Market Decisions' Strength Comes from Our Staff
One of Market Decisions' distinctive strengths is our staff of over 140 skilled, professional employees.
Over the years, we've attracted an eclectic group of individuals with advanced degrees in market research, business administration, marketing, engineering, political science, economics, communications, planning, education and the arts.
Custom Team-Building to Meet Your Project's Needs
Our Account Executives work in close partnership with our clients. They have the final accountability for our performance and deliverables, and are the main conduits for client communications.
For each project, they hand-pick a support team of professionals with a wide range of expertise in project management, supervision and analysis, tailoring the team to fit the client's needs. This ensures that you enjoy the advantage of expert project management at every step of the research process. It also lets us maintain the tradition of high quality and timely project delivery for which MDC is known.
Selected Staff Profiles
Click a name to learn more about the person.
Partners
With more than 25 years as an Account Executive, Michael serves as President of Market Decisions and as a Senior Partner in the firm. As a highly skilled focus group moderator, his services are sought for the most challenging and complex focus group topics. Averaging more than 75 groups per year, Michael moderates topics with audiences ranging from Senior MIS/LAN managers and commercial real estate developers to professional loggers, irrigation engineers and the general population. His degree in economics from Willamette University, coupled with seven years of banking experience, uniquely qualify him to support financial institutions with positioning and marketing strategies, including extensive branch site analysis, profitability studies and customer satisfaction evaluations. Michael's extensive work in the industrial tool industry has served him well outside of the office, where he regularly works on restoring project cars and motorcycles.
An Account Executive and a Senior Partner in the firm, Bill acts as Market Decisions' Chief Statistician. His clients are primarily in the utility, high tech, health care and manufacturing industries. Bill's innovative research designs often include new applications of conjoint analysis, factor analysis, modeling, simulation and other multivariate techniques to enrich a wide range of research topics. He is an experienced focus group moderator, planning and conducting groups with business executives, technical professionals and physicians, among others, as well as the general population. With his wide-ranging background in architecture, planning, project management, education and consulting, combined with his analytical approach to research, Bill is able to add rich value and insight for Market Decisions' clients. His degrees include a PhD in market research, an MBA, a Master's in urban planning and an undergraduate degree in architecture.
Doug focuses his time on the people and systems that make Market Decisions' high-touch business model so successful. He began his market research career in 1981 and spent fifteen years serving high-tech manufacturers as an Account Executive and focus group moderator. Doug now acts as a full-time coach and mentor to our growing staff of research professionals. With his past experience as a documentary writer and producer, his unique skill set enhances the quality of MDC's communications. The diversity of Doug's interests - including musical performance, gourmet cooking and transatlantic sailing - reflects his ability to wear many hats while keeping Market Decisions running smoothly.
Lester joined Market Decisions in 1983 and has since worked his way through every department in the company, giving him valuable insight into the overall research process. He has particular expertise in designing successful methodologies for challenging qualitative projects. Lester specializes in focus group design and moderation, product usability studies, modular data collection techniques and project design and implementation. Over the past 15 years, he has developed a deep understanding of research needs in the financial and insurance industries. Coupled with his experience in banking, real estate, hospitality and management, this brings a well-rounded perspective to the Market Decisions team.
With nearly 20 years of research and consulting experience, Warren serves a wide variety of industry leaders in the high tech, telecom, financial and retail sectors. He takes great pride in his responsiveness to his clients and is especially adept with large and complex projects. He enjoys the challenge of leading global focus group series, developing national and global proprietary panels, and managing international multilingual customer satisfaction initiatives. Warren pioneered Market Decisions' Market Intelligence Program, providing clients with proprietary monitoring of key industry metrics to gain a competitive edge in demanding markets. His strong work ethic, together with his degree in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University, provides a solid foundation for his hands-on management style.
Bert specializes in qualitative research, managing and moderating hundreds of groups per year. Before joining Market Decisions in 1996, he spent 24 years in management, primarily in the printing industry, and brings a wealth of experience to our focus group operations. Firmly believing that communication is the key to exceptional project management, Bert makes this a top priority on all of his projects. His foundation for these skills was built at California State University, Fullerton, where he majored in advertising with a minor in speech communications.
Philip founded Market Decisions Corporation in 1978 and has helped establish it as the Northwest's recognized leader in custom research. His background as an engineer, entrepreneur and teacher of statistics and quantitative methods has given him broad insight into project design, interpretation of findings and recommendations for appropriate management actions. His education (BSME, MEd, and MBA) and creativity have influenced the creation of several new research methodologies. Philip's fun and sometimes challenging approach to focus group moderation helps him extract meaningful information from every participant, providing clients with relevant and actionable research. A self-proclaimed golf addict, Philip has even had the opportunity to work with developers, designers and manufacturers in the golf industry.
Senior Account Executives
With nearly 20 years of research experience, Alice works with an astonishing array of clients, from multinational technology corporations to midmarket retailers to nonprofits. From initial project consulting to actionable, thoughtful reporting, Alice is committed to excellence at every phase of the research process. She particularly enjoys designing surveys and other research instruments to not only meet her clients' objectives, but to improve the research experience for study participants. Clear and concise communication is her strong suit, making her ideally equipped to handle complex studies requiring intensive client interaction. Alice enjoys putting her MS in sociology into practice every day in the pursuit of perfect data. She is proficient in French and routinely conducts international studies.
