sharmin ulm - chapter 03 and 04

7/31/2019 Sharmin ULM - Chapter 03 and 04

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Chapter 03

Methodology

Introduction

The second chapter reviewed the relevant topic research on the customer loyalty and

relationship marketing. The purpose of this chapter is explore relevant methodology

philosophy, design for this particular research activity. Methodology section focused to

address the research aim and research objectives. In order to address the objectives proper

secondary and primary data would be conducted for this purpose.

Research methodology focuses on the research strategy which is quantitative or qualitative or

mixed. Depend on the research objectives research strategy would be selected.

Depend on the research strategies research techniques have been suggested in this chapter.

Research techniques such as in-depth interview will be mainly selected for this purpose.

3.1 Research Onion Model

Positivism

Realism

Inerp

Inerpretivitism

Deductive

Mono method

Mixed

mixed method

multi method

Cross sectional

longitudinal

Data collection

And data

Analysis


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Figure 3.1-Research Onion Model- Saunders et al( 2009, p.106)

PHILOSOPHY

As per Euston(2007:56) research philosophy as a belief about the way in which data about a

phenomenon should be gathered, analysed and used. Epistemology which is, what is known

to be true, is contrary to doxology, what is believed to be true encompasses the various

philosophies of research approach. There are two main research philosophies that has been

described, which are Positivist (scientific) and interpretivist (antipositivist). (Gibson,2005)

Saunders et al (2009), as per figure 3.1 Research onion model explains about the positivists

as an attempt to build knowledge of a reality that exists beyond the human mind. Positivist

approach is depending on experience based on the social science and independent reality thus

that this provides the base for individual knowledge. Alternatively, interpretivist believe the

knowledge they acquire is through structural interpretation of the research., thus depend on

the individual human experience, culture and other associated factors , impact on the

interpretation and the results of the studies. Main focus of the Interpretivist is to make sense

through the activities occur during the process and thus to achieve the objectives of the

research. In nutshell knowledge is based interpretation of findings of the work.

In order to conduct this research,Interpretivist philosophy has been chosen. Because this

research requires the perception and interpretation of the data. Significant interpretation does

involve with this research .

3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH

The importance of the research approach is it direct to decide and develop the appropriate

research design for the project (Euston,2007)

According to Saunders et al (2009), research approach could be mainly divided into two .

These are deduction which owns more towards the positivist research philosophy whislt

inductive label towards the interpretivist philosophy. Deductive approach could be defined as

expressing and testing the hypothesis which is being developed already (Saunders et al,

2009). As this research does not driven based on the hypothesis , it will not consider of using

the deductive approach .


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Inductive approach focus to get a feeling about the problem from the respondents and

analysis would focus on the formulation of theories ( Saunders et al,2009). In fact small

sample size would be ideal for these types of research approach.

As per Smith et al (2008) inductive research approach mainly consist of the questions such as

so what, why type of questions. Thus mainly considers the qualitative sample techniques. In

fact this research focused to find out how training would be impacting towards the

productivity. In fact various views should be obtained to address the objectives. As the

research is mainly on inductive approach, the qualitative technique is predominately used.

3.3 Research Design

As per Saunders et al (2009) research strategy is general plan of how the research will go

about answering the research questions. Research strategies could be categorized in to

experiment, survey, case study and grounded theory ( Stark,2007).In view of achieving the

research objectives case study based approach which is Sainburys Woolwich branch has been

selected. Survey method has been focused in Quantitative method.

According to the Lynch(2008:35) Analytical Research used to identify and explain the

nature of the problem in an analytical way. It fosters the researcher to better understand thenature of the problem. This includes diagnosing the situation, evaluating the situation, listing

the alternatives, matching the best alternatives and discovering the new views and ideas.

By considering all the research philosophies and approached research a technique is mainly

focused on the qualitative method base. But quantitative interview method will be used with

number of customers as well .

3.4 Data Collection

As per Payne (2006 :101) Data collection could be explained as the collection of the

relevant data needed to find out critical point in the developed research questionnaire which

has been specified.

As per Martin (2003) whilst developing the research objectives it is important to look at how

the relevant data could be collected for the research, otherwise conducting the research would

not derive any results.


