 14th batch. He has unparallel combination of multivariate qualifications and achievements. Some are highlighted below CMC (Certified Management Consultant) from Institute of Management Consultants, Australia FCIM (Fellow Member) of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK the top marketing professionals organization of the world. More than twenty(20) years experience in Management Consulting and Market/Social Research (qualitative and quantitative) Conducted hundreds of research and consulting projects as Project Director/Team Leader Organized and conducted hundreds of training programs, workshop, seminar, technical presentation on various management and business promotion issues. Extensive experience in trade & business development, promotions, investment and joint venture match-making. Extensive experience in private sector and SME enterprises development, entrepreneurship development. National Consultant, Int ernational Trade Centre, WTO/UNCTAD, Geneva Retainer consultant/adviser of about a dozen leading business houses in Bangladesh Experience with many international organizations including World Bank, ADB, International Labor Organization (ILO), USAID, CIDA, UNDP, UNIDO, UNICEF, UNEP, SDC, commonwealth Secretariat, etc. Worked for about five years as the Consultant/National Monitor for Industrial Commodity Program, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Canadian High Commission, Dhaka. Registered Consultant of Asian Development Bank (ADB), The World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, etc. Served as Member of the Advisory Board of GERIAP, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. Founder President of the Institute of Management Consultants Bangladesh IMCB, the national forum for the consultants of Bangladesh. legal guardian of The International Council of Manag ement Consulting Institutes ICMCI, the apex body of the consulting institutes worldwide. ICMCI representative to ECOSOC, United Nations (UN) for Geneva/Vienna and Asia-Pacific region. Immediate foregone National Representative for Bangladesh and Member of European Society for Opinion and Market Research ESOMAR. Member of the American Marketing Association AMA Widely traveled person and visited more than hundred countries/cities of the world. 4. 0 Jobs Performed During InternshipWhile the work performed during this period was particularly glamorous and equally thrilling, true is that this internship period exposed the author to experiences which have significantly neutered the perception of marketing research and management related issues towards a more real and global holistic model. 4. 1 Duties and Responsibilities The internship program was started on 23rd March, 2009. The internship was to last for twelve (12) weeks to three (3) months and as a result my internship came to an end on 14th June, 2009. In somewhat more concrete terms, SRGB provides the country and the world with timely, scientifically credible, policy-relevant research answers for decision-making and action planning for development.While with SRGB, it was involved in a range of different tasks and smaller explorations that extensively helped learning of the methods of marketing research. The central themes around which most of the works at SRGB was organized is presented here. 4. 2 Completion of the Assignments Most of the assignments handled were long-term projects that had already been started. Some were in the beginning phase and some were in their final stages. Some of them are also a type of continuous research with several waves. The four research studies that were been participated are described here. 4. 2. 1 Awareness and acceptance of UK Qualification It was an ongoing project.It therefore made mother wit to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking interviews of different types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of different people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned. Some visits to a private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of heat and mango.It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences. Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed. 4. 2. 2 Assessment of Grameen Kalyan Clinics This wa s a new project altogether. The preparation and translating of questionnaires were taking place. Tough job of doing most effective displacement to Bangla of the English questionnaires were done effectively. 4. 2. 3 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Project Green, Wave 9This is a regular project taken by SRGB every year. The author participated in a three day internal training session to see how the field coordinators trained and assigned their jobs. It is a survey that takes place throughout Bangladesh. The real world way of survey was learned here. 4. 2. 4 Mystery Shopping on Banking Products and Service It was done for HSBC Bank. The author visited GEC and Agrabad branch in Chittagong where he observed the customer care quality of the branches and wrote a report with assigning points. 4. 3 Benefits of the Program Benefit from the internship programme was more than what was expected in a number of ways Having a rare opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that had been acquired back at the institute to provide critical real world research method information. Career-wise, the internship programme undoubtedly enriched my curriculum vitae (CV). Also, having gotten a chance to interact with most staff, it gave an insight on how to shape the life history towards a research job in the near future. The internship programme gave me a chance not only to work with SRGB but also a chance to learn from the research experts and consultants. Working with people from different part of the world was a rare chance that you cant easily get from any other organization in Kenya. Therefore to me this was another opportunity to make friends and share ideas. To conclude, the internship at SRGB was a rewarding experience and provided with some new perspectives that was not came across during studies back at the institute. 5. 0 Critical Assessment of the Methodology of the Project Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh T his is the main focus of this report. Methodology is one of the most important part of any research study. Literally methodology is the way in which the data are collected for the research project. Methodologycan be defined as ? the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employ by a discipline ? the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a disciplineor ? a particular procedure or set of procedures. Selection of methodology mainly depends on the objective of the research, but in real life the objective comes with different factors and dimensions unalike pure independent research. Here it will be shown what the methodology for this project was, probable mistakes both in crafting and executing of the methodology and finally the justification for it. 5. 