PACC6008 Business Decision Making

Customer satisfaction has become unarguably a pivotal determinant of competitive advantage for most organisations. Investment in market research has thus become inevitable forcing companies to undertake a satisfaction survey more often. This allows them to understand the market and identify any existing gaps that need to be filled (Medjoudj et al. 2012). Essentially, customer satisfaction research provides a vital basis for decision-making on different strategies that can be employed to create a competitive advantage for a business. Furthermore, decisions made based on research easily manifests in productivity, performance, and dominance of a business in the market (Medjoudj et al. 2012).

This report is structured to provide an overview of satisfaction and service decision making. It contains three critical sections that address various parts of a satisfaction survey based on shoppers at an Australian shopping mall. The first section states the business objectives as well as the research objectives that can be used to undertake gap analysis. Other two sections of the reports highlight the information required and the key considerations that would be vital for undertaking the survey. Finally, the report sums up with a conclusion that discusses the importance of the approach and the role of managers in the entire process. (Word count =202)

Objectives of the Research

Based on observations from the Pacific Fair shopping mall, the following objectives were developed to guide the satisfaction survey on the shoppers. The objectives would be the basis of decision making later one depending on the findings that will be obtained to support the objective. The business research objectives include;

• To find out the level of customer satisfaction based on products and services provided.
• Ascertaining the expectations and requirements of the consumers.
• To develop a service and product quality standards based on the findings from the expectations of the customers.
• Examining trends in customer satisfaction to allow the business to develop a flexible and standardized strategy to cope with the growing competition.

With these objectives in place, the survey will seek to answer several questions including how whether business requirements are being met based on gap analysis approach. Furthermore, the above business objectives will be used to ensure the survey takes the right path to obtain viable information that will be essential in decision making. However, to fulfill this milestone, the survey will need to have two specific research objectives that align to gap analysis, namely;

• To find out the current state of customer satisfaction so that it allows for the setting of future targets.
• To check whether the performance targets have been met in regards to customer satisfaction. (Word Count= 220)

Information Required to Fulfill the Research Objectives

It is always expected that research objectives are met at the end of any survey. However, this comes after all the information is required present and assessed according to the set criteria (National Business Research Institute (NBRI) 2018). Furthermore, information on presentation and expected findings provide a better scope of the survey. For this research achieving the various requirements is paramount.

Information required

This survey will be aiming at providing critical information to ascertain if the there is a gap between the current level of satisfaction and a future state as disclosed by findings. Achieving this milestone is however not possible without some critical information pertaining to the business. Therefore, there have to be several types of information that are required in order for the research objectives to be fulfilled.

First, social, economic and cultural demographics of the consumers is needed. This data is meant to give an overview of customer composition as well as their economic status. In essence, these demographic data from the consumers is crucial in defining their consumption behaviour and consequently their satisfaction needs (Sethna & Blythe 2016). Under the survey, demographics such as mean age, annual incomes, cultural values, and gender will be needed to provide a descriptive view of the targeted customers.

Second, information on satisfaction levels is needed. This will be used to address the specific research objective that aims at ascertaining the extent to which customers are satisfied with the services and products offered. Just like in any other gap analysis survey, the current level and expectations of the customers need to be known (Feng et al. 2014). As part of the information, the survey will need to address issues of quality of service and products, anticipation and concerns of the consumers as well as assigning their satisfaction levels a score of between one and ten. This information will be vital in making critical decisions that directly or indirectly affect the operations of the business.

Third, the previous data on customer satisfaction will be needed. With the data, a more elaborate and up-to-date gap analysis will be performed to measure the extent of achievements or failures the business has made in meeting its targets. Although gap analysis takes different approaches, this survey will need to only a specific approach that starts with evaluating the internal business performance levels before seeking the opinions of the shoppers. Under such an approach, information such as a satisfaction score based on agreed scoring criteria and performance efficiency will need to be established (Feng et al. 2014). To add on the satisfaction level information, the survey will also need to come up with a SWOT analysis that will be used to clearly identify the gaps that exist in the business.