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In order data collection will be done in two methods. These are secondary data collection and

primary data collection.

Secondary data collection

The data which has already collected for some other purpose , which could be useful for the

research purpose. According to Fraser(2003) secondary data is more vital when developing

the literature review in the research.

Secondary data sources for this research purpose

Books , journal articles , literatures , company website , newsletters have been gathered and

analyzed to facilitate for the research purpose.

Primary data collection

The data which is collected to address the specific research objectives could be identified as

the primary data ( Jingth, 2003) . The main importance of the primary data is it would be give

fresh inputs to the research and as it focuses specifically the research objectives clear address

of the research objectives is visible.

Research technique

Even though approach is mainly inductive, mixed techniques will be used. Predominately

research techniques are qualitative but quantitative technique will also be considered.

According to Gibson (2005) Qualitative data would shed light in understanding the in depth

areas of the research. Qualitative research is most appropriate for interpretive approach and

inductive research. According to Clarke (2004) quantitative techniques is most used for

deductive approach. As per Katich (2004) quantitative techniques is most used in analyzing

numerical data in order to obtain certain mathematical trends and sequences. Quantitative

techniques are used when questionnaires are used to collect the data. Open ended

questionnaires better suits for the analysis of the quantitative data

3.5 Sampling

It is in fact clear that total population cant be used in the for the research purpose, due As per

the Saunders et al(2009) it is not practical to use all the population for the research purpose.


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Sampling method mainly focused on the probability random sampling methods and

Systematic random sampling method is specifically selected. Because it is vital to understand

the different class of customers in order to find it their loyalty towards the super market.

3.6 Sample Size

Deciding the sample size is significantly important for any research, success of the research

lies with the sampling method (Cook,2002). In fact sample size of 32 customers has been

selected for the quantitative research techniques. The data will be collected based on the

systematic sampling method. Quantitative sampling method will be used and likert scale

questionnaire will be used.

Qualitative sampling

As per the analysis total number of employees at super market is 20. Considering the 95%

level of confidence, applying solving formula indicated that minimum number of sample to

be considered is 6 . As per this total of 6 number of sample will be selected for In order to

conduct qualitative sampling procedure 6 employees will be selected and those will be in

depth interviewed. This sample will be selected based on the Judgemental sampling method.

Branch manager will be interviewed separately.

Questionnaire design

Questionnaire was conducted at Sanisburys Supermarket in Woolwich by the researcher

himself. Quantitative research method was established after insulating qualitative methods.

Questionnaire contained how overall quality of the service would be impacting on customer

retention. Questionnaire is also looking at the ease of the respondent and focused on the

psychological design of the respondent. Questionnaires are non interactive and simple

procedure used to research for quantitative purpose.

Questions were targeted to find out suitability of service model at Sainsburys. Other

questions focused on identifying further loyalty tactics and other research objectives set by

the researcher.

One to one Interview/ face to face questionnaire filling

Compared to written interviews and telephone interviews, one to one interview has a high

degree of response rate. On the other hand respondent could be biased and may give the


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answers to console the company. But it is expensive than telephone interviews (Babbie,

1992).

Staff were interviewed directly by the researcher to find out how their service could impact

on increased loyalty and to increase the overall service quality and what methods could be

used to enhance the service quality at Supermarket.

This research study took on a two-phase approach. The first phase of the primary data

collection for this research study was completed through the use of questionnaires. Collis and

Hussey (1997) define a questionnaire as a method for collecting primary data in which a

sample of respondents are asked a list of carefully structured questions chosen after

considerable testing, with a view to elicit reliable responses. Questionnaires are restricted to

two basic types, namely- open ended questionnaires and close ended questionnaires.

Richardson (2002) elucidates open-ended questionnaires, questions that will solicit additional

information from the inquirer. They are broad and require more than one to two word

responses. They are also termed infinite response or unsaturated type questions.

For the purposes of this study, respondents were given questionnaire to find out the answer.

Total 14 questions were developed .

Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participants experiences.

The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic. Interviews may be useful

as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires (Mcjain,1999,P-78).

In order to identify the customer relationship strategy of Supemarket vs. Loyalty of customer

insights of the customer should be explored.

