Creating an Effective Market Research Group to Generate High-Impact Business Results

Best-in-class market research groups are able to deliver forward-looking insights and recommendations, in part, because their leaders effectively manage workloads, according to the research. More than 60 percent of the firms participating in the study annually manage 20 or fewer projects per market research professional.

The report, "Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function," contains more than 400 metrics and 70 best practices gleaned from 85 companies across 20 industries. The report is available online with a complimentary excerpt at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr866.htm

Market research managers and executives across all industries can use this report to compare their operations in terms of structure, project management productivity, investment per staff member and market research strategy. The findings are based on surveys and interviews with 90 market research professionals at 85 companies, including AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Wyeth and Xerox.

"This research links insights with action items," said Chris Bogan, chief executive officer at Best Practices, LLC. "Consider this: 70 percent of the companies in the study use a decentralized market research structure and yet often don't provide training for the skills that make cross-functional decentralized structures work."

Download the report excerpt online at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr866.htm to view sample best practices and performance metrics.

    The study shows how leading companies:
      -- Build influence for business decisions through market research --
         This starts with your staff. One market research leader hires
         experienced business strategy consultants to instruct market
         researchers on how to synthesize data and present findings in a
         format that has the most impact for senior management decisions.

      -- Enhance market research processes -- High-performing market research
         organizations develop processes and job descriptions to better
         integrate marketing, CI and market research analysts together for
         efficiency and better insights.

      -- Develop market research staff and culture -- More than 50 percent of
         respondents reported providing 1-3 weeks of annual training to their
         market research professionals.

To learn more about Best Practices' other research, visit: www.best-in-class.com or contact Robert Naylor at 919-767-9244 or rnaylor@best-in-class.com.

ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC

Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of world-class companies. For more information, call (919) 403-0251 or visit www.best-in-class.com.

SOURCE Best Practices, LLC

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