Field Work and Data Collection - Essay Example

?FIELD WORK AND DATA COLLECTION Table of Contents Introduction 4 2.Objective 4 2.1Methodology 4 2.2Tool Used 4 2.3Rationale of Questionnaire and Other Sources Used 4 3.Objective 2 11 3.1Methodology 11 3.2Tool Used 11 3.3Rationale of Annual Reports of Companies 12 4.Objective 3 12 4.1Methodology 12 4.2Tool Used 12 4.3Rationale of Accounting Ratios 12 4.3.1 Profitability ratios 13 4.3.2 Liquidity Ratios 14 4.3.3 Efficiency Ratio 14 5.Summary 15 Appendix - 1 16 References 19 1. Introduction This study explains in details about the methodology that has been used to attain the three objectives. It also gives a detailed analysis about the tools that will be involved in the entire process. 2. Objective 1 To identify the changes in trend of trade in retail grocery shops after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), with special reference to giant supermarket chains. 2.1 Methodology The methodology used in this study is a survey and relevant research. 2.2 Tool Used A questionnaire has been prepared and other relevant information will be obtained from different sources like journals, newspapers, magazines and articles. 2.3 Rationale of Questionnaire and Other Sources Used The research method that has been used in this study in order to achieve the above mentioned objective is a questionnaire (Appendix – 1). The questionnaire consists of 16 questions that are predominantly closed-ended in nature and it has been prepared for the participants who have the willingness to participate in the same. The main focus of preparing the questions mentioned in the questionnaire was to address the issue of prevailing economic scenario and how it has affected the people. In other words, the questions have been constructed to measure the effect of and related adjustments to the GFC. Closed-ended questions were preferred over open-ended questions because the questions could be easily categorised and is quantifiable (Bechman, 2005). Moreover, closed-ended questions can be analysed easily. A particular value can be assigned to each of the responses in the questionnaire and can be easily interpreted using statistical methods. Hence, they are advantageous for computer analysis and can be helpful in providing conclusive evidence to the assertion or rejection of the hypothesis of the ongoing study (Writing@CSU, n.d.). The responses of closed-ended questions are more reliable and the turnaround time is less. It implies participants have to devote less time while answering the questionnaire and there is less chance of false replies being recorded (Seibert, 2002). The main objective of this questionnaire is to identify the responses of the questions based on this study. This would help in achieving the objectives of this study too. Hence, the main focus of the questionnaire is to find the impact of the present economic scenario on how people are spending their money, particularly in groceries. Whether people have changed from where they used to shop before and have shifted to discounted stores because of the recession or have they remained loyal to large supermarkets and the reasons behind such changes, are all addressed in the questionnaire. Hence, the questionnaire used as a tool in this study was quite effective in collecting data in quick time. It was also cost effective and large volume of data was gathered quite efficiently. A random sample selection procedure was used to design the sample and in total 150 responses was collected from people in the nearby local supermarket. 50 questionnaires each were distributed to Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrison shopkeepers respectively. Since the questions were closed-ended, people were comfortable answering the questionnaire. Moreover data collection was over in quick time because customers did not have to ponder over or think much before giving their reply to the questionnaire. The questionnaire that has been prepared is mentioned below. Proper justifications and the reasons behind asking such questions have also been explained. 1. Which grocery shop is preferred by you mostly? Sainsbury….. Morrison...… Tesco….. Other…. Are you shopping at this shop since the recession? Yes.......... No........... If No, then you have switched from which shop? Sainsbury.... Morrison..... Tesco.... Other.... This is an important question which is relevant to our present research study. Responses to this question will enable us to have an understanding about the effect of recession on the consumer behaviour of the people. In particular, this question would help us to conclude whether people are still loyal to the large supermarket shops or not. Hence, it would enable us to have an idea about how much the large supermarkets have been able to recover from the effects of recession and how it is affecting their sales or profitability trend. 2. What is the reason behind buying your grocery items from the above mentioned supermarket, because they are - Local…… Cheaper…… Other..... This question also addresses the consumer behaviour and enables us to know the reasons behind the options being chosen by the consumers. It also helps us to know about the importance of two options, namely cheaper and local, being the reason behind such consumer behaviour. 3. Do you feel that in general the goods prices have increased in the super markets for the last five years? Yes…. No…. This question will help us to know about the perception of people about the prices of the grocery products and its trend since recession. It will also enable us to conclude whether price rise is affecting the consumer preferences. 4. Do you feel that there is an improvement in the product quality for the last five years? Yes…. No…. The reply to this question will enable us to know about the perception of the consumers about the product quality change in the grocery shops. It is quite relevant to our study because it would help us to conclude about whether product quality has an effect on the consumer behaviour. 