Quantitative and qualitative research methods and applications

¶ … role of research problem in choosing an appropriate methodology. It also presents the research questions, methodology, and design that can be used by the researcher to analyze the research problem and proceed with his research study. The third section of the paper identifies two major qualities of team leaders that contribute to successful leadership and explains strategies that organization leaders can implement to develop these two qualities in their team leaders in order to achieve maximum performance. The paper also explains some advantages and disadvantages of these leadership skills or qualities.

Vietnam -- The Economy, Marketing Landscape, and Brand Perception of Consumers

Economic System and Macro-Economic Environment of Vietnam and its Response to Globalization:

After the recent financial crisis hit the world markets, Vietnamese economy revived itself and became a market-oriented economy (Vietnam Centre for Economic and Policy Research, 2010). All its manufacturing, industrial, and trade sectors have seen tremendous growth during the last few years (CIA Fact Book, 2013). The Government invested huge amount on global trade in order to attract investors from all the corners of the world (Heritage, 2013). Anticipating potential opportunities in the Vietnamese markets, a large number of international brands from all types of sectors entered the country and established their strong presence. These international brands are now giving hard competition to the local Vietnamese brands and have become market leaders in different sectors; like foods, fashion, technology, etc.

The rate of inflation is quite high (18.7%) in Vietnam which is putting hurdles in the way of local brands to compete profitably with the global brands which are financially well-off (Heritage, 2013). Due to this high rate of inflation, the local brands have to shrink their profit margins in order to attract consumers through competitive pricing strategies and promotional offers. At the same time, these local brands have to focus on the quality and features of their products in a view to compete with the global brands which are technologically and operationally much better and advanced. These efforts of the local brands significantly increase their costs of operations which further make the competitive environment stringent for them.

The Vietnamese economy has been showing positive growth rate during the last few years. It has observed significant improvements in the real GDP growth rate, industrial contribution to GDP, exports earnings, reserves of foreign exchange and gold (CIA Fact Book, 2013). However, the rate of unemployment has increased as compared to the previous year which is not a good sign for the economy (Vietnam Centre for Economic and Policy Research, 2010). As far as industrial growth is concerned, the Vietnamese government is strongly focusing on economic modernization of the country. Vietnam became the member of World Trade Organization in 2007 which made it more attractive for the foreign direct investors to invest in this growing economy (Heritage, 2013).

Politically, Vietnam is a Communist state. The overall behavior of the local government is quite positive towards foreign investors. The economic conditions are turning in favor of manufacturing corporations. However, the competitive environment is becoming stiffer and more challenging for these local manufacturers due to the entry of a large number of foreign brands in all types of industries. The social, cultural, and demographical patterns in the country vary from area to area. There are high income groups in large cities of the country whereas rural areas are more popular for agricultural contribution to the economy (CIA Fact Book, 2013).

c. Marketing Landscape:

The Vietnamese economy - consisting of an 89.3 million population has become a potential market for global brands. The GDP growth rate of the country is 5.9% which is also a positive sign for the foreign direct investors. Therefore, they use extensive advertising and promotional campaigns to attract customers to buy their products and prefer them over their local brands. These brands are making every effort to snatch the largest portion of market share from the local Vietnamese brands and become more competitive in operational and financial terms.

The global brands are becoming more and more powerful in terms of financial performance, operational efficiency, manufacturing capabilities, and global business network. Therefore, it is easier for them to establish their presence in any new target country as compared to local small scale brands. In Vietnamese market, the operational strength and a well-established brand image of the global brands largely help them in attracting quality-seeking customers. On the other hand, local brands are less competitive in terms of operational efficiency and manufacturing capabilities which become major hurdles when they intend to target the same category of customers.

