AMSIB thesis proposal form Semester 1 2021-2022
Make sure that you upload your proposal before 9:00 am on the date of the
deadline and that references are in place in accordance with the APA format.
If the proposal is submitted after the deadline, or if proper APA referencing is not
used, the proposal will be rejected.
Part 1: Proposal Assessment
To be completed by the thesis committee.
Assessed by:
Name assessor 1: Erik van den Thillart
Date: 29-8-2021
Name assessor 2 in case of rejection:
Date:
O
Accepted
The Internship and Thesis Office will do a final check if you meet the requirements to enter the thesis
programme (see the AMSIB Thesis Guide). If so, a thesis supervisor and assessor will be appointed,
and you may start your thesis.
Comments:
O
Revise and resubmit on Onstage by: 2-9-2021
Follow up on the comment(s) below:
Please refer to attached review document
O
Rejected
Reason(s):
AMSIB thesis proposal form 2021-2022
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Part 2: General Information
To be completed by the student.
The student
Student ID number:
First name:
Last name:
Programme:
X TMA
Delete the programmes that
are not applicable.
TOPIC:
Delete the specialisations that
are not applicable.
X International Marketing and Sales
Telephone:
AUAS Email:
Have you failed the AMSIB
thesis process before?
Yes
If yes can you confirm that you
are writing your thesis about a
different topic than your
previous attempts?
I confirm
If you cannot confirm this, then
you are not allowed to proceed
further
AMSIB thesis proposal form 2021-2022
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The thesis company
Company name:
Company address:
Department:
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF)
Liebergerweg 72-76, 1221 JT Hilversum
Consumer Insights (CI), Home Care
Company supervisor name:
Job title:
Telephone:
Email:
New thesis process - pilot
Please indicate if you want to
participate in the pilot of the
new thesis process.
Information about the pilot can
be found in the Thesis kick-off
slides for 2020/21.
O Yes, I want to participate.
Delete the answer that is not
applicable.
Note: Saying yes does not
guarantee the you will be in
the proposal
AMSIB thesis proposal form 2021-2022
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Part 2: Thesis Proposal
To be completed by the student.
I The thesis
Title:
Description of the topic:
What is the thesis about?
(max 50 words)
What are the modern trends and challenges for biodegradable
fragrances in Europe.
This thesis will analyze the challenges and opportunities which have
materialized since the beginning of Covid in the area of Europe. The
paper will focus on analyzing the relevant trends and developments,
taking into account factors such as: sustainability, customer needs
and environmental benefits.
II Company profile
(max 100 words)
Year of establishment:
1889
Number of employees:
13,700
Describe the company and (if
applicable) the subsidiary and/or
department. Give information on:
industry, number of employees,
revenues, profitability, geograhical
coverage, products/services provided,
B2C or B2B, USP of the part of the
company that is relevant for the thesis,
market position / competitiveness,
target group(s).
Provide relevant information only.
IFF was formed in 1958, after the merger between Polak & Schwartz
(P&S) from Netherlands and van Ameringen-Haebler from America.
Their industry focuses on fragrances for perfumes and cleaning, as
well as flavors for beverages and food area. With its revenue
reaching approx. $10b, operating income of over $566m in 2020, the
company is constantly growing (Yahoo.com, 2021). Headquartered in
New York, the company has over 230 creative, sales and
manufacturing facilities in 47 different countries all over the globe,
providing B2B services & products to customers in approx. 200
countries.
III The preliminary problem analysis
Focus of thesis:
What specific problem or opportunity
will be investigated in the thesis? Use
applicable vocabulary, e.g. specific
growth strategy, country selection (and
explain the reason why specific
countries have been selected), client
satisfaction, communication aspects.
Provide evidence, e.g. results of prior
research, company data, external
sources, and provide proper APA
referencing.
(max 200 words)
Slowly but surely, climate change is becoming a real global threat
and companies are using this challenge to present solutions, such as
sustainable products (Krick, 2019). The opportunity for this thesis is
to present a new line of 100% biodegradable fragrances and analyze,
through a sniff test, which of these are the most attractive for
potential customers. The test will consist of 25 fragrances tested by a
100 candidates in each of 4 countries: Turkey, Spain, France and
UK. These regions have the highest impact in European fragrance
industry, due to perfumery in France, spices in Turkey, food in UK &
Spain.
The situation in France has been particularly difficult, sales of
perfumes, make-up and skincare products have suffered 3% decline,
down to €2.8b as well as 2% fall in fragrances, down to €1.89b (Mira,
2017). With recent lockdown due to Covid, the sale of prestige
cosmetics have gotten even worse seeing as much as 26% drop in
sales for beauty stores (Premium Beauty News, 2021). With these
numbers down, businesses are looking for something extraordinary
which could revitalize their shops after things go back to normal.
