LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
20 April, 2012
Dr. Serajul Islam
Professor
Department of Management Studies
University of Dhaka

Subject: Letter regarding submission of research proposal on “new notebook launching of WALTON”
Dear Sir,
It’s a great pleasure for us to have the opportunity to submit a research proposal titled “proposal for new notebook launching of WALTON” which had been a great experience for us to work with field survey and research of focused market for this new product. We tried utmost to make & let it look like a professional one. Any shortcomings are expected to have a kind view for our encouragement.
Thank you for your sincere & honest try to let us make easy & get familiar with proposal submission for conducting research in favour of this renowned company.
Our efforts will be valued, if this term paper can serve for what it’s been meant for & our assistance will be there for any queries.
Sincerely yours,
Students of Group - DARKSPY
MBA 13th Batch
Strategic and International Management
Department of Management Studies,
University of Dhaka

Executive summary:
This research proposal has been done by DARKSPY members on the favor of WALTON Hi-tech industries ltd. which is going to launching notebook computer in the markets. Walton focused particular market segment basically, college and university students and their families to market that notebook computer. Our group has come to know about the advertisement of WALTON about submitting research proposal for launching notebook.
However, we made up mind to prepare a research proposal on behalf of the WALTON. This research proposal was the partial requirement of the course of BUSINESS RESEARCH as it is huge required to gain practical knowledge about the specifications of different research proposal.
Walton has given their problems about changing customers’ acceptance and specification compared to their proposed notebook. They also provide definite time line and budget for doing the work.
This proposal has been done by meeting all the requirements of Walton. Our research team has taken random sample from the population of the college and university students and their families. This work has been conducted through desk research, questionnaire survey and depth interview techniques. These triangular research techniques have been used for confirming the accuracy of the research maintain their time and cash budget limit. For every techniques a common questionnaires have been made.
After collecting data we will analyze customer maximum preference about full package of attributes of new launching notebook and that must be deemed to be market oriented product to capture the market share than the competitors.

Introduction Walton Bangladesh Limited is a Bangladesh based company that specializes in the production of electric and electronics products. Now it wants to introduce a new notebook brand name Walton. In order to ensure that its clients will be satisfied with the product, it is imperative for this company to find out what their clients are looking for in the ideal notebook computer.
Information from this research will be important in determining the success of the new product. This is largely because the company is likely to include this information in launching their product into the market. Most Walton consumers emanate from the professional segment; consequently, prices of this commodity were a bit on the high side. The latter issue has attracted the attention of this company to consumers representing the personal segment or ordinary consumer segment. It is expected that this group may be concerned about the issue of price and the latter proposal will ascertain whether this is a true fact or not.
The client has set a period of eight weeks for the completion of the project. Consequently, all the tasks in the research will be distributed evenly within this period. Allocations will be done depending on the weight of the task and how many parties will need to be involved in the process.

Research problem:
The requirement of competing firms on the knowledge about factors that affect consumer buying behavior is necessary. With so many consumer-related research studies in the past as well as the changing consumer culture, it is essential to focus research topics on particular areas that deemed to be lack of up-to-date research to indicate what the precise needs of this segment with respect to notebook. The purpose of this research is mainly to fill the gaps and contribute to the existing knowledge related to the subject of the study.

Research objectives
The main objective of this research is to identify the common factor that affects consumer buying behavior.
The following research objectives have also been identified- * To identify the right target potential customers for the notebook computer * To identify the internal and external features that consumers look or in the notebook computer * To explore the market psychology of notebook consumers prior to purchasing the commodity – market features such as price will be considered * To determine what features make Walton’s competitors do well

Information coverage

Information for this research will be collected according to the following hierarchy of needs: Focus group information
The focus group will be essential in determining the factors that consumers consider when making decisions about the purchase of notebook computers. Besides this, they will also reveal information about sources of information that they rely on before choosing to buy a notebook computer. Notebook computer information
This part will dwell on how the notebook computer is regarded by clients in terms of its appearance. Information such as the computer’s exteriors design will be looked into. For example colour, design, and thickness. Information about the interior features of the computer will also be imperative. Things such as display cards, memory, CPU, mainboard and other features will be examined Competitor’s information
Information about the kind of features that make competitors more successful within the market will be sought. This is especially because the market has become relatively competitive today. Special emphasis will be given to price offerings in this particular industry segment as it was a serious concern by Walton.