All the local and international brands make an extensive use of different advertising and promotional mediums to create awareness about their new products and promote the existing products with various discount offers (Atchariyachanvanich & Okada, 2007). In addition to the price comparison, these brands emphasize on the quality and features of their products in order to persuade customers to prefer their brands over all other brands. The major marketing mediums used by Vietnamese and global firms include electronic media (television and radio), print media (newspapers, magazines, company publications, etc.), in-store displays, social media networking sites, and the firms' own websites. The most expensive mediums are television and newspapers due to their extensive reach to a large target population in the country.

d. Brand Perception of Local and Foreign Brands:

The "Theory of Buyer Behavior" presented by Howard & Sheth (1969) states that brand perception is based on a number of factors which ultimately impacts the customer's buying behavior towards that brand. These factors include quality, price, features, and convenient availability of that brand. Rook & Fisher (1995) believe that brand perception by the customers is largely dominated by some psychological factors; such as brand loyalty, needs, environment, etc. The customers prefer only those brands which can satisfy these psychological needs. In case of competition between local and global brands in Vietnamese market, the research study by Li, Kuo, & Rusell (1999) can be applied. They believe that consumer behavior and brand perceptions are largely affected by the social, demographical, and cultural factors.

The foreign brands that enter Vietnamese market strongly emphasize on creating awareness about their products among supply chain members and end-users. They use trade shows, advertising, promotional events, product seminars, and point-of-sale promotions to attract customers. These efforts require heavy portion from the marketing budget which cannot be borne by small local manufacturers in Vietnam (Vietnam Centre for Economic and Policy Research, 2010). Therefore, they cannot run these types of campaigns to mold the brand perception and consumer behavior of the target market in favor of their products (Shoham & Brencic, 2003).

Part A: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

1. Qualitative Research

a. Advantages:

The biggest advantage of qualitative research is that it gives a broader picture of the area to be studied. If a researcher is confused or unsure about the area which he has to focus during his research, he can think in many dimensions and reach a specific area using qualitative research methods (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005). Therefore, the researcher does not have to formulate a definite research design in order to begin his research (Cooper & Schindler, 2013).

Qualitative research also allows the researcher to collect huge data in the form of written material, discussions, photographs, audios, videos, etc. (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2007). This comprehensive collection of data is useful when the researcher has to analyze the opinion and thinking patterns of individuals (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). In this way, qualitative research gives more effective results in social and management sciences. Moreover, a researcher, moderator, or interviewer gets more detailed responses from his respondents in the qualitative research due to unstructured and open-ended questions (Rubin & Babbie, 2011).

b. Challenges:

One of the major challenges in qualitative research is find out the grounded theory on which the researcher has to base his overall research study. The research methodology and design is more difficult to develop in a qualitative research as compared to quantitative research (Rubin & Babbie, 2011). The researcher-participant relationship also impacts the outcomes of a qualitative research study due to the possibility of high level of biasness in responses. In some cases, respondents hesitate to express their opinions due to confidentiality and personal security reasons (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2007). Moreover, a qualitative research is more exposed to procedural issues due to the researcher's excessive use of subjective evaluation instead of numerical data. Although a qualitative research is less expensive; but it is more labor-intensive and time-consuming than a quantitative research (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009).

2. Quantitative Research

a. Advantages:

In contrast to qualitative research, the quantitative research gives more accurate and reliable data to the researcher. In this type of research, the researcher can summarize, classify, and analyze the collected data in a well-organized and systematic way. For example, he can use different data analytical, mathematical, and statistical tools and use tables and graphs to present his data in a more concise fashion (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005). The data in a quantitative research is analyzed through objective evaluation which gives more accurate results to the researcher. Another benefit of quantitative research is that it eliminates bias and favoritism from the responses. The respondents are given specific choices to choose their answers from. Thus, they are bound to answer within the set boundaries or dimensions (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2007).

b. Challenges:

Researchers face a number of challenges when they conduct quantitative research. First of all, they cannot use quantitative research in social science, human psychology, and natural sciences because these fields require more subjective responses rather than simple 'Yes' or 'No' (Rubin & Babbie, 2011). Secondly, facts and figures used in quantitative research cannot be generalized with confidence as compared to qualitative research (Cooper & Schindler, 2013).

2. Role of the Research Problem in Choosing an Appropriate Methodology

The research problem for this study is the decreasing attractiveness of local brands in the Vietnamese market due to the dominance of global brands. The local brands are finding it harder to compete with these international brands due to various limitations. First of all, the marketing efforts of international brands are much stronger than those of local brands. Secondly, these brands compete on the basis of quality, features, and pricing strategies -- all of which are helpful in strengthening their brand image in Vietnam (Kotler, Brown, Burton, Deans, & Armstrong, 2010).

