HI6008 Holmes Business Research Report Sample

HI6008 (Holmes) Business Research Report

Purpose of the assessment

The purpose of this assessment is to ensure a student who requires and qualifies for an approved SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT is able to document a mini-literature review and research design.

Purpose:

This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired MBA skills into the production of a research project mini-literature review and research design proposal. It is explicitly designed as a SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT for students who qualify for a Supplementary Assessment and are duly notified thereof. You must complete and submit this INDIVIDUALLY.

Task

Your task is to prepare a report of 2000 words (the word count does not include your questionnaire and reference list), based on the following scenario:
Your CEO has requested you to ascertain whether or not she/he should expand the company by opening a new branch in the Northern Territory city of Darwin. Please attend to the following aspects:

a. Use the city you are currently based in (i.e. where your Holmes campus is) as being the current base from which your company wishes to expand.

b. Choose a business that currently operates in the retail homewares sector. Explain the company and its brand positioning (this must be an existing brand, not a hypothetical one). Provide details about the current performance of the business, its other current locations, its growth history, etc. [from published secondary data]. Decide on and clearly state the Research Problem facing the company.

c. Research relevant politico-socio-economic-enviro-legal facts about Darwin.

d. Research relevant facts about the relevant homewares retail sector in the Northern Territory.

e. Research at least three relevant competitors in the area.

f. For the above three sections you need at least 8 references, of which at least 4 must be from peer-reviewed academic journals. You must access those via ProQuest or
Research Gate. [In your reference list, ensure that you provide the details of each reference in Holmes-adapted Harvard style, plus the hyperlinked URL of anything you accessed online, and the date on which you accessed it].

g. State the research question(s) that remain(s) to be answered after considering all of the above.

h. Decide what primary data will be needed to complete your study and state how you would go about collecting it, i.e. your specific methodology design. In particular, specify your sample frame of participants, the type of interviews you would use, and why. [Note: DO NOT
actually collect any primary data] i. Add the complete questionnaire and explain the data analysis plan [Note: DO NOT actually collect any primary data]

Assignment Structure must be as the following:

1. Official Holmes Cover Page

2. Introduce the company (a and b above) [approx. 500 words], culminating in the specific Research Problem.

3. Conduct a research of literature review / secondary data (c, d, e, f, g) [approx. 1000 words, culminating in the specific Research Problem and state the Research Question]

4. Apply your knowledge of research to propose a research design (i.e. specify what primary data would be needed; how it could be collected, analysed, interpreted (h)
[approx. 500 words]

5. Design a detailed Questionnaire (i) designed specifically for the interviews that would be needed to elicit primary data directly related to the Research Question (word count not specified). Demonstrate an appropriate range of questioning / answering techniques, based on HI6008 lecture materials.

6. List of references [not part of the word count]

Solution

Introduction

Company Background

Jardan is an Australian family-owned furniture business that was established in 1987. The company designs and manufactures furniture, homewares and lighting items with care and precision (Jardan 2023). The design philosophy of bringing local Australian environments to life has been applied to its stores as well the products comprising of furniture, homewares, lighting and textiles. As per the MBA Assignment Expert, Jardan has further extended its vision for emerging as efficient designers, makers and retailers all at once (Jardan 2023). In this regard, the company collaborates with various local photographers, artists, painters and sculptors for creating its limited collection of items.

Brand Positioning

Jardan positions itself as a design-led business focusing on ensuring good design for all its product ranges of furniture, homewares, textiles and lighting. For this purpose, the company has built a space named Jardan Lab for developing its team of designers by helping them to pursue innovative ideas, create prototypes, solve design problems and produce unique collections (Jardan 2023). Furthermore, Jardan’s strong brand positioning has also been evident in its contemporary design thinking alongside world-leading production capabilities. This has helped in providing a living approach to its products through incorporating homewares, textiles and lighting products. Besides, the brand also displays how it takes inspiration from the relaxed Australian way of life through its products by expressing various contemporary ideas and quality materials (Jardan 2023). Moreover, the company further enhances its brand positioning by reducing environmental impact and making sustainable products. This has been possible because of using environment-friendly materials throughout the entire lifecycle of products using high-quality local materials, decreasing waste and making long-lasting products.

