1. Outline of the Project Environment

Alliance Boots Limited (referred to hereafter as “the organisation”) is a leading British pharmaceutical company with two high street retail divisions, Boots the Chemist and Alliance Pharmacies. Between these two divisions, they hold around 17% of the UK market share and some 3000 outlets. Recent operations have included diversification into the opticians, footwear, sandwich and electrical markets. Larger “out of town” stores are also being increased in number, with a focus on cosmetic products. Kiosk technologies already exist in some stores in the form of Kodak photo booths.

The company is adapting its product range and retail methods due to increasing competition from supermarket chains and changed customer behaviour (notably the emergence of out of town shopping centres), however revenues and profits (see Appendix 1) suggest this adaption in not yielding positive results. In this light, kiosk technologies are seen potentially helpful to facilitating the retail experience. The company has been contacted with a request for access to consumer trends and feedback responses, although as yet no reply has been received.

This might have been better but instead of focusing on the environment you have slipped into not only telling us what the problem might be but also a solution route and so you have practically IGNORED THE Headings

2. Presenting the Problem to be Solved

Boots dates back nearly 150 years and has a strong brand reputation as a chemist. However, recent product diversification means this reputation could become as much of a hindrance as a benefit. That is to say, currently consumers may purchase their pharmaceuticals as Boots but their electronic or chemical beauty products elsewhere. The problem is therefore how to increase awareness of new products among existing and potential customers.

Despite recent diversification of product range and store expansions since a merger in 2005, company revenue and profits are stagnating. Furthermore, diversification into Boot’s traditional market by some of the large supermarket chains has increased sector competitiveness significantly. It is hypothesised Boots’ stagnation is due to a lack of customer awareness of new products and retail activities.

Can you not see that all you have do so far in this section is more or less repeated what you said in section 1 and there is no purpose or value in such a strategy and it looks to a reader as if you are just avoiding getting to the point.

Thus, problem to be solved has two parts:

• The stagnation of Boots’ sales despite diversified product range and new out-of-town stores
• Identifying what information customers would require to change current behaviours and what interfaces/technologies are needed to communicate it.

Characteristics: Kiosk technologies are seen to have potential usefulness to Boots in two principle ways:

1. Giving customers greater information about product details and locations within a store
2. Increasing customer awareness of new products and services.

This is NOT a characteristic of the problem it’s a characteristic of the solution. This is very bad and you are continuing your tactic of ignoring what heading ask for and this mean you are NOT thinking carefully through the presenting problem and where do you think such a poor strategy will lead?

Cause: The problems association with changing the nature of service of a strong and recognisable brand name.

This is not much is it as you appear to be saying b then problem is the cause of the problem here although the line is so vague it could mean anything

Associations: Customer perception, current marketing strategy, competitor activities and retail trends

Perspective: This perspective of a retail and marketing advisor will be adopted.

Can you explain why as I cannot see much of a justification for this?

Effects: Kiosk technologies are an effective means of increasing customer awareness of product options and descriptions. They are also useful in facilitating the research experience and enabling customers to inform themselves of and locate products.

AGAIN this is very bad thinking as you are talking about the effects of the solution when you are supposed to be talking about the effects of the problem. This is a poor start and I have serious concerns at the direction of your thinking as it appear you have a solution and now you are thrashing AROUND LOOKING for a problem to hang it on.

3. Target

The study has several targets, both direct and indirect.

Direct: To draw up an independent report that will encourage the installation of kiosk support facilities in Boots stores, thereby increasing the profitability of Boots retail outlets by facilitating the retail experience. This will be done by increasing customer awareness of retail activities and store layouts, as well as product details and descriptions.

Indirect: Develop a protocol for assessing the value of kiosk technologies and the nature of their implementation in the retail environment. It is hoped this will be a best practice model that can be implemented in other examples.

