Chapter 4 – Research Findings –Data and Analysis section
4.1 Introduction
After establishing the research methodology adopted in this study in the previous parts, this chapter presents the research findings obtained. Out of the 120 questionnaires issued to the selected participants, only 101 were completed making the total completion rate 84%. This chapter starts by presenting the background information of the participants on the survey that was conducted on customers as well as from the interview with the companies’ SCM, Marketing, Sales, HR, and legal departments as well as with the department’s directors. Further hypotheses are tested and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Afterward, findings on how supply chain management should be more strategically integrated with marketing activities. As well as the importance of integrating local marketing talent within the supply chain network for multinational firms on a more strategic level, due to the rapid change of global business environment and customer perception as the dynamic consumer needs.
The Dissertation Hypotheses
- If the integration between local marketers and supply chain management for the multinational firms is only on the operation and tactics level, the local customer’s voice will not be very clear to the multinational firms’ headquarters.
- The strategic integration between marketing and global supply chain will lead to more competitive advantage and increase customer service & loyalty leading to increased outcomes.
- 3 points of view could be differentiated which include the integration of inter-functional, process, and business concepts which can move the integration between marketing and supply chain management to a more strategic level. (Strategic Integration Framework)
The proposed framework builds on these perspectives, which capture the integration between marketing and supply chain into the business units and move them onto a more strategic level. Integrating marketing and supply chain strategies involves the management of the following levels of integration:
- Strategic corporate, customer, and shareholder integration.
- Strategic supplier integration.
- Strategic marketing and SCM with the local marketing talent integration
- The strategic integration between global supply chain management for multinational firms and local marketing talent will lead to the utilization of the concept of Economies of scale & scope in the best usage
Customer assessment through Facebook before going to the main research topic
Before going in-depth into the main topic” Global supply chain with the local marketing talent” an assessment of customer preferences between global, glocal, and local marketing activities has been conducted through a survey using questionnaire data collection made on 120 random samples.
. When the sample was asked about how they prefer to see the product’s promotions, the largest percentage 60% of the sample stated that they prefer the global promotions but with some customization that fits each region and market considering their cultures and preferences, the other 30% divided between customers who prefer the total standard promotions and marketing campaigns and the total customized promotions and marketing campaigns. We can conclude that the global norms of customers are high but most of them prefer customization but not localized without integrating into global campaigns
55% of the sample appreciate companies that promote their products targeting each country separately depending on their cultures and preferences while 37% exceed the degree of appreciation and become loyal to those brands, and the rest of the sample which presents 8% don’t care.
The survey also showed a great tendency to pay more attention to the brand name itself than the country of origin, which was revealed by the 70% who stated that they focus more when they buy the product on the brand name while 30% who said the focus more on the country that made that product.
While assessing the most reason which increases the customer’s loyalty to a brand, the answers were split to 30% for the brands that make a special discount, especially for them and 40% find their loyalty with the brands that specify the marketing and promotion activities specially for them. And 20% find their loyalty to find the brand in various places.
The results also showed that 46% preferred watching international celebrities presenting the brand’s promotion and sponsorships but designed along with the local preferences of their countries while 20% prefer watching promotions presented by international celebrities presenting international standard messages for all countries and 34% prefer watching local celebrities promoting for the brand. We can conclude that almost all of the customers surveyed like the global brands but on local modifications. This supports the idea of a global supply chain with local marketing talent, but this is only according to marketing and advertising not about the research’s main topic we can assess the customer’s demands from this survey which will be valuable according to the research’s main topic.
4.2 Participants’ Background Information in the first part of the questionnaires.
Based on the findings obtained in this study, it was revealed that more females than males participated where there were only 46 males against 55 females. On cross-tabulating the number of male and female participants with their ages, it was revealed that the female gender dominated all the ages (as shown in Table 4.2 below). This clearly shows that there are more female buyers of fast-moving consumer goods in Egypt than males.
Table 4.2 – Cross-tabulation of gender and age of the participants
In addition, the frequency of shopping at Hyper One among the participants was also investigated; in addition to the accessibility of Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Almaraie products in the supermarket. Based on the findings obtained, it was indicated that the majority of the participants were ‘frequent’ at the supermarket (as shown in Figure 4.2 below); while all the participants indicated that they were able to access all three brands in the store. This clearly shows that the three companies have adopted an effective supply chain, which enables all their products to be accessed by the customers.