Anticipated Output and Presentation Format

Based on the information required, different data types are expected to be generated from the survey. This includes demographics, means and standard deviations of various parameters. The presentation of the information is also expected to be clear and include graphics such as pie charts line graphs and bar charts. Such visuals will allow easy extrapolation of the collected data to give an overview of future expectations. For instance, the outputs expected for the elements that determine customers’ satisfaction can be as shown in the figure below.

Figure 1: Anticipated output for customer satisfaction components.

With such data in place, decision making on either to improve or maintain the same score out of ten can easily be reached. Furthermore, based on recommendations that will come after the survey findings, decisions can be made based on the needs priority of the consumers. However, this results will need to be cross-examined alongside business’s internal measurements on the respective components to ascertain if there is a gap to be filled during the implementation phase (Bowen & McDonough 2013). By having this information in place, the objective of ascertaining the general satisfaction score will be met easily.

The data on demographics such as age, gender, and economic levels will be best presented using a table as shown below.

Table 1: Anticipated demographic information and presentation.

With such data in place, the decisions on improving customer service will be much focused on the average (mean) age and annual income segment. This will, however, need a preliminary understanding of consumer behaviour associated with a segment that possesses such demographics. This is based on the fact that consumer behaviour differs across different segments due to needs and alignment to certain products and services (Reny 2015).

Finally, a checklist is to be developed to show whether there has been any achievements and the rate of success achieved on various performance measures. This will need the use of existing performance data for the business as well as the findings of the research. For decision making, this aspect of the output will be critical in prioritizing areas of focus in the future. Such a checklist may be as followed.

Table 2: Expected output on overall performance by gap analysis

This format of data will provide adequate information to base decisions for improvement in the future. Furthermore, it fulfills the specific research objectives as well as providing an overview of all elements that define customer satisfaction. Therefore, with all the information required present, the objectives of the survey will be achieved and consequently guide the decision making process. (Word count=960)

Considerations in the Research Process

In any research, there are always key aspects that need to be defined so that it serves as a checklist during the process. Without such a framework in place, pitfalls may force the survey to take a precedent approach leading to invalid or inadequate information needed for decision making (Fowler 2014). As a result, considerations on methodology, sampling, data processing, and researchers training has to be well documented and elaborated for the survey to follow the right part. In the long run, consistent data will be obtained thus allowing valid conclusions to be made. During the research, the following key considerations are supposed to be observed.

Data collection approach

Methodology in any survey is a key consideration for any manager supervising data collection. Some of the longstanding pitfalls that should concern the managers are an undefined approach to gather data or use of unreliable data collection instruments (Prohorovs & Fainglozs 2014). Based on this pitfalls, it is expected that it will affect the progress of the data collection procedure. However, with a clearly defined approach, the pitfalls can be averted. From the perspective that these pitfalls are bound to happen, there two guidelines that the methodology should comply with for the survey to be carried on efficiently.

First, the methodology used should conform to existing research ethics in business. This measure is meant to ensure that the method used for has a focused and business-oriented approach (Cooper & Schindler 2014). Second, the data collection approach to be used in the survey needs to be compatible with the targeted population. For instance, using web-based data collection approaches on target population that do not have access to the internet may lower the response rate. Therefore, to avert this challenges, it would be essential for a definite methodology to be applied during the research.

Questionnaire design

The design used on the data collection tool to be filled by the respondents should have leading clues that will guide the participants in providing relevant information. However, when not well designed, there are chances that the information collected will not support the achievement of the set research objectives.

As a conventional approach to designing of data collection tools/instruments, the significant focus should be on the set goals of the survey (Fowler 2014). Furthermore, the relevance of the data collected will depend on how the questionnaire is designed. In this research, the design of the questionnaire to be used should include a combination of closed and open-ended questions. This will not only guide the respondents in providing valid and relevant data but also allow them to share their personal opinions on satisfaction level. Additionally, some of the questions will need to be scaled to allow the survey to collect adequate quantitative data that will be vital in the analysis process.

