Thesis Proposal

How to gain customers in German for YFMIT
Thesis Proposal
First Reader: Dr. Asta Helsper-Balciunaite
0854917
Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u 1.0 INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc508411513 h 31.1 Company Background Information PAGEREF _Toc508411514 h 41.2 Problem definition PAGEREF _Toc508411515 h 42.0 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION PAGEREF _Toc508411516 h 83.0 METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc508411517 h 113.1 Research approach PAGEREF _Toc508411518 h 113.2 Data collection PAGEREF _Toc508411519 h 123.3 Data analysis PAGEREF _Toc508411520 h 12Relevance table PAGEREF _Toc508411521 h 13References PAGEREF _Toc508411522 h 19

1.0 INTRODUCTION In any company, there is always a need of retaining customers and gaining new ones; which is mostly an objective to many of them. This makes the company grow. There is a number of issues that a company needs to look into in order to achieve such an objective. The topic, ‘how to gain and retain customers’ is an interesting topic to look at in an organization. It helps one in studying the strategies that a company has to put in place to emerge victorious in any market. The main problem that company befalls many companies is on how to gain new customers while at the same time maintain the ones they already have. This is the motivation behind the choice of this thesis proposal.
The organization can employ business information systems and technology to advance positive social change through the implementation of a corporate structure including the use of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management.

The organization should ensure that there is transparency. The organization should also try to remain competitive for a long time. The company should also boost its philanthropy area as it highly affects the employees and customers.
In this thesis research, Yangzhou Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Company Limited (YFMIT) is the company under research. The research is aimed at studying how the company will be able to retain its customers while gaining new ones in the Germany market. The research shows the models underuse in order to accomplish the study.
As a chapter, the introduction includes the background of the organization, where its history is analyzed. It also includes the definition of the problem under study. The problem being investigated is explained. Research objectives and sub-objectives are also looked into. Finally, research questions are analyzed. Research questions give the researcher a guide since through answering them; one is able to accomplish the objectives of the project.
1.1 Company Background InformationThe company is referred to as Yangzhou Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Company Limited (YFMIT). It was founded in the year 2013. As a company, it operates in the endoscope of accessories industry (Abd-El-Salam 2013). It mainly exports its products to USA, United Kingdom, Netherlands and other countries in the European continent (App 2012).
The company is located in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province in China. Initially, it was called Yangzhou Hanjaing Fortley Brush Making Factory. In 2013, however, the name was changed to Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. (YFMIT). The company mostly specializes in producing endoscope cleaning brush. Currently, it has a leading position in this field worldwide (Calvo-Porral 2015). It has over 100 employees working for it. The number of employees keeps on increasing. Currently, it is planning to expand its market to Germany, a country in Europe.
The mission of the company is: Designing a new unique and competitive product and tries to maintain a comfortable working environment for its employees.
1.2 Problem DefinitionManagement Issue
The issue that Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. (YFMIT) is facing is on how to gain and retain customers in the Germany market. The company wants to retain its market in order to remain leading. When it comes to gaining markets, there is always a challenge to every company. The company has to ensure that it works towards ensuring the same. It has to consider all the factors that may lead to its failure as it ventures into the new market (Frey 2013). Its success in the new market will be determined by the marketing research it will have done. Such research will avail the market prevailing conditions in Germany. Such conditions will then be the foundation of their marketing success.
The company needs to move forward with time but still remains mindful of the community around. However, the organizations should realize that social change also entails technological change. This involves the use of changes to facilitate a positive change in the society. Thus, organizations can use innovation as a way to address the change. Innovativeness is essential to an organization. Organizations should complete tasks to make sure that the change is disseminated all over the company. According to Kumar (2012), an organization should create an environment where employees are encouraged to contribute, and their opinions are considered.
Main Research Objective and Sub-objectives
The research is aimed at determining the feasibility and the best approach for Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. (YFMIT) to enter the Germany market.
Sub-objectives
• Providing an internal analysis of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. (YFMIT) that are needed in the marketing of its services;
• Assessing the marketing potential of the products and determining the potential strategies that Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. (YFMIT) could implement to enter the Germany market, gaining its customers.
Main Research Question and Sub-questions
The main question that how can Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. Gain its customers in Germany market?
Sub-questions
What research model should Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt in order to analyze the Germany market?
• What are the features and trends of the external environment of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. that affect the marketing of its products in Germany?
• How are the competitors of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. performing in the market?
• What is the market potential for Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. in Germany?
• What strategies could Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt for it to remain leading in the Germany market?
• How satisfied are the customers with the products? The purpose of this question is to see what the customers’ (internal or external) expectations are so that these can play an important role in evaluating the internal market.
Research Diagram
Shown in figure 1 below is a fishbone diagram with the branches representing the objectives with themes and the main research objective in the head. The steps shown in the branches, as branches themselves, will help to create a logical way to answer the main research question.

