UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING MIX

If marketing were likened to driving, the ‘marketing mix’ would probably be the equivalent of the gear, steering wheel, break pedal and the other units used to move and control a motor vehicle.

The marketing mix is the family of variables used to perform marketing functions. The term marketing mix was first used by Neil Borden in 1953.

There have been many formulations of marketing mix over the years. Here, we take a look at some of the most prominent.

The Four Ps

First, we examine what is undoubtedly the best known marketing mix, consisting of 4Ps, and composed by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. The 4Ps are product, price, promotion and place (distribution).

Product

A product is anything offered to address a need or want that a customer has, in exchange for something else embodying value.

Products take many forms such as good, service, idea, experience, place, or combination. (Customers actually seek products for the benefits they provide. The benefits of consuming the services of a hairdresser include good looks).

Marketers attempt to augment or enhance the attributes of basic products to make them more appealing to potential buyers.

Some of the main areas in which marketers have to make decisions are:

-         Quality. A detergent, for example, must clean as well as, or better than, what is paid for or what the information carries suggests. Marketers must take the right steps to make that possible.

-         Design. The significance of design is that it affects such factors as ease of handling and attractiveness to the eye.

-         Product variety. One major reason variety is important is that buyers do not all have the same tastes. Another is that there is possibility of presence (or absence) of one product affecting the sales performance of another. For instance, a customer that is building a house would probably head for a shop dealing in a wide range of construction products including bricks, cement and sand (and get benefits like saving time and money) than visit a supplier that sells only one construction product. Even within classes like cement, for instance, marketers have to see if variations are a necessity.

-         Brand name. A good brand name is an asset that can contribute to better sales. Two considerations here need to be that the brand name:

o   Suggests something positive about the product.

o   Is easy to pronounce and remember.

-         Legal protection. By obtaining protection of the law for their product, marketers reduce the probability of opportunists from reaping where they did not sow, and optimizing sales. Without legal protection, some unauthorized companies could, for instance, manufacture the same product or use the same brand name.

Price

The price is the amount of value the marketer asks buyers to give in exchange for the product. In the modern economy, price is expressed in currency terms such as two dollars ($2), two kwacha (K2), two pounds (£2) and two rupees (Rs. 2).

Many products immediately think of price when they come upon or hear of a product on sale. This probably helps underline the importance of price as a marketing mix variable.

Price is the component of the 4Ps-marketing mix with the most immediate effect on sales figures and profit. In setting price, some key considerations are:

-         List price. This is the amount of money stated on the price tag, and which tells the buyer the quantity of value the marketer expects under normal circumstances.

-         Cost. The marketer needs to decide what amount of discount, if any, can be given and under what arrangements they are possible. The marketer may, for example, decide that for full payment at once and in advance, the suitable discount be 10%, and that for two equal instalments over a period of one month, the list price be reduced by 5%.

Discounts are connected to such factors as exposure to risk and encouraging customers to make full payments in as short a time as possible to enable the marketer make quick re-investment.

Other important factors to look at in deciding the price of a product include competition, cost of production and desired profit.

Promotion

Promotion refers to the different ways businesses use to disseminate product information to their target markets and encourage buying.

Without promotion, prospective clients may never know that a particular product were on offer. Other aims of promotion include:

-         Making the market aware of price, size, design, place of availability and other relevant factors.

-         Enabling the market to plan and, of course

-         Prompting the purchase decision (does the marketer not want to make money?).

The key elements of the promotional mix are:

-         Advertising. This is the sort of promotional effort that is normally paid for, non-personal, aimed at a wide audience, repetitive and often artistically stimulating to the recipient. The promoter of the product identifies themselves. Newspapers, radio and television are among the most popular advertising tools.

-         Sales promotion. Sales promotions are periodical, short-term marketing efforts usually carrying such objectives as reversing a drop in sales. They offer incentives like a third item for the purchase of two. Competitions in which ultimately a grand prize can be won are common forms of sales promotion.

