formation on the Internet is free. However, some resources require subscriptions, per-use charges, or other fees; costs vary with the type of information provided, the number of services (resources) used, and the number of users in your group or office. Appendix A lists some of the types of information available on the Internet; some types are useful for strategic market re- search, some for tactical market research, and some for both. Appendix B lists some of the many sources of market research information available through the Internet; the list might help you narrow your market investigations to those that come closest to meeting your requirements.
Ultimately, the goal of both strategic and tactical market research is to provide acquisition personnel with enough knowledge about the market to make good decisions. Market research will have a significant impact on the acquisition strategy, the requirements, and the business processes needed to successfully contract for the desired product or service. Below, we address the specific steps required for both types of research.
Strategic Market Research (Market Surveillance)
Strategic market research involves activities that result in a broad understanding of markets, technologies, business developments, and the products or services of interest. Strategic market research is an ongoing process and is usually not focused on a single acquisition.The goal of strategic market research is to develop a base of knowledge about the market area of interest and its products or services.This base of knowledge can then be applied to one or more acqui- sitions to help focus the more detailed tactical market research.
Strategic market research helps you to stay abreast of the latest developments in the market area of interest, including the latest technologies, business trends, products, services, and business practices. By conducting strategic market research regularly, you will be better positioned to as- sess the capabilities of the market to provide the desired products or services.This knowledge is invaluable when developing the initial acquisition strategy, well before actual requirements are
in place. Decisions made early in the acquisition process will shape all that follows, so conduct- ing strategic market research is critical to the success of an acquisition program.
Strategic market research has four major steps, summarized in Figure 4. Each of the steps is discussed below.
Identify the Market or Market Segment of Interest
The first step in conducting strategic market research is to identify the market or market seg- ment of interest and to scope out the task. Answering the following questions will help get you started.
Are you interested in a product or a service? At the strategic level, the research that you do will be similar regardless of whether a product or a service is involved. However, you will need to tailor the research somewhat. For example, when looking at product markets, you will want
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