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: Research diagram

2.0 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONThis is the part that will discuss the Thesis’ theoretical foundation. The proposal will be discussed and explained per subtopics/ sub-questions that lead to the research objective. The drawn model will be used to describe the theoretical framework or foundation.
Research Question 1: What research model should Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt in order to analyze the Germany market?
Multidimensional preference analysis is a graphical research model that can be used in this research. It was developed by Carroll in the year 1972. Competitors are asked their preference of the products-the client’s and competitors’, whose market is being researched on. There are questions that can be addressed with this model. They include: Who are my clients, who are my competitors’ and who else should be my customers? What is the position of my product relative to that of my competitors? What new products should I create and who should be my target audience? Multidimensional preference analysis is a model that can be used to analyze marketing research. Since the purpose of the thesis is to analyze the new market of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. in Germany, then this is the right model to adopt.
The present media is analyzed in order to benchmark factors against the competitors (Li 2015). Strategy, systems, shared values, and skills are the elements of concern in this thesis. Prahalad and Hamel (1990) showed that there is the need for organizations to have something unique in order to distinguish it from other firms (Kaur 2012). According to Kotler & Armstrong, there is a need for SWOT analysis which analyzes the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of a business.
Employees play an important role in making sure that the customers in the market receive the top-notch services that they deserve. People Development is the process of assisting employees within an organization to improve their organizational and personal skills to produce quality goods or provide quality services to improve the marketability of the products. It can only be achieved if the employees are given an opportunity to be trained routinely.
The training of employees can be done within or outside the organization. Additionally, the senior managers can agree to offer formal training to the employees on various vital issues.
Research Question 2: What are the features and trends of the external environment of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. that affect the marketing of its products in Germany market?
PESTLE analysis is used in this question. PESTLE analysis was developed in 1967 and identifies the macroeconomic variables that are needed to be considered concerning the development of an organization. It also formulates strategies and decisions. It is based on six factors which are: Political, Economic, Social-cultural, Technology, Legal, and Environmental (Kumar 2012). All these factors have to be discussed for analysis.
Research Question 3: How are the competitors of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. performing in the market?
Comparisons will be done using benchmarking strategies in other organizations. It is a strategy that identifies the best practices in order to improve the quality and performance (Peng 2013). Globalization is one factor that has increased competition among companies. With increased competition, different companies are struggling to ensure that they sell products and services which meet or exceed the expectations of their customers.
Research Question 4: What is the market potential for Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. in Germany?
The following demand definition will be made use of according to (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014): the desire for a certain good or service considering the price either individuals or organizations want to use within a specific time period for the quality and features. The demand for the product should thus be analyzed before entering the market. The demand should predict the production pattern for the goods produced.
Research Question 5: What strategies could Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt for it to gain market?
Porter describes strategy as a specific and valuable position that involves various activities. As such, an organization performs activities that are different or same activities but in different ways (Peck 2013). In order to formulate a new strategy regarding the compatible Germany market, there has to be a definition of what strategy is and the concepts there are. According to Igor Ansoff (1957) who developed Ansoff Matrix, a strategy has four quadrants that can be used for growth. They are market penetration and development, product development and diversification.
When rules are made in an organization employees are required to implement them. At times, however, the employees fail to implement the rules because they do not understand their importance. Creative leaders involve employees in the decision-making process, and the implementation process becomes easy. Further, involving them in the decision-making process makes them feel valued and respected. For that reason, they are likely to implement the new rules and give customers the best services ever.
Research Question 5: How can the firm satisfy the customers with the products to gain market?
The purpose of this question is to see what the customers’ (internal or external) expectations are so that these can play crucial duty in evaluating the market. The question is aimed at evaluating the impact the product will have to customers-how they will be satisfied.
It is evident that frameworks provide the most applicable approach for thesis approaches. This is through the theoretical foundation and defined concepts as discussed above. They assist in analyzing the problems being discussed in the thesis.
One strategy that organization can use to ensure they satisfy the needs of their customers is that of finding the right mix of tactics. In doing so, they will be addressing the needs of each customer from a different angle and still remain in line with the organization’s goals. Job rotation has proved to be one of the strategies used to improve the profit of different companies. Through the rotation, strategy customers are satisfied, and they remain loyal to the organization. Companies, therefore, need to use the rotation strategy with the aim of making sure that all their customers are satisfied.