-         Personal selling.  This is the face-to-face and sometimes telephone encounter between a sales person and a possible buyer or group of possible buyers.

-         Public relations. This promotional tool is anchored on building a good company image. However, there are often ethics to be followed, that include truthfulness and empathy toward consumers.

-         Direct marketing. Direct marketing is personalized promotion utilizing tools like letters, catalogs and email. The personal nature of direct marketing makes building customer data-bases extremely important.

-         Publicity. Sometimes not included as part of the promotional mix, publicity is a form of advertising calculated to reach the target market in news form. As a result, it often is headlined by what is said or done by an invited celebrity or other public figure (say, to the opening ceremony of a restaurant), who is given centre stage by the marketer. Even though publicity is often seen as unpaid, it is usually paid in the form of food and beverages for guests, hiring of public address systems and other costs of this nature.

Marketers have to decide what combination of promotional instruments is the most appropriate at a given time and in a given situation.

Place

Place or distribution is the marketing mix component dealing with providing the most optimal point-of-sale for the consumer.

Marketers have to decide how their products are to reach their target customers. They may decide to use middlemen, distribute the products themselves or use both channels.

Why are place decisions important? One reason is that distribution requires resources such as transport and storage capacity, adequate amounts of which the manufacturer may or may not have.

Another is that each type of distribution method is likely to affect the final price in a different way. Wholesalers, for instance, need to make profit on distribution activities, and therefore have to add their costs to the price at which they bought the product.

Another key consideration is that the distribution channel selected can be a source of competitive advantage. Some wholesalers, for instance, have established wide networks of key retailers and other fellow intermediaries who can contribute to better sales and profit levels.

Factors often looked at in ‘place decisions’ today include the nature of the product, the target market and available technology (books, movies, music, for example, can be moved from one point to another via the internet in soft copy form).

The three main distribution policies are:

-         Intensive, in which the aim is to reach as wide an audience as possible, and therefore includes use of many middlemen. It favours goods bought all the time and without any real prior planning (convenience goods).

-         Selective, in which a wide but not all-inclusive approach to use of intermediaries is used.  Producers can select a number of distributors they consider competent enough to do the type of job that satisfies them.

-         Exclusive, in which a much more restrictive approach is employed. A very limited number of distributers is appointed in this type of distribution. Normally, this arrangement does not allow the intermediary to stock competing products.

The 7 Ps of ‘services-marketing’

In the marketing of services, it is increasingly appreciated that the traditional 4Ps just examined, and an additional three, are a more complete set of marketing mix variables.

The additional three Ps are people, process and physical evidence.

People

Companies do their business using people. In other words, people who work for an enterprise are the personification of the company. It means issues like how helpful the people are; how well they know the product/s;  how enthusiastic they are to give the service; and how much interest they take in understanding the unique situation of each customer can mean greater, less, or no customer loyalty, sales and profits.

Process

It matters how the service is given. If the product is passenger transport, questions are likely to include:

-         Are the customers kept fairly entertained before departure and during travel?

-         Are the travellers informed of any changes, say, in the departure time or route?

-         Does the seating arrangement give enough comfort?

Physical Evidence   

Physical evidence deals with factors that can be seen or touched, and that are likely to increase the desire of the market to consume the service. Here are two examples:

-         A visitor to a hotel or restaurant will likely be encouraged to make the purchase decision when the environment is clean, fresh and relaxing.

-         It is probable a prospective client of a hairdresser will be more positive about consuming the service when they are able to see customers of the business who have good haircuts or hair-do’s.  

Robert Lauterborn’s 4Cs-Marketing-Mix

When, in the 1990’s, Robert F. Lauterborn constituted a marketing mix of 4Cs, he had been in search of a combination of tools he would see as more customer-focussed than the traditional 4Ps.

Lauterborn converted the 4Ps to 4Cs.

Explaining the four Cs

(Product) Consumer – What the customer wants or needs should be the focus of product creation.