Customer target and sample

Among the major areas to focus on is the population to be sampled and its composition. Based on previous researches, targeting the wrong sample makes it difficult for the conclusions made after the study to be valid and applicable to the actual customers of the business (Cooper & Schindler 2014).

This challenge becomes more apparent when targeting specific customers but the responses come from a variety of both the targeted sample and others groups. Depending on the sampling technique used, this can be avoided. However, this research will need to use simple random sampling to collect the information required from shoppers visiting the mall. This will give a better overview of the customer satisfaction that is applicable to the business. Additionally, the sample selected should be large enough to cater for cases that there will be a low response rate.

Contact strategy and response rate

Reaching out to the target group has always proven hectic and time-consuming for researchers. As a challenge, it is closely associated with a lower response rate when not carried out in the right manner (Fowler 2014). The manager would at some point find it difficult to select the right approach to contact the targeted customers to ensure a substantial response rate. To ensure this problem is averted in the survey, the customers to be contacted will first include a random sample from those registered with the business. Others will be randomly selected when entering or exiting the shopping mall. With this in place, it is expected that the response rate will be at least 80%. This will be substantial in providing viable information on the satisfaction level of the customers.

Supervision of data collection teams

As much as the manager is mandated with overseeing the entire process, the supervision roles can be delegated to the contracted investigators. Depending on the complexity of the survey, there might be the need to have frequent updates on the progress of data collection. However, the set data collection guidelines should be followed and be checked for compliance at all stages (Forinash 2016). In this survey, the supervision will be entirely delegated to the investigating body’s management with the manager as the overseer of the entire process.

Data processing

This is the most crucial part of the survey and maximum concentration is needed. Without proper data processing approaches and techniques, there are chances that the entire survey may flop. Averting this pitfall will depend on how the data is coded, inputted and analyzed. Ideally, data analysis in business research is mainly analyzed using Microsoft excel of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) (Cooper & Schindler 2014). Therefore this research data will need to be coded according to the answers provided in the questionnaire. This will ease the analysis process as well as the implementation of the findings. For instance, where a scale has been used, the number 1, 2, 3 etc. can be used to represent the different levels of the scale. In the long run, all data entry and analysis will thus be smooth and according to the set research objectives. (Word count=970)

The usefulness of the gap analysis approach surpasses the ordinary evaluation of the deviations between the desired performance and the actual performance. It provides crucial information on which managers base their decisions. In establishing the customer satisfaction, the approach provides a better understanding of the existing gaps that need to be filled for a full satisfaction status to be achieved. Furthermore, by embracing the gap analysis approach, point to the specific areas of improvements and makes it possible for the managers to prioritize their customer needs effectively.

Managers are part of any survey project and their contribution cannot be ignored. During the research process, managers are mandated with formulating the objectives and communicating them to the relevant departments and contractors. Overseeing the entire process is also entirely their duty. Although the manager can delegate some of the roles to the team carrying out the research, he/she remains to be the overall team leader. As the head of the process, managers are tasked with the decision-making during and after the survey. For this reason, the recommendations provided after the completion of a research process can either be appraised, implemented or modified by the manager.  

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Forinash, M 2016, ‘On Supervising Arts-Based Research’, Music Therapy Perspectives, vol. 34, no. 1, pp.41-45.

Fowler, F 2014, Survey research methods, 3rd edn., Sage Publication.

Medjoudj, R, Laifa, A, & Aissani, D 2012, ‘Decision making on power customer satisfaction and enterprise profitability analysis using the Analytic Hierarchy Process’, International Journal of Production Research, vol. 50, no. 17, pp. 4793-4805.

National Business Research Institute (NBRI) 2018, Measuring & Managing Customer Satisfaction | Customer Surveys, https://www.nbrii.com/customer-survey-white-papers/measuring-and-managing-customer-satisfaction/