Figure 4.2 – Frequency of Shopping at Hyper One Supermarket
4.3 Testing and analysis of the first hypotheses (If the integration between local marketers and supply chain management for the multinational firms is only on the operation and tactics level, the local customer’s voice will not be very clear to the multinational firms’ headquarters).
The surveys were addressed only to the customers to assess their perceptions on The marketing strategies of some FMCG in Egypt occurred by the researcher in Hyper one Supermarket and others as well as through the Internet to assess how the importance of integration between local marketers and global supply chain management design within global supply chain network which was clear through the literature review chapter and will be discussed in more details on the following paragraphs, adopted the following hypotheses, which will be tested in this section. The first hypothesis focuses on the customer’s needs, demands, and perceptions, so it focuses on centralization Vs. decentralization as well as standardization VS adaptation of the FMCG to ensure the importance of the local marketing strategies on the global supply chain management design To reach the local customer’s voice.
To analyze the first Hypotheses, we have to divide it into 3 points
A – Supply chain management activities are directly related to customer satisfaction
In testing and analyzing this point, a regression analysis model was employed in which the independent variable was supply chain activities while the dependent variable was customer satisfaction. Among the key variants, that were used to determine the effectiveness of supply, chain management were the ability to access a wide range of product lines in a single store, consumer prices, and the flow of products (new and old) within the supply chain. Based on the findings obtained, the R-value of 0.945 indicated a very strong positive relationship between supply chain management activities and customer satisfaction (as illustrated in Table 4.3A ). This is confirmed by the significance level (P value) of 0.000. As such, the point is accepted. As it was clear within the literature review; the importance of integration between marketing and supply chain is an essential topic that can determine the multinational firms can compete in the global market or not so multinational firms should set their strategies to satisfy customers and this requires understanding of the customer value creation process as well as it aims to maximizing the co-creation value across target customer segments which considered as the main objective that drives the close interaction between marketing and supply chain management, which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Table 4.3A – Regression analysis on the relationship between supply chain management and customer satisfaction
B – Adopting localized marketing strategies on global supply chains leads to higher customer satisfaction
In correspondence to the conceptual framework in this study, the relationship between localized marketing strategies on global supply chains and customer satisfaction was tested. The participant’s preference for localized marketing activities including advertising over standardized ones by multinational firms was considered as the independent variables, whereas the participants’ satisfaction with the quality and variety of products offered by the selected four brands (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Almaraie) was the dependent variable. This analysis was done using Pearson’s correlation coefficient because the variables were only two. Based on the findings obtained, the R2 value of 0.910 indicated a very strong positive relationship between the variables (as shown in Table 4.3B below); hence this point is accepted. According to this point, the customization in FMCG is becoming a basic issue, but the idea lies in how the Multinational firms conduct this customization through professional instruments and strategic integration between marketing and supply chain within an effective supply chain network which requires more strategic integration with the local marketing talent.
Table 4.3B – Correlation analysis between customer preference of localized marketing activities on global supply chains and customer satisfaction
C – Integrating customers’ needs along the supply chain leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions
Further, the relationship between integrating customer needs along the supply chain management and customer satisfaction was investigated. In this analysis, accessibility of consumer products, prices, and customer service that meet the needs of the customers were independent variables, whereas customer satisfaction was the dependent variable. The analysis was done using regression in which the R-value of 0.947 obtained indicated a very strong relationship between the two variables (as shown in Table 4.3C). On testing the level of significance, the P value of 0.000 obtained confirmed the positive relationship between the research variables; therefore the point is accepted.
Multinational firms have to come a long way as a profession by changing their focus from merely providing excellent customer service to managing relationships with target customer segments. As customer demands are becoming highly dynamic and the rapid change in the global business environment requires multinational firms to consider laggards in adopting these game-changing trends to achieve higher customer satisfaction.
Table 4.3C – Regression Analysis of Supply Chain Ability to meet Customer needs and Customer Satisfaction
After we examined the customer’s dynamic needs, we can conclude that in FMCG the marketing activities should be adopted to meet the local customers’ needs so the supply chain management should also be adopted to meet those different needs, in turn, the integration between marketing and supply chain management should be more integrated on a strategic level that will be more clear on the following paragraphs.
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