(Price) Cost –  The marketer needs to focus on all the costs to the customer, such as those involved in maintaining the product.

(Place/Distribution) Convenience – The marketer has to take the product where the customer can buy it with minimal problems.

(Promotion) Communication – rather than send messages urging the target market to buy, the marketer must attempt to establish a situation in which there is exchange of information.

Conclusion

As stated at the beginning, what we have just seen is not the full list of marketing mix proposals that are there today.

It is also likely that there will be more efforts to improve, update or indeed replace the marketing mixes currently in use, due to elements like the dynamism of the field of marketing; changes in technology; ever-higher customer expectations; competition among businesses; and desire to formulate the ‘perfect’ marketing mix. How far present and future marketers can go in any such direction cannot be easy to tell.

Rupert Chimfwembe, 16^th November, 2015.

WHAT FUNCTIONS ARE MANAGERS EXPECTED TO PERFORM?

What is management?

What is management? Management is the process that primarily involves achieving organisational objectives and goals through efficient and effective application of resources.

Not all managers have the word ‘manager’ in their title. Management titles come in such forms as Co-ordinator, Administrator, Director, Superintendent, Team Leader, Supervisor and, indeed, Manager.

The term ‘manager’ or its derivative is often combined with other words. Examples include Country Manager, Product Manager, Sales Manager and Managing Director.

And so, given the variety of titles, how does one recognise a manager?

The Four Key Functions of a Manager

It is possible to tell that one is a manager by examining the principle tasks that they perform.

Researchers have been able to identify four main activities a manager is regularly carrying out. They are planning, organising, leading and controlling. And what exactly do these tasks involve? Let us look at each in turn.

Planning. Planning is the management function that involves setting organisational objectives and goals and selecting the most appropriate method of achieving them from among different possible solutions.

Typical organisational objectives include achieving certain levels of profit and profitability, company growth, and production and productivity.

Planning is the first management activity that happens.

Organising. To organise is to structure and allocate resources (among them human, physical, financial and informational) as well as drive their utilisation toward attainment of the objectives and goals of an organisation in the best way possible. Organising immediately follows planning.

An important part of organising is creating an organisational chart and establishing reporting lines.

While many consider organising as including the activity of finding the right human resources for each job, some give staffing as an independent, fifth, management function. (Indeed, achieving the aims of the organisation requires the right people).

Leading. Leading means influencing others in a way that makes them most enthusiastic about, and focused on, converting the plans of the organisation to reality.

The manager as leader needs to have a clear vision of the chosen direction of the institution they work for and an effective, empathetic way of communicating with others.

Controlling. Controlling is about ensuring that any deviation from what has been planned is identified and corrective action is taken.

The control process consists of:

·        Establishing performance standards

·        Monitoring performance

·        Measuring actual results against desired outcomes

·        Taking corrective courses of action

Sometimes, in the control process, managers do have to make changes to the plans themselves to make them more realistic or simply update them in line with new situations.

Henri Fayol’s Five Functions of Management

Henry Fayol’s pioneering work of the early twentieth century uncovered the management functions.

Fayol identified five separate tasks, namely, planning, organising, commanding, co-ordinating and controlling. In modern literature, though, one will note that co-ordinating is often not included, considered generally an integral part of the others.         

Management Skills

There are three types of skills that managers need to have to successfully perform the four major functions. They are:

1.     Conceptual. These help a manager mentally picture situations and, where necessary, devise appropriate solutions.

2.     Human. Human skills concern ability to interact with others and exert the positive influence that leads to successful implementation of the objectives in the plans.

3.     Technical. Technical Skills are practical abilities in a particular field, such as marketing, accounting and engineering. Technical skills not only help a manager fully understand the job he/she, sub-ordinates and others do but also are often a key problem-solving tool. Education and training are principal sources of technical skills.