5. Which supermarket provides the most attractive offer and why? Sainsbury’s… Morrison’s… Tesco’s… Other…. The responses to this question would help us to know about the effectiveness of marketing strategies employed by the supermarket giants and how they cater to the needs of customer satisfaction. 6. Do you prefer buying the branded products owned by the supermarkets? Yes…. No…. This question would enable us to know about how the giant markets have been successful in developing their own branded products in the past few years. 7. If yes, do you find any differences in quality as compared to the branded products? Yes…. No…. The replies to this question would enable us to know how the giant supermarkets are successfully competing with other established brands in terms of the quality of products they provide. 8. Do you possess a loyalty card provided by Sainsbury, Tesco, or Morrison? 9. If yes then which one? …………………………………………………….. This question would enable us to find the effectiveness of the loyalty cards being issued by the supermarket giants towards increasing their customer base and thereby affecting their sales. 10. Does your decision to shop in a supermarket is affected through possessing a loyalty card? Yes…. No…. This is a continued question to the previous one and would help us to know how the loyalty card is effective in assisting the companies to retain their customers. 11. Do you feel that having a loyalty card is helping save your money? Yes…. No…. This is also a continuation of the above two questions and would enable us to find out how much customers are attracted towards having a loyalty card and how much they appreciate it. 12. You regularly purchase petrol from which of the following supermarket? Sainsbury… Tesco… Morrison… Other…. This question addresses the fact about the diversification strategies being employed by the supermarkets and its effectiveness in increasing their sales. 13. Why do you prefer purchasing petrol from the above mentioned supermarket, because it is - Cheaper……. Local…… Other..... This is a continuation of the previous question which would enable us to know the effectiveness of the two options in particular (cheaper and local) in providing increased sales of petrol. 14. Do you think that recession have affected you? Yes…. No…. This question has been asked to find out whether recession has any effects on customers at all. A simple yes or no reply has been asked for because that would let us know whether recession is at all any reason behind changing preferences of customers. 15. If yes then is it the reason behind your changing shopping habits? Yes…. No…. This question was asked to help us to know the effects of recession on the how people are spending their money while shopping. Customers were required to just reply yes or no and that is all what is required for the study. 16. Has this made you to shop in discount stores (such as from Aldi)? Yes…. No…. Finally, this question was asked to know the effectiveness of recession in making people shift to discount stores instead of giant supermarkets. Hence, the questionnaire and all the questions included in it have been constructed to attain the objective of this study. Moreover it is set to identify the trend in shopping habits and consumer behaviour in the last 5 years since recession. 3. Objective 2 To identify the various market positioning strategies employed by the three companies namely, Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrison. 3.1 Methodology Detailed analysis of the annual reports of the company 3.2 Tool Used Company annual reports and other research materials like articles, journals, etc 3.3 Rationale of Annual Reports of Companies The company annual reports of the three companies will be studied in details because it will help us to know about the various positioning strategies that have been employed by the supermarket giants in the recent years. Annual reports contain all the relevant information required for the achievement of the objective 2. Other sources like journals and articles will also be studied to find out any new strategies the companies are employing in order to increase their profitability in the market. 4. Objective 3 To identify the effects of the strategies chosen by the companies on its profitability and market capitalisation 4.1 Methodology Analysis of financial statements of companies 4.2 Tool Used Accounting Ratios 4.3 Rationale of Accounting Ratios The annual reports of three companies that have been chosen are that of Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrison. All these three companies are supermarket giants in UK. J Sainsbury plc along with its subsidiaries runs supermarkets in UK and sells products under its own brand name (Yahoo Finance a, 2012). Tesco PLC and its subsidiaries have a retail grocery chain operating in UK and other countries and are engaged in the business of providing varied types of goods and services (Yahoo Finance b, 2012). Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC is also a supermarket giant operating in UK and provides wide range of products to its customers (Yahoo Finance c, 2012). Various figures or data will be obtained from the financial reports of these three companies for last five years to calculate the accounting ratios related to profitability, liquidity and efficiency of the companies. By calculating these ratios, it will enable us to know about the financial performances of these companies and about its trend in the last five years. 