These tests will provide powerful insight for new products and
promise of 100% biodegradability, will certainly prove to be a great
marketing asset.
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Evidence:
Thomas Krick (2019). Feeling the heat? Companies are under
pressure on climate change and need to do more. Retrieved from:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/strategy/impact-andopportunities-of-climate-change-on-business.html
Nicola Mira (February, 2017). Prestige fragrance and cosmetics
market in France suffers worst slump in 10 years. Retrieved from:
https://uk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Prestige-fragrance-andcosmetics-market-in-france-suffers-worst-slump-in-10years,788412.html
Premium Beauty News (February, 2021). France: Sales of prestige
cosmetics record unprecedented 20% fall. Retrieved from:
https://www.premiumbeautynews.com/en/france-sales-of-prestigecosmetics,17903
The current situation:
Describe this in direct relation to the
focus of the thesis.
The future, improved situation:
Describe this in direct relation to the
focus of the thesis. Make the
description SMART by providing the
goal of the thesis research (e.g.
projected revenue).
Currently the perfumery business is hurting, despite soaring online
activity, sales have been dropping due to lockdowns, end of
intercontinental travel as well as compulsory facial covers which
lessened the need for day to day make-up. With the epidemic at its
final point due to global vaccination, businesses are looking for new
trends to set off to a great start in a new post-corona era.
The goal for this thesis will be to provide a set of fragrance
recommendations that can be used for selected amount of products.
With sniff data and analysis, consumer needs will be depicted and
recommendations based on those needs will be presented.
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IV The provisional main question (In one question / sentence)
State the provisional main
research question (MRQ).
The MRQ question indicates what
needs to be researched in order to
advise the company on how to solve
the research problem. The MRQ
needs to be SMART.
From marketing and sales perspective, what are the KPIs and
olfactive consumer preferences for new biodegradable fragrances in
the European market.
V International aspect
Describe the international aspect of
the research.
Explain which international border
your research crosses.
(max 50 words)
The sniff test will place take in 4 different countries: Spain, UK,
France & Turkey, which will depict trends and choices of a 100
participants in each of these countries. This research will base its
analysis and conclusion on the data provided from these regions.
When planning international
expansion, country selection must be
performed unless recent professional
prior research results are available (if
so, provide these, using proper APA
referencing).
The fact that the company operates
internationally, that some of its clients
are foreigners, or that a proposed
system may be implemented abroad
do not make YOUR RESEARCH
international.
For example, imagine you are writing
your thesis for an international
company based in Cuba. If your
thesis then purports to do research for
the Cuban market, your research does
not cross any borders, even though
the company itself is active
internationally. In this case, you would
have to change the research problem
to one for which performing
international primary research were
necessary to investigate this issue. Be
specific and convince us that the
problem requires international
research.
VI Theoretical framework
Present the theories that
provide the basis for your
research project.
The presented theories should be
derived from at least three recent
peer-reviewed articles or academic
text books and need to cover the
above-mentioned topic of the
research.
Define key issues. Then determine
what keywords you will use to search
for applicable theory that will help you
to formulate meaningful sub research
questions. Use applicable vocabulary
e.g. ‘segmentation’, ‘sustainable
Be concise and to the point.
In order to understand the concept of fragrance and sustainability, I
will dive into the science side of it. Proper articles such as: Chemistry,
Sustainability and Naturality of Perfumery Biotech Ingredients
(Lecourt, Antoniotti, 2020) and Extraction of Natural Fragrance
Ingredients: History Overview and Future Trends (Burger, Plainfosse,
Brochet, Chemat, Fernandez, 2019) which describe not only the
alchemical process of the ingredients, but also the steps required for
the fragrance to stay natural and sustainable. Understanding these
ingredients and process of obtaining and using them to produce a
fragrance, will become essential in grasping the concept of a
sustainable fragrance. The study will also focus on the health aspect
of a sustainable fragrance, which adverse effects are described
perfectly in: Fragrance compounds: The wolves in sheep’s clothing
AMSIB thesis proposal form 2021-2022
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competitive advantage’. General terms
like ‘Marketing’, ‘Sales’ are useless.
NB Research methods or models are
not applicable here.
Establish which previous academic
studies/articles about the topic are
available, and which applicable, recent
theories about the topic have been
published.
Provide specific titles, authors etc. and
use proper APA referencing.
(Patel) which describes in detail the risks and disadvantages of
synthetic fragrance.
