Posted: April 1st, 2015

A Proposal of Establishing a New Branch of Carrefour in Ras Al Khaimah

Purpose of the Study

This study seeks to analyze the demand for Carrefour in the surrounding villages in Ras Al Khaimah. This will help decide on where to establish another Carrefour branch. Al Manar Mall has been the only shopping mall with a Carrefour leading to congestion of customers as they travel long distances to the shop. The high-demand for Carrefour creates a potential business opportunity for any investor in Ras Al Khaimah (Oxford Business Group, 2011). The study will examine the demand in Carrefour in the villages around Ras Al Khaimah and the effectiveness of introducing another branch that provides services to them. The study will measure the level of competition that can build between the existing Carrefour and the new entrance. This will help determine the potential of the new entrance survive and dominate the market. Our research is important to help the investors make decisions about the location of the branch from opinions of the potential consumers on the satisfaction of the investment. The research will target the need of Carrefour on those people living away from the city. The research will also focus on the investors’ ability to maximize profits, increase sales, increase competition, and improve satisfaction of customers (Atsmon, Kertesz & Vittal, 2011).

Background

The study will cover the city of Ras Al Khaimah and the areas around the city. This will include areas, settlements, and towns, such as Masafi, Jazirat Al Hamra, Huwaylat, Diqdaqah, Khor Khuwair, Khatt, and Rams. The study will cover about 1700 square kilometers of the Ras Al Khaimah areas with more than 260000 people. We will reduce the population using random and systematic sampling techniques to 2000 respondents (Oxford Business Group, 2011). This makes the study easier and efficient in developing a potential business opportunity. The research process will take two weeks beginning from 24 May 2012. The wide geographical coverage increases the time per day spend in the research. We will be operating eight hours a day covering 3 towns or villages within a day. The large population under study presents potential markets for the investment. The study will therefore reach areas in Ras Al Khaimah and cover more than quarter of the whole population. This study will only be possible through arranging meetings with individuals in the villages and towns. The focus on discussions is the most effective way of gathering information because it will involve large numbers of participants, and we will have the chance of interacting with the audience (Zott & Amit, 2008).

Scope

Our choice of focus groups increases the efficiency of the research process and reduces costs of operation. The study focus on a large sample of respondents improves the reliability, accuracy, dependability, and satisfaction of the research process. The focus groups will consider the demographic and geographic segments to create a reliable investigation (Zott & Amit, 2008). The meetings will discuss the opinion of people in those areas on the need to open a new branch that will satisfy their needs and wants. The respondents are to address the issues that dissatisfy and satisfy them concerning shopping at the Carrefour at Al Manar Mall. This will enable the investor to take advantage of the opportunities to establish the capabilities of business venture. The study will cover all the areas, settlements, and towns in Ras Al Khaimah and three meetings will be on each for two hours. The other two hours will be for travelling (Oxford Business Group, 2011).

Theoretical Framework

The Michael Porters five forces theory guides the study to understand the nature of the market. This framework is the best for developing the business strategy given the competitive intensity of Al Manar Mall and the market attractiveness. The attractiveness refers to the high-demand for Carrefour in the market. The study of these forces helps business serve customers while making high profits. These forces recommend the investor of any business to assess the marketplace before establishing the business. According to Atsmon, Kertesz and Vittal (2011), company can apply business models, competences, or networks to maximize profits. Porter’s five forces comprises of threat of new entrance and existing firms, threat from substitute products, and bargaining power of suppliers and customers. Profitable markets attract new firms. The new entrants decrease profits, sales, and market share of existing firms. Existence of substitute products provides consumers with alternatives to switch. Bargaining power of customers affects the prices and the market output. The bargaining power of suppliers affects the market inputs. Intensity of rivalry determines the business strategies. This study will provide the new branch with a strategic position (Atsmon, Kertesz & Vittal, 2011).

Method

1. A proposal is essential to review the current knowledge and critical issues required to carry out the research successfully and to ensure that there is no omission of important areas of study.
2. We will analyze the market conditions as at the present. This will be through holding discussion with people in the target areas under study, through observation, and interviews. The conservations will address the need for a new branch in the market.
3. We will expect answers on the issues of customer service delivery. For instant:
4. How reliability is services of Carrefour?
5. What can the new branch do to improve convenience of the services?
6. Which needs do you want the new branch to satisfy?
7. What are your expectations as a customer in the new branch?
8. What is the future outlook of the consumers?
9. We will analyze the data in notebooks, photographs, and video.
10. We will include coding to analyze the data using mathematical and statistical tools.
11. We will present the analyzed data in a report that will combine the results and conclusions of the study.

Timetable

Prepare the proposal by 25 May

Identify and familiarize with area of study by 26 May

Prepare the requirements of the study by 27 May

Carry out the field research by 30 May

Analyze the collected data by 31 May

Prepare and present a report by 2 June

Limitations

The research process had many challenges that limited our capabilities. Finances and time were the major limitations of the study leading to following of strict budgets and schedules that had to complete the project. Finances limited the research from increasing the size of the geographical coverage and sample population. Moreover, uncooperative respondents prevented collection of some of the essential information and slowed down the research process (Atsmon, Kertesz & Vittal, 2011).

Delimitations

The high-demand for Carrefour stimulated the interest of consumers to participate in the research process. This provided an in-depth understanding of customer needs and wants and what the investor should do to satisfy those needs. The research process was flexible and efficient because of the geographical divisions. The information gathered was adequate for analysis because of the large sample of the population (Zott & Amit, 2008).