In this purpose In-depth interview would be idea for this purpose. But the ability of getting

ideas from large respondents is not possible due to time constraints of this activity.

Indepth interview conducted with six employees in order to identify how they perceive

customer needs.

3.7 Treatment of the data.

Data Analysis:

One of the strength of the research outcomes depend upon the analysis of data that arecollected. Since this research is case study research, researcher adopted the qualitative data


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analysis techniques for the reliability and validity of the outcomes of research. Bryne (2001)

stated that qualitative data is basically originated from telephone interviews, experience and

observations, and these things need to address the major issues of research aim and

objectives.

Cross case analysis method

According to Soy (1997) cross-case analysis divides the data according to their types

depending upon the cases investigated. Than all the collected data are analysed thoroughly

and similar data are categorized in one place because when the evidence of one data matched

with the other evidence of similar nature, findings and evidence become more reliable, valid

and stronger. So the researcher also applied the same approach while conducting this research

to make the result of research more reliable, valid and strong. For this, researcher

characterised the similar findings of similar questions in one part and different findings of

similar research questions in another part. When the findings of similar questions are matched

with other respondents than researcher labelled those findings as more reliable and stronger.

And for the different answer of the similar questions, researcher used his analytical skills and

his personal experiment while analysing the data. While conducting this research, the

researcher treated all the evidence fairly to generate the analytical conclusions for the

research questions.

Quantitative data analysis

In order to analyze the quantities data findings of the graphs and the pie charts will be used.

Outcome of the questionnaire would be developed in the excel to find out the similarities.

3.8 Ethical consideration

Many factors are contributing to be ethical in the research. As per the Gibson(2005) ethical

standard in the research tends to avoid error and promotes harmony while achieving the

research objectives. Ethical factors refer to the confidentiality in the collected data, trust

between the researcher and the respondents and avoid of fabrication or manipulation in the

research.

Confined to this research, primary data gathering focused on the in-depth interviews and the

questionnaires with respondents, but should ensure respondents were fully aware of the

research and why research is conducted and what purpose it is conducted. Furthermore if any


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respondents want to go away from the interview it should be allowed and no influence should

be made by the researcher.

3.81 Strength of the research methodology:

As this research focus to address more intrepretivist philosophy, qualitative has been on main

focus, but quantitative as also used in order to achieve research objectives. In fact mixed

techniques have been used for the research. In fact after considering the total population

sample number has been decided. Systematic sampling gives has been selected. In fact

judgemental sampling used in the qualitative thus gives better results in the research findings.

As the researcher has good understanding on the Woolwich Sainsburys.

3.9-Summary

In order to address the research objectives appropriate research methodologies suggested in

this section. Saunders research onion model have used to develop the research methodology.

Research philosophy was mainly interpretivist and inductive research approach have been

considered. The research focused to interpret the findings of the data. Qualitative interview

techniques have been chosen. Sample size has been selected. Total of 20 customers and 6

staff and branch manager will be interviewed for this purpose.


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Chapter 04

Data presentation and analysis

4.1 Introduction

This chapter focused on the presenting and interpreting the findings of the methodology. The

research was mainly conducted by using the qualitative and quantitative technique method.

The research findings will be presented through the pie charts, bar charts and graphs.

Qualitative data will be presented as the comment made by the staff.

All data will be analyzed in order to address the research objectives.

The main research objectives focused to address in the research are;

To examine the existing customer relationship policies in the Sainsburys Supermarket.

To evaluate the relationship between customer complaints rate and customerretention.

To assess the current CRM activities at the Super market and its impact on the salesgrowth of the company.

To identify most appropriate customer retention models for Super marketingcustomers

4.2 Outcome of the Qualitative research findings

In order to address the above research objective predominately the qualitative research

techniques has been used. In order to address the third research objectives quantitative

research techniques has been applied.

1- To examine the existing Customer relationship Management polices SainsburysWoolwich Branch.

In order to address the research objectives 6 staff and branch manager has been

interviewed. The interview questions with the branch manager includes


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What type of policies the Super market in order to improve customer satisfaction?

In order to address this, following questions were raised with the manager and the six

staff in the Super market.

