BUSINESS

RESEARCH
METHODS

Let’s manage our knowledge

Business

Organization engaged in the

trade of goods, services,
or both to consumers.
PRIVATELY OWNED, NOT FOR PROFIT etc.

1
 RESEARCH
Search for knowledge, or as any
systematic investigation, with an open
mind, to establish novel facts, solve
new or existing problems, prove new
ideas, or develop new theories.

Business Research

Business research is defined as the

systematic and objective process of
generating information for aid in
making business decisions.

Business Research
 Research information is neither intuitive
nor haphazardly gathered.
 Business research must be objective
 Detached and impersonal rather than
biased
 It facilitates the managerial decision
process for all aspects of a business.
 Information reduces uncertainty.

2
Nature of Business Research
 Data are collected systematically.
 Data are interpreted systematically.
 There is a clear purpose: to find things
out.

Research Process
Problem Discov ery Discov ery and
and Definition Definition

Research and so on
Design Conclusions and
Report

Sampling
Data Processing
and Analysis
Data
Gathering

Business Research Types

Basic research

Applied research

3
 Basic Research
 Attempts to expand the limits of
knowledge.
 Not directly involved in the solution

Applied Research
 Conducted when a decision must be
made about a specific real-life problem

Determining When to Conduct

Business Research (Factors)
 Time constraints
 Availability of data
 Nature of the decision
 Benefits versus costs

4
Determining When to Conduct Business Research

Availability of Data Benefits

Time Constraints Nature of the Decisionvs. Costs
Is the infor- Does the value
Is sufficient time Is the decision
Yes mation already Yes Yes of the research Yes Conducting
available before of considerable
a managerial
on hand
strategic
information Business
inadequate exceed the cost
decision
for making
or tactical
of conducting Research
must be made? importance?
the decision? research?

No No No No

Do Not Conduc t Business Resear c h

Major Topics for Research in Business

 General Business Conditions and Corporate
Research
 Financial and Accounting Research
 Management and Organizational Behavior
Research
 Sales and Marketing Research
 Information Systems Research
 Corporate Responsibility Research

Global Business Research

 General information about country -
economic conditions and political
climate
 Cultural and consumer factors
 Market and competitive conditions -
demand estimation

5
 The Scientific Method
 Scientific Method
 The way researchers go about using
knowledge and evidence to reach objective
conclusions about the real world.
 The analysis and interpretation of empirical
evidence (facts from observation or
experimentation) to confirm or disprove
prior conceptions

A Summary of the Scientific Method

Managerial Value of Business Research

 There are only a few business
orientations:
 Product-oriented
 Production-oriented
 Marketing-oriented

6
 Business Orientations

Business Research in the 21st

Century
 Communication Technologies
 Always “connected”—time, place, and
distance are irrelevant.
 Decreases in information acquisition,
storage, access, and transmission costs.
 Global Business Research
 Business research is increasingly global.
 Must understand the nature of particular
markets.
 Cross-validation
 V erify that the empirical findings
1–20 from one

culture also exist and behav e similarly in

another culture.

What Business Research Is Not

 Business Research isn’t information gathering:
 Gathering information from resources such books or magazines isn’t
business research.
 No contribution to new knowledge.
 Business Research isn’t the transportation of facts:
 Merely transporting facts from one resource to another doesn’t
constitute business research.
 No contribution to new knowledge although this might make existing
knowledge more accessible.

7
 Classify each of the following
examples
as
basic or applied research

 A researcher investigates whether

different sites in a manager’s brain
(e.g. right versus left hemisphere)
are active during different kinds of
managerial decision-making.

 A researcher investigates consumers’

attitudes toward a prototype of an
innovative type of product, a home
Cleaning kit for use on clothes that
require dry cleaning.

8
  A researcher investigates 5 personality
traits to see if they can explain the
purchasing behavior of automobile
buyers.

 A new technology that nullifies the need

to refrigerate fish has been invented.
Heat processing and the use of flexible
pouches for storage helps retain the
freshness of fish and frozen food for
three years. A researcher investigates
how this new technology will impact the
market for fish in India.

 Researcher working for a candy

company has children evaluate
concepts and prototypes for new
candies. The researchers ask children to
taste the products and rate them.
Sometimes, the candy company
develops unique items that taste good
and researchers ask children to come
up with a concept or a name the
product

9
 A researcher investigates whether
introducing a “subbrand” at new-car
dealerships, identified by an
AutoNation USA logo below the
dealership name, is an effective basic
strategy that can be applied to all its
dealerships.

Investigating whether or not a 10

percent reduction in price will increase
the purchase of a new toothpaste in a
pump dispenser

When the marketing department of an

organization attempts to determine the
amount of time the managers in this
department spend at their computers in
their offices each week

10
 Wal-Mart is the low-cost leader in retail.
This company achieves this success by
prioritizing efficiency in its distribution
process. Which business orientation is
Wal-Mart exhibiting when it prioritizes
efficiency and effectiveness of the
product process (i.e., getting products
into the stores) in making decisions?

 A firm focusing more on how to provide

value to customers than on the physical
product or production process is
embracing which orientation?

 When a manager decides not to do

research because a decision needs to
be made before the results of the study
can be analyzed, this is an example of
which aspect in the determination of
the need for marketing research?

11
 Question
Describe a situation in which business
research is not needed and one in
which business research is needed.
What factors differentiate between the
two situations?

12