In
this issue:
Going GreenRecently, several Market Connections clients have asked us to gather perceptions around the issue of going green as part of their broader market research programs. They and other companies need to better understand how important this issue is to their current and prospective customers, the best ways to deliver “greener” services and solutions, and how to effectively communicate the ripple effect of those green benefits to their customer organizations.
 This issue is of particular relevance to government contractors, as the Obama administration has made it clear that green and alternative energy sources will be a focus over the next four years. Certainly global warming is a primary reason for this focus. But, cost cutting is another important driver, as government agencies and contactors can lower expenses and improve the bottom line through the adoption of responsible resource consumption programs. Equally important, green programs offer contractors a compelling discriminator in an increasingly competitive marketplace. A report published by Forrester Research earlier this year noted that 55% of respondents cited saving money as the most important reason that their businesses are going green. A report from McKinsey & Company, also published earlier this year, stated that at least 40% of the eco-friendly changes business should make would also positively impact their bottom line. Some of the green approaches being adopted include: 
The Right Champion Drives Research SuccessSome larger organizations have quality departments with
 established processes and automated systems for driving effective research programs and monitoring the resulting performance improvements. But, just as often, Market Connections works with well-known, successful companies that don’t yet have a structured approach to research. If yours falls into the latter category, a critical key to maximizing the return on your research investment is a motivated and empowered internal champion that can rally and integrate the stakeholders as well as drive strategic success both before and after the survey is conducted. This person must be skilled at facilitating a continuous, cross-functional communications loop internally – all the way from developing an effective study, to prioritizing improvement activities that result from the findings, to monitoring those efforts via established metrics. In an ideal situation, the research champion would offer the following attributes:
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