Henry Mintzberg’s 10 Management Roles

In the 1970’s, Henry Mintzberg closely studied five managers in an attempt to capture their every class of activity. The result was the list below of ten roles he saw as mainly played by a person in a management position:

·        Figurehead

·        Leader

·        Liaison

·        Disseminator

·        Monitor

·        Spokesperson

·        Entrepreneur

·        Disturbance-handler

·        Resource allocator

·        Negotiator

In many ways, the ten roles would look like a breaking up of the four fundamental functions earlier given. Not surprisingly, then, it would seem difficult for a manager to play the ten roles well if any of the three types of skills is absent. 

Conclusion: The Manager in Action

Even though the four major functions of a manager are given in a sequential order, what happens in a manager’s office and around it is hard to predict.

The manager normally shifts from any one of the functions to any of the others free of any written rules. So, in one moment the manager will be planning; and in the next controlling. In the next, they will be organizing; and will then move back to controlling, or on to providing leadership.  

In both profit-making and not-for-profit entities, the four main functions looked at here are essential components of the work of a manager.     

NEW ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs)

TACKLING NEW ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS - EPA’s

Zambia and the other African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations, and the European Union (EU) seem to have been playing cat and mouse over signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for some time now. The EPAs were supposed to take effect beginning of January 2008, but even at the time of writing this article (late 2008) seemed a distant issue to resolve; whichever way.

What are these EPAs, in the first place? Economic Partnership Agreements are rules governing trade between the ACP countries and European Union nations. One of the main issues preventing movement to new agreements has been changing from preferential trade that allows ACP countries to export a quota of goods to the EU duty-free (without the EU getting similar access to ACP markets), to enabling the two sets of countries to sell to each other duty-and-quota-free.

ACP nations are mainly former colonies of European countries, and number over 70. They are generally African countries and islands of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The EPAs are a major element of the Cotonou Agreement signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin, to replace the Lome Agreement which had existed since 1975, and have shaped trade between the EU and ACP. Signing the EPAs would mean bringing into harmony the rules of trade between the EU and ACP with those laid down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTO is the principle world trade regulator. The WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1995 which had existed since 1948.

It is not easy understanding why it has been such a problem agreeing upon the type of EPAs that should be signed. Or, indeed, why it appears difficult seeing what sort of effect on countries like Zambia the EPAs would likely have. The EU seems to have been quite clear all along what it seeks; a quick shift to the new WTO trade rules. It is the ACP countries whose position has sometimes looked difficult to ascertain. One gets the idea that ACP countries have probably not been committed enough.

Felix Mutati, Zambian Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister at the time of doing this article was once reported to have uttered words understood in some media to mean that it was not necessary to set any time limit on the signing of the agreements.

The member countries of the ACP have generally contended that if goods from Europe were allowed to enter their economies without any duty being payable, they would grab the market from local suppliers and cause destruction of their nascent industries. This is based primarily on the premise that the EU, with its sophisticated manufacturing machinery, would supply better quality at relatively low prices, which the local industry would not match. ACP countries also fear that the highly subsidised agricultural industry in Europe would also be able to sell their products at prices too low to enable fair competition with their own farmers.

Minister Mutati was reported, too, as having stated that ACP countries including Zambia would like a development component in the EPAs. This has often been said, as a matter of fact, but there has not been any clear definition of the sort of development ingredient the ACP countries would like to see.

The clearer the position of the ACP countries, the more easily progress on the EPAs is likely to come. The EU has indeed been reported as unsure how exactly the ACP nations would like any new agreement to be configured. The EU has referred to the times before the Cotonou Agreement when poorer countries regularly complained that it was difficult to fully access the European market – apparently in an attempt to underline importance of non-quota access to the EU market.  

How anyone would decide that fair trade meant that there should be equal access to each other’s market even in a situation of unequal capacity could be a good subject for more debate.

