Management Statistics And Research Methods For Business Decisions

Literature Review

Describe about the Management Statistics and Research Methods for Business Decisions.

This document proposes to conduct a research on the factor of relationship marketing and its impact on the customer loyalty. The main topic of this study is that relationship marketing has a strong impact on customer loyalty for Starbucks, Australia.

With the emerging global business and increasing competition new strategies have taken an important place besides the traditional strategy of marketing. Every organization tends to expand their market through the most effective marketing strategies. Promotional strategy or product is not enough to achieve stable and successful customer retention. In this regard, relationship marketing has become an integral part of the marketing strategy. To conduct the research Starbucks has been chosen because in the sector of retail food chain, relationship marketing is highly valued by the customers as well as to make the customer loyal to them. With the changed scenario of the global business context, experts have asked to give importance on the relationship marketing.  As the main objective of the relationship marketing is to earn more revenue by making the customer happy and satisfied with the standard of the service, a research on this particular topic is absolutely beneficial for every sector.

To validate the research literary works done before on this topic have also been included. Moreover, the research methodologies that will be followed during the research have also been mentioned here. Apart from that, operational definitions and measurement are also included here in this research proposal. Moreover, this study has also incorporated the data collection methods and the process for analysis of those collected data that will be conducted during the research. In this regard sampling techniques for the research has been described along with the expected outcome of the research.

Relationship marketing and its significance have become the matter of studies for last 20 years. As mentioned by, Hollensen (2015), relationship marketing is the approach that influences the development and enhancement of the relationship quality among the customers and business associates. Moreover, Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne (2013), quoted that relationship marketing is the strategy that values the future objectives and profitability by means of committed and loyal relational changes. On addition, relationship marketing evaluates the long-term value of the customer relation and tends to involve better strategies for the communication rather advertising of the products and services (Bejou and Palmer 2013). As per Vivek, Beatty and Morgan (2012), this the age of globalization and internet; people across different parts of the world can be connected with each other. Moreover, the preferences have also been shifted with the time that is why relationship marketing for the customer retention has become a concerning issue.

Research questions:

Research questions are identified as the foundation of the research as this questions help to obtain the final outcome of the research. The research questions will be:

• How to align the relationship marketing with customer loyalty for Starbucks in Australia?
• How can relationship marketing be applied to achieve customer loyalty for Starbucks in Australia?
• What are the factors that make the relationship marketing feasible to the customer loyalty?

For this research proposal, hypotheses are as below:

1. H0: relationship marketing is highly influential for the customer loyalty for Starbucks in Australia.
2. H1: relationship marketing has no impact on the customer loyalty for Starbucks in Australia.

This is important while conducting a research because operational definition involves the application of perennialization to define a process that is required for the determination of the nature of the variables. As mentioned by, Coleman and Ringrose (2013), maximum operational definitions identify objects with the help of distinguishing it from the background of its empirical experience.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Measurement involves evaluation of the variables. Variable can include that has a quality or quantity that varies. There are two types of the variables. One is independent variable and another is the dependent variable. The dependent variable is that one, on which researcher is interested. The change in the dependent variable is the matter focus for the researchers (Ary et al. 2013). For the independent variables, it can be said that it is influential for the dependent variables. Dependent variables are subjected to the manipulation by the researcher as the main concern is to understand whether the change in independent variables is effecting the dependent variables.

For this research, the dependent variable is the customer loyalty and the independent variable is the relationship marketing. The researcher can change the relationship marketing to assess the effect of the change on the customer loyalty.

Research methodologies are the theoretical analysis as well as the systematic methods that are applied while conducting any research. Research methodologies encompass the methods and disciplines those are used in the course of a research. Research can be of various types such as basic research, applied research, problem-orientated research, qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research is the process where tools like the revision of case studies, surveys, interviews, field studies and observation are followed (Ritchie et al. 2013). Quantitative research is the intervention of the quantifiable data during the research. This approach involves many statistical and numerical explanations (Yilmaz 2013).