1 Background of the study This study was taken for British Council, the United Kingdoms cultural relations organization. Here some important parts of the research will be shown. T hese will help us understand the requirements and the goal of this study. 5. 1. 1 Definition of the Business ProblemThe business was defined as Although UK qualifications are popular and growing, recognition and acceptance by employers, administration and higher education providers is covariant. We need to be able to 1. Identify where recognition and acceptance are faint but critical 2. Identify new sectors for growth 3. Review our product portfolio so that it meets market requirements. 5. 1. 2 Research Objectives To ascertain the current level of awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications (school levels and professional) among the leading Bangladeshi private and man sector employers and the higher education institutions (both public and private). To identify the main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and acceptance. Assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of privatizing of state run assets by the government. In order to ach ieve this we would require research to be carried out with 1. Top 6 public universities. 2. Top 5 private universities. 3. Professional associations 4. Government 5. Private sector Suggested areas of research Which foreign qualifications are known Which foreign qualifications are accepted Apart from subject knowledge what skills are essential and how are they currently assessed Reasons for acceptance/non-acceptance Number of students from English medium schools applying for places- at private universities (plus which ones) at public universities and overseas. Profile of students following professional/vocational exams school medium attended (English/Bangla), reason for doing this rather university course. 5. 2 Methodology After bend the idea into a research question and reviewing any necessary literature, the method of research must be considered. The methodology selected should be the one that will be the most effective to collect the data needed to answer the research quest ion or to test the hypothesis. Research studies may be either quantitative or qualitative, although it is possible to use both approaches in the same research project and this has been used in this project on UK qualifications. The choice of research design must be appropriate to the subject under investigation (Patton,1987).So it should be investigated that whether a research on education really admits the opportunity of blending two methodologies. 5. 2. 1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study In quantitative research the data collected takes the form of measurements or counts which can be statistically analysed. The process of quantitative research follows standard procedures, methods, forms of analysis and reporting the results of the research undertaken. This standardisation maximises objectivity. Quantitative methods can be used for compare of subgroups and analysis is generally conducted through statistics. The method is based on meanings derived fro m numbers and results are numerical and standardised data.Quantitative methods use numbers and statistics. General sequence is as follows 1. Observe/present questionnaire/ask questions with fixed answers 2. postpone 3. Summarise data 4. Analyse data 5. Draw conclusions Quantitative research designs are characterised by the hypothesis that human behaviour can be explained by what may be termed social facts, which can be investigated by methodologies that utilise the deductive logic of the natural sciences (Horna,1994, p. 121). Quantitative investigations look for distinguishing characteristics, elemental properties and empirical boundaries (p. 121) and tend to measure how much, or how often (Nau,1995).They are appropriate to examine the behavioural component, such as attendance at class. So, it can be seen that quantitative methodologies do have strengths for becoming appropriate for educational research like this project on UK qualifications. These may be summarised as follows Qu antitative methodologies are appropriate to measure overt behaviour. They are also strong in measuring descriptive aspects, such as the composition of the students. Quantitative methodologies allow comparison and replication. Reliability and validity may be determined more objectively than qualitative techniques. These strengths however, are not the sole prerogative of quantitative designs.Indeed, many of the arguments for the use of quantitative research, especially in an academic climate where resources are limited, have pragmatic origins in terms of allowing large scale data collection and analysis at reasonable cost and effort, as well as providing statistical proof. So this problem of large scale data collection could also be proved unwise in this situation. So this shows a negative opinion about the choice of quantitative methodology for this study. A further weakness of quantitative approaches lies in their tendencies to take a snapshot of a situation, that is to measure v ariables at a specific moment in time. Acceptance of UK may be bear on by temporal changes, such as the current image of the country, or the quality of opposition (like USA, Australia), which cannot continuously be identified within a single quantitative study.According to Colon, Taylor, and Willis (2000) qualitative research emphasizes participant observation whereas quantitative methods rely on the research instrument through which measurements are made (p. 2). Weiler (2001) adds that if teachers want deeper understandings of their students and their learning, they will not be able to achieve this through quantitative researchthey will need to be intimately involved in the process (p. 415). Qualitative research would provide this opportunity. As Labuschagne (2003) says, qualitative data provide depth and detail through direct quotation and careful description of situations, events, interactions and observed behaviours (p. 1) or what Jones (1997) describes as empathetic understan ding (p. 3). Winter (2000) concurs that while quantitative esearch limits itself to what can be measured or quantified, qualitative research attempts to pick up the pieces of the unquantifiable, personal, in depth, descriptive and social aspects of the world (p. 8). So now it looks like the decision for this project should be more inclined toward qualitative approach. 