Is Customer relationship Management has seen as part of the corporate strategy?

In-depth interview revealed that two out of six staff said that customer relationship

management has seen key function in the organisation. In fact more priority has been

allocated for customer relationship management strategies.

But 4 employees said a contradictory statement that, customer relationship

management strategies implement haphazardly and no one knows about the policies

of the customer relationship management and policies are with the top management.

Due to this reason staff cant make any decision by themselves because they were not

guided to do so. In fact according to these 4 staff employee were not aware about the

customer relationship management policies in the Super market.

According to the branch manager Sainsburys corporate strategy has been key of

developing the customer relationship management strategies. But some of the policies

have made to achieve short term gaining rather than looking at broader picture.

What type of complaint policy that Sainsburys Woolwich branch has and the customer

complaint handling policy already exists in the customer relationship management policy?

In fact Super marketing belong to service sector, it needs to have proper complaint handling

mechanism.

The questions were raised with the employees about

What type of common complaint do you receive from your existing customers and are you

being instructed through policies to handle these complaints?

Most of the complaint what we receive we forward to the manager, as we are not aware of the

customer complaint procedure. In the meantime we are not empowered through the policies

to take necessary action to handle the situation. This view has been given by majority of the

four employees. Remaining two employees suggest that customer complaints are vary in the

Super market so policies are not important to handle these issues. But manager should present

at the scene in order to manage the situation.

According to the manager of the branch customer complaint procedure are managed with

proper policy in the Super market and it explains clearly on how to handle dispute with the

customers.


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Third questions

Does the CRM policy identify the key customers or all the customer are treated same

manner? Or customers are divided based on the year with the Super market or the amount or

the transaction they have done with the Super market.

This questions has mainly risen with the Super market manager and according to him,

customer group at the Super market are divided based on the year of doing the business with

the Super market as well the transaction amount. So according to him both the transaction

and year of experience both counted to categorize the key customers.

Fourth questions

Is budget allocated for the CRM is sufficient to create customer retention in the super market

sector?

According to the employees the Super market has allocated substantial budget for the

customer retention and all six agreed that appropriate budget have been allocated.

But according to the manager of the branch indicated, that CRM budget do communicate

about the performance of the division. So if it high performance better budget would be

allocated for the division.

According to this the organisation appropriate budge has allocated to improve customer

relationship manager policies, but majority of the respondents were not aware about the

customer handling policy in the Sainsburys Super market.

The company has complaint handling policy, but the implementation or awareness towards

the complaint handling has deteriorated complaint handling policy should be communicated

with the staff in order to implement the model.

To evaluate the relationship between customer complaints and the customer retention

The second objective of the research was to examine to what extent customer complains

would have an impact on the customer retention. Following question were asked in order to

identify the relationship of those two elements. The in-depth interview was conducted

amongst the manager and six employees.

1. Does the Super market have an interest towards the customer complains2. How often do the Super market review the complains


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3. Are there or has there been instances where customer has left the Super market aftermaking complains

4. Are their measures to handle complains5. What types of complains doe customers come out in the Super marketing sector

Based on the in-depth research questions, manager stated that Super market has keen interest

towards the complaints made by the customer. He state that there is a staff officer deployed to

look in the complains of the customers. He also stated that complains are reviewed once a

week and sorted based on the urgency and importance. He stated that the officer deployed

personally speaks the customer and gives a date and time to handle the complaint. He stated

that 75% of the customers becomes a loyal customer to the Super market once they are been

closely handled and 50% of the complaints will be handled within the first two weeks. These

data were gathered from his secondary data that were found in his data Super market.

According to the employees (3 out of the 6) who stated that most of the time complains could

be handled by the front office or within the counter itself. However if the complaint

consumes time they will be directed towards an officer. According to the manager only 2% of

the customers have left the Super market completely after a complains had made. This too is

because of the issues related with legality.

Another question was asked as to what the measures that are in place to handle complain.

According to the manager he stated that an employee is specially deployed in order to handle

the complaints. He also stated that every employee whether they are in front office or in the

counter or whether he is assistant manager, everyone is empowered and trained to handle any

complains and to provide solution to the customer then and there. However due to the time it

consumed front desk and staff who are at the counter would send the customer to the manager

or to the office in charge.

