This document provides a summary of a report on developing high-performance market research functions. It discusses key findings such as optimizing structures through collaboration, building influence by providing value to all business units, and managing processes and productivity. It also outlines the report's structure and chapters on optimizing structures, building influence, managing processes, and developing talent. Sample practices are presented, such as serving all internal groups to expand influence and tracking business cases to increase productivity.

1. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
Developing the High-
Performance Market Research
Function
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Industry Analysis
market research can confuse managers, cloud decisions, hamper forceful
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2. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function (SM-169) provides extensive data and insight
from 85 companies across dozens of industries. This report explains how leading market research organizations
increase their impact, influence and efficiency.
Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function answers critical questions in the following areas:
• Optimizing Market Research Structures: The Art Of Collaboration: What approaches work best to
make complex global Market Research structures work? How do market research leaders effectively
work across business, brand and geographic units?
• Building Influence and Enhancing Business Value: How do the best market research groups
consistently develop market insights and provide services for which business unit heads and senior
leaders clamor?
• Process Excellence & Productivity Management: How do high-performing market research groups
prioritize workloads, allocate resources, manage complex projects, oversee vendors, ensure quality and
enhance productivity?
• Performance Management: Developing People & Expertise: How do the best Market Research groups
develop both career market research professionals and rotational staff and how do they build expertise to
serve the business?
This report summary includes key findings, the report structure, sample practices, a table of contents
illustrating the study’s focus, and a list of exhibits, and an order form to facilitate purchase.
KEY FINDINGS
Best Practices LLC analysts identified several key elements that provide greater insight into developing high-
performance market research functions. Some key findings include:
• Optimize your structure through people, process and technology systems that embrace cross-unit
coordination and sharing to enhance business impact and reduce redundancy: Market research
leaders engage in a balancing act among three management variables: market research group structure,
market research performance processes and market research staff.
• Build market research impact through integrated management that balances staffing objectives,
product category or therapeutic expertise, crisp market insights and powerful influence skills: The
highest performing benchmark partners have developed integrated systems that align essential
management factors.
• Manage the market research function to leverage resources, balance planned and ad hoc projects,
and maintain work productivity and effectiveness: The best market research departments take a
comprehensive approach to determining performance and resource needs. These organizations consider a
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3. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
broad spectrum of factors when assessing workload requirements and then they plan accordingly, using
templates and benchmark libraries to inform their planning. They also employ project valuation processes
and various tools to effectively marshal staff resources and measure how staff professionals perform on
each project.
• Develop and cultivate people so market research becomes an esteemed career track and training
ground for future business leaders: Savvy market research leaders develop integrated performance
management systems for both career professionals and rotational employees.
REPORT STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION
Project findings in this report are organized into the following sections.
Report Overview – The report overview outlines the project background, study objectives and benchmark class.
Key Findings – The key findings summarize the top trends seen in leading market research departments.
Best Practice Chapters – This section contains best practices derived from interviews with market research
executives. The section includes the following four chapters:
• Optimizing Market Research Structures: The Art of Collaboration – This section focuses on how to:
make your structure work, communicate the importance of market research and minimize cross-unit
redundancy.
• Building Influence and Enhancing Business Value — This chapter details tactics to: build credibility
with senior leadership, provide value-added services to all constituents, turn data into intelligence and
market insights, and communicate market insights that guide and grow the business.
• Process Excellence and Productivity Management — This chapter includes practices on: workload and
resource requirement assessment, staff and project management, vendor relationship and outsourcing
management.
• Performance Management: Developing People & Expertise — This chapter addresses: the creation of
a market research-focused culture, talent development, career path development, and training and
development of market research competencies and capabilities.
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4. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
SAMPLE PRACTICES
Serve all internal stakeholder groups — including sales, finance, human resources, investor relations and
senior management — to expand the market research organization’s value and influence.
The most influential and effective market research departments in the benchmark class view their function more
broadly than the traditional role of supplying interpreted market data. These high-impact market research
organizations view themselves as full-service information
“This is a critical tactic to ensure
brokers and specialists who provide insight and expertise to a
that market research is valued
wide variety of corporate functional needs. By spreading their across senior management. We
services to recipients beyond the marketing function, these want to serve all functions so
market research organizations enhance their perceived value in they see our value.”
the broader organization. “This is a critical tactic to ensure -- Director of Market Analysis, Leading
Pharmaceutical Company
market research is valued across senior management,” stated the
Director of Market Analytics at a healthcare company that has set a formal mandate for Market Research to serve
multiple functions. “We want to serve all functions so they see our value. In this respect, we’ve embraced
functions such as HR, Finance, Sales and others who might not normally access our services.”
The global market research organization at another pharmaceutical company identifies all potential internal clients
and then defines service needs for each internal group. Market research becomes the eyes and ears to the
marketplace for multiple functions throughout the corporation.