Current Performance and Operations

Jardan has expanded its business operations across various parts of Australia since the year 2015 (Jardan 2023). It has stores in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and online with showrooms displaying the brand’s unique sensibility and making products with select pieces acquired from local and international artists. It ensures world class manufacturing in Melbourne while continuing to grow beyond its domestic boundaries by taking up various large scale residential and commercial projects in different parts of Australia, Europe, Asia and America (Jardan 2023). Jardan has also been performing well by expanding into various markets and taking up large commercial projects. It not only cares for its customers by delivering incredible, thoughtful and considered products but also supports the local community (Cain 2021). The brand has been successful in making sustainable products and been carbon neutral since 2014. Thus, it has displayed better performance in each of economic, social and environmental domains.

Research Problem

Jardan has opened stores at different locations of Australia including Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney alongside online stores. It has also been taking up various large scale residential and commercial projects in international locations like Europe, Asia and America. Despite this, it needs to expand more into other Australian regions for ensuring its long-term growth and success. In this regard, this research study aims at examining whether Jardan should open a new brand in the Northern Territory city of Darwin.

Research of Literature Review

Darwin’s Politico-Socio-Economic-Enviro-Legal Facts

Political- The Australian government has been stimulating both economic and population growth in the Northern Territory by considering it as a long-term pursuit (Taylor, Thurmer & Karácsonyi 2022, p.425). This region has been in focus of various central derived regional development policies. The government introduced an ambitious policy for ensuring development in the north for the period 2015-60. This policy was developed for accelerating population growth and focusing on five industries having growth prospects (Taylor, Thurmer & Karácsonyi 2022, p.425). Thus, the government has been emphasising on leveraging vast opportunities of resources in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Economic- Darwin has been a home to around 85,397 people and supporting around 48,039 jobs alongside an annual economic revenue of $19 billion as of 2021 (City of Darwin 2023a). During the pandemic outbreak, gross regional product of Darwin decreased by 4.2% and 8.6% from 2020 and 2019. Despite this, it experienced 4.1% increase in population from 2020. The unemployment rate has also decreased to 3.3% during March 2022 (City of Darwin 2023a). It also launched a 2030 Economic Development Strategy for establishing an effective framework. This has been helpful for leveraging various economic opportunities and undertaking sustainable approaches for ensuring economic growth.

Social- Darwin is the capital of Northern Territory and the eight-largest city in Australia. During the 2005-2015/16 period, Darwin experienced 17% population growth that led to its workforce expansion (Kavaarpuo, Oppong-Yeboah & Vuin 2022, p. 103457). It has also faced rapid urbanisation because of significant infrastructural investments by Commonwealth Government. However, socio-economic inequalities exist in the region between indigenous people and other Australians. Despite such challenges, Darwin has been successful in emerging into a cosmopolitan city apart from having various turbulent disturbances (Kavaarpuo, Oppong-Yeboah & Vuin 2022, p. 103457). Thus, the city provides both challenges and opportunities related to its social context.

Environmental- Darwin gets affected by climate change because of various extreme weather events (City of Darwin 2023b). Some of the predicted effects include extreme rainfall events, rising sea levels, greater number of cyclones, risk to biodiversity, daily temperature maximums and risk of contaminated water supply. The city has been using combination of both sustainable adaptation and mitigation measures for moving towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 (City of Darwin 2023b). Thus, it has been looking for practical and effective ways for addressing climate change issues within the municipality.

Legal- Businesses are required to abide by various laws and regulations for conducting their operations in the Northern Territory. They need to be aware about Fair Trading Laws to reduce any possible negative impact on their operations and brand image (Consumer Affairs 2023). Firms should also abide by The Australian Consumer Law to ensure prohibition of any unfair practices and further promoting fair dealing in their consumer transactions. In addition, laws related to advertising and promotions, price setting, consumer guarantees, false billing, gift vouchers, customer complaints, misleading, price scanning, warranties, refunds and bait advertising and others are present for businesses (Consumer Affairs 2023).