Methodology
A budget of Tk. 300000 allows one to do more secondary than primary research. The information sought during the research will represent both quantitative and qualitative portions of the paper. Quantitative aspects will cover the numerical elements of the research such as price. Additionally, qualitative aspects of the research will be reflected by looking into consumer experiences especially with regard to the decision making process. These two aspects govern exactly how the kind of research method will help to solve the research problem.
Data collection method:
To conduct the research using triangular techniques as desk research, questionnaire survey and depth interview, we will do the following things- * Upload questionnaire on our organization’s site , where the respondents will answer to the question and instruction for doing the action also would be posted to the site * Staffs involved in collection of data from different divisions will collect data using the same questionnaire * In the desk research engaging stuff will search different sites to decide what will be the preferable attributes to attract the focused segment .in this case, they should search for the similar case of research proposal and analyzing method for launching new notebook by renowned organization.

Research population and research sample:
Research population estimated for the research should cover the family members of the university students including focused students resided in the different division of this country. Populations for this research include only the university students and their family. Students of the different college and their family should not be taken as sample to avoid biasness or error.
Sample should be picked randomly from the population and then these should be analysed to fulfill the objectives. With using the random sampling ,we have to represent he total population’s choice, preferences and test
Desk research
This part of the research will entail an examination of data sources that may have contained information about related topics to the one under consideration. Here, their methods or processes and their results will be thoroughly examined in order to ascertain that the right procedure is being followed. Additionally, related computer websites will be consulted so as to seek information from e-forms. Competitor information will also be obtained from this segment of the research. The following computer related journals will be sought

* 21st Century computer hardware * Personal computer market * Today’s computer * The notebook computer market reports

The following websites will be * Pchome (http://www.hardware.pchome.net/ ) * eNet (http://www.enet.com.cn) * yesky (http://www.myhard.yesky.com/) * Pconline (http://www.pconline.com.cn/)

Questionnaire
The latter portion of the research will entail structured online questionnaires. This is because of the fact that they can reach greater numbers of people at any one time. On top of that, they save on time and allow greater room for data analysis. E-forms are also particularly useful in this research because they will allow collection of more research information.
Online structured questionnaires have a format that will be applied in the depth interviews thus saving on time and crucial resources. It should be noted that the issue of time is also particularly important because the research deadline was set at eight weeks.

Depth interviews
Depth interviews will be carried among members of the focus group. These individuals will represent the new market segment that Walton will be targeting i.e. students and family members. There will be 100 representatives from each section and each interview shall last for a period of twenty to thirty minutes depending on how well respondents understand the questions and how they respond to them. This means that the entire interview process will take a period of one month. It should be noted that an allowance has been given for the differences in geographical areas as each interviewee will represent a different divisions.

Participants will be expected to answer questions derived from prescribed form mentioned in the latter section. Depth interviews are particularly interesting because of the fact that they can produce very satisfactory data to be used in the data analysis phase.

Respondents could possess knowledge about Walton as a company and its notebook product or they may not. However, it will imperative for these participants to have at least used a notebook computer or to have purchased one so that they can have adequate knowledge about it.

The research will be done through random probability sampling. However, the sample population will be such that fifty percent of the respondents will be family members while the remaining will be students. Selection of the 200 participants will then be randomly done. Numbers will be generated automatically through a computer and names will then be numbered and listed alphabetically. The participants will be chosen through the random numbers appearing on the computer screen.

Personal interviews with frontline salesmen
Frontline salesmen have a mastery of notebook computer information because they have to know what they are selling. Also, they have interacted with consumers widely and are therefore at a greater position to assess the psychology of the decision making process. Depth interviews were chosen for this part of the research because they will bring in a different angle to the research. Besides that, it will go a long way in ascertaining that some hidden truths will be revealed in the process. Accuracy levels
In order to ensure good accuracy levels within the research, findings from the primary phase will be compared to other related findings so as to see whether they correlate. Consequently, personal judgment will come into play. Also, triangulation is another method for ensuring high accuracy levels within this research. The latter term refers to the use of a series of methods in research so as to minimize the biases associated with the use of one source alone. The research will employ the use of three methods i.e. Depth interviews, structured online questionnaires and Desk research. The inadequacies in one method will be neutralized by the strength in another method hence the term strangulation. * The manner in which a structured questionnaire has been designed can contribute greatly towards the research’s accuracy levels. If the questionnaire is well structured, interactive and comprehensive, then chances of success are much higher. These are all qualities that will be adhered to promptly within the interview process. The target audience will also be given an imperative for thinking within this research and this will therefore contribute towards greater accuracy.

