Using the problem you identified in your Module One journal and the feedback you received, describe the research problem including the context in which it exists. Using the problem statement, describe the stakeholders and research objective. Based on the research objective, develop a research question that clearly and concisely articulates in one sentence the purpose of the study. Consider the key real or potential ethical issues or challenges of the study. After describing your business problem and research question, prepare a comprehensive literature review that carefully and thoughtfully examines the research problem from a scholarly perspective using a minimum of seven quality sources. A minimum of three of the sources must be selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. Other quality sources can be professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or white papers, or established news sources.
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QSO 500 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview: In this final project, you will create a research report based on the application of action research processes for developing problem solving strategies.
In designing the report, you will follow the best practices for ethical research. You will utilize the research process to inform decisions in your professional life
and as a framework for approaching research projects in other courses in your program. The final product will be a comprehensive research report using the
five-step research process (identify the problem; understand the theoretical framework of the problem; design the research study; collect, explain, and analyze
the data; report the results; and make conclusions and recommendations).
For Milestone One, submit a draft of your business problem and literature review. Using the problem you identified in your Module One journal and the
feedback you received, describe the research problem including the context in which it exists. Using the problem statement, describe the stakeholders and
research objective. Based on the research objective, develop a research question that clearly and concisely articulates in one sentence the purpose of the study.
Consider the key real or potential ethical issues or challenges of the study.
After describing your business problem and research question, prepare a comprehensive literature review that carefully and thoughtfully examines the research
problem from a scholarly perspective using a minimum of seven quality sources. A minimum of three of the sources must be selected from scholarly, peerreviewed journals. Other quality sources can be professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or white papers,
or established news sources.
Prompt: Refer to the given case study Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership in the A-Segment and select a data-driven business problem that can be
addressed using action research to be the basis for your research report. Prepare a comprehensive literature review that carefully and thoughtfully examines the
research problem from a scholarly perspective using a minimum of seven quality sources. A minimum of three of the sources must be selected from scholarly,
peer-reviewed journals. Other quality sources can be from professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or
white papers, or established news sources.
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:
Business Problem: Refer to the given case study and select a data-driven business problem that can be addressed using action research to be the basis for
your research report.
A. Describe the research problem, including the context in which it exists. In other words, what caused or precipitated this problem? What has
already been done to address it?
B. Describe the key stakeholders (or potential stakeholders) of your business problem. In other words, who are the people who have the most to
gain or lose from a decision?
C. Explain the research objective. How would it benefit the stakeholder to know the results?
D. Develop a research question based on the research objective that clearly and concisely articulates in one sentence the purpose of the study.
E. Discuss the key real or potential ethical issues or challenges of the study. Consider the following: How will data be collected and protected? How
will human subjects be used, treated, and protected?
Literature Review:
A. Explain the theories that best ground your organizational problem. Support your explanation with specific examples. These theories might be
management, behavioral, social, and/or business related.
B. Discuss the bias and limitations present in the relevant literature and the potential impact these may have on your research.
C. Summarize at least one other research study that has faced this challenge that could potentially be replicated and applied to your research
study.
D. From the literature, analyze at least one other organization that has faced similar problems, explaining what they have done to address the
problem.
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your milestone must be submitted as a 5- to 6-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman
font, one-inch margins, and at least seven sources cited in APA format.
Critical Elements
Business Problem:
Research Problem
Proficient (100%)
Describes the research problem,
including the context in which it
exists
Business Problem:
Stakeholders
Describes all key stakeholders of
the business problem
Business Problem:
Research Objective
Explains the research objective,
including how this research
would benefit the stakeholder
Business Problem:
Research Question
Develops a research question
based on the research objective
that clearly and concisely
articulates in one sentence the
purpose of the study
Needs Improvement (75%)
Describes the research
problem, but description is
cursory or does not include the
context in which the problem
exists
Describes the stakeholders of
the business problem, but
description is cursory or
neglects to address all key
stakeholders
Explains the research objective,
but explanation is cursory or
does not show how this
research would benefit the
stakeholder
Develops a research question
based on the research
objective, but it does not
clearly or concisely articulate in
one sentence the purpose of
the study
Not Evident (0%)
Does not describe the research
problem
Value
9
Does not describe the
stakeholders of the business
problem
9
Does not explain the research
objective
9
Does not develop a research
question based on the research
objective
9
Business Problem:
Ethical Issues
Discusses all key real or
potential ethical issues or
challenges of the study
Literature Review:
Theories
Explains the theories that best
ground the organizational
problem with support from
specific examples
Literature Review:
Bias and Limitations
Discusses the bias and
limitations present in the
relevant literature, including the
potential impact on research
Literature Review:
Other Research Study
Summarizes another research
study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated and applied to
your research study
Literature Review:
Other Organization
Analyzes another organization
that has faced similar problems,
including an explanation of
what was done to address the
problem
Articulation of
Response
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Discusses real or potential
ethical issues or challenges of
the study, but discussion is
cursory, contains issues of
clarity, or neglects to address
key ethical issues
Explains the theories that best
ground the organizational
problem, but explanation is
cursory or not supported with
specific examples
Discusses the bias and
limitations present in the
relevant literature, but
discussion contains issues of
clarity or does not address the
potential impact on research
Summarizes another research
study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated and applied to
your research study, but
summary is cursory or contains
inaccuracies
Analyzes another organization
that has faced similar
problems, but analysis is
cursory or does not explain
what was done to address the
problem
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Does not discuss real or potential
ethical issues or challenges of the
study
12
Does not explain the theories that
best ground the organizational
problem
12
Does not discuss the bias and
limitations present in the relevant
literature
12
Does not summarize another
research study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated
12
Does not analyze another
organization that has faced
similar problems
12
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
4
Total
100%
1
1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
Rudolph Pean
Southern New Hampshire University
QSO-500-Q3369 Business Research 19TW3
March 16, 2019
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1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
Introduction
According to Mukherjee et.al (2015), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), which is a
subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan, had been at the top in the automotive industry in
India and more specifically in the “A” segment, since it was established back in the year 1983.