3.0 METHODOLOGY3.1 Research ApproachPrimary and secondary data will thus be collected for this research. Primary data is obtained directly from the field through interviews questionnaires and surveys (Senn 2013). Secondary data relies on analyzing other data sources like reviews or researches. Mixed methods of research will be used, both qualitative and quantitative. According to Verhoeven (2015), quantitative research is based on numerical information representing objects, organizations, and people. Users of the company’s products will be gathered.
3.2 Data CollectionSampling
Sampling method is suitable for data collection. It will give a representation of the whole Germany population since it is not possible to have that of the whole country. As such, only 100 people will be interviewed with 20 of them being business managers. Surveys will also be done on 1000 Germany citizens. Two types of questionnaires will be used, one for competitors and another for the company. Through secondary research, secondary data will be collected. To get the potential and relevant strategies, case studies will be used.
Data Collection Instruments
Questions to be asked should be decided through operationalizing method. They measure the concept which will be turned into measurement instruments (Verhoeven 2015). Value proposition and strategy should be used regarding the interview questions. Regarding online surveys, demand topic will be used in the surveys. Other questions will be asked once more information about the company and market is collected during the research to help in asking the relevant question during the surveys.
3.3 Data AnalysisThe data analysis will involve carrying out of comparisons. A table of results will be prepared. The answers to different questions will be recorded in the tables and compared to for those from different respondents but of the same question. To ensure there is the quality of the data collected, the obtained information will be compared. This information will be from both secondary and primary data sources. Survey data will be averaged; their means will be calculated and analyzed. This will allow the carrying out of comparisons with each other. These processes will give answers to the analyzed data. Finally, frequency tables will be used to derive relations between the answers obtained. 3.4 Research CredibilityAs per Verhoeven (2015), reliability attacks random errors’ incidences. To test the reliability of the data, it must be replicable. However, there are errors in the study. For example, some errors may occur due to human interferences (Piercy 2016). Biases of the researcher may also cause some errors in the research data. Validity will determine the extent to which the research is free of systematic errors. Thus, it must be valid. To mitigate the sensitivity of the questions, they should be thoroughly thought of. As such, the right questions should be asked and to the relevant respondent.
Relevance TableThrough the above-discussed concepts and approach, relevant and detailed research method bout the study is formulated.
Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 1: Relevance table
Research question Theoretical framework Data source/sample Data collection method Data analysis
What research model should Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt in order to analyze the Germany market? Multidimensional preference analysis Company documents
Company website
Annual reports
Interviews with managers FP
Desk research – secondary data
Transcribing interviews and analyzing
Comparative data analysis table Comparison
SWOT analysis Company documents
Interviews with managers FP
Desk research – secondary data
Interviews – primary data
Interview topics: skills, resources, capabilities, value proposition Content analysis
Comparative data analysis table
What are the features and trends of the external environment of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. that affect the marketing of its products in Germany? PESTLE
Articles
Publications / reports
Statistics
Desk research – secondary data
Porters five forces Articles
Publications / reports
Statistics Desk research – secondary data
SWOT analysis All of the above used for Q2. How are the competitors of Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. performing in the market? Benchmarking
Competitors websites
Publications
Annual reports Desk research – secondary data
Comparative data analysis table
SWOT analysis All of the above used for Q3. What is the market potential for Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. in Germany?
Not applicable Current customers,
Non-current customers, Quantitative research – primary data
Surveys/questionnaires
Survey topics: product and service, price, quality Comparative data analysis table
Frequency table
What strategies could Fortley Medical Instrument Technology Co. Ltd. adopt for it to remain leading in the market? Porter’s 3 generic strategies
Case studies
Reports
Secondary data
Ansoff’s Matrix Case studies, reports
Secondary data
Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 2: Planning table
Task done
Week one Week two Week three Week four Week five Week six Week seven Week eight Week nine
1-May
8-May 15-May 22-May 29-May 5-Jun 12-Jun 19-Jun 26-Jun
Analysis of YFMIT
Interviews – conduct and analyze
Industry analysis
Competitors analysis
Market potential – design and send surveys
Market potential – analyze surveys
SWOT analysis
Conclusions and recommendations
Implementation plan
Finishing the full draft of the thesis
Refining the thesis
Hand in the final draft
As shown in the above figure, the topics to be researched are listed on the left side along with their time frames. The research is sequential as well as parallel. However, there is a big risk due to survey responses. Some people don’t give their responses in time during data collection. As such, reminders have to be used to remind them in order to get their answers for data compilation purposes. Also, the obtained data is not 100% reliable. The researcher thus has to compare data from different from different sources for authenticity. The amount of data that can be gathered is not predetermined since some people may decide not to submit their responses at all. The researcher shall have to mitigate this risk by having an alternative means of gathering information or data.
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Appendix

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 3: Ansoff Matrix
Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 3: Qualitative data table 1
Topics Manager 1 Manager 2
Resources capabilities Skills Value position Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 4: Qualitative data table 2
Questions First respondent Second respondent E.t.c
1 2 3 E.t.c