This is hopeless as it is clear you have no idea what target means. Target is NOT about what you are going to do it’s about the effects you will try to observe IF the presenting problem can be solved or partially resolved. As I have said already all you appear to have is some kind of obsession with a solution and don’t care very must at all about carrying out an adequate problem analyses.

4. Outcomes, Actors and Data Spotlight

The resulting protocol will be responsive to the various factors that influence the effectiveness of kiosk technologies, namely, consumer behaviour, consumer demands, technological specifications and kiosk capabilities. This protocol will be useful to store managers and strategy advisors in determining which outlets would most benefit from investment in kiosk technologies.

It is proposed that the study develop a method of codifying and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data relating to customer needs and behaviours that can be applied to assessing the feasibility kiosk technologies. That is to say, a means of assessing the usefulness and viability of kiosk technologies in individual Boots stores, ascertaining under what circumstances they would facilitate the retail experience and thereby increase profitability.

This might be possible but I cannot say I am all that happy with it as I still cannot see what problem it is supposed to solve.  Also where is the strategic business IT here as this looks just like a simple marketing g outcome

5. Constraints

Several constraints are identified on both the process of this study and its outcome.

1. Individuality. Each customer is different and so is each retail experience. Therefore, developing a protocol that can account for 100% of customers 100% of the time is an unrealistic task. However, it is hoped the protocol will be sufficiently useful for this not to be an undermining factor.

It is not clear to make why this is a constraint ON what YOU will be doing as part of the project unless this is want to say that it is not worth doing

2. Regional Differences. Location of stores may influence retail activity. This could either be due to specific location (i.e. in an airport as opposed to a High Street) or regional differences. That is to say, stores in rural locations may have, for example, less demand for cosmetic products. Therefore, the protocol will have to be aware of this potential for variation in consumer behaviour.
3. Data Access and Timing. Boots have not yet responded to requests for cooperation, however, given the potential benefits the study may bring to them, it is hoped that this will not be a problem. A follow-up contact will be made in January if no response has been received by the New Year. Once contact is established, research could be delayed by slow responses from the organisation.
4. Storage. Data will be either in digital or paper format, therefore storage presents no obstacles.
5. Literature. Preliminary reading suggests academic literature on the subject area is sparse thereby increasing the need for primary research and personal observations. Much of the literature that does exist is produced by companies providing kiosk technologies and may therefore be biased. Given these factors, primary research is seen as a necessary counterpoint to existing data sources.
6. Skills. Skills involve analysis of consumer behaviours and marketing activities. Also, appreciation of ease of use of certain interface technologies.
7. The approach is deemed valid although the choice of a topic that has a variety of influencing factors centralises the need for an integrated approach and one that accommodates information of various types and from various fields.

I am a little unhappy here as I don’t see all these as all thoughtful constraints on your MSc study. I am also very concerned that there is nothing here about IT as far AS I CAN SEE and this all looks more like a piece of marketing as I have said above.

6. The Research Question

In light of the above discussion of context and potential constraints, the following research question can be formulated:

What (interrogative) information communicated to customers (actors) through kiosk technologies (as retail support facilities) (spotlight) would overcome (target) sales stagnation (problem) for Boots, thereby increasing company profitability and the customer’s retail experience (outcome)?

I don’t think this make sense. Earlier you said the outcome it would be a protocol for assessment but now it looks like some sort of information definition. It is also clear that you do not at all understand the distinction between outcome and target and these are so basic that this is unforgivable. How can the spotlight be “kiosk technologies” as this would not to seem to amount to primary data but just part of the literature review that is preparation for study and in any case I find it impossible to see how one might get to any of the outcomes you seem to be suggesting from a description of technology

7. Breakdown of Tasks

The following tasks can be seen to comprise the main work involved in the successful completion of this study.

