To obtain such crucial information, entrepreneurs use a variety of resources to conduct market research.

FORBES: Step 3 for a Successful Startup: The Importance of Market Research

And Allworth is quick to point out that several innovators, like Akio Morito and Steve Jobs, famously never conduct traditional market research.

FORBES: What's Missing in Your Market Research?

It is key to clearly define your market before endeavoring to conduct research.

FORBES: Step 3 for a Successful Startup: The Importance of Market Research

To try to make up for the time lag, the two European companies have set up research offices in Japan and routinely conduct market surveys to understand what makes i-mode tick and, by extension, how consumers might react to high-speed Net access from their phones.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Phone Wars: Episode 3G

In 2002 the Institute of Medicine (which is not part of the NIH, but is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences) called for the creation of a National Vaccine Authority that would have sweeping responsibilities, including market research, the establishment of priorities, control of intellectual-property rights, the conduct of in-house research and development and the financing of clinical trials of candidate vaccines.

FORBES: Commentary

It is expensive to send students abroad, conduct international research and compete for the best academics in a borderless labour market.

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter