Research An overview

Zikmund(Chapter 1 & 4)
Uma Sekeran (Chapter 1)

Task1 (5 minutes)
In your opinion what is
research?
Write down 3 lines
regarding research,
Focus on what / how /
research methods etc.
2

Health:
What are some of the most common conditions prevalent
among my patients?
What are the causes of these conditions?
Why do some people have a particular condition whereas
others do not?
What are the health needs of the community?

Marketing:
What are the benefits of this programme to the community?
What is the effect of a particular advertising campaign on the
sale of this product?
How satisfied are the consumers with this product?
How much are consumers prepared to spend on this product?
What 3do consumers like or dislike about this product?
What type of packaging do consumers prefer for this

Defining Research
Definition by Cooper

A process of determining, acquiring, analyzing, synthesizing,

and disseminating relevant business data, information, and
insights to decision makers in ways that mobilize the
organization to take appropriate business actions that, in
turn, maximize business performance

Definition by Zikmund

Business Research may be defined as the

systematic and objective process of gathering,
recording and analyzing data for aid in making
business decisions (Zikmund, Business Research
Methods, 2002, p. 6)

More definitions
Research is the
process of finding
solutions to a problem
after a thorough study
and analysis of the
situational factors.

An organized, systematic, critical, objective, scientific

inquiry or investigation into a specific problem,
undertaken with the propose of finding answers or
solutions to it.

Research involves ...

Objectivity
Precision
Verification
Explanation
Empiricism
Logical Reasoning
Probabilistic Thinking
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Typical Users of Business Research Methods

Businesses and Corporations
Public-Sector Agencies
Consulting Firms
Research Institutes
Non-Governmental Organizations
Non-Profit Organizations
Independent Researchers and Consultants
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7/15/15

Fields Where Business Research is Often Used (1)

General Business Conditions and
Corporate Research
Short- & Long-Range Forecasting,
Business and Industry Trends
Global Environments
Inflation and Pricing
Plant and Warehouse Location
Acquisitions

Management and Organizational

Behaviour Research
Total Quality Management
Morale and Job Satisfaction
Leadership Style
Employee Productivity
Organizational Effectiveness
Structural ssues
8
Absenteeism
and turnover
Organizational Climate

Financial and Accounting Research

trends,
Forecasts of financial interest rate
predictions
Stock,bond and commodity value
capital formation alternatives
mergers and acquisitions
risk-return trade-offs
portfolio analysis
impact of taxes
research on financial institutions
expected rate of return
capital asset pricing models
credit risk
cost analysis

7/15/15

Information Systems Research

Knowledge
information
needs
Fields Where Business Research
isand
Often
Used
(2)
assessment

Sales and Marketing Research

Market Potentials

Market Share

Market segmentation

Market characteristics

Sales Analysis

Establishment of sales quotas

Distribution channels

New product concepts

Test markets

Advertising research

Buyer behaviour

Customer satisfaction
Website visitation rates

Computer information system use and

evaluation

Technical suppot satisfaction

Database analysis

Data mining

Enterprise resource planning systems

Customer relationship management

systems

Corporate Responsibility Research

Ecological Impact

Legal Constraints on advertising and

promotion

Sex, age and racial discrimination /

worker equity

Social values and ethics

Selected Examples of Real-Life Situations in

Which Business Research Methods are Used
A firm wants to produce and market a new product but first wants to ascertain if
there is a potential consumer demand for this product in markets x,y and z

a multinational firm wants to establish a production facility in another country

after determining its technical and economic feasibility

A government agency wants to ascertain the satisfaction level of its employees, the
causes for any possible discontent, and propose a scheme for enhancing this level
A financial institution wants to invest in commodities and commissions a study to
determine the past trends and forecast future returns in a portfolio of commodities
The CEO of a firm wants to undertake a SWOT-Analysis as part of his plan to
redefine his organizations priorities

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Task-2 (5 minutes)
Write down two real-life situations
where you think research can be
applied.
Be creative
The situation should be in our local
perspective.

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Basic and Applied Research

Basic Research aims to expand the frontiers of
knowledge by verifying or disproving the acceptability
of a given theory or attempting to discover more
about a certain concept (non-specificity)
Example: How does motivation affect employee
performance?
Applied Research focuses on a real-life problem or
situation with a view to helping reach a decision how
to deal with it (Specificity)
Example: Should Corporation X adopt a paperless
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office environment?

