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Debbie Jenkins Kaplan University GM 599 Applied Research Project Dr. Dan Dayton, PhD. October 8, 2013 Introduction Ashley Rug Company has been facing falling sales and revenues due to the economic down turn and a glut in the real estate sector. The organizational problem is to understand how this can be reversed. The problem and issues has to be redressed if Ashley’s is to sustain itself in the market.Click here for more on this paper.......
Click here to have a similar A+ quality paper done for you by one of our writers within the set deadline at a discounted The investigation of how marketers of Ashley’s Rug Company will have to resort to bring in better perception and value add to the consumer will be researched both primary and secondary research. The primary research method to be used for collecting the data will be a combination of the questionnaires as well as in-depth interviews. Also, self-administered questionnaires would primarily contain the mix of close ended as well as open ended questions. In-depth interview to be conducted will consist of only open ended questions. For conducting secondary research the material from public domains would be collected and researched upon. This includes the work of previous authors on the same topic. Statement of the Problem Though the problem faced by Ashley Rug Company is the fall in sales and thereby revenues there are coincidental factors that have led to this problem. There has been a paradigm shift in home décor. Customer’s perceptions about rugs and carpets have changed and customers see no value added in home furnishings. Ashley’s Rug Company will have to make that impact and penetrate the market in a way that will really change the customer’s perception about home décor. The company is shrinking in terms of market share and is losing capability in terms of acquiring more customers. It is also having an adverse impact on the profitability of the company and poses a high threat of Ashley Rug Company losing to its competitors. The company needs to analyze this shift in demand of its customers and needs to research on the method in which it can retain old...
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Debbie
Jenkins
Kaplan
University
GM
599 Applied Research Project
Dr.
Dan Dayton, PhD.
October
8, 2013
Introduction
Ashley Rug
Company has been facing falling sales and revenues due to the economic down
turn and a glut in the real estate sector. The organizational problem is to understand
how this can be reversed. The problem
and issues has to be redressed if Ashley’s is to sustain itself in the market.
The investigation of how marketers of Ashley’s Rug Company will have to resort to
bring in better perception and value add to the consumer will be researched both
primary and secondary research. The primary
research method to be used for collecting the data will be a combination of the
questionnaires as well as in-depth
interviews.Click here for more on this paper.......
Click here to have a similar A+ quality paper done for you by one of our writers within the set deadline at a discounted Also, self-administered questionnaires would primarily contain the
mix of close ended as well as open ended questions. In-depth interview to be
conducted will consist of only open ended questions.For conducting secondary research the material from
public domains would be collected and researched upon. This includes the work
of previous authors on the same topic.
Statement of the Problem
Though
the problem faced by Ashley Rug Company is the fall in sales and thereby
revenues there are coincidental factors that have led to this problem. There
has been a paradigm shift in home décor. Customer’s perceptions about rugs and
carpets have changed and customers see no value added in home furnishings.
Ashley’s Rug Company will have to make that impact and penetrate the market in
a way that will really change the customer’s perception about home décor. The
company is shrinking in terms of market share and is losing capability in terms
of acquiring more customers. It is also having an adverse impact on the
profitability of the company and poses a high threat of Ashley Rug Company
losing to its competitors. The company needs to analyze this shift in demand of
its customers and needs to research on the method in which it can retain old
customers and acquire new customers. This is highly important of the
sustainability of Ashley Rug Company in the long run.
Intended audience
The paper tries to suggest ways and means by
which the sagging revenues of Ashley’s Rug Company can be revitalized and
reengineered through promotions and some other kind of a change in customer
perceptions and to try and meet the unmet needs of the customer..This gives
very valuable inputs to managers at Ashley rug company about the efforts that
need to be taken to bring in the necessary visibility to the firm and also
design those strategies that will lead to a niche market segment .
The strategies to solve this
issue will be of great interest to marketers of Ashley’s company, the senior
management and everyone else who is
directly or indirectly involved in the decision making process. The revenues
generated from sales are the life blood of the company and holds together the few
employees that work for the firm. Hence,
the company needs to bring up its strategies so that stakeholders interest in
the firm can be justified.
