72 CHAPTER 3 MARKETING RESEARCH:ANAIDTODECISION MAKING
obtaininformationthatcouldbeusedtohelpincreasesalesoflaptopstocollegestudents.Wouldyou
usethesamequestionsona mailquestionnaireasina personalinterview?Ifnot,whatquestionswould
youuse if youweregoingtomail thequestionnaires?CASEAPPLICATION
RESEARCHSAVEST HEDAYATCASE
Intoday'scombative marketplace, makinganysignificantprogressagainstskillfulandlargerivalsis
nothingshortofa colossalachievement.CaseCorporation,a manufacturerofconstructionandfarm
equipment,canmakesucha claim,butonlyafterspendingtwoyearsdiggingitselfoutofdecline-
operatinglossesfor 1991 and 1992 reached$900,000-andfinallyshowinggrowth.Case'snetincome
increasedmorethan300%in 1994 to$165million.WiUla 14%;,alesincrease,and 1995 revenues
reached$4.2 billion.
Significantheadwaytowardrecoverybeganin 1994 whennewCEO Jean-PierreRosso launched
a neweraat Case. Hismatter-of-factpronouncement,"Weneedtobeaskingwhatthefarmerand
contractorneed," triggeredthecompany'sturnaroundandkindledanewrespectfromitscustomers.
Basicasit mayseem, formostofthe1980s,'asking" wasnot a partof'2ase'sproduct-driven
orientation. Result:Underperformingproductssuchaslow-horsepowertractorsenteredthemarket-
place,fueledbylowpricesandsalesincentives.
Worseyet, whenmarketdemandeventuallyplumrncled,dealersfoundthemselvesstuckwith
a glutofunsoldCaseequipment.Tofurtheraggravatethesituation,relationshipswithdealerswere
increasingly greetedwithwspicion.
Inthefaceofthosedireconditions,Rossoissuedhismarket-drivendirective thatpressedCase
managers to determinethewantsandneedsofitscustomers.Oneincidentshowcasestheprocessthey
usedtoobtainreliablecustomerfeedback:A contractorwasflownintoCase'sBurlington, Iowatest
siteandputtoworkforthreedaystestinga pieceofCaseequipmentandcomparingitsperformance
withthatofcomparableCaterpillarandDeeremachines.Each daymanagersgrilledthecustomer
aboutfeatures, benefits, andproblems.
Inanotherapproach,Case sentteamsofengineersandmarketingpersonnelto talktokeycus-
tomersandusersofcompetitors'equipment.Applyingwhattheylearnedfromthefeedback, engi-
neersdevelopedprototypemachinesandshippedthemto hundredsofparticipatingusersforevaluation.
Theengineersthenincorporatedactualfielddataintofinalprototypes.
Thebottomline:Allthismarket-driven"asking'isa farcryfromtheCase'sreputationdur-
ingthe1980sofbeingoneofthemostmismanagedcompalliesinmefield.Questions
1.Althoughthingsseemto begoingwellforCase,canyouidentifyanypotentialmistakestheymade
indoingtheirresearch?
2.Howcouldtheygathersecondarydataonthisproductcategory?References
1.RalphH.Sprague,Jr.andHughJ.Watson,DecisionSupportSystems:
PUllingTheoryIntoPractice,EnglewoodCliffs,N.J.:Prentice-Hall,
1986,p. 1
2.Claire Selitz,Lawrence S.Wrightsman, andStuartW. Cook,
ResearchM ethodsinSocialRelations,!'iewYork:Holt,Reinhartand
Winston,J976,pp. 11 4-115.
3.IanP. Murphy," ResearchwithBottomLineinMindOnly,"Market-
ingNews,March3,1997,p.10.
4.PamelaL.AlreckandRobertD.Settle,TheSurveyR esearchHand-
book,RichardD .Irwin, Inc.,1995.
5.SeymourSudman,AppliedSampling,NewYork:AcademicPress,
1976