With more than 12 years of experience in market research, Marlene is a key part of our international consulting team. Her enjoyment of riding her road bike and coaching youth sports has led her to pursue clients in the outdoor and recreational industries. She spearheads Market Decisions' outdoor and firearm research initiatives, and has worked with key manufacturers in those areas to develop a national panel of federal firearm-licensed dealers. Consumer research is also of particular interest to Marlene, as evidenced by her work with industry leaders in manufacturing, packaged consumer goods, utilities, and healthcare. She is tri-lingual (Danish, German, English) and holds degrees in international marketing from Northern Arizona University and international business from Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College. Her background in economics and marketing enables her to translate research data into actionable findings for her clients.
In his 11 years with Market Decisions, Jake has led a variety of custom research projects, including customer satisfaction tracking, branding, new product evaluation, multilingual international studies and panels. He supports clients in the gaming, utility, telecom and insurance industries, and finds the research he conducts is often enriched by his interest in motorcycles, video games and running. Jake is a budding statistical and analytical guru, holding a BS in economics from Portland State University, where he graduated with high honors and received the Carl Campbell Award for Outstanding Senior Economics Student. He has extensive experience with all major data acquisition methodologies and is especially adept at data manipulation and analysis.
After 13 years with the firm, Dima is a key member of our consulting team. Versatile and creative, he works with a wide range of research methodologies and vertical markets. Most notably, Dima has conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative studies in the video game, advertising, utility and manufacturing industries, with a focus on channel research. He holds a degree in business management with a minor in organizational communication from Marylhurst University, and brings solid project management and excellent communications skills to every project. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and his fluency in the Russian language complements Market Decisions' pool of international talent.
Account Executives / Project Managers
Involvement with diverse project types and audiences has allowed Christian to convert his passion for hunting and fishing into real-world research experience in the outdoor, shooting and firearms industries. Along with his outdoor-related clientele, he provides valuable consulting and research services to other sectors, including high tech, financial services and manufacturing, with an emphasis on channel optimization. With every project he undertakes, Christian helps his clients make smarter, more informed business decisions. He earned his Bachelor's degrees in business administration and Spanish from the University of Montana, which served as a foundation for his 12 years of experience in marketing and research.
With a background including marketing, public relations and brand management, Nicole has worked throughout the US and internationally. She brings more than 12 years of experience in the marketing, high tech and consumer product industries. During her tenure at Market Decisions, Nicole has excelled at projects involving tight timelines and extensive quality assurance requirements. She holds a Bachelor's degree in business management and marketing from Belmont University and a Master's degree in international business from Pepperdine University.
Joining the Market Decisions team in 2001, Irene has been a driving force in adopting new techniques to keep our data collection processes on the leading edge of technology. She has extensive knowledge of the workings of various departments, enabling her to plan and execute research projects with maximum efficiency. Her initial background in qualitative research has expanded to include the full spectrum of survey methodologies. With a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Wesley College, Irene brings a creative approach to projects in which finding the right respondents is a challenge.
Before joining Market Decisions, Zach worked at Microsoft for several years designing and implementing research on their portfolio of customer service plans. He also managed a qualitative panel that assessed usage models, identified pain points, and tested messaging before campaign launches.
At MDC, Zach conducts focus groups evaluating product concepts and related messaging, conducts in-depth interviews to evaluate usage models and measure satisfaction. Zach has an MBA from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, with a dual focus in Market Research and Brand Management.
At MDC, Zach conducts focus groups evaluating product concepts and related messaging, conducts in-depth interviews to evaluate usage models and measure satisfaction. Zach has an MBA from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, with a dual focus in Market Research and Brand Management.
Over the last sixteen years, Tobi has worked as an interviewer, supervisor, focus group coordinator, and project manager. In her current role as an Account Executive, she works primarily on qualitative research, managing projects in Market Decisions' suburban and downtown facilities. Tobi's top priority is making each project successful using her attention to detail, communication skills, and ability to think outside the box. Her motto, “must do, can do, will do” makes her a perfect fit for client services, where customers come first.
Project Managers & Recruiting Coordinators
A graduate of the University of Oregon, Kathleen Corris has more than 15 years of supervisory, management and project management experience. Her industry experience includes both qualitative and quantitative market and public opinion research projects. In her current role at Market Decisions, Kathleen coordinates the progress of recruiting projects through all phases, including planning and conducting briefings, providing training for field services, ensuring properly qualified respondents show up in the right place at the right time and monitoring processes for budget and timeline. Kathleen's knowledge and experience make her an integral member of our qualitative operation team.
In his time at Market Decisions, Travis has managed an impressive array of projects, from customer intercepts and focus groups to complex studies with hybrid methodologies and extensive analysis. He graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor's degree in international business and a minor in marketing administration. His experience has also allowed him the opportunity to study internationally at Chiang Mai University, one of Thailand's top business schools.
Crystal is a seasoned veteran of Market Decisions' qualitative research team. She joined the firm in 1998, and in time worked her way up to Lead Clerical Supervisor. Her long experience with all aspects of field supervision and quality assurance make her an invaluable resource to the company. Crystal currently acts as a recruiting project coordinator, putting her attention to detail and her ability to handle several projects simultaneously to good use.
Administration
Since joining Market Decisions, Igor has added a human touch to the accounting side of operations. His Master's degree in accountancy from Brigham Young University provides him with a powerful arsenal of accounting strategies and techniques, while his experience in the retail and telecom industries allows him to take a service-oriented approach in dealing with customers and colleagues alike. Igor has helped solidify processes and procedures that further strengthen the financial foundation of Market Decisions.
What Our Clients Say
"Highly competent and professional, and extremely responsive. Good people and good communicators."
Susan Van Horn
Wadeware
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