1. Literature: Although extant literature directly relating to the subject is scarce, journals and texts relating to retail strategy, product identification and consumer behaviours does exist. It will be necessary to review this literature and assess its applicability for our study. Initial reading suggests some literature will be valuable on a conceptual level, and therefore understanding and re-application of these concepts will be an important part of the literature reviews.

Literature and data from kiosk technology vendors, available online and in catalogues, is seen as useful but potentially biased and will only be used when it is possible to verify it with another objective source.

2. Problem Scenario: Once information from the organisation becomes available, this will be analysed in order to ensure the research problem is valid and the outcomes of the proposed study are useful. Once initial research has been conducted, it will be possible to determine the impact of factors such as regional location or retail experience individuality on the study. It may be necessary to re-assess certain aspects of the problem in light of these findings, or even devise additional research methods to deal with unexpected factors. This will also allow a narrower identification of data sources useful to the study and how they will be employed for optimal analytical value.

This is really more focused on making sure you have fully discussed your problem (you have not) and the tried to justify your outcome as a potential solution (you have not) BEFORE you start to get data.

3. Preparation of Domain: The organisation has been contacted and the details and nature of proposed study have been explained to them. As already mentioned, they have not responded but given the potential usefulness of the research to them, it is hoped that in time they will. A follow-up contact is planned for the New Year. They have been offered full access to results and conclusions.

Initial investigation suggests Boots stores only utilise kiosk technology for Kodak photography. Furthermore, despite recent expansion and product diversification, total revenues for non-wholesale retail activities have performed indifferently in recent years (see apprendix1).

4. Practical Access to Tools: Literature contains various models for assessing consumer behaviour and demand as well as the role of marketing and customer awareness (See section 9.3 below). These will be applied to data requested from the organisation in order to establish an understanding of current practices. Furthermore, information relating to current marketing strategy has been requested. This will allow evaluation of current strategy against best practice models.

It is supposed this review will highlight areas of weakness. It will then be possible to evaluate the usefulness of kiosk technologies in improving this strategy.

5. Practical Documentation: Information and observations will be notated in written form, as this is the author’s preferred research technique. Given the novelty of the subject matter, it is not possible to give precise details about how results will be codified and presented. However, in accordance recommendations of with extant literature (Yin 1994), case studies will be seen as a useful means of exemplifying the findings of general data, and the report will contain at least two from different types of stores (i.e. high street vs. out of town). Also, the lack of information from the organisation or knowledge of its format prevents further detailing of this aspect of the study at this stage.

8.     Problem-solving approach:

Given the nature of the study the following shall apply:

1. Primary Data. Attention must be paid to consumer demands, that is to say what they expect from the retail experience, and what information they think would be valuable to their retail experience, i.e. a ranking of product price, product description, product location etc. Furthermore, it is necessary to ascertain how kiosk technologies could improve product awareness, i.e. advertisement of promotions, new products etc.

This is very weak and it seem to have nothing but a marketing focus and you are obviously muddled over getting the data and then using it to get a result and we see this in your last line which incidentally implies yet another outcome.

2. Epistemological Process. Subjective data will be codified in an empirical manner by the use of closed questions. This will be cross-validated by open, discursive questions.

I have no idea what this can possibly mean and you seem again to not have looked at the notes on this heading and what we seem to have described here is just a way of getting the data

3. Research Method. Customer attitudes will be assessed by questionnaires administered in and around stores. It is seen as important to survey both customers in stores (i.e. people using them anyway) and around them, as it may be there is a difference of attitudes relating to regularity of purchases at Boots stores. This questionnaire will include closed questionnaires on 5-point Likert scales and open questions soliciting more discursive responses. Thereby, in accordance with recommendations in literature, results can be triangulated and used to validate each other (Bryman 1995). This research will lead to an understanding of what determinants influence customer purchases at Boots and how kiosk technologies can support or increase these.

As I said this is just marketing and not strategic business IT. I also get the feeling that you cannot make a distinction between a survey and a questionnaire

Data from my own research can be used in conjunction with any data provided by the organisation

I cannot make any sense of this. Surely part of your research is getting data from the organisation?

