BBS301: Applying Mixed Methods Research to Business The Brief Living Entity Limited and ESG A plethora of press articles have motivated the Board of Living Entity Limited to consider an expansion in the ethical food market. Consider the following recent article: “LONDON, GREATER LONDON, UK, March 18, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — According to the new market research report ‘Ethical Food Global Market Report 2021: COVID 19 Growth And Change’ published by The Business Research Company, the ethical food market is expected to reach $684.83 billion in 2023 at CAGR of 6.43%. Increasing concern about the environment is expected to contribute to higher demand for ethical food.” Founded in 1855, Living Entity Limited has grown from a single market stall to a multi-national, multi-channel supermarket. Living Entity Limited sells high-quality principally food products across 125 stores in the Asia-Pacific region. Growth in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting has motivated the CEO in considering the limiting of consumer products that result in potential environmental degradation and poor societal image. Animal-free food products are appearing in specialised supermarkets and Living Entity Limited is deliberating on whether to move to ethically produced products to meet the needs of the more ‘ethical consumer’. Accordingly, the CEO of Living Entity Limited is considering focusing the company on sustainable products but is concerned about the impact the change in focus will have on the firm’s bottom line. The CEO is aware that some investors are questioning the viability of this proposed strategy as they do not yet see a significant increase in revenue. They question the existence of a viable target market of ‘ethical consumers’. The company has hired you as a consultant to conduct some research and deliver a series of recommendations. They wish to find out more about this target market of ‘ethical consumers’. To justify the intended business strategy, they want to know if people who say they are concerned about the ethics of consumption, actually turn these concerns into purchasing decisions. They also want to find out more about the viability of, and strategies for, increasing this target market. You will need to present substantial evidence using primary and secondary research to back up your claims and recommendations, as the results from your research may impact the direction of Living Entity Limited in the future. Project phases and assessment You are to complete a research project in response to the brief above. The project is made up of six phases. You will be placed in small groups in the first class or via an online allocation, and you will work with this group on the project throughout the teaching period. It is essential to read the information included in this handbook carefully. Phase 1: Problem discovery and definition Phase 2: Review the literature Phase 3: Planning the research design Phase 4: Data gathering (group work) Phase 5: Data processing and analysis (group work) Phase 6: Drawing conclusions and preparing the report (group assessment Phase 1: Problem discovery and definition For this phase, you will define the living Entity Limited’smanagement dilemma and the scope and direction of your research. For this phase, you will need to: Complete a preliminary exploration of the broad topic of the project, as defined by the consultancy project brief, familiarising yourself with terms and concepts. Draft a working title, a research aim, research objectives and research questions, based on the project brief and your preliminary exploration of the topic. This will be facilitated in class/online. Phase 2: Review the literature For this phase, you will complete a systematic literature review as an exploratory research technique. The systematic literature review is your first assignment. Systematic literature review The main purpose of the literature review is to determine what has already been written about your topic. Reviewing the literature is an important part of the research process. If we are to research a topic systematically, we need to build upon what others have already learned. We need to know the current state of knowledge, critically engage with the literature, and identify gaps in knowledge in order to shed light on the management dilemma being faced by the client. You will use this assignment to help you to design your research project and to analyze and interpret your data later in the unit. If you are unsure of what you should be focusing on regarding the topic, you should read through the information in the previous sections again. You have been given a consultancy brief, and you should use this to direct your engagement with the literature. A systematic literature review is a particular style of a literature review. The systematic review process, as the name suggests, is methodical in nature, with the reviewer following a prescribed set of steps to search the literature and identify relevant material for review. These steps are made explicit in the write-up of the review. Due to limitations regarding time and scope, for this assessment, the systematic review process has been simplified. The steps that you need to complete are outlined below. Learning activities designed to address the purpose and importance of the literature review should be referred to when completing this section of the project. A marking guide for the systematic review is also available on LMS and in this document
BBS301: Applying Mixed Methods Research to Business The Brief Living Entity Limited and ESG A plethora of press articles have motivated the Board of Living Entity Limited to consider an expansion in the ethical food market. Consider the following recent article: “LONDON, GREATER LONDON, UK, March 18, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — According to the new market … Read more
