A description of the management problem
Study Group Australia (SGA) plays a significant as far as the process of identification of international and local students is concerned. Providing the students with educational programs to meet their needs is one fundamental step. The institution has a renowned brand name, which it owes to a good reputation maintained over a considerable period locally and internationally. It maintains a pragmatic environment that students can enjoy during their stay at the campus. It ensures the availability of relevant learning materials along with the essential knowledge regarding social interactions at the campus.
It enjoys keeping its student community comfortable, happy, and in harmony. This is the reason that triggered the need for revamping the facilities existing on the campuses. Through a corporate strategic plan, SGA management one of the places identified for upgrading is the canteen area. The current canteen area comprises of an informal sitting area, self-service vending machines for students snacks, microwave facilities where students warm their food, soft drinks, water, and hot drinks. The question about redesigning the area gave way to an exploration of opportunities for the creation of a café and a retail shop offering refreshments, food, and other items such as branded SGA apparel at the campus. This will give students more convenience than ever.
Background information
The primary concern pertains to the convenience of these facilities. Incidentally, students will not waste time but will always have someone at their service as with a cafe. This opportunity will give students the chance to easily accessing products they need without having to travel far in search of anything they need. It also provides an opportune time for creating stronger bonding between students, as they will access great gifts to share with their friends at campus. Additionally, on the part of the retail shop, it is an introduction without a matching product, and it will have items that can market the institution since it is going to have SGA branded products. This is viable because it will present the students with a chance for identifying themselves with the school. The question here is whether they are ready to do so. It is important to know if the students are proud enough to want to identify with such a venture to an extent of spending on the products offered by the retail shop.
Available secondary research
The secondary evaluation process the campus uses to determine the viability of the proposed project entails surveying students and staff. Since they are the ones using the facility, it is crucial to get their opinion as regards the upcoming project as well as other pending plans. The students are a key influence on the performance of the project. In effect, their opinions would be valuable in the process of structuring the project. The administration must be keen on the design of the cafĂ©, by ensuring that the new facility has enticements, which are better than what the campus already has. Student representatives on the campus can be useful sources of information gathering since they are in close contact with fellow students and they are in a better position to know the student’s thoughts and reservations concerning the current facilities. The retail show will give students products such as SGA caps, stationery, gifts, t-shirts, hoods, sweatshirts, and track pants all provided in high quality. Through the past recordings of the vending machine business, students are ready to buy products from campus. So far, the reports have been positive and an indication of good purchase with product availability. The management is sure of its reputation since this has been positive and it shows trust in initiatives such as the upcoming Marty’s cafĂ©. Students will be willing to purchase the products introduced in the retail shop out of trust in the intentions of the management.
Research process
Students have their trust in the administration and that means that running the enterprise, as an SGA activity will be better than introducing a private contractor who is a stranger to the students. There will be questionnaires for interviews with randomly selected 100 students and 20 members of staff. 50 of the 100 students and the 20 staff will be later invited for focus group discussions on different occasions. A day will be split into two with the staff coming in the morning and students holding their discussion in the afternoon after classes. There will also be interviews with the campus manager to know what their expectations are regarding the project.
Testing branding concepts with students and SGA staff
As a testing process for the branding project of SGA staff and students, the two sessions of focus group meetings with students and the other with staff will be the time for doing a mock sale of the suggested products. Participants will be requested to choose what they would buy and what they would not buy so that the research team can collect information regarding the most preferred and the least preferred.
Decision-making process
Collected data are going would be essential in influencing the decisions of the research group. The already gathered would be analyzed to come up with effective resolutions and then a final report will be sent to the administration for approval of relevant procedures to the success of the project. When the research produces information such as on the most preferred and the least preferred products by students and staff, this will help in deciding on the items to stock in the retail shop. It will help in determining the products requiring
Budget, period, and resources
The budget estimate for the research is $500. This would cater to the facilitation of the entire process; taking care of any financial obligations such as paying for the branded products for the testing process. Other aspects such as printing of questionnaires will be done free of charge through the support of the administration for the research team to use available facilities. The administration has also offered the administration hall for a full day to accommodate a morning session of a focus group meeting with participating staff and an afternoon session with students. The total research period will be two weeks.
Confidentiality
Therefore, it will be necessary to collect accurate information from all participants and, thus, will need to assure our participants of mutual trust and respect in the handling of the information. The acquired data of the research would be instrumental in the upcoming researches as well as past researches. There will be respect to the opinions of participants involved in the research process knowing that their privacy is essential. No personal information of participants will be used for any other reason. Personal information is given at the discretion of the participants concerning the anonymity of those who wish to have their identities retained as anonymous. The final report will not have the real names of its participants for the sake of protection of their privacy and right of expression. Alternatively, we will use pseudonyms when referring to students and staff who participated in the research process.