Getting the board onside
How qualitative research has been used by the HSBC board
Martin Walls HSBC Holdings plc andKen Parker Discovery Research
BACKGROUND
HSBC is one of the four major banks in the United Kingdom. Officially it conducts around 120 research projects per year, around 60% of which are qualitative. Research has a high status in the organisation, particularly as HSBC's culture is now totally committed to being 'customer driven'.
Unofficially, the bank conducts even more 'research'. In the United Kingdom today, 'focus groups' have become a hackneyed buzzword. New Labour is often derided by...