## 2.1 Orientation on a subject

Specify the information you need.

Look at your assignment and identify the key pieces of information you need and break those up in smaller pieces. Focus on the smaller pieces of the puzzle rather than searching for the entire holy grail.

During this orientation phase, you will get an increasingly clearer picture of your subject. This will help you define your subject and, in the end, formulate specific research questions

Create a mindmap.

Creating a mindmap can be a great tool do this and be a starting point for your orientation.

- Write down everything that you can think of. Something that is not useful now, can prove to be of value later on.
- Start searching the breadth of the topic for pertinent information. Which trends apply, what do experts have to say about the subject, and what has been written about it in (trade) literature?
- Use the information you have found to add more relevant subjects to your mindmap.

Example

In this example we have derived the following research questions from the management issue and the objectives.

Main research question

- What can be the product positioning strategy for company X for its private label “Y” for food discount retailers?

Sub-research questions

- What does the literature say about (product) positioning stategy?
- What is the current positioning strategy of the assigned “Y” product category?
- What does the discount retail food market in The Netherlands look like?
- What is the product positioning strategy of the Competitors (retail and product level) of the “Y” product categories Dairy and Canned fruit?
- What are the characteristics of the end consumer of the food discounters of the Netherlands?

Looking at the research questions above, which aspects of the business environment would you need to research?

Words such as “industry”, “macroeconomic”, “market” and “trends” may come to mind. Look at each of these aspects of the business environment and break these up in smaller parts. In case of “Industry”, you might think of words like “retail food", ”supermarkets”, "dairy", "canned fruit", “competitors”etc. By writing these down for each aspect of the business environment, you gain perspective on your topic and subjects that you may encounter.

Tips!

- Be aware: there is not always an (exact) answer to each of your questions. Sometimes you will have to come up with an acceptable alternative.
- Keep an open eye for relevant search terms
- Be creative in your overall approach