4.3.1 Profitability ratios Calculations of the following profitability ratios would be calculated: a. Gross Profit Margin (GPM) This ratio gives a measure of the company’s profit on sales. It is always desirable to have a higher gross profit margin (Pinson, 2008, p.115). GPM (%) = (Gross Profit/Total Sales) x 100 b. Net Profit Margin (NPM) It is a measure of the profitability of a company which indicates about how efficient the company is in converting its revenue into net profit (Webster, 2004, p.76). NPM (%) = (Net Profit/Total Sales) x 100 c. ROCE (Return On Capital Employed) ROCE gives an indication about the profitability of the company based on long-term investments made by the company (Khan & Jain, 2006, p.6.21). ROCE (%) = (Net Profit/Capital Employed) x 100 4.3.2 Liquidity Ratios Calculations of the following liquidity ratios would be calculated: a. Current Ratio (CR) It is a liquidity ratio which indicates about the ability of the company to meet its short-term liabilities. CR = Current Assets/Current Liabilities b. Acid Test Ratio/Quick Ratio (QR) It is another variant of the current ratio which does not include stocks as current assets (Carlberg, C. & Carlberg, C. G., 2002, p.169). QR = (Current Assets – Inventory)/Current Liabilities c. Gearing Ratio This ratio indicates the proportion of long-term debt in the company’s total capitalisation (Barthwal, 2007, p.338). Gearing Ratio (%) = (Long Term Liabilities/Capital Employed) x 100 4.3.3 Efficiency Ratio Calculations of the following efficiency ratio would be calculated: a. Asset Turnover Ratio This ratio gives an indication about the efficiency of the firm to utilise its existing assets in order to generate sales from it (Kimmel, Weygandt & Kieso, 2011, p.466). Asset Turnover Ratio = (Sales/Net Assets) x 100 5. Summary Hence the methodology used in this study to attain all the three objectives comprises of a survey using a questionnaire having closed-ended questions in it. It also involves a detailed study of the company annual reports and calculating various accounting ratios like the profitability and liquidity ratios. In depth analysis of large supermarkets in UK is also included in the methodology. Appendix - 1 Investigating the economic circumstances over the last five years of how Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison’s have coped. Questionnaire I am carrying out a research investigating how Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison have coped with the economic circumstances over the last five years as a part of my research proposal. I would be grateful if you could take a few moments to complete this questionnaire to assist in my research. All information is confidential and will not be used for any other purpose other than this study About your shopping habits: Which grocery shop is preferred by you mostly? Tesco’s… Sainsbury’s… Morrison’s… Other…. Are you shopping at this shop since the recession? Yes.......... No........... If No, then you have switched from which shop? Tesco.... Sainsbury.... Morrison........ Other low priced supermarket What is the reason behind buying your grocery items from the above mentioned supermarket, because they are - Cheaper……. Local…… Other..... Do you feel that in general the goods prices have increased in the super markets for the last five years? Yes…. No…. Do you feel that there is an improvement in the product quality for the last five years? Yes…. No…. Which supermarket provides the most attractive offer and why? Tesco’s… Sainsbury’s… Morrison’s… Other…. Do you prefer buying the branded products owned by the supermarkets? Yes…. No…. If yes, do you find any differences in quality as compared to the branded products? Yes…. No…. Do you possess a loyalty card provided by Sainsbury, Tesco, or Morrison? If yes then which one? …………………………………………………….. Does your decision to shop in a supermarket is affected through possessing a loyalty card? Yes…. No…. Do you feel that having a loyalty card is helping save your money? Yes…. No…. You regularly purchase petrol from which of the following supermarket? Tesco’s… Sainsbury’s… Morrison’s… Other…. Why do you prefer purchasing petrol from the above mentioned supermarket, because it is - Cheaper……. Local…… Other..... About your personal circumstances: Do you think that recession have affected you? Yes…. No…. If yes then is it the reason behind your changing shopping habits? Yes…. No…. Has this made you to shop in discount stores (such as from Aldi)? Yes…. No…. AGE : ............. ....years GENDER: ................. (Male/female) Thank you for your contribution References Barthwal, R. R. (2007). Industrial Economics: An Introductory Text Book. (Ed.2). India: New Age International. Bechman, J. (2005). Questionnaire Design. [Pdf]. Available at: http://sharepoint.agriculture.purdue.edu/ces/development/evaluation/Shared%20Documents/Questionnaire%20Design.pdf. [Accessed on April 18, 2012]. Carlberg, C. & Carlberg, C. G. (2002). Business Analysis with Microsoft Excel. (Ed.2). USA: Que Publishing. Khan, M. Y. & Jain, P.K. (2006). Management Accounting. (Ed.4). India: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Kimmel, P. D., Weygandt, J. J. & Kieso, D. E. (2011). Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making. (Ed.4). USA: John Wiley & Sons. Pinson, L. (2008). Anatomy of a Business Plan: The Step-By-Step Guide to Building Your Business and Securing Your Company's Future. (Ed.7). USA: Aka Associates. Seibert, T. (2002). Designing Surveys that Count. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.keene.edu/crc/forms/designingsurveysthatcount.pdf. [Accessed on April 18, 2012]. Webster, W. H. (2004). Accounting for Managers. USA: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Writing@CSU. (no date). Advantages of Closed-Ended Questions. [Online]. Available at: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/com4a2a1.cfm. [Accessed on April 18, 2012]. Yahoo Finance a. (2012). J. Sainsbury plc (SBRY.L) – LSE. [Online]. Available at: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=SBRY.L+Profile. [Accessed on April 19, 2012]. Yahoo Finance b. (2012). Tesco PLC (TSCO.L) – LSE. [Online]. Available at: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=TSCO.L+Profile. [Accessed on April 19, 2012]. Yahoo Finance c. (2012). Wm. Morrison Supermarkets plc (MRW.L) [Online]. Available at: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=MRW.L+Profile. [Accessed on April 19, 2012]. Read More