The car market for India was usually subdivided into four product categories which are; van,
multi utility vehicle (MUV) / sport utility vehicle (SUV), sedan and hatch (Mukherjee et.al,
2015). The growth of MSIL in the car market of India was majorly driven by the growth of the
hatch segment. The hatch segment was further subdivided into; mid-size hatch, premium hatch,
and entry hatch segments. It was the overall hatch segment which was referred to as the A
segment. The period ranging from 2008 to 2013, the competition being faced by MSIL had
started becoming persistent in the A segment with cars such as Hyundai i10, general motors beat,
Tata Nano, Honda brio and the Hyundai Eon which were as well trending in the market
(Mukherjee et.al, 2015). The emergences of these cars lead to a stiff competition between MSIL
and the companies which produced these cars. This in turn resulted to a major fall in the market
share of MSIL in the A segment.
Maruti Suzuki India ltd has been a leader in the A segment since when it was established
in 1983 (Mukherjee et.al, 2015). However, due to the emergence of general motors, Ford,
Honda, Toyota and Hyundai into the market, MSIL market share in the A segment has declined.
This can be attributed to a section of its original customers demanding for some standard features
which originally were being just luxury. The decline in the market share had a great impact and,
more so to the stakeholders of the company which included; the suppliers, the employees of the
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1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
company, the company’s customers, the manufacturers who dealt with the company exclusively,
the network of dealerships, and the company executives (Mukherjee et.al, 2015). It is due to the
interest of these mentioned stakeholders that Maruti Suzuki India Ltd produces high quality
products for it to be able to regain its leadership in the A segment.
The rise of other cars in the market, the MSIL’’s market share for the A segment declined
from the original 61 per cent to 49 percent (Mukherjee et.al, 2015). These indicates that
originally, MSIL controlled more than half of the entire market of A segment but after the
emergence of other competing cars such as; Honda brio, General Motors Beat, Tata Nano, and
the Hyundai Eon, MSIL was not in a position to control more than half of the market any longer.
Industry sources had estimated that the car market for India was going to grow 4.7 million units
of sales per year and the A segment specifically would grow up to 2.4 million units of sales per
year by the year 2017/2018 (Mukherjee et.al, 2015). This indicates that if the market-share of the
MSIL in the A segment continues to decline as time goes by, it will jeopardize the competitive
advantage which Maruti Suzuki India ltd enjoys in the car market of India.
Consequently, there was a great need for the company to carry out some reassessment on
the strategy which it will use in order for it to be able to sustain its position in the car market of
India. Failure to carry out the reassessment of strategy would lead to MSIL losing its control on
the market and even its market share declining further, and it will have little or no say in the car
market of India. In addition, failure of the company to reassess its strategy, under extreme
conditions would even lead to the company being eliminated in the car market of India since the
competition was growing stiffer and stiffer every day. According to Kennerleyet.al (2017), in a
situation where there is a strong competition, especially from other big companies such as the
General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Ford and Hyundai, it would be a matter of survival for the
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1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
fittest and without any doubt the “weak” would have to be eliminated. If MSIL did not come up
with an appropriate strategy to curb or enable it to compete more effectively in the market, it
would end up losing even the market share which it held.
After carrying market analysis, for MSIL to be able to find out the extent to which the
decline in market share had impacted the stakeholders as well as the corporation, it was
determined that the decline was more pronounced in the entry level as compared to the premium
hatch category. Further, since gross margins were ranging from 3.5 per cent to 5 per cent, MSIL
had expectations that the net margins as well would also remain to be low due to the expenses
which were being shared between the manufactures and the dealers, for customer advertising
promotions (Mukherjee et.al, 2015). Therefore, the main objective of this research will be to find
out which features can be offered in the cars of MSIL without having to pass the additional cost
to the final consumer, and how this will be able to increase MSIL’s market share in the Indian
car market and increase both the net margin and gross margin of MSIL. This would help in
ensuring that the stakeholders of MSIL are in a better position as well as establish their market
viability.
The best research question which can address the research problem stated above would
be; which luxury features are the consumers of Maruti Suzuki demanding for which will allow
the market share of MSIL to increase, and at the same time increase the gross margin and net
margin? As it was discussed in the research problem, one of the main reasons why MSIL is
experiencing a major decline in its market share in the Indian car market is the emergency of
other cars in the market. The consumers seem to prefer the other cars which are from other
companies such as general motors, Toyota, Ford and Hyundai as compared to cars from Maruti
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1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
Suzuki India due to the additional features which are in those cars. MSIL did not have such
features in its cars as they were originally viewed as luxury features (Mukherjee et.al, 2015).
However, the consumers are demanding for those features and it would be necessary for
MSIL to address them to regain its market share and increase its gross and net margins. In
conclusion, the major problem for this research is the declining market share of MSIL in the
Indian car market as well as the declining gross and net margins. In order to address this
problem, it will be necessary to consider the luxury features which the consumers are demanding
for.
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1-2 Journal: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
References
Kennerley, M., Neely, A., & Adams, C. (2017). Survival of the fittest: measuring performance in
a changing business environment. Measuring Business Excellence, 7(4), 37-43.
Mukherjee,J., Mathur, G., & Nikhil Dhar, N. (2015). Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market
Leadership In The A-Segment.
…
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