Types of Business Research

Research can be undertaken for two

different purposes:

1. To solve a current problem faced by the

manager in the work setting. Such
research is called applied research.
2. To generate a body of knowledge about
how to solve problems that could be
occurred in organizations. This is called
basic research or fundamental research.
It is also known as pure research.
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Examples of Applied Research

Apples iPod sales increased by 200%
from 2001 to 2008. but the sales
decreased by 6% in 2009. What is the
reason for this decrease?
The question is: what will apple do
about this problem?

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Examples of Applied Research

Xerox is insular and isnt ready for the
increasingly competitive, high-tech world.
Xerox still relies on old-fashioned and slowselling analog copiers for more than half its
revenue and despite its double-digit growth
in digital products and services, its sales rose
just 4%.

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Examples of Applied Research

In the Xerox situation, it needs to look into
the efficacy of the analog technology used in
copiers and examine what should be done to
increase efficiency and promote its sales.

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Examples of Basic Research

University professors engage in basic research in an
effort to understand and generate more knowledge
about various aspects of businesses, such as:
- How to improve the effectiveness of information
systems.
- How to integrate technology into the overall strategic
objectives of an organization.
- How to increase the productivity of the employees.
- How to increase the effectiveness of small
businesses.
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Examples of Basic Research

These findings later become
useful for application in
business situations.

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Distinction Between Applied

and Basic Research
The main distinction between applied and
basic business research is:
- Applied research is specifically aimed at
solving a currently experienced problem.
- Basic research has a broader objective of
generating knowledge and understanding
of phenomena and problems that occur in
various organizational settings.
- Both types of research follow the
same steps of systematic inquiry to
arrive at solutions to problems.
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Characteristics of Good Research

Clearly
Clearly defined
defined purpose
purpose
Detailed
Detailed research
research
process
process
Thoroughly
Thoroughly planned
planned
design
design
High
High ethical
ethical standards
standards
Limitations
Limitations addressed
addressed
Adequate
Adequate analysis
analysis
Unambiguous
Unambiguous
presentation
presentation
Conclusions
Conclusions justified
justified
Credentials
Credentials

The Value of Business Research for Managers

(1)
1. Identification of problems and/or opportunities Useful for
strategy planning, analysis of internal and external
organizational environment
2. Its purpose is to gain insight into the underlying reasons
and causes for the situation. If there is a problem, it asks
what happened and why? If there is an opportunity, it seeks
to explore, clarify and refine the nature of the opportunity
and, in the case of multiple opportunities, seeks to set
priorities
3. Selection and Implementation of Courses of Action
4. Business Research Methods are used after a course of
action has been implemented in order to determine
whether activities have been properly implemented and
have
accomplished what they intended to do
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The Value of Business Research for Managers (4)

Evaluation Research It is the formal objective measurement and
evaluation of the extent which an activity, project or programme has
achieved its goal, and the factors which influence performance (e.g.
audits). It is also the formal objective measurement and evaluation of
the extent to which on-going activities, projects or programmes are
meeting their goals (performance-monitoring research)

Examples of performance-monitoring research:

(1) Are railway passengers satisfied with the level of service
the railway company is providing? If not, then research
may need to be undertaken to ascertain the reasons for
customer dissatisfaction and propose corrective
measures
(2) What are the trends in retail and wholesale sector? Can
22 research suggest new ways to improve efficiency in
purchase transactions?

Who Conducts Research?

1-23

Ethics and Business Research

Ethics in business research refers

to

a code of conduct of behavior while

conducting research.
Ethical conduct applies to the
organization and the members that
sponsor the research, the researchers
who undertake the research, and the
respondents who provide them with
the necessary data.
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Ethics and Business Research

The members that sponsor the research
should do it in good faith, pay attention to
what the results indicate, and pursue
organizational rather than self-interest.
Ethical conduct should also be reflected in
the behavior of the researchers who
conduct the investigation, the participants
who provide the data, the analysts who
provide the results, and the entire research
team that presents the interpretation of the
results and suggests alternative solutions.
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The Research process

The Research Process

Steps in Research Process:

1. Formulating the Research Problem

2. Extensive Literature Review
3. Developing the objectives
4. Preparing the Research Design including Sample
Design
5. Collecting the Data
6. Analysis of Data
7. Generalization and Interpretation
8. Preparation of the Report or Presentation of ResultsFormal writes ups of Conclusions reached.