Keeping in view this research problem, an appropriate research methodology can easily be designed. Since this research problem requires the researcher to analyze the reasons why local brands have failed to dominate their own market; there is no need to analyze the statistical data from these firms or from the industries as a whole (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). It is widely believed that marketing campaigns play the biggest role in attracting new customers and retaining the existing ones (Kotler, Brown, Burton, Deans, & Armstrong, 2010). The local brands from Vietnam are quite competitive in the quality, features, and pricing of their products. The only area which they need to focus is their marketing strategies. Therefore, it can be recommended that they can improve their marketing campaigns to compete with the global brands in a more effective and aggressive way.

This research problem requires that the local brands first analyze the consumption patterns, purchase decision parameters, and brand perception elements in order to design better and more effective marketing campaigns. On the basis of this research question, an appropriate research methodology has been designed. The research question, methodology, and research design for this particular study have been explained in the subsequent section (Part B) of this paper.

3. Differences between Types of Research Questions or Studies and Designs that align with each Study

For a qualitative research study, the questions which a researcher can ask from his respondents can be both structured and unstructured (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). On the other hand, the researcher who needs to conduct a quantitative research study has to use close-ended and structured questions; preferably in numerical data and facts (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005). In a qualitative research study, the researcher can ask for personal opinion from his respondent which can be short or long depending upon the space provided to him in the questionnaire or time allocated in the interview. Converse to the qualitative research, a quantitative research consists of questions which demand straight answers from the respondents (Cooper & Schindler, 2013).

Part B: Research Methodology

a. The Research Question:

This study is to be conducted with the prime purpose of evaluating the attractiveness of domestic brands in Vietnam and finding the ways in which marketing efforts can strengthen the demand for local (Vietnamese) products. For this particular study, the following research questions have been formulated:

1. What is the role of marketing in the brand-building process of Vietnamese companies?

2. Can Marketing strengthen the domestic demand in Vietnam?

b. The Research Methodology:

In order to evaluate the attractiveness of domestic brands in the Vietnamese market, a number of factors need to be analyzed. For example, what is the perception of general consumers about their local products (i.e. The consumer behavior)? What are their parameters for ranking different brands (i.e. purchase decision parameters)? What is their perception about international (global) brands which are readily sold and available in the Vietnamese markets, etc. Keeping in view these factors, it is feasible to use qualitative research for this research problem. Reason being, consumer behavior, brand perception, purchase decision parameters, and other human psychological factors can only be analyzed using structured and unstructured interviews, questionnaires, surveys.

The aforementioned research questions cannot be analyzed using quantitative methods due to various limitations. First of all, there are no research studies, surveys, or publications in any form which have tried to explain the consumer behavior or brand preferences in quantitative form. Rather, all research studies conducted till date have measured these things using qualitative methods; like interviews, customer surveys and feedbacks, opinion of top level managers in large multinational corporations, etc. Therefore, the research questions mentioned above will be analyzed using quantitative methods with a questionnaire as the research instrument.

c. Importance of an Appropriate Methodology:

Choosing an appropriate methodology is vital for conducting an effective research study. If a researcher fails to choose a proper methodological framework, he may not be able to collect data which he is necessary for his research study. For instance, this research study is to be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of different marketing practices which can help organizations in building their brand image in the local markets and what consumers perceive about local and international brands. Since this research study needs consumer feedback, appraisal of marketing practices, and an evaluation of consumers' purchase decision parameters, there is no need to collect numerical data from the industry or any other sources.

d. Research Design:

For this particular research study, the population will consist of all the general consumers from the Vietnamese market that buy local or international brands to satisfy their day-to-day needs. The researcher will have to choose a small sample from this population by keeping in view his own convenience as well as the limitations of his research study (Cooper & Schindler, 2013). A questionnaire consisting of both structured and unstructured questions will be used as the research instrument. This questionnaire will allow the researcher to ask his desired questions from the sample which he has chosen from the whole population. Some possible research questions which the researcher can include in his questionnaire and ask his respondents are listed below:

i. What are the parameters which you use while making purchase decisions?

ii. Do these parameters change when you have to make brand choice (between a local and an international brand)?

iii. How marketing efforts by different brands affect your purchase decision?

iv. Which marketing mediums attract you the most?

v. How closely do you follow what is written or said about the quality and features of a brand?

vi. What is the significance of word-of-mouth in influencing your purchase decision?

vii. What steps would you take to promote local brands among general consumers?

viii. What strategies should local brands pursue to compete with the global brands effectively, etc.

