Management research

-unbiased and structured and sequential

method of enquiry
-directed towards a clear implicit or explicit
business objective
- validating existing postulates or arriving
at new theories and models
A researcher should work towards a goal, whether
immediate or futuristic, else the research loses its
significance in the field of management.

Most important and difficult task of a researcher is

to be as objective and neutral as possible. The
temptation to skew the results in the
hypothesized direction has to be avoided at all
costs.
Types of Research
Basic research : the basic premise is the
need to KNOW, to investigate some best
practices-inventory management, or a new
cause and effect relationship, work-family
conflict and its impact on turnover
intentions and the concern is primarily
academic in nature.
Is vast and the time period involved is
flexible.
Applied research: Solution or action oriented
research, that is contextual and practical in
approach.
Ex. Your product which was declared a winner in
the test marketing that you conducted is not
able to take off after the product launch and
you need to identify the reasons for this, in
order to take corrective action. It has
implications for immediate action.
Exploratory research
Allows the researcher to gain a better
understanding of the concept and provides
direction in order to initiate a more structured
research
Is loosely structured and the basic premise is
to provide direction to subsequent, more
structured method of enquiry.
Ex. 1.Market opportunities available
2. Informal survey to identify the problem in
the supply chain of a product
3. Different ways that women professionals
adapt to manage work-family conflict.
- Are less structured
- More flexible in approach
- Not conducted to test or validate any
preconceived propositions
- Could lead to some testable hypothesis.
- Also called as pilot or feasibility studies.
- Develop , refine or test the designed measuring
instrument.
- Ex. Designing a questionnaire to measure the
parameters an individual looks at while taking an
investment decision, one needs to explore the
benefits of a financial instrument
Conclusive research
-Is especially carried out to test and validate
formulated hypotheses and specified
relationship.
- is structured and definite in orientation.
- Is usually quantitative in nature.
- It is not always the exploratory that leads to
the conclusive.
- Ex. The hypothesized relationship to be tested
might be spelled out the by the manager as
the problem to be investigated.
Descriptive research
Is undertaken to describe the situation, community,
phenomena, outcome or programme.
The main goal of this type of research is to describe
the data and characteristics about what is being
studied. Ex. Census, health survey, etc,.
Ex. 1. Distinguish between the characteristics of
customers who buy normal petrol vs premium
petrol.2. Consumption of organic food more in
one part than other areas.
- More structured and require a formal, specific and
systematic approach to sampling, collecting
information, collating and testing the data to
verify the research assumptions.
Causal research.
These studies establish the why and the how
phenomenon.
Explores the effect of one thing on another and
more specifically the effect of one variable on
another.
Ex. Consumers attitude towards healthy life
style(IV) could impact organic purchase
intention (DV).
The Research Process
 Research application in Marketing
Market & consumer analysis

Product research- new product, product testing and development,

differentiation and positioning, new products and packaging research

Pricing research- evaluating customers value, alternative pricing models.

Promotional research- designing, advertisement, impact of alternative media,

impact of competitors strategy.

Place research- locational analysis, measuring effectiveness of distribution

network.
 Research application in finance
Asset pricing, capital markets and corporate finance- focus is on stock
market response to corporate actions(IPOs, takeovers and mergers),
financial reporting.

Financial derivatives and credit risk modeling research- analysing

corporate decision making and investment risk appraisal.

Market-based accounting research- analysis of corporate financial

reporting behaviour

Auditing and accountability- both private and public sector accounting

studies, analysis of audit regulations, different audit methodologies.

Other areas: financial forecasting, behavioural finance, volatility

analysis
Research application in Human Resources
Training & development studies

Selection and staffing studies- pre and on the job employee

assessment and analysis

Performance appraisal–design and evaluation

Organization planning and development –culture assessment-

either organization specific or the individual and merged one,
manpower planning and development

Incentive and benefits studies – recognition and reward

studies, employee benefit and reward analysis.

Emerging areas–critical factor analysis, employer branding

studies
Research application in production and Operations
Management
Operation planning and design
Demand forecasting and demand estimation
Process planning- production scheduling and material
requirement management
Project management and maintenance effectiveness
studies
Logistics and supply chain-design and evaluation
Quality estimations and assurance studies
 Criteria for Research
MUST have: a clearly stated research purpose/ objective
MUST have: a sequential plan of execution
MUST have: a logical and explicitly stated justification for
the selected methods
MUST have: an unbiased and neutral method of conduct
and reporting
MUST have: complete transparency and ethical conduction
of the research process
MUST have: provision for being reliable & replicable