Organizing Business Research Papers(17)

http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw
Business Research

(:)

Setting of research (): ?
?
Research problem () :
?
Quantitative specification of problem () :

Importance of problem () :
, ?
(:)
Research objective ()
Methodology to achieve objective
()
Anticipated results ()
Contribution to field ()
(:)
While facing an increasing elderly population, Taiwanese
must effectively address the increasing demand for long-term
healthcare facilities and services. The potential growth for this non-
profit market sector, the largest one in Taiwan, is immense, making it
impossible for healthcare providers to resist expansion into this area.
Both governmental policymakers of social welfare trends and
commercial investors heavily rely on forecasting reports to remain
abreast of regulations governing health finance policies and to develop
new inventory projects.
Whereas the modeling method has seldom been adopted to
forecast market trends in long-term care in Taiwan, most studies focus
mainly on the expert conjecture method or the principle of the past
growth relative proportion to forecast the market supply and demand.
Those methods not only neglect the market and the natural factors that
are correlated to the long-term healthcare sector, but also resulted in
individual and organizational estimates in which a high degree of
variance exists for the demand.
(:)
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an
aging society as one in which 7% of a countrys population is over 65
years old. Under this definition, Taiwan became an aging society in
September 1993, with its elderly population reaching 1,470,000.
Moreover, the islands growth rate of the aging population exceeds that
of European and North American countries.
Such a high degree of variance makes it extremely
difficult for institutional managers as well as public and private sector
investors not only to determine the accuracy of forecasting reports, but
also to determine what policies or inventory projects to implement.
Those managers and investors remain wary of committing to this
market sector owing to the high degree of unforeseeable risks.

(:)
Based on the above, we should develop two forecasting models to
estimate the market demand of the elderly population in Taiwan with respect to
the available resources in the long-term healthcare sector.
To do so, a multi-regression model can be developed to
measure and forecast not only the quantity of the elderly population in Taiwan,
but also the relationship between the elderly population variation and critical
factors. Following the submission of a questionnaire to institutional managers as
well as public and private sector investors, critical factors associated with
commitment to the further development of Taiwans long term healthcare sector
can then be identified from those questionnaire replies based on pertinent
research from a literature review. Next, a GM (1, 1) model based on the Grey
Theory can then be developed to accurately forecast the supply of Taiwans long
term care facilities and services using data acquired from the Ministry of
Interiors website.
In addition to identifying relevant factors that affect the quantity of
elderly population, the proposed forecasting models can also measure precisely
the quantity of demand and supply of long-term healthcare resources in Taiwan.
Results of this study can provide not only a valuable reference for
institutional managers, public as well as private sector investors, and academics,
but also a feasible strategy for health care policy makers when devising
strategies for fulfilling the demand of this rapidly growing sector.
(:)
Both the increasing popularity of credit card use and growing
number of Internet-based promotional activities in Taiwan has enabled
banking institutions to acquire extensive customer data. In addition to
helping banking institutions to execute customer management and
service management efficiently, thoroughly analyzing such data can
optimize marketing management practices. Corporate survival in the
future hinges on the ability to know and treat customers well through
analysis of pertinent data.
However, differentiated marketing practices in Taiwan are
insufficient, with conventional methods of ranking customers normally
based on the bank account balance for each accounting period. This
basis alone does not provide a complete customer profile, and seldom
incorporates strategies that analyze the commercial transaction data of
customers. Insufficient information of unique customer characteristics
can obviously not provide specialized services for individuals. Thus, the
inability to interact compatibly with customers will cause companies to
lose their focus on the product development and promotional strategies.
(:)
For instance, conventional bank services fail to provide
convenient services to customers efficiently. Namely, although the mail-order
division of a company sends its promotional materials to its customers, only
10% of those customers subsequently purchased those advertised products.
The inability to identify who those 10% potential customers are in advance
makes it impossible not only to save the remaining 90% overhead costs of the
promotional materials, but also to prevent the sales division from concentrating
on potential customers to enhance work productivity by providing upgraded
products and services.
Consequently, conventional customer ranking methods may
cause decision makers to select inappropriate market strategies. Additionally,
the lack of a differentiated marketing strategy will lead to inefficiency and high
overhead costs. With an increasingly heterogeneous population in Taiwan and
broadening sense of individualism island wide making it increasingly difficult to
characterize the purchasing habits of consumers, banking institutions can not
implement promotional strategies effectively owing to the inability not only to
provide reliable services, but also to adopt differentiated marketing practices.
Moreover, the inability to identify customer needs rapidly will lead to a high
customer turnover rate and eventual loss of competitiveness.
(:)
Based on above, we should develop a customer ranking
model capable of analyzing the dynamic purchasing behavior of
customers and identifying the potential ones who can generate bank
revenues. Those behavioral results can be used to devise diverse
promotional strategies or customize products or services according to
consumer needs, thus achieving market differentiation and effective
management of customer relations.
To do so, based on numerous customer data available,
a data mining method, i.e., CRISP-DM, can be employed, which
combines the conventional means of data exploration with two
mathematical calculations (decision tree and category nerve) to
determine how various purchasing activities are related and how many
factors can rank the value of a customers relationship. Among these
factors include the types of products purchased, their quantity, their net
interest of margin and their cost of acquisition and servicing. Factors
associated with customer relations and customer life cycle can then be
combined to construct an enhanced management model.
(:)
As anticipated, the proposed customer ranking model can be
adopted to effectively manage customer relations, thereby reducing
promotional costs significantly and allowing sales staff to concentrate on
identifying potential customers. Whenever a meaningful factor is identified that
differentiates one customer from another, an opportunity arises to differentiate
between the experience of a new customer from that of others to ultimately
increase profits. By providing insight into the factors that create value, those
ranking ratios can be reinforced to increase profit retention.
By incorporating CRIPS-DM, the proposed model can analyze
current customer data efficiently, enabling marketing staff to more thoroughly
understand customers, identify potential niche markets and optimize the
relation between the customer and institution. Via the proposed model, factors
of the ranking module can be verified and adjusted to ensure that a company
continuously provides quality services. While the customers value in the
customer relationship management can be determined, this model can
significantly enhance the ability to attract new customers. Furthermore, this
model can be used in other business sectors to enhance the ability to identify,
acquire and remain loyal and profitable customers.
Further details can be found at
http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw