BUS107: While CASS Manufacturing is, of course, interested in a basic summary of the data: Quantitative Methods Assignment, SUSS,, Singapore

CASS Manufacturing

(Quantitative Methods for Business)

CASS Manufacturing is a small manufacturing company located in Sussex that manufactures many different types of copper wires. Recently, CASS has gone through a difficult time due to a strong increase in competition from the FarEast. Thus, the CEO of CASS has decided to draw his company’s long-term survival strategy. The CEO believes that understanding what constitutes customer satisfaction with CASS products is the first step in this vital process. Unfortunately, no one in the company has the experience to conduct any meaningful statistical analysis to answer such questions.

Your team has been hired to help CASS Manufacturing. Your team has conducted a survey to find out how a random sample of customers of CASS perceives the quality of the various products and services provided by them.

The Data

The dataset consists of 100 observations on 12 separate variables and is a survey of a sample of existing customers of CASS.

Three types of information were collected:

1. The customer perception of CASS on seven attributes identified in past studies as the most influential in customers’ choice of suppliers. The respondents, purchasing managers of firms buying from CASS, rated CASS on each attribute.

2. Actual purchase outcomes, either the evaluations of each respondent’s satisfaction with CASS or the percentage of their purchases sourced from CASS.

3. General characteristics of the purchasing companies (e.g., firm size, industry type).

The data provided should give CASS a better understanding of both the characteristics of its customers and the relationships between customer perceptions of CASS and their actions toward CASS (purchases and satisfaction). A definition of each variable and an explanation of its coding are given in the following sections.

Perceptions of CASS

Each of these variables was measured on a graphic rating scale, where a ten-centimeter line was drawn between the end-points, labeled “Poor” and “Excellent”. Respondents indicated their perceptions by making a mark anywhere on the line (Figure 1). The mark was then measured and the distance from zero (in centimeters) was recorded. The result was a scale ranging from zero to ten, rounded to a single decimal place.

The seven CASS attributes rated by each respondent are as follows:

• X1: Delivery speed— perceived time it takes CASS to deliver the product once an order has been confirmed
• X2: Price level— perceived level of prices charged by CASS
• X3: Price flexibility— perceived willingness of CASS representatives to negotiate price on all types of purchases
• X4: Manufacturer’s image— overall image of CASS
• X5: Service— overall level of service necessary for maintaining a satisfactory relationship between CASS and its customers
• X6: Sales force’s image— overall image of CASS’s sales force
• X7: Product quality— perceived level of quality of a particular product (e.g., performance or yield)

Purchase Outcomes

Two specific measures were obtained that reflected the outcomes of the respondent’s purchase relationships with CASS. These measures were:

• X9: Usage level— how much of the firm’s total product is purchased from CASS, measured on a 100-point percentage scale, ranging from 0 to 100 percent
• X10: Satisfaction level— how satisfied the purchaser is with past purchases from CASS, measured on the same graphic rating scale as the perceptions X1 to X7

Buyer Characteristics

The three characteristics of the responding firms used in the study are as follows:

• X8: Size of firm— the size of the firm relative to others in this market. This variable has two categories: 1=large, and 0=small
• X11: Structure of procurement—method of procuring/purchasing products within a particular company. This variable has two categories: 1=centralizedprocurement, and 0=decentralized procurement
• X12: Type of industry—industry classification in which a product purchaser belongs. This variable has two categories: 1=manufacturing, and0=service

Assignment

While CASS Manufacturing is, of course, interested in a basic summary of the data, it also wonders which combination of the perceptual measures most accurately predicts customers’ Usage and Satisfaction levels. Finally, CASS is considering whether buyers with different characteristics (e.g., large vs. small customers) are somehow distinct in their survey responses and so should perhaps be targeted in differentiated ways.

Prepare a report containing relevant analyses and their interpretation, addressing your client’s three interests.