Based on the interview with the employees 5 out of 6 stated that majority of the complaints

are on administration related such as time, queuing, Super market invoices and time taken for

processes. There has been few complaints on product availability. The type of complains

were covered in the questionnaire.


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4. To identify the most appropriate customer retention model for Super market industry

The fourth objective of the research was to identify the most appropriate customer retention

model for super marketing industry

There are many models that were developed in order to increase the customer life time value.

Some of the key models have been the loyalty ladder that was developed by Christopher et al

(2001), SQCL model developed by Gronroos (2005), Arther et al (2005). However each of

those models was tested at different context and different customer groups. Hence it is

important to identify which model is better suited for an organization thats involved in Super

marketing sector.

One of the models that were examined for this research was the applicability of the SQCL

model. Qualitative questions were asked from the managers and the employees in line to

identify the appropriateness. Following are some of the questions that were asked in order to

identify the most suitable model.

1. What are the key factors customers consider as most important toincrease the loyalty

2. Do the Super market have a method to identify the customerssatisfaction towards the service

3. Are employees motivated to provide a quality service4. How much do the Super market spend to acquire new customer5. How does the Super market commit to retain newly acquired

customers

Based on the questions, manager was of the view that customers prime importance has been

the quality of the services that are been provided by the staff and the products. They expect to

attend to their issues and find solutions for their problems at faster phase. This has been the

key determinant factor for the customers to be retained and to be loyal towers the Super

market. At the same time manager stated that Super market has invested on the methods to

evaluate the customer satisfaction and that they conduct a survey to evaluate the satisfaction.

Manager also stated that employees play a significant part in making sure that the customers

are been provided a quality service. Manager was of the view that staff are been trained once

in three months to ensure customer complaints are at the minimal. When considering the

SQCL model of Gronroos (2005) it is clear that the model considers key elements such as


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internal service quality that leads to have proper guidance for the employee recruitment and

satisfaction thus providing appropriate performance and experience for the customers. It

states that these performance and experience of the customers would lead to level of customer

satisfaction and finally towards the customer loyalty. Employees were of the view that if the

they were not happy it was difficult to treat the customers happy. All employees stated that

the company should treat them satisfactorily for them to treat the customers satisfactorily.

However 4 of the 6 employees were of the view that Sainsburyss do treat them satisfactorily.

The other model that was reviewed was the Arther et al (2004) loyalty cycle model.

Arther et al (2004) loyalty cycle

During the in-depth interview with the manager as well as the 6 employees following results

were evident. According to the manager it was clear that the Super market spends large

amount of money on advertisements and many promotional campaigns. Though he did not

disclose the actual monitory value due to strategic reasons it was clear that they spend a large

amount. He also stated that Sainsbury Super market through many CRM activities and first

hand customer experience they try to make the customer come back to Super market. Based

on the interview conducted amongst the employees, 5 of the 6 employees stated that they tryto promote added value when they see a potential customers in order to make sure they are


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glued to the product and services of the Super market. Hence it was evident that employees

are committed to customer retention as they are involved in satisfying the customers at every

given opportunity. By considering these factors it was clear that both models are appropriate.

However Gronroos (2005) SQCL model did consider the employee satisfaction in order to

make sure the customers are treated happily. Considering these factors it is evident that

SQCL model of Gronroos is more appropriate for the Super marketing sectors.

4.3 Quantitative questionnaire

Based on the questionnaire following research findings were evident

Based on the research conducted on 20 customers it was evident that 32% of them stated that

time consumed in waiting for a service more. Secondly 23% of the customers complained on

the administration issues while 10% of the customers complained about the delay in

responding to their queries either by phone or through email or post. 14% of the customers

stated that error in invoice was one the main complain. 9% of the customers did complain

about the product non availability while 12% of the customers complained about the wrong

products being sold to them by the staffs.


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This was also appropriate with the research they use to conduct periodically by the Super

market.

Hence it is clear that there is a positive core relationship with the complaints and customer

loyalty. However it has to be stated that if the complain was handled then the loyalty

increases. However just because the complain was not resolved it does not necessarily refer

to the customers do leave the Super market. This largely due to the nature of the service.