5. 2. 2 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI) Qualitative research offers insights and understandings of participants, which is unobtainable by quantitative research, but is more than just non-numerical research. It aims to study the subject in their natural surroundings and to collect naturally occurring, non-biased data. It describes in words, rather than numbers, the qualities of the subject through observation.Methods of qualitative research include structured and unstructured interviews, group interviews and focus groups. Qualitative methods can highlight key themes or patter ns emerging in the project, are used to apprehend and manage data and used to develop and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods use descriptions and categories. General sequence here is as follows 1. Observe/ask questions with open-ended answers 2. Record what is said and/or done 3. Interpret 4. conk to observe/ask more questions 5. (recurring cycles of 2-4 iteration) 6. Theorising 7. Draw conclusions Qualitative research designs are associated with interpretative approaches, from the informants emic point of view, rather than etically measuring discrete, observable behaviour.Qualitative methodologies are strong in those areas that have been identified as potential weaknesses within the quantitative approach, e. g. the use of interviews and observations to provide a deep, rather than broad, set of knowledge about a particular phenomenon, and the appropriateness to investigate cognitive and affective aspects of students. This depth allows the researcher to achieve Verstehen, or empa thetic understanding. The concept of Verstehen is the basis for a critique of quantitative research designs, and their empiricist emphasis. The argument used is that quantitative methods measure human behaviour from outside, without accessing the meanings that individuals give to their measurable behaviour.If, as many authors have suggested, behavior of students contains psychological, as well as sociological dimensions, then the emphasis should rather be upon gaining an understanding of how the subjects themselves view their own particular situations. A qualitative research design allows these understandings to be investigated from the informants point of view. So the choice of qualitative research is very appropriate here. Both KII and IDI seem appropriate. The only problem that could be marked is the number of qualitative interviews for this particular study it is about around 200, which is practically most rugged to make possible with effectiveness. Again accumulating such a hi gh number of interview results to make a summary is also so difficult.But answer could be found on the real world practice to satisfy customer needs. 5. 2. 3 Criticism on FGD By focus group discussions, we refer to a group of 4-12 people brought together to participate in the discussion of an area of interest. Trained moderators run the discussions, and records are made of the course of the discussions. Focus groups, of course, are a popular (some even think too popular) method in marketing research (Nancarrow, Vir, & Barker, 2005), but they have had a role in serious social science research since the seminal work of R. K. Merton and P. Lazarsfeld (Hollander, 2004 Morgan, 1988). During the past decades, they have established their role in sociology and communication theory research.In recent years, they have also become increasingly popular in applied fields such as nursing research, urban and community studies, development studies, and educational research (e. g. , Barbour & Kitzi nger, 2001 Gibbs, 1997). A distinctive skylark of focus groups is that they create research data by generating social interaction. This is done by assembling a group of participants to discuss a specific topic and then observe how the ensuing discussion evolves (Boddy, 2005). The fundamental assumption is that meaning is created in social interaction (e. g. , Wilkinson, 2001). Organized and focused group discussions provide a context for participants to articulate the meaning of their experiences and elaborate on them in a collective sensemaking process.Of course, focus groups are also used to obtain individual viewpoints it is typical to instruct discussants that the aim is not to reach consensus, but to explore the different viewpoints that emerge. The method is popular in marketing research because it is a quick and gentle way to gain a wealth of perspectives on a novel or relatively unknown topic (Threlfall, 1999). By observing, recording, and analyzing the interaction in th e group, researchers can also gain an understanding of how the participants approach the topic and what kind of language they use to frame the issues. Interaction also allows participants to pose questions to each other and to delineate their own views as the discussion evolves. The result of FGD depends sometimes largely on the skill of the moderator, which is a variable thing.In this study on awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications it may suffer to this problem due to time and budget constraints. 5. 2. 4 A Mixed-Methodology Approach to the Study Although the use of a single methodology has been advocated by a number of authors, many of the supporting arguments are decidedly pragmatic, such as time constraints, the need to limit the scope of a study, and the difficulty of publishing the findings (Creswell,1994). Here in this study, only time constraint is the factor which could have been considered for a single methodology approach. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) write that objec tive reality can never be captured (p. 2).To assume that even with binocular vision one can have all the information, or even know what is true is a dangerous positivistic position. The rub between the two methodologies comes when we essay the assumptions behind each one. These are clearly spelled out in detail by Denzin and Lincoln (1994, pp. 4-6) and can be summarized as follows. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research is that the first is positivist, limiting, unable to capture the subjects perspective, abstract, and based on flat descriptions. Qualitative research, the critics claim, tends to be unscientific and based on slipshod methodologies. Its proponents claim that it offers a