Perhaps, however, much of the explanation to this puzzle lies in what has happened to the equation of world economy main players in the last fifteen years. At the time of signing the Lome Agreement in 1975, the major economic powers were Europe, North America and Japan. There has now been emergence of new big economies in the form of, primarily, China, South Korea and India. China, especially, has ensured a steady flow of its products for the consumption of all the other economies rich and poor.

Looking at the Southern African example where all shops are full of goods originating from China, would one be wrong to conclude that the Lome Agreement that is for preferential trade leaves the ACP market just too open to China while restricting Europe? European economists must have become all too aware of this obvious anomaly and decided that it would be fairer to their nations if ACP markets offered them the same boundless access that countries like China and India seem to have.

Going for equal market access seems the type of homework a hardworking government is expected to do for its people. African governments could try to ensure that the officials charged with shaping the new EPAs did all the homework they need to. That effort does not appear apparent just yet.

Now let us look at the question of whether or not the European products under the standard EPAs would for sure kill industry in the ACP communities.

It is doubtful that there is any amount of damage beyond what the products from China and India have done that would be caused by products from the European Union under new EPAs.

There have been fairly practical steps to form a free trade area of SADC countries in southern Africa. One effect of this is to give South Africa a more guaranteed market for its products as more trade barriers are lifted. Few will argue that South African products are any inferior in quality to those of the EU. Yet, the shops in SADC countries have plenty of goods from the south.

What adverse effect would EU products - which have the same quality as SA goods – have on less developed economies? If anything, presence of EU products might only serve to bring down the prices of competing South African products which, in fact, some suspect are overpriced outside SA to subsidise the pocket of consumers back home.

Comparing Chinese products with those of the EU is a lot like comparing them with those of South Africa. It is unlikely that EU products would be more expensive than those from China or India. One major reason is that in producing the higher quality that is associated with that region, there is general protection of the price of labour; suggesting the price of the goods cannot ordinarily be expected to be as low as that of Chinese products which are from basically cheaper labour (and perhaps a greater threat to ACP home industry growth).

It is difficult seeing why SADC nations including Zambia seem unconcerned about giving South African products a free market under the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement, while preventing such participation from the EU (not suggesting that the EU deserves a blank cheque).

If nations like Zambia fear killing of their industry by the EU, they should have made steps to prevent killing of their industry by the ‘EU’ just close to home – South Africa. Otherwise, they could be denying themselves chance for South African products to get competition which could benefit consumers in Zambia and other countries with similarly poorer citizens.

One area in which goods from the EU would perhaps be useful is that of pharmaceuticals. Zambia has given products from India an almost absolute monopoly. This denies Zambians chance to try quality alternatives from regions like the EU (and, even more significantly, growth of its own pharmaceutical industry).

At the Doha round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland in 2007, India and Brazil were said to be the countries whose stand was strongest against allowing the EU access to the markets of the poorer countries. A close look at the way the world economy is going would reveal that the two nations may have been acting purely out of self-interest (and every country somewhat should, at least to some degree).

At the 2008 Doha talks, they (India and Brazil) may have had more interest in preserving the status quo of the emerging economies than in anything else; trying to ensure that their grip on some sectors of economies like Zambia remained unchallenged.

India and Brazil had reportedly been chosen to be the voice of the third world and those poorest of nations called Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Perhaps in the coming rounds of Doha talks, India and Brazil should only represent emerging economies. The LDCs should be represented by countries like Zambia and Mozambique. There are 39 countries in the ACP classified as Least Developed Countries, which include other African countries like Angola, Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland, Congo DR and Malawi.

The purpose of this discussion is not to persuade Zambia and other ACP countries to sign the EPAs in their present form. It is to bring out important aspects that ACP countries like Zambia seem to be ignoring. The argument regarding whether or not to sign the EPAs has in many ways not been given enough depth, suggesting a possibly serious deficiency in appreciating issues that it is no one’s but ACP nations’ business to understand.

