Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com

Where's the Quality Control? -- He makes a good point.

The above is the title of an article in the February 2001 issue of Quirk's magazine.  The article was written by Howard Waddell, president of Decision Resource Inc. of Miami, Florida.  Mr. Waddell discusses both intentional and unintentional biases interjected into our consumer research.  I encourage all to read his article.  But for those who don't, there is some very important thought he uses in the completion of his article and I believe it is worth reprinting.
 

"Have an obligation
We have all read about New Coke and other marketing gaffes that were the result of flawed marketing research.  It would seem, though, that flawed research is not that uncommon.  As members of a research community that is seeking greater recognition and appreciation, we have an obligation to our employers and our customers to provide the best market information that we can while not wasting money in the process.  Ultimately, we must take responsibility for the quality of every research project we undertake.  Those who take that responsibility seriously will themselves be taken seriously."
I expect that many of the readers of the Views, are getting tired of me harping on the fact that I believe there is just too much inferior research going on in the business today.  Sorry, it just seems as if the quality is declining annually.  While much of the problems are the result of today's environment, I still think we too often take the easy way out and just collect numbers without any regard to reliability or validity.  Management has not been much help or should I say, they are a major hindrance as Tom Kuczmarski has so persuasively pointed out in his book, Innovation.

Yesterday, I encountered one of those, "It's not my job," type of responses.  One of the major news networks had reported an event, "Proctor & Gamble sees 2nd half hurt by Turkish Lira."  Now where is the quality control?  Everyone knows, "Proctor," is spelled with an "er" not an "or."  I called someone in their marketing department expecting to get the response, "Thanks for informing us, I will take care of it."  Instead, I was given another number to call.  (She did not even offer to transfer the call.)  To make a long story short, I ended up making five calls and talking to four different people before someone said he would take care of it and he took care of it while I was on the phone with him.  I think we have too many job descriptions that lock the individuals into a box.  It is a great position for those who do not want to take the initiative, it gives them an excuse for not doing anything.  Those who step outside of the box are unfortunately seen frequently as rocking the boat.

When will responsibility and accountability become commonplace?