Throughout the 2010 year, the MREB polled market researcher managers asking the question, “What are the most important skills to your function?” According to the results of the 2010 MREB Research Skills Diagnostic, the top five skills on market research executives’ wish lists this season are:

1. Cross-Project Analysis and Insight Generation
2. Ability to Influence Business Partners’ Decisions
3. Translation Between Business Objectives and Research Results
4. Storytelling
5. Nonlinear Thinking

The results suggest that while the core of Research’s value still rests on a solid foundation of research and insight, those skills are insufficient alone. Generating actionable recommendations based on synthesized insight has become more important (and realistic) as suppliers take on more research execution activities and Research accumulates a wealth of knowledge and data from existing studies. As corporations continue to acknowledge the potential impact of Research insights on the business, the function continues to shift to a trusted advisor stance – as this “wish list” clearly reflects.

MREB members: benchmark your team talent for 2011, incorporating 360° feedback from Research’s key stakeholders – business partners. For more information on in-demand skills and environmental changes, read the Board’s latest coverage of in-demand market research skills.

Morten Hansen, a management professor at University of California, Berkeley, recently blogged that organizations should appoint a Chief Collaboration Officer to help integrate the enterprise.  With companies relying on cross-selling to existing customers and innovating with existing technologies, departments need to work effectively across silos.  Hansen isn’t suggesting that companies hire a new C-level executive to fill this role, but rather that a current member of the C-level suite should be well-positioned to take the job.  Candidates include (but are not limited to) the CHRO, CFO, CIO, or COO.

MREB view:  Is it our job to get the rest of the business collaborating?  The Board argues yes. Who else in the company has talks to so many functions on a weekly basis? Our 2009 benchmarking survey results show that the vast majority of Research departments work with the Marketing, Strategy, Sales, and Innovation departments.  More than half also work with Corporate Communications and the General Manager and/or CEO.  Even a full third of departments serve the Finance department as a constituency. To find out more about your organization take part in the 2010 benchmarking survey. Read More »

Forbes.com recently compiled a collection of articles aimed to help companies embrace the future and optimize change management.  An article by growth strategy consultant Adam Hartung outlines the dangers of latching on to the status quo, and an entry from the McKinsey Quarterly outlines how to retain key talent during times of change (it isn’t about the indiscriminant use of incentives–think praise, attention, and opportunity).  These articles and others are meant to inspire companies to shift directions quickly and face the future strategically.

MREB view: Changing with your company is an imperative but tricky challenge for Research functions.  Your team should be acting as the headlights for the firm, helping it navigate the troubled waters of change, but sometimes keeping up with frequent business partner turn-over and expectations shifts can seem daunting. Read More »

In a recent HBR guest blog, business consultant Ron Ashkenas posits that conflict avoidance is a dangerous source of unintentional complexity in companies.  He notes that as departments struggle to play nice, they create misalignment throughout the organization, leading to lower standards of performance and unnecessary project plan revisions.  He recommends that employees learn to engage more effectively in “constructive conflict” by assessing their own readiness to challenge questionable decisions and then gradually asserting their opinions by saying that they are working on dealing with conflict and hope their comments will come across constructively.  (for companies who have won big through conflict see our diversion post from a few weeks ago—although I’m not sure how “constructive” they were in their comments.)

MREB view: We have seen time and time again that a little forced conflict can lead to great advancements within the Research function.  Read More »

According to a recent Reuters article, a few data-loving economists in key positions of the US government are pushing new metrics to provide a more clear picture of the country’s economy.  Considering that the model used to compute GDP, the US’s primary economic indicator, was created in the 1930s, many in the Treasury, the Commerce Department, and other agencies believe that the government needs a better understanding of how people work, live, and feel to make better policy decisions.

At the center of this push is Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Alan Krueger, who, before his appointment, was an academic focusing on time use studies.  He and other “Data Dogs” believe that understanding what Americans do every day and how they feel about those activities will allow them to assess economic trouble spots more quickly.  Read More »

A recent article in the New York Times outlined a behavioral study indicating that even recognizably false or unrelated information can cloud an individual’s judgment and significantly affect their decision making.

MREB view: Research knows that with so much data at their fingertips, managers’ instincts are to notice those bits that confirm their existing beliefs, rather than the far more useful information that suggests they should change their decisions.  Trying to stem the flow of bad information is a losing battle; instead you need to make the right information more attractive by grounding it in what your business partners care about most: true business drivers.

MREB Members, use Amway’s framework to identify your company’s core business drivers to answer immediate senior-level questions.