Step1. Formulating the research problem:

It is the first and most crucial step in the research process
Main function is to decide what you want to find out about.
Sources of research problems

1. Study population:
People: individuals, organizations, groups, communities (they provide
you with the information or you collect information
2. Subject area:
Problems: issues, situations, associations, needs, profiles
Program : content, structure, outcomes, attributes, satisfactions,
consumers, Service providers, etc.
Phenomenon: cause-and-effect relationships, the study of a
phenomenon itself
You can examine the professional field of your choice

Formulating the Problem Statement and Research Objectives:

Example 1:
This paper aims to study the Impact of social media on
consumer buying behavior and brand commitment. The
overall relationship of the Impact of social media on
consumer buying behavior and brand commitment has been
empirically analyzed and resulted.
Objectives:
To investigate the effect of Social Media on the buying behavior
of a consumer.
To find out the relationship between brand image and consumer
purchasing behavior and their commitment with the brand.
To determine the factors behind the brand loyalty in the context
of Pakistan.

 Example 2:
The purpose of this study is to identify about the core
dimensions of the motivation and their role in consumers
decision process that persuades a consumer to purchase
innovation, through a grounded theory approach from the
consumer point of view.
Objectives:
To identify the latent motivating factors that triggers the
purchase decision process.
To generate substantive theoretical model for the
purchase decision process of innovative market offerings.
The model will identify the latent motivation factors that
plays vital role at various stages of the purchase decision
process.

Step 2. Reviewing the literature:

Essential preliminary task in order to acquaint yourself
with the available body of knowledge in your area of
interest. An integral part of entire research process and
makes valuable
Reviewing literature can be time-consuming, daunting and
frustrating, but is also rewarding. Its functions are:
a. Bring clarity and focus to your research problem;
b. Improve your methodology;
c. Broaden your knowledge;
d. Contextualize your findings.
Literature is checked from Books, Journals, Digital Libraries
etc. All literature must be written in own words and have
proper references.

Step 3 The formulation of objectives:

Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in your
study.
They inform a reader what you want to attain through
the study.
It is extremely important to word them clearly and
specifically.
The objectives should start with words such as
to determine,
to find out,
to ascertain,
to measure,
to explore etc

Step 4. PREPARING THE RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is the conceptual structure within which
research would be conducted.
The function of research design is to provide for the
collection of relevant information with minimal expenditure
of effort, time and money.
The preparation of research design, appropriate for a
particular research problem, involves the consideration of
the following :
Objectives of the research study.
Method of Data Collection to be adopted
Source of informationSample Design
Tool for Data collection
Data Analysis-- qualitative and quantitative

Step 5: COLLECTING DATA

Having formulated the research problem,

developed a study design, constructed a research
instrument and selected a sample, you then collect
the data from which you will draw inferences and
conclusions for your study.
Depending upon your plans, you might commence
interviews, mail out a questionnaire, conduct
experiments and/or make observations.

Step 6: Processing and analyzing data

Processing and analyzing data involves a number of
closely related operations which are performed with
the purpose of summarizing the collected data and
organizing these in a manner that they answer the
research questions

Step 7: Generalization and

Interpretation:
Writing the chapter of findings and discussions with
the help of performed analysis, the qualitative
approach has codes and quotes whereas the
quantitative approach has descriptive, regressions,
correlational and other analysis to base the facts
on.

Step 8: Writing Report

Preliminary Section
1. Title Page
2. Acknowledgments (if any)
3. Table of Contents
4. List of Tables (if any)
5. List of Figures (if any)
6. Abstract
Main Body
1. Introduction
a. Statement of the Problem
b. Significance of the Problem
(and historical background)
c. Purpose
d. Statement of Hypothesis
e. Assumptions
f. Limitations
g. Definition of Terms

2. Review of Related Literature

(and analysis of previous
research)
3. Research Methodology
a. Description of Research Design and
Procedures Used
b. Sources of Data
c. Sampling Procedures
d. Methods and Instruments of Data
Gathering
e. Statistical Treatment
4. Analysis of Data
a. text with appropriate
b. tables and
c. figures
5. Conclusions
a. Restatement of the Problem
b. Description of Procedures
c. Major Findings (reject or fail to
reject Ho)
d. Conclusions
e. Recommendations for Further
Investigation
C. Reference Section