Next step will lead towards final products of fragrance, into cosmetics
and perfumery industry. Extreme help in this process will be articles
such as: Organizational best practices in packaging design. An
analysis in perfumery and cleaning products. (Garcia-Arca,
Gonzalez-Portela, Prado-Prado) and A step forward on sustainability
in the cosmetics industry: A review (Bom, Jorge, Ribeiro, Marto,
2019), which will focus on: life cycle of cosmetic products,
sustainability metrics, selection of raw materials and sustainability in
an environmental, social and economic dimension.
Finally, I will assess sustainability in other cosmetic products using a
Sustainability Calculator: A tool to Assess Sustainability in Cosmetic
Products (Bom, Ribeiro, Marto, 2020). Assessing sustainability is
crucial in evaluating the impact of existing products in the market. All
the data together with analysis results from company tools, should
give me a bigger picture on consumer needs and will allow me to give
recommendations based on these results.
Evidence:
Mathilde Lecourt, Sylvain Antoniotti, 2020. Chemistry, Sustainability
and Naturality of Perfumery Biotech Ingredients. Retrieved from:
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02993139/document
S. Bom, J. Jorge, H.M. Ribeiro, J. Marto (2019). A step forward on
sustainability in the cosmetics industry: A review. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09596526193
09655
S. Bom, H.M. Ribeiro, J. Marto (2020). Sustainability Calculator: A
tool to Assess Sustainability in Cosmetic Products. Retrieved from:
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1437/htm
Jesus Garcia-Arca, A. Trinidad Gonzalez-Portela, J. Carlos PradoPrado (2019). Organizational best practices in packaging design. An
analysis in perfumery and cleaning products. Retrieved from:
https://www.revistadyo.es/DyO/index.php/dyo/article/view/547/569
Seema Patel (2017). Fragrance compounds: The wolves in sheep’s
clothing. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03069877163
08623
Pauline Burger, Hortense Plainfosse, Xavier Brochet, Farid Chemat,
Xavier Fernandez (2019). Extraction of Natural Fragrance
Ingredients: History Overview and Future Trends. Retrieved from:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbdv.201900424
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VII Research methods
What research methods will be
used to apply the theory?
Refer to your research methodology
textbook, for example Sekaran &
Bougie (2016).
Primary research outside the company
is compulsory. Indicate which
information will be collected from
which sources through primary
research. If you choose to work with
interviews and/or surveys, give an
indication of who the interviewees are
and/or the survey population and, if
possible, the required number of
respondents.
Specify secondary research sources
such as (company) reports, statistics
and other documents, allowing you to
explore the research topic in more
depth.
Check in advance that access to
interviewees and company data is
feasible and allowed.
Be concise and to the point.
In order to be able to go through this process, this thesis will make
use of three research methods: (1) desk research, (2) data analysis
and (3) expert interviews with IFF employees.
Desk research will apply through the secondary data obtainable from
online sources such as newspaper articles and reports via Google
Scholar and Amsterdam library Additionally, local files on a shared
drive will be available for this purpose. All sources will be critically
assessed with regard to credibility.
Data analysis from the sniff test will be analyzed using special tools
such as: JMP, SARA and xlstat. These tools will allow me to group
the tested fragrances into olfactive categories that were liked or
disliked by the testers, such as Linen Fresh, Fruity Citrus etc.
At the same time, the main objective in this research is to understand
potential consumer needs by assessing KPIs such as: intensity,
characteristics, authenticity and much more. With all the data
collected I should also be able to present results in the form of the
liking strength (using JAR scale – Just About Right), overall liking
scent and purchase intent.
Learning to use these tools will be a part of an interesting and
challenging process, but with the help of an expert analyst Roel van
Dijk and Andrea Varga, it will be much easier to learn and adapt.
VIII List of references
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/IFF/history?p=IFF&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aW
tpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGOVvCEXOg8VJ2LJby1rMcGHrOx_ehXd62sF1kv1QtzksxjRp5VMQwSjOaqO8OJiJraS83vpTUG5oFytNCkedyxB3SBarhJ1b12Am9LXD0PzUhDCCFaEyZex3Oi0l2_yHiQEAxicHsISFSVcsys-6J6kiemLtnFOjY2UhZDRSD
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/strategy/impact-and-opportunities-of-climate-change-onbusiness.html
https://uk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Prestige-fragrance-and-cosmetics-market-in-france-suffers-worstslump-in-10-years,788412.html
https://www.premiumbeautynews.com/en/france-sales-of-prestige-cosmetics,17903
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02993139/document
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652619309655
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1437/htm
https://www.revistadyo.es/DyO/index.php/dyo/article/view/547/569
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987716308623
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbdv.201900424
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