* The focus group and sampling population will reflect what the potential consumers of the notebook computer will be. This is especially in terms of the demographics of the target group and also in terms of its knowledge base. It can therefore be said that these people’s thoughts and advice will be realistic enough to minimize bias during the research process. The sales men who will take part in the depth interview will also be thoroughly experienced so as to affirm that the information given will be representative of the notebook market. * Selection of staff members to carry out the research will be done carefully and accurately. Only those who are well trained and experienced in the computer notebook industry will be sought. Additionally, a lot of care will be carried out during the data collection process so as to heighten accuracy. * Statisticians have asserted that data accuracy can always be improved when the sample size chosen is higher than usual. It is likely that the study will be accurate because of the fact that the websites chosen for the research are visited very frequently. This means that response rates will be very high and good data analysis can therefore be done.

Resources
Time and money are the most valuable resources within this research and the following section shows how finances will be utilized Task | | Amount in TK | Questionnaire & Interview Gifts | | 40000 | Internet questionnaire (cooperation with two famous websites) | | 55000 | Travelling | | 20000 | Accommodation and meals | | 25000 | Staff salary | | 150000 | Printing of questionnaires and reports | | 6500 | TOTAL | | 296500 |

Staffing:
Since the research will entail visits to different divisions, then some assistance will be required. In this case, 8 staff members will be chosen for the job.
Research timetable: Time | Research | Week 1 | Design questionnaires and contact websites | Week 2 | Desk research, questionnaire completion | Week 3 | Carrying out depth and personal interviews | Week 4 | Continue with primary research in different divisions. | Week 5 | Collection of competitor information | Week 6 | Data analysis and data processing | Week 7 | Finalize report writing |

Quality Issues * In order to ensure sound quality within this research process, then the research designer should have an experience of five years at minimum. However, for successful completion of the project, then a total of ten years will be necessary. The 8 staff members chosen for this work need to have a minimum of three years within this field. Additionally, they need to have travelled outside the capital city and must have worked independently. * The websites chosen for the research will also contribute towards high quality maintenance because they need to demonstrate that they have been in the business for a period of five years or more. On top of the latter a total of twenty thousand persons per day should be visiting this website.

Data analysis
A systematic approach will be imperative in ascertaining that the data collected is holistic. Usually, this starts with data collection followed by immersion, reduction, categorization, synthesis and eventually evaluation. The quantitative aspect of the research i.e. the online questionnaire will require data collection which will then be followed by a reduction process that will be done through analysis of vital information. This can then be followed by a categorization of all the similar answers. Afterwards, a synthesis of the overall revelations in the research will be done and an evaluation of these outcomes will follow.
Conclusion
The latter research is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative aspects. It seeks to look into the psychology of the decision making process; a qualitative aspect. Additionally, it also examines some competitor information and features of the notebook computer; quantitative aspects. By combining these two aspects, then an insightful analysis will be done qualitatively while at the same time offering suitable facts and figures to explain market trends.

References

* William R. Dillon, Thomas J .Madden & Neil H. Firtle (1990) Marketing Research In A Marketing Environment, (2nd Ed.) Produced by Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing * David A. Aaker & George S. Day (1990) Marketing Research, Fourth Edition. Produced by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. * T. Procter (2000), Essentials of Marketing Research, 2nd Edition, Produced by Pearson Education Limited * Len Tiu wright & Margaret Crimp (2000), The Marketing Research Process, fifth edition, Produced by Pearson Education Limited * Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettitt (2000) Principles of Marketing, (2nd Ed.) Produced by Pearson Education Limited * William, Zikmund (2000) Business research methods, 6th edtn, Dryden * Smith, D. & Fletcher, J. (2001): Inside information – making sense of marketing data; Wiley * Malhotra, K. & Birks, D. (2000): Marketing research – an applied approach; Prentice Hall * Proctor, T. (2000): Essentials of marketing research, 2nd ed, Financial Times Management * Hague, P. & Jackson, P. (1998): Do your own market research, 3rd ed, Kogan Page * Chisnall, P. (1997): Marketing research, 5th ed, McGraw-Hill * Marks, L. (2000): Qualitative research in context; Routledge * Creswell, J. (1998): Qualitative inquiry and research design – Choosing among five traditions; Sage Publications * Creswell, J. (2003): Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Approaches; Sage Publications

Questionnaire for new notebook----- 1. What should be the desired price of the notebook after installing updated hardware into it?

2. Which type of hard disk will you prefer for your note book?

3. What type of processor would choose in this notebook?

4. How much powerful would the RAM be?

5. Which color do prefer for this kind of computer?

6. How would be the sound quality for the note book?

7. Is high resolution video configuration in the note book preferable to you?

8. What kind of gift would you like to have after purchasing notebook?

9. How much longer would be the Warrantee period for this?

10. Why do you buy this leaving other brand aside?

11. If all these features have been provided by the WALTON within your preferred price , what will be your comment -