It is also interesting to note that the EPAs do appear to have a provision to exempt countries with the weakest economies (the LDCs) like Zambia to sign under the ‘everything but arms (EBA)’ arrangement, under which there could still be preferential trade to exclude getting ‘exposure’ to EU products. This has not been openly discussed, at least in Zambia. More importantly, it suggests need to assemble a ‘crack’ squad to fully unravel the EPAs (and even any SADC free trade agreement) to set the right, fairer tone for both the strong and the weak.

Rupert Chimfwembe, 2008

BUSINESS RESEARCH

THE BUSINESS RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Is a Research Proposal the same as a Research Report? Well, they are not one and the same.

Is a Research Proposal the same as a Research Report? Well, they are not one and the same. While both the Research Proposal and the Research Report are done in a research project, the Proposal is normally the first formal writing in a study mission that the researcher does, and the Report the last. In other words, the Proposal introduces a desired research undertaking, and the Report seals the project by explaining what was done.

In terms of basic content, the Proposal and Report deal with the same subjects.

Having looked at the above clarifications, we can now try to see what exactly a Research Proposal is.

A Research Proposal is a plan dealing mainly with:

-         Explanation of a study that an individual or group would like to do.

-         Why the investigation needs to be done.

-         How the research is to be conducted; the time; place and who or what the tests will be done on.

-         The type and level of resources required for the project.

-         Seeing if studies done by other individuals or groups give us a clue to the problem being faced.

What Key Purposes does a Research Proposal Serve?

Preparing a Research Proposal is significant because:

1.     Some researches may be sensitive and thus may require approval of government or other authorities.

2.     It informs potential funders of the resources required.

3.     It explains the investigation proposed.

4.     It is a show of transparency in business offers. If the study is part of a school dissertation programme, the Research Proposal enables tutors to see where a student requires advice.

The Main Parts of a Research Proposal

In a business environment, whether or not management is to favour carrying out of the research will depend a lot on how well the proposal is written. So, it is important that the Proposal clearly state what the suggested investigation is about and give compelling reasons for doing it.

In general, a business research is expected to have components given below:

I.  TITLE

The title must clearly state what the investigation concerns.  It has to contain just enough words to fully convey the complete message.

II. INTRODUCTION

The introduction not only describes the investigation and may include a list of the sub-parts it consists of.

Background. The background unfolds a concise historical picture making the research necessary.

Problem statement. The problem statement must explain challenges presented by a prevailing situation, and also show that a research has to be done.

Research Objectives.  Under this sub-heading, the researcher must give the direction in which the investigation is to be done.

A typical research objective, in a project concerning falling sales figures, would be:

To find out if any new competitor has grabbed market share.

The objectives given must be based on the problem that has been identified. They are, in this way, the purpose of the research.

The Hypothesis. A hypothesis is an ‘educated assumption’ made by the researcher suggesting the expected result. Hypotheses are often given where a relationship is believed to exist between variables.

When a hypothesis is given, the research normally has to subject it to testing to confirm or dispel it.

One use of a hypothesis is that it suggests a general point around which the study can be centred. Assume the following hypothesis:

Customers are more willing to buy coffee in the colder season than in the warmer.

In this case, the study will revolve around coffee and the readiness of customers to buy it in the colder season and the period of higher temperatures.

Literature Review. In the literature review part of the proposal, the researcher has to give summaries of the relevant material different authors have done on the problem.

Reviewing literature is a way to make a connection between research work and other relevant publications of the past and the proposed study.

The rule is that the researcher start with general writing and end with examining information specifically dealing with the problem being faced.

The researcher has to seek to bring out areas in which existing writing appears to shed insufficient light, and point out any biases.

If someone else has done the same research, and with regard to the same country, for example, the researcher could suggest changes in approach, such as using a bigger sample or doing the study in a different locality – to see if the same results would be obtained.  

At the end of the literature study, the researcher is expected to have captured, and stated, the general principles or theories that govern different situations relating to the problem being investigated.