4. Research Approach. An inductive approach is seen as most suitable due to the aim of creating a usable best practice protocol.

And what is your argument for saying this?

5. Research Styles. A mixture of research styles will be used, including qualitative results supported by statistical analyses of primary and possibly secondary data. This will achieve triangulation, seen as recommendable in IS literature (Straub 1989). Literature reviews will be based on interpretive research. An integrated approach is seen to give more validity to overall findings given the different factors influencing the research question.

I just get the feeling you are guessing here and don’t really understand what you are saying. Let’s take interpretive research and hear I can only think you are stating the obvious that we interpret our DATA Based on what we know – is that what you meant?

6. Data Locations. Locations of primary research will be in and around outlets.

Any data referring to consumer trends will be from a wider geographic area, although it cannot be specified where at this stage.

This is hardly an exact definition is it?

7. Data Collection Protocol. The author will collect the data. This only concern here is designing a questionnaire that is clear and usable, and that respondents are willing to give up a few minutes of their time to complete it.

There is no protocol her at all as you for example do not make any attempt to say who will respond

8. Primary Data Processing.

This will occur in two stages, namely.

1. Codification of results: tabulation of quantitative findings with mean, standard deviation and ranking of reasons people shop at Boots and how they feel this process could be facilitated. Analysis of qualitative findings and identification of area where they support/ contradict statistical analyses. Any information supplied by the organisation will be subject to the same processes

I think this is so general that it has no value whatever and I don’t think you have though at all about exactly what you will do with your own primary data. This is just I assumes copies from some sources or there and it will not do

2. Analysis of Results: Triangulation of both data sets, analysis of striking features/ trends etc. Examination of differences/ concurrences between primary data and any other data. Discussion of results in light of literature reviews. Identification of most desirable features of kiosk technology and how these apply to the specific context of Boots. Identification of necessary specifications for effective retail support through kiosk technologies at Boots.

Again this is too general and although it has hints that you know what to do it is not specific enough and in any case you seem to have completely ignored what you said your outcome would be.

9. Outlines of Literature Review

As noted above, academic literature on the topic is scarce. Therefore, media and company sources will be useful, must be validated. Furthermore, academic literature from marketing and retail sources will be reviewed and employed where applicable, including on a conceptual level. Much of this literature is American, it will therefore be necessary to be aware of and take account of cultural differences. (Note: Kiosk technologies are more common in, notably, America and Japan than in the UK. The experience of these countries may provide valuable information and concepts for our study).

1. Keywords: Kiosk Technologies, Retail Technologies, Information Systems, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Strategy and Development, Retail Support, Boots, and Pharmaceutical Retail.

2. Basic Definitions and Terms: In our understanding of technology, we follow extant literature in including elements of human behaviour in it: “Technology is the most fundamental of the core capabilities of a firm. It is a systematic body of knowledge about how natural and artificial things function and interact” (Itami and Numagami 1992: 119).

Kiosks are defined as automated devices that provide customers with information.

3. Primary Sources: Given the novelty of the research, several primary sources relating to research methodologies for such studies are used. In addition, sources from marketing and retail journals will be necessary. A helpful field of research is theory relating to the interaction of technology and the retail experience. As such, the following sources have been identified by preliminary reading and key word/ title searches:

Bajari, P. & Benkard, C. L. (2005). “Demand estimation with heterogeneous consumers and unobserved product characteristics: A hedonic approach”. Journal of Political Economy, 113, 1239–1276.

Berry, S. (1994). Estimating discrete choice models of product differentiation. RAND Journal of Economics, 25, 242–262.

