Simon is the marketing director of a division within a large, diversified manufacturing company. His division sells, among other products, floor mats and matting to the hospitality, health care and commercial markets. He has a solid base of customers in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, commercial offices, and shopping centers. The market in which Simon's division competes is considered 'mature', so there is little room for growth without new or innovative products. About two months ago Simon was contacted by a supplier of flooring products from Korea. He was offered a range of 'unique' floor mats that he had not seen before. These mats have features that will have definite competitive advantages. Simon is keen on exploring the potential of these mats before he makes a final decision. He calls on the in-house marketing researcher for assistance but feels that a full-scale research project is not warranted at this stage.

 

Explain two actions that Simon can take to evaluate organization's financial capacity to determine feasibility of market research project?