At this company, Marketing receives at least 60 percent of Market Research’s services. Other functions receive the
balance of market research services:
• Finance - Market Research provides forecasting services.
• Sales Management - Market Research provides resource leveling and sales aid testing services.
• Human Resources - Market Research provides internal communications services such as employee
opinion surveys.
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5. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
Serve All Internal Constituents
Serve all internal stakeholder groups – including in-line groups, senior
management and others – to expand the market research organizations
value and influence.
MARKET RESEARCH Stakeholders
CONSTITUENTS
Finance
Marketing
Global & Country Unit Brand Teams
Sales Management
Business Development
Medical Affairs
R&D Executives “Take care of your customers – and
Human Resources I don’t just mean Marketing! We
Operating Committee want to serve all functions in the
President / Key Executives organization so they see Market
Investor Relations
Research’s value to the company!”
Country Units
Development Teams -- Senior Director, Market Analysis,
Managed Markets Global Pharma & Health Company
47
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At another benchmark partner, the Global Market Research organization targets senior managers across all
functions as a class of primary customers. Recent examples of ad hoc service to key executives:
• A pharmaceutical-company business unit president traveled to Japan in search of new business
opportunities for his therapeutic area. Prior to his departure, Market Research conducted a Japanese
market assessment specific to the business unit’s products. This market assessment permitted him to be
informed and effective during meetings with various prospective business partners.
• A business unit head was scheduled to present at an investor conference. Global market research provided
market data and analysis that enabled the executive to explain the logic for the business unit’s
investments and growth strategy.
Make business-case tracking and consolidating a required practice to increase functional productivity.
The volume of projects that most Market Research organizations conducts creates a great opportunity to learn
from prior mistakes, refine procedures and identify which types of research activities deliver greatest business
impact. Leading benchmark partners seize this opportunity by conducting business-case tracking for most projects.
Insights into effective project management and execution are gathered and documented by collecting data on
projects and tracking impact of those projects. This kind of diligent business-case tracking enables these
organizations to boost productivity, and subsequently decrease project completion time.
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6. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
One large pharmaceutical company makes tracking for key projects (measured by spend, with the threshold at
$100,000) mandatory for its employees.
Best-in-class companies recognize the need to consolidate project information to provide a comprehensive
reference tool for their employees. Tactics for consolidation include:
• Developing a common database: One company has established a resource center where market
researchers store all completed projects. These projects are then organized by types of study and include
all related materials such as the proposal, questionnaire and results. This makes it very convenient for a
market researcher to access ATU (Attitude, Trial and Usage) studies.
• Developing an intelligence network: Another company is instituting a “mentoring network” that
identifies subject area experts who function as references for other employees. For example, if a market
researcher is conducting a study for the first time, then access to information (available through a
common portal) allows the researcher to seek help fast. This information includes items such as:
o Name of the person who has previously conducted a similar study.
o Associated pitfalls with the study.
o Vendor information and referrals.
This tactic enables researchers to quickly identify individuals who have completed similar tasks or instantly
find information that is relevant to current needs.
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7. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Business Background and Overview......................Page 1
• Study Objectives ....................................................Page 1
• Benchmark Class ...................................................Page 2
Executive Summary • Participating Managers ..........................................Page 4
• Key Findings ..........................................................Page 4
• Report Structure and Organization.......................Page 10
• Path Forward........................................................Page 11
• Chapter Contents.................................................. Page12
• Overview .............................................................. Page 14
• Making Your Structure Work................................ Page 15
Optimizing Market • Structure Trends: Working with Your
Research Structures: Corporate DNA .................................................... Page 17
The Art of Collaboration • Communicating the Importance of Market
Research: How Rank Signals Status ................... Page 27
• Leadership’s Role in Championing
Coordination and Sharing .................................... Page 31
• Minimizing Cross-Unit Redundancy..................... Page 40
• Chapter Contents .................................................Page 50
• Overview ..............................................................Page 52
• Building Credibility with Senior Leadership ..........Page 57
Building Influence and • Providing Value-Added Services to All
Enhancing Business Constituents .........................................................Page 69
Value • Turning Data into Intelligence and
Market Insights .....................................................Page 71
• Communicating Market Insights that Guide and
Grow the Business ...............................................Page 88
• Chapter Contents .................................................Page 96
• Overview ..............................................................Page 98
Process Excellence
• Assessing Workloads and Resource
and Productivity
Requirements .....................................................Page 100
Management
• Managing Staff and Projects ..............................Page 111
• Managing Vendors and Outsourcing..................Page 122
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8. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
• Chapter Contents...............................................Page 136
• Overview ............................................................Page 138
Performance
• Creating a Market Research-Focused
Management:
Culture ...............................................................Page 141
Developing People and • Developing Talent ..............................................Page 152
Expertise • Employing Career Paths ....................................Page 158
• Training and Developing Market Research
Competencies and Capabilities .........................Page 163
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9. Developing the High-Performance Market Research Function
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