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One of the biggest problems facing organizations that commission market research is ensuring that they get the research they want and that the research is relevant to the organization. There are many different approaches that can be taken for any one piece of research and it is crucial for an organization to get this right. Failure to do so can lead to substantial pain in the debriefing meeting and quite possibly failure and wasted budgets. Market Intelligence examines the client-side perspective of market research and describes the pitfalls and problems when commissioning, briefing and using market research. Contents include: the importance of knowledge in the organization; decision making in an organization; the market research function; buyer—supplier relationships; the nature and scope of quantitative data; the relationship between qualitative and quantitative information; designing research; managing the research process; managing the results; knowing the future. Part of the new Market Research in Practice series and published in association with The Market Research Society, Market intelligence is an invaluable guide for students, market researchers and non-professional researchers alike. This title is fully international in scope and offers valuable insights that are relevant to the United States, Europe and the rest of the world. The book also outlines data protection legislation and details the professional ethics incorporated in the MRS Code of Conduct. About the Author Martin Callingham was formerly Group Market Research Director at Whitbread where he ran the market research, direct marketing and spatial analysis departments. He is a Fellow of The Market Research Society, was Chairman of the Association of Users of Research (AURA) and has been a Council Member of ESOMAR. In 2001 he won the David Winton Award at the MRS conference. Currently, he is a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London. Table of Contents Introduction Types of organization Key points Commissioning environments Commercial organizations Not-for-profit organizations Summary of differences between the commercial and not-for-profit sectors Conclusion Knowledge is the most important asset of a company Key points Company value Different types of asset Knowledge as the ultimate asset Management of knowledge Developing an information climate for marketing Conclusion Decision making in an organization Key points Introduction The psychology of decision making Handling change The role of market research The international company Conclusion The market research function within an organization Key points The market research department Consumer insight The power thing again Conclusion Buyer-supplier relationships Key points Types of buying Proposing against a written brief Commissioning quantitative research Important factors when commissioning qualitative research Creating the qualitative list Keeping the client happy Partnership relationship Conclusion The nature and scope of quantitative data Key points Competing paradigms Formation of the market research industry Quantitative data Market analysis The emerging new data Characteristics of quantitative market research data The types of quantitative market research data Summary of quantitative research Conclusion Qualitative information and its relationship to quantitative information Key points The essential conflict between qualitative and quantitative research Quantitative research and qualitative research are fundamentally different The challenges to qualitative research Failures in quantitative research The difficulty of producing a theory Looking forward Conclusion Designing the research Key points What a market research design is Who does the design The components of a design of research Who has a stake in the design Conclusion Managing the research process from within the company Key points Having some form of process The elements of a process The initial stages: the genesis of the research Managing the project through fieldwork Transferring the information from the researcher to the end-user client The actual debrief Post debrief Conclusion Managing the results Key points How was it for you? Incorporation of the research into the knowledge of the business Conclusion Knowing the future Key points Introduction Thinking of a consumer-led future Taking control and determining the future Conclusion Conclusion Appendix: The Market Research Society Code of Conduct Glossary of market research terms References Index