After collecting the data using this questionnaire, the researcher may analyze it using different analytical techniques. He can use charts to classify the responses and percentage method to figure out the opinions of majorities about different questions. After analyzing the responses, the researcher can reach a definite conclusion.

Core Question -- Teams

1. Qualities of Leaders that Contribute to Successful Leadership

Leadership is one of the four major functions performed by a manager. A leader is a person that leads, trains, and motivates the organizational members so as to achieve the organization's objectives in an effective and efficient way (Groves, 2005). In order to become an effective leader, one has to possess certain essential qualities and personality traits (DuBrin, 2009). These qualities and traits include; decision making skills, interpersonal and communication skills, motivational skills, pressure handling, time management, conflict management skills, etc.

i. Employee Motivation Skills:

Employee motivation skills can be considered as the most essential professional traits a leader must possess in order to be successful at the workplace. Being a leader, he has to ensure that all his followers (subordinates) are fully committed towards their job responsibilities and targets (Lussier & Achua, 2010). He has to make every effort to keep them tied as a single unit. When employees are motivated, they perform better and stay longer with the organization. The short-term benefits which an organization can reap from employee motivation include less absenteeism, low turnover, effective and efficient achievement of individual targets, and high individual productivity.

A leader is responsible to motivate his subordinates in every possible way. He has to make efforts to increase their morale and commitment towards their organization. In this way, employees feel more satisfied, and thus, subordinate their personal interests over the interests of the organization. The leader must ensure that every employee gets an equal attention regarding his performance and rights at the workplace. A leader has to possess strong motivational skills in order to encourage his subordinate to perform better at the workplace (Lussier & Achua, 2010). For this purpose, he has to institute an effective employee performance appraisal performance. By assessing the performance of each individual, the leader can better understand who among them needs training and development to perform better in his job tasks. Therefore, arranging training and skills development programs for his subordinates is another responsibility of a leader during the course of their motivation and encouragement (Bennis, 2009).

Employee motivation has a direct positive impact on the organizational performance. If a leader possesses strong employee motivational skills, he can get the work done through his subordinates in a more effective and efficient way. Employee motivational skills are critical for a leader to be successful at the workplace and prove himself as a responsible manager of the organizational members. Moreover, conflict resolution and guidance also come under the umbrella of employee motivational skills (Leatherman, 2008). A leader not only has to keep the employees motivated, but also has to ensure that they stay in good terms with their coworkers. If any type of conflict or misunderstanding arises among them, the leader has to resolve it in a friendly and polite manner. All these skills are important for a leader to be successful in his leadership career (Lussier & Achua, 2010).

ii. Decision Making Skills:

In addition to various employee management and interpersonal skills, a leader must be able to make effective individual and group decisions in order to contribute towards organizational success and prosperity. Decision making is one of the core functions which a manager performs for his organization (Goldsmith & Hesselbein, 2006). A successful leader is the one who can make effective decision in a timely fashion. This important leadership quality essentially requires the leader to possess strong knowledge of different decision making styles and approaches, the obstacles which leaders generally face during their decision making process (DuBrin, 2009).

In order to become a successful leader, a manager must be able to accept challenges and willing to take responsibilities of different actions. Secondly, he must have risk tolerance behavior in order to encounter the various risks and threats which can impact the decision making process. In addition to being professionally responsible and risk tolerant, a leader must also be value-oriented individual (Groves, 2005). That is, he must keep in view the benefits which the organization can reap from his decision. Moreover, he must understand the consequences which the organization may face if he makes too early or too late decision (Bernthal & Wellins, 2006).

In order to contribute to successful leadership, a manager must be able to switch between different roles and responsibilities. He must not stick himself to one specific job position; rather, he must be competent enough to understand and face the challenges at different positions. The way a leader thinks largely impacts the performance of the whole organizational members. Reason being, whatever a leader decides is mandatory for his subordinates to follow as orders. Finally, a leader must know his strengths and weaknesses in order to make effective decisions for the organization. He must keep on improving his skills throughout his career by using his strengths and overcoming the weaknesses.