Bryman, A. (1995) Quantity and Quality in Social Research, Routledge, London, UK

Business Wire (2005). friendlyway Unveils New Software Suite; friendlyway Software Suite Delivers for a New Generation of Rich Media Digital Displays and Kiosk Solutions, Business Wire, 2nd May

Compter Talk for the Pharmicist. Online Archive. Available at:

http://www.computertalk.com/content/view/141/

Gowrisankaran, G. and Rysman, M (2007) Dynamics of Consumer Demand for New Durable Goods” available at:

http://people.bu.edu/mrysman/research/dynamicdemand.pdf

Gauvain, J.L. et al (1995). “The Spoken Voice Component of the MASK kiosk.” Available at:

http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/945/ftp:zSzzSztlp.limsi.frzSzpubliczSzmask95hcs.pdf/gauvain97spoken.pdf

Itami, H and Numagami, T (1992). “Dynamic Interaction between Strategy and Technology” Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13, Special Issue: Fundamental Themes in Strategy Process Research. (Winter), pp. 119-135

Mowery, D. and Rosenberg, N. (1979) ‘The influence of market demand upon innovation: a critical review of some empirical studies’, Research Policy, Vol. 8, pp.102–153.

Rehg, J.M., Loughlin, M. and Waters, K. (1997). “Vision for a smart kiosk,” cvpr, p. 690, 1997 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR’97)

Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research, Oxford, Blackwell.

Rowley, J. and Slack, F. (2003). “Kiosks in Retailing: the Quiet Revolution,” International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Vol 31. Number 6, pp 329-339

Song, I. & Chintagunta, P. (2003). A micromodel of new product adoption with heterogeneous and forward-looking consumers: An application to the digital camera category. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 1, 371–407.

Straub, D. (1989) ‘Validating instruments in MIS research’, MIS Quarterly, June.

Yin, R.K. (1994) Case Study Research Design and Methods, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, Newbury Park.

Many of these look a bit dated and again it has all the feel of a marketing exercise not a strategic business it ONe

4. Map of Important Areas: The literature review will undertake the following significant functions and its structure will roughly mirror these points:

1). Introductory identification of terms and topic. Overview of the central aspects of this study and the literature that informs them.

2). Identification of extant theory relating to the use of technology as a retail support tool and how this use is evolving as consumer behaviours and technological capabilities develop.

3). Supply information relating to the effect of kiosk technologies as a retail support tool in countries where this practice is more common and better researched.

4). Outline issues of marketing strategy and retail theory, what influences customer decisions and how companies react to this. Guidance on how to measure customer demand and behaviours.

5). Identify existing best practice models for kiosk technologies and what capabilities would best suit the context Boots. These could include touch screen capabilities, voice capabilities or interactive features.

This is quite good but what about supporting IT infrastructures?

5. Originality: The study hoped to help address a significant gap in current knowledge relating to the possibilities of kiosk technologies as a form of support in a UK retail context. Originality will be derived from the primary research conducted as well as cross-cultural discussions of kiosk literature in a UK context. The study is partially inspired by on a personal level by a recent and very frustrating retail experience in a large Boots outlet. It is hoped, in this light, that the study will bring benefits both to the company and its customers.

No this is a completely misunderstands what this is about. Here you are looking at the literature BEFORE any actual primary data research takes place so it CANNOT be included here, again you just show that you either don’t understand these headings or ignore them or just don’t bother to read the guidance notes

6. Review Conclusion

It is hoped that the conclusions of this study will result in a useful best practice protocol that can be implemented in other, similar circumstances. That is to say, a protocol that can assess and process the variety of factors that influence the desirability of kiosk technologies within a given setting. On a more conceptual level, it is possible that the changing nature of the interactions of humans and technology could lead to speculation on a more metaphysical level.

Again this is the Literature Review so it is PREPARATORY so it CANNOT also include the results of your own study

Appendix 1: Boots Group Plc. Financial performance 2000 – 2006. (Source Alliance Boots Results Archive found at

 http://production.investis.com/allianceboots/results/results_archive/b_archive/ Accessed 1st December 2007.) :