RESEARCH PROPOSAL & EVIDENCE REVIEW

Research Proposal and Literature, or Evidence, Review for British American Tobacco Company

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Research Proposal and Literature, or Evidence, Review for British American Tobacco Company

Introduction

The purpose of this research is to measure the impact of excessive legislation on the future sustainability and competitive market of British American Tobacco Company. It has been found that the excessive legislation related to too much excise taxes, the requirement to provide plain packaging for cigarettes, and the banning of the use of certain ingredients in tobacco products and cigarettes will generate a huge black market as a competitor. The current level of this black market which provides counterfeit tobacco products as well relies on smuggling of products is quite big. The black market is currently the fourth biggest competitor of British American Tobacco Company, apart from the other three big competitors, which also include the Lakson Group and others (British American Tobacco, 2011).

The research needs to be conducted on the basis of the current report of British American Tobacco which highlights this increased legislation as one of the most important factors threatening its sustainability of the business in the future. This excessive legislation is expected to generate the black market as one of the most ominous competitors of the company.

The purpose of this research proposal is to establish the design for a research proposal to counter the potential threat to sustainability faced by the business. Further, it also aims to highlight the significance of some factors in establishing the dreaded black market in the UK and abroad. This research is very relevant to the company as the company has witnessed the current black market rising to the status of the fourth biggest competitor in the industry. In this way, the report will provide answers to questions related to the significance of various factors in developing this underground economy and in posing significant threats to the sustainability of business.

The research areas will be limited to identifying the effect of various variables related to increased legislation of the tobacco industry. The research will focus on the significance of these variables to the enforcement of legislation as well as to developing an underground economy of a black market. This black market includes both counterfeit tobacco products as well as those that are smuggled inside the various countries from abroad and are therefore those products that have no customs or other duties that have been paid on their movement.

The research proposal is organised very simply. First it will identify the research questions and the hypotheses. Then it will specify the research design and method including the research design, the data collection methods, the reliability and validity of the data, the data analysis methods, the schedule for the proposed research, the ethical implications of the research, and finally the contribution and significance of this research.

Sustainability research

Research questions

The research questions related to our research are given as under.

Q1: What is the impact of legislation on the development of black markets in tobacco ...