In companies, especially in development and taxpayer-funded projects where there is no need to demonstrate the impact on business decisions, research becomes a “superfluous part” that simply needs to be done (or maybe not). The importance of asking customers for their input is no longer significant, and it doesn’t matter who actually conducts the research.

Things drastically change when new investments come into play – investments in new products, new markets, new talents – when the company decides where and how to proceed, trying to understand developmental patterns, the impact of COVID-19, and other elements that affect the development of new global chains and customer behavior. Without verified market insights, we quickly sail into the “hype” created by the online virtual world. It is only then that we realize research is not an expense but an integral part of the investment.