Researchers always follow a particular sampling technique as it is important for the further procession of the research procedures. Choosing of the sample should be done carefully so that maximum valid information can be obtained (Levy and Lemeshow 2013). During the sampling, some ethical considerations must be kept in the mind. Sampling technique, the sample size is very important. For the research, sample will be chosen randomly without any particular criteria. When a random sampling technique is adopted it helps to understand the general opinion, thoughts and expectation (Wilcox et al. 2012). Restricting the sample by gender, age or class can affect the research outcome. As the topic of the research is highly flexible to any kind of sample; random sampling will help in obtaining of real and valid data. However, a smaller sample size will help in maintenance of the budget and time as these are highly influential for the successful accomplishment of a research.

Data is collected prior to the analysis of the information. Data can be collected in two different ways. For the primary data collection, it is required to collect the information from the direct actions like gathering information from survey, interviews, questionnaire etc. Secondary data collection method is the process of taking extract from the works those already exist (Matthews and Ross 2014). For secondary data analysis, articles, journals and books are revised to understand the scenario of the particular topic of the research. For this research, both primary and secondary method of data collection will be adopted so that during the research the present condition on the relationship marketing and its impact on the customer loyalty. Articulation of the opinions and thoughts with the previous finding will make this research more approaching.

Operational Definitions and Measurement

After the collection of the data, it will be analyzed through qualitative research. Qualitative analysis of the data will help to deepen the explanation of the collected information. Moreover, qualitative research will also involve a critical analysis of the data and identification of the common patterns of the responses.

Research process illustrates the steps that will be conducted one after another to reach the conclusion from the research. The research process is important to understand the discipline that will be followed throughout the research. First, the research topic is selected and then the research methodologies. Research methodology should be followed strictly to understand the types of data collection and analysis of that information. A research can only be successful when it is going step by step correctly. The research process can be parted into inquiry, collection, organization a presentation (Bryman 2015). Inquiry involves the searching of appropriate research methodology. For the collection, it indicates the gathering of the information, required for the research completion. The organization is the data analysis and it is a vital segment of a research. The final step is the presentation of the complete research.

The expected outcome of the research will definitely help Starbucks, Australia to make out the importance of the relationship marketing to hold customer loyalty. After revising the result of this research, Starbucks will be able to critical factors regarding the relationship marketing. If the research methodologies are followed accurately it will be helpful in obtaining data with valid information. Revision of this report will help the reader to gain knowledge on the changing context of marketing strategies and their influential factors.

Conclusion:

This research proposal has been done on the topic of Relationship marketing has a strong impact on the Customer Loyalty for Starbucks in Australia. Ultimate goal of the relationship marketing is to achieve the customer retention and satisfaction. The research will help in the evaluation of this projection. A literature review has also been included to give the research a theoretical consideration. Research questions have been given for a clear idea on the reason behind the research. Apart from that, research methodologies have been described in a detailed account as this part is important. In research methodology, selection of the sampling techniques, data collection from the sample, analysis of those gathering data has been incorporated. Different types of these procedures have been described here. An elaboration of the research process has been given so that the steps can be easily reviewed. A possible outcome of the research and its effect is also included to make this research proposal extremely accountable for the conduction of the research.

Reference List:

Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C., Sorensen, C.K. and Walker, D., 2013. Introduction to research in education. Cengage Learning.

Bejou, D. and Palmer, A., 2013. The future of relationship marketing. Routledge.

Bryman, A., 2015. Social research methods. Oxford university press.

Christopher, M., Payne, A. and Ballantyne, D., 2013. Relationship marketing. Taylor & Francis.

Coleman, R. and Ringrose, J. eds., 2013. Deleuze and research methodologies. Edinburgh University Press.

Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., 2013. Sampling of populations: methods and applications. John Wiley & Sons.

Matthews, B. and Ross, L., 2014. Research methods. Pearson Higher Ed.

Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C.M. and Ormston, R. eds., 2013. Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.

Vivek, S.D., Beatty, S.E. and Morgan, R.M., 2012. Customer engagement: Exploring customer relationships beyond purchase. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 20(2), pp.122-146.

Wilcox, A.B., Gallagher, K.D., Boden-Albala, B. and Bakken, S.R., 2012. Research data collection methods: from paper to tablet computers. Medical care, 50, pp.S68-S73.

Yilmaz, K., 2013. Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Traditions: epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), pp.311-325.