Homewares Retail Sector in Northern Territory

Homewares retail sector has emerged as an aggressive and thriving industry of Australia (QHome 2023). The Northern Territory comprises of various regional brands offering sustainable options of homewares alongside ensuring specific style and displaying cultural aspects. Here, sustainability has been another important development in the homeware market. Demand for green and sustainable products has increased amongst customers (Arli, et al., 2018, p.390). This rise in demand has also been evident in the homeware industry. This has encouraged brands to include products made of wood, bamboo, linen and others by using ethical and environmentally aware techniques. Homeware brands in Northern Territory further use this demand for green products for manufacturing their products and enhance brand equity (Ng, et al., 2014, p.204). Moreover, developing brand reputation of domestic merchandises has also been possible with this rising demand. Australian customers have become eager in supporting local businesses and artisans, thereby displaying their willingness in paying premium prices for homegrown and sustainable products (QHome 2023).
Additionally, customers have also been showing their interest for online purchasing, which has generated a significant impact on the homeware enterprises. Thus, firms are now able to reach large target markets through their online shopping websites and leveraging new possibilities to transform into purchase-centred businesses (QHome 2023).

Relevant Competitors

Some of the homeware competitor brands in the city of Darwin are SeKada Homewares, Off Ya Tree and Messa Living. SeKada Homewares was opened by Lou Kenny and Mel Secondis in October 2015 (SeKada Lifestyle Co 2023). This store started with homeware and gift items but with the Darwin clientele it emerged into an increasingly popular lifestyle store within few years. It provides a wide range of fashion, accessories, gifts and homeware items and ensures that their customers feel like a part of the brand’s family (SeKada Lifestyle Co 2023). Furthermore, Off Ya Tree was established in 1978 and operates as a leading Australian brand. It also offers various homeware products such as bedding, cushions, candles, coasters, dinner sets, floormats, towels, games and cards, storage items and others (Off Ya Tree 2023). It ensures unique experience for the customers by embracing individuality in its products. Besides, Messa Living is another homeware brand in Darwin city that was established in the year 2015 (Messa Living 2023). The brand makes sure to offer products that show more than just a design and display a unique lifestyle. It provides different range of products like rugs, table top and household accessories, cushions, wall décor and exquisite furniture (Messa Living 2023). Thus, these are some of the competitor brands in the city.

Research Question

The research questions that will be addressed considering the above analysis are:

1. Does Darwin offer a suitable business environment to Jardan considering all political, economic, social, legal and ecological factors?

2. How can the competitive intensity of homeware industry in Darwin influence the entry to new competitors like Jardan?

3. What can be some effective market entry modes and marketing strategies for Jardan to open a new branch in Darwin?

Research Design

Data Collection

The process that involves collecting information that further accomplishes the objectives of the study is known as data collection. In this study, primary data are collected. The objective behind choosing primary data is to provide updated information (Neelankavil 2015, p.148). There are various ways in which data can be collected. Raw data is collected to analyse whether it is feasible for Jardan to expand their business operations, beyond the home country. In this study, raw data will be collected from the target market for understanding about their tastes, preferences, demands and purchase patterns.

Sample Frame

In this study, around 50 sample participants will be selected. These participants will be selected based on their availability, geographical location, accessibility and willingness to participate in the study (Etikan, Musa & Alkassim 2016, p.2). Thus, convenience sampling method will be used for selecting these participants because of its cost and time effectiveness.

Type of Method

Data will be collected with the help of survey questionnaire method. Online questionnaire will be sent over to the 50 sample participants with 6 to 7 close ended questions related to their demographics, brand preference, purchase intention and others. Online questionnaire comprises of a series of questions specifically structured in a way for gathering survey data about the target customers (Brace 2018, p.142). This will enable the sample participants in answering the form by accessing it with the help of internet connection. They will fill the form and send it back to the interviewer. Such method will be helpful for gathering customers’ opinions about homeware industry and brands. This survey questionnaire will be emailed to prospective clients under the target market identified in the city of Darwin. Thus, this will be a suitable tool for the upcoming research.

Data Analysis

No quantitative data analysis will be performed for the data collected with the help of online survey questionnaire. Instead, the researcher will represent the data gathered with the help of statistical graphs like bar charts, pie diagrams or histograms (Chambers 2018, p.234). Bar graph will help in providing pictorial representation of data, quantities and percentages using bars or columns, which will further help in comparison and contrast between different sets. On the other hand, pie charts will also represent the data in a pictorial format, thereby making it easier to visualise and interpret the data (Chambers 2018, p.234). These will help in diagrammatically presenting the findings obtained from the online survey. Thus, answers gathered from the respondents against each of the questions will be displayed through bar graphs or pie charts.