Third research objectives

To assess the current CRM activities at the Super market and its impact on the sales growth

of the company.

In order to address this research objectives quantitative research techniques has been

implemented. The questionnaire focused on 20 customers and sample has been mainly

selected based on the systematic sampling method.

Gender

Demarcation

Figure 4.1 Gender demarcation


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This indicated the majority that 70% of the sample size was male population and whilst only

30 % represent the female population.

Figure- 4.2 Age Category

This indicated that 50 % of the sample selected through the systematic sampling method

belongs to the 20-30 age groups.

In fact rest of the sample size which is 30 -60 group build remaining 50 %. According to this

majority of the customers who participated for survey was mainly the age group of 20-30

years old.

How did you come to know about the Sainsburys Super Market?


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Survey indicated the below mentioned results As per the survey following data has been

achieved.

Figure 4.3 How customer come to know about the Sainsburys Super market

Majority of the employees have come across the TV /Radio/ Press. This means TV radio

press have created significant advantage of spreading the message about the Sainsburys

Super market.

The survey focused on the activities that the company has been doing with respect to the

customer relationship management programme.


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Figure 4.4 Loyalty cards

As per the survey 50 % respondents indicated that nexus loyalty card is considered as one of

important criteria to do future Super market with the Sainsburys. In fact least interesting

activity offered by the Super market was extra added service offered by the Super market;

such has insurance cover and mobile phone insurance cover. In fact customers did not really

value this type of activities when it comes to repeat purchase of the Super market service.

. How often do you super market with the Sainsburys?

Figure 4.5 how often do you do Super market

According to the data collected it was clear that 12 of the customer does the business of

transaction more than once a week which builds of total of 60% of the sample size. Not

frequent customer does not build the substantial sample size thus the findings of the research

would be the more than once a week and once in two week customers. So the findings are

more relevant for the frequent visiting customers output.


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What are the most recent activities you came across through Sainsburys?

In order to find out which CRM activities have been recently communicated with the

customers the pie charts have been developed based on the data. .

Figure 4.6 Activities in the Super market

According to this 75% of respondents have come across about the extra facilities that the

Super market has been offering to the customers. These are like extra insurance or car cover.

But loyalty has come across only 15%. In variably the personalised service related aspect has

come across only 5%.

According to the previous questions it was understood that customer do repeat purchase

because of the loyalty cards. But as per the activities that have informed to customers are

mainly the extra service that the Super market has been offering. This indicated that customer

retention does not increase through the extra service and it does not have any impact towards

the increase of the sales in the company.

4.4Summary:

In order to address the research objectives both the qualitative and quantitative have been

used. In order to address the research objectives 2 and 3 quantitative research techniques have

been used.


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All the quantitative data have been presented with the pie charts and using bar charts. The

qualitative interview method indicated that current CRM policies that the Super market has

should be communicated appropriately with the super marketing staff in order to improve the

customer retention. Currently this has created chaos in the complaint handling issues, because

most often staff have been referring the all the customer who come out with the problem to

the manager.

Complaints which have been raised against Super market were mainly the administration

related and time management related especially about queue in the counter. If this complaint

handles appropriately this customer who rise could convert to the loyal customer group.

.employees have been empowered to handle complaints, however the complaint have not

being handled because the reason being employees were not aware about the policies of the

customer relationship management strategies.

In fact in order to assess the current CRM activities different activities have been looked at.

Loyalty card introduction, personalised service, online support and extra facilities such has

insurance cover has been selected. But out of all customers have raised their voice that nexus

loyalty card created for them to do business with the Super market. But the survey indicated

that Super market has been mainly communicating about the extra service offered by the

Super market to the customers. But this has not being values by the customers in the

Sainsburys. So certain activities such as Extra facilities offered to the company have not

being viewed as successful strategy for the company.

As per SQUCL model is more appropriate, as it considered the quality and employee

commitment for the Super market. The employee commitment and overall commitment has

created to increase the satisfaction of customers .this has proven with the qualitative

interview conducted with the staff of the Super market.

sharmin ulm - chapter 03 and 04

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