The
primary audience of the research would be the executives and management of
Ashley’s Rug Company. This includes top management as well as the board of directors
of the company. Being a strategic initiative to research into the problems
faced by the company, the report will act as a tool for management to analyze
further into the shift in demand paradigm of the consumers and make strategies
accordingly. The report will also be beneficial for other stakeholders of the
company providing them the outlook of the company in near future. Stakeholders definitely need to know if
their investments will pay in future
and if Ashley rug company can continue to supply their products in times of
severe recession at competitive prices
The managers and the marketers of Ashley’s need
to look at the industry and their immediate competitors and study their
strategies for survival in the hyper competitive lack luster market. With the
market being opened out to China and the Asian countries, carpets and rugs are
available in plenty and at very affordable rates. Ashley Rug Company will now have to think of
means by which it can bring in those cost efficiencies to its production.
The investigation will be done through a SWOT analysis of the Ashley rug
company and by using the industry analysis of Michael porter’s five forces.
This investigation will bring out the basic problems and weaknesses that
Ashley’s has to overcome and also look at strengths and opportunities that the
firm will have to build upon (Paul Dobson et al.2004).
The
report acts as a tool for analyzing the current position of the company in
terms of competition and underlines of possible reasons of revenue shrinkage
problems that is faced by the company. Certainly, this report is intended to
build the strategies for management and other stakeholder of the firm, however
cannot be regarded as an investment or initiation report to be used for
investment in the company. The scope of research depends upon the data that is
available on the public domains or the data that company would provide on
interview with the key positions.
Value to
the Audience
By conducting a SWOT analysis the managers will understand how Ashley’s is
placed internally and externally and then can develop those sales and marketing
strategies that will help the firm to look at different kinds of marketing
communication and promotional strategies to reach the customer (Kotler
Philip, 2000). The audience will also understand that if Ashley has to survive
in the recessive market, apart from price differentials there should be some
other competitive edge and value add that has to be given to consumers.
Managers will understand that they the
Ashley rug company needs to think and act differently and also add value to the
needs of the customers. By conducting an
industry and an environmental scan managers will be prepared for any new
strategy that the management will think of and involve themselves to implement
the strategy well. It is also
suggested that Potter’s five forces model could provide very important inputs
to the management.
Focus on the Authors
The authors have contributed valuable
insights of how management of marketing techniques can bring about sales
effectively and lead to marketing managers effectively understanding the proper
segmentation of the market and effectively promote the product so that the
falling sales can be regenerated. The
authors also speak of how an intelligently used integrated marketing
communication can not only deliver the communication successfully but also
build up the brand (Bitner, M. J. 1995).
The integrated marketing communication
strategy that Ashley rugs has to think
of adopting should focus on the quality of the furnishings and how a onetime
purchase will add value to the consumer. IMC is a very unique way of addressing
the promotional needs of the carpets firm through very carefully planned
promotions which are intended to deliver messages to the consumers and also
brings in that buying behavior though conviction and persuasion (Kotler et al
2009).
Retaining customers by Ashley Rug
Company is a very important and critical issue and hence customer relationship
management through customer centric approaches needs to be built (Shamdasani,
P. N et al.1995).Customer centric approaches means that Ashley Rug company has to go that extra length to make returning customers through offers
,discounts and referrals .
A very good customer relationship
program by informing customers about new offers and exiting price discounts
could bring in returning customers.Click here for more on this paper.......
Click here to have a similar A+ quality paper done for you by one of our writers within the set deadline at a discounted
Another very important insight on why Ashley’s needs to consolidate on
its customer centric approaches is that customer relationship management will
enable Ashley’s to acquire, retain and partner with customers for creating
superior value. This will enable the management of Ashley Rug Company to look
at integrating all efforts to build the customer base through relationship
management (Peppers, D. 1993).
Ashley rug company needs to
now redefine its approach and become more customer-oriented to serve
customers better than competitors, achieve competitive advantage, and achieve
specific goals (Kotler, Keller, Brady, 2009). By focusing on the clear marketing communication strategy, having clear
communication objectives, by linking core values and ensuring communication
these inputs will add value to the brand. Integrating different levels of
management of all these communications tools, together will work better in
harmony than in isolation and every marketing effort of Ashley Rug Company
should be aimed at this. (Saloner
Garth et al 2009)
Hypothesis Statement
Ashley
Rug Company needs to find out the reasons for the fall in sales. The marketing
research efforts should be focused on finding out how to improve the perception
of the product better in the minds of the consumers and also how to bring in
the communication of value add to the company (Huff, L.C et al. 998).
Hypothesis 1
Price differentials and
discounts will result in increased sales for Ashley Rug Company
Company?
Hypothesis 2
Disposable incomes are
directly related to customer buying behavior.
Hypothesis 3
Import from China will
affect the prices and market of Ashley Rug Company.