Interpretation

Data interpretation can be referred to as the process of utilising different analytical methods for reviewing data and arriving at relevant conclusions (Chambers 2018, p.240). Here, data gathered from the online survey will be interpreted at first by representing them in graphical charts like bar diagrams or pie charts. This will help in pictorial representation. These charts will then be reviewed and analysed for identifying trends, patterns and occurrences about customers’ opinions, tastes, preferences and buying behaviour (Chambers 2018, p.240). Such analysis will help in drawing conclusions based on the developed research questions in the research.

Detailed Questionnaire

1) What is your age group?

1. 18-24 years

2. 25-34 years

3. 35-44 years

4. 45 and above

2) What is household income on an average?

1. $80,000-$120,000

2. $120,000-$175,000

3. $175,000- $250,000

4. $250,000 and above

3) Which homeware brands do you prefer?

4) What are the homeware products that you shop for?

5) How frequently do you purchase homeware items?

6) What are the key essential elements that you consider while buying homewares?

7) Does sustainability in homeware brands matter to you while purchasing products? 

List of References

Arli, D, Tan, LP, Tjiptono, F & Yang, L 2018, ‘Exploring consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market: The role of consumers’ perceived readiness’, International journal of consumer studies, vol.42, no.4, pp.389-401, viewed 14 November 2023, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijcs.12432

Brace, I 2018, Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure and write survey material for effective market research. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cain, A 2021, ‘Room to grow brings Australian design leader under one roof’, The Age, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/room-to-grow-brings-australian-design-leader-under-one-roof-20211112-p598i6.html

Chambers, J.M., 2018. Graphical methods for data analysis. CRC Press.
City of Darwin 2023a, ‘Economic Development’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/transforming-darwin/innovation/yourdarwin/smart-prosperous/economic-development

City of Darwin 2023b, ‘Reducing Impact’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/transforming-darwin/climate-change/reducing-impact
Consumer Affairs 2023, ‘Conducting good business’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://consumeraffairs.nt.gov.au/for-businesses/conducting-good-business

Etikan, I, Musa, SA & Alkassim, RS 2016, ‘Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, vol.5, no.1, pp.1-4, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.academia.edu/download/55796997/Comparison_Convenience_and_Purposive_Sampling-2016_4p.pdf
Jardan 2023, ‘Our Story’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.jardan.com.au/pages/our-story

Kavaarpuo, G, Oppong-Yeboah, NY & Vuin, A 2022, ‘Darwin: Towards the sustainability of the Larrikin of Australian capital cities’, Cities, 120, p.103457, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275121003565

Messa Living 2023, ‘Less House More Home’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://webb-flow-messa.squarespace.com/

Neelankavil, JP 2015, Primary Data Collection: An Introduction to Conclusive Research. In International Business Research (pp. 146-163). Routledge.

Ng, PF, Butt, MM, Khong, KW & Ong, FS 2014, ‘Antecedents of green brand equity: An integrated approach’, Journal of business ethics, 121, pp.203-215, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kok-Wei-
Khong/publication/257542239_Antecedents_of_Green_Brand_Equity_An_Integrated_Approach/links/548598a50cf2437065c9e710/Antecedents-of-Green-Brand-Equity-An-Integrated-Approach.pdf

Off Ya Tree 2023, ‘Off Ya Tree - Established 1978’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://offyatree.com.au/pages/about-us

QHome 2023, ‘Homeware trade centre in Northern Territory’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://qhomeaustralia.com/homeware-trade-center-in-nt/

SeKada Lifestyle Co 2023, ‘Our Story’, viewed 14 November 2023, https://sekadalifestyleco.com.au/pages/our-story

Taylor, A, Thurmer, J & Karácsonyi, D 2022, ‘Regional demographic and economic challenges for sustaining growth in Northern Australia’, Regional Studies, Regional Science, vol.9, no.1, pp.425-445, viewed 14 November 2023, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/21681376.2022.2082316?needAccess=true