Research set-up

Tailor-made market research, conducted by International Business Research, is an effective way for companies and non-profit organizations to learn about the possibilities, opportunities and challenges in Indonesia or Brazil. After four months of desk research in the Netherlands, field research will take place in Indonesia or Brazil in May and June 2012. During this period, students will stay in close contact with the companies to discuss the research plan and progress of the research.

A tailor-made research project consists of three overlapping phases:

The General Preparation Phase, The Specific Research Phase and The Reporting Phase.

1) The General Preparation Phase

The aim of this phase is to improve the students’ knowledge of Indonesia/Brazil. Next to this, enhancing the students’ methodological expertise and knowledge of market research is another objective.

This phase is meant to provide the students with knowledge and skills that can be used to perform the actual field research. The participating students are obliged to follow the Specialization Course Strategic Marketing, in which the focus will be on how to conduct market research. Furthermore, the students will attend series of guest lectures about Indonesia/ Brazil, given by experts from various companies and institutions. Moreover, they will conduct a literature research and follow workshops on research methodology which will be lectured by the supervising professors.

2) The Specific Research Phase

During this phase, the specific needs of your company will be thoroughly incorporated and interactive feedback will be maintained. This research phase consists of the following parts:

1. Research framework

In consultation with your company, the framework and contents of the research will be determined. These are entirely tailored towards your organization’s specific needs. The research set-up will be presented in a Contract Review.

2. Preliminary investigation in The Netherlands

Until April 2012, an extensive preliminary investigation will take place in The Netherlands. The results of this research will be reported to your company. At the same time, the strategy for follow up research in Indonesia/Brazil will be discussed and agreed upon in a preliminary paper called ‘Terms of Reference’.

3. Field research in Indonesia

In May and June 2012, students will spend five weeks in Indonesia/Brazil. During this period, the actual field research will be conducted. Students will visit companies, governmental institutions and universities. At this stage, an ‘Intermediate Report’ will be drafted to present the preliminary results of the investigation.

3) The Reporting Phase

The project will be completed during this final phase. The research results will be presented to your company in a final research report. It goes without saying that these results will be handled confidentially.