On
testing these hypotheses with a sample survey to a randomly selected population
of customers in the immediate neighborhood of the Ashley Rug Company would
definitely form the basis of the strategy that the firm needs to take up.
The hypothesis will
question respondents on certain very important variables.
1. Is price a very important determinant of
purchasing decision for carpets and rugs?
2. Are Chinese products
stiff competitors to the firm?
3. Are tastes of people
and customers shifting from rugs to other products and home furnishings?
4. Should Ashley Rug
Company look at better integrated market communication and expand its line of
products to sustain in the highly competitive market?
These are
direct questions which can be statistically tested using the linear correlation
model. This can be used to look at the two most important variables that need
to be considered by Ashley Rug Company before it can revitalize its sales
strategy.
Alternative Solutions to Problems
The firm
could look at furnishing accessories to revitalize its falling rug sales. People looking for rugs and furnishing will
also be looking at accessories and polishes. A slight product diversification
could bring in better revenues. The company is currently facing the problem of
shrinking demand in the market.
The rug
company can look at home delivery as a gesture of goodwill to the consumers.
Home deliveries have found to be a fond favorite with all consumers. This could make people think of
buying rugs and furnishing without the hassle of having to cart it home. The
Rug Company can also offer cleaning of carpets to buyers free of cost for one
Year.
The Rug Company can come
up with ecommerce solutions and tie up with some good web sites
to sell their products .There
could be shelf advertisements of the
Ashley Rug company with some famous retailers
.
The logic diagram
illustrating the findings, conclusions and solution is as follows:
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Findings
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Conclusions
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Solution
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Conclusion
The
strategy driven approach through hypothesis testing and business research
method will definitely help in arriving at concrete solution to the management
of the Ashley Rug Company to look at ways in which sales can be revitalized. An
understanding of what kind of research will bring in the right kind of data is
the most important criteria in carrying out a research. Data analysis plays a
significant role in transforming a lot of data into useful results of
conclusion and reports. Proper analysis helps the researcher to gain insights
from the data and to arrive at informed judgments and conclusions.
Peer review:
A peer
review has helped me to understand the validity of my research based on the
research done by other experts in the field. It has also helped me to evaluate
the paper well and make suitable revisions.
This has
been an extensive and a very detailed inquiry into the organizational problem.
An investigation into an organizational problem has first of all to be
identified as a problem for which one needs to know the organization well to
understand this.
I have
learnt how to do the three steps in writing a research paper of pre writing,
writing and then revising. I also learnt how to cite with proper references
. I learnt the aspect of linear writing
and how to go from one paragraph to another. Hypothesis writing was the most
challenging .
The peer
review partner was an invaluable guide to me throughout my research paper
construction. The help in the form of constructive feedback allowed me to
revise my paper impassionately and steered me in the right direction. The
support has been a very constructive one.
Refernces:
Bitner, M.J. (1995) ‘Building Service
Relationships: It’s all about Promises’, Journal of
Academy of Marketing Science 23(4):
246–51
Huff, L.C. and Alden, D.L. (1998).An
investigation of consumer response to sales promotions in
developing markets: A three-country
analysis, Journal of Advertising Research. 38,3, 47-57.
Jobber, D., & Lancaster, G.
(2006).Selling and sales management. (7th ed.)., Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex
CM20 2J , Pearson Education Limited
Kotler Philip, 1997, Marketing
Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control,
(9thed.).
Prentice-Hall: New Jersey, US.
Kotler Philip, 2000, Marketing
Management, 10th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA.
Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Brady, M.,
Goodman, M. and Hansen, T, 2009b, Marketing Management, 1st European Edition,
Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, USA.
Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L, 2006, Marketing
Management, 12th Edition, N.J. Pearson
Education Inc, Upper Saddle River, USA
Keller, K. (1993) ‘Conceptualizing,
Measuring, Managing Customer-based Brand
Equity’, Journal of Marketing 57(1):
1–22.
Paul Dobson, Kenneth Starkey & John
Richard, 2004, Strategic Management: Tests and Cases, Blackwell Publishing,
Oxford OX4 1JF, UK
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M. (1993), The
One to One Future: Building Relationships One
Customer at a Time,Currency/Doubleday,
New York, NY.
Saloner G., Shepard A. &Podolny J. (2009).Strategic
Management.Wiley-India
Shamdasani, P. N. &Sheth, J. N.
(1995) An Experimental Approach to Investigating Satisfaction and Continuity in Marketing
Alliances.European Journal of Marketing, 29 (4), 6-23.
References
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