Significance of the Study. The reasons for the research must come out clearly and convincingly. In the business environment, management will be more ready and enthusiastic to support a study the importance of which they find difficult to ignore.

Limitations and Delimitations. Limitations are handicaps on the research, such as inadequacy of time or financing, or old age of equipment to be used in the study.

Delimitations give the boundaries of the investigation (for example, the geographic area beyond which the study will not be done).

II. STUDY METHODOLOGY

This is the part in which the scientific aspect of the proposed research is to be explained. The researcher states exactly how the study is to be conducted. Some of the key sub-titles normally are:

Research Design. The research design is the fundamental type of the study. Researches can be quantitative or qualitative – and these actually have sub-classes.

Population and sampling techniques. The total number of subjects that the research will be about (population) must be given. So, too, should the nature of the sample. That has to include the type of sampling method to be used and the size of the sample. Reasons must be stated why a particular approach has to be employed.

Data collection. How is the data to be obtained from the respondents? Is it by questionnaire? Is it by use of focus groups? What is the rationale for the decision?

Research Equipment. The researcher must state any devices or instruments to be used and how useful she or he considers them.

II. DATA ANALYSIS

What has to be given here is how the data collected will be treated. It is about how the data will be made more meaningful and aid decision-making. For example, is any computer software to be employed to get useful patterns or summaries? Can any sample diagrams be given to help make the methods clearer? The motivation for the chosen data-handling ways needs to be stated.

III. OUT COMES

Here, the researcher merely declares that the results of the study will be given matter-of-factly. That is, without adding or taking away anything. Normally, here, the researcher states the expected results. The conclusions made in the literature review will be helpful here.

IV. CONCLUSIONS  

These constitute the understanding of the studied population that the researcher gets from the results, as regards the objectives that were stated. It must not be forgotten that the whole purpose of the research is to address the objectives earlier given.

The researcher must remind the readers that this is the section where she or he will give the answers to the research question. She/he must also explain that it will be important to look at issues beyond the research to see if the results have implications on them.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

The researcher states that this section is where remedial action is to be presented. The reader must remember that researching is principally a problem-solving process and must naturally include what can be done, and why, to bring about positive change.

VI. TIME-TABLE

The researcher has to give a schedule of the work to be done. Table ‘X’ is a sample time-table.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE OF RESEARCH PROJECT

PHASE	ACTIVITY	TIME PERIOD
1	Project discussions/ Continued literature review/Preparation of questionnaire	10 Jan-25 Feb
2	Testing and Review of Questionnaire		26 Feb-11 Mar
3	Field Interviews			12 Mar-11 Apr
4	Data Analysis				12 Apr-1 My
5	Report Writing					2 Jun-1Jul
6	Presentation of Report						2Jul-9Jul

Table 'X'. A simple mock research time-table.

VII. BUDGET

The purpose of the budget is that it shows the amount of financial resources needed to do the study – all activities require commitment of resources of some kind.

A sample budget is given in Table ‘Y’.

SAMPLE RESEARCH BUDGET

ITEM	DESCRIPTION	TOTAL ($)
1	Remuneration 01 x Programme Manager ($500/day x 15 days) 03 x Field Researchers ($200/day x 15 days) 01 x Statistician ($300/day x 3 days)	$7,500.00 $9,000.00              $ 900.00
	Sub-total	$17,400.00
2	Transport Accommodation and Meals Stationery and other Office Costs	$2,000.00 $2,500.00 $2,500.00
3	Sub-total	$7,000.00
ESTIMATED TOTAL RESEARCH BUDGET                             $24,400.00

Table ‘Y’. Sample cost projections for a research project.

VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

This, the researcher will state, will be a list of works used in the preparation of the Proposal. It has to include works cited in-text and those not mentioned in the passages.

IX. APPENDICES

All material that can strengthen the case for a research on the identified problem, such as devices to be used and full CV’s of the researcher team members and questionnaire.

Other inclusions in the appendix section are lists of acronyms and definitions.