Industry overview
What is shaping steel
Steel reaches users through producers, distributors and retailers, serving fabricators, builders and OEMs. Brand trust, price and availability decide which bar or sheet is bought.
- Fabricators and builders influence retail steel brands
- Distributor networks decide availability
- Branded steel competes with unbranded on trust
Client background
An integrated steel company’s CSR foundation, working in Odisha & Jharkhand. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- An integrated steel company’s CSR foundation
- Sector
- Steel
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Government research, Quantitative research, Qualitative research
Client challenge
The foundation ran education, health, livelihood and water programmes in villages around the plant. Board members wanted independent evidence of which programmes made a real difference to families, rather than activity counts such as the number of camps held.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: evaluating community programmes around an integrated steel plant.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of households.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 11 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 2,400 households.
- households2,400
Audiences we typically reach in steel
FabricatorsBuilders and contractorsOEM buyersSteel dealers and stockistsRetail home builders
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Odisha & Jharkhand. Market: India. 40 villages covered.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Household survey
- 3Village group discussions
- 4Programme record review
- 5Insight
We surveyed households in programme villages and comparable villages farther away, covering school attendance, health service use, income sources and water access. Group discussions with women, youth and elders explored how programmes were experienced and what communities wanted next. Interviewers were recruited locally and trained to speak in Odia, Santali, Ho and Hindi as needed.
Government researchQuantitative researchQualitative research
Sampling strategy
- households
- 2,400
- Respondents were selected across Odisha & Jharkhand using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- The water and girls’ education programmes showed clear benefits, while the livelihood programme had low participation because training did not match local job opportunities.
Comparing programme and non-programme villages, and listening to residents, gave a fair picture of what worked.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: comparing programme and non-programme villages, and listening to residents, gave a fair picture of what worked.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: the water and girls’ education programmes showed clear benefits, while the livelihood programme had low participation because training did not match local job opportunities.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The foundation redesigned livelihood support around skills that local employers needed and expanded water projects to more villages.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Evaluation findings with programme recommendations
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do fabricators choose steel?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.