Business Research Methods - Essay Example

? BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS …………………. College/ ………….. Organizational Research and different purposes Research plays significant roles in business organizations to help them obtain valuable information about business opportunities and seize them for the business success. Searching of useful information is thus critical element to ensuring organizational success. Organizational research is a process of searching information, oriented towards a basic goal of understanding a phenomenon, may be without concern for the relevance or direct usage of the information being gathered. Today, highly advanced technologies are available and that can be used for various purposes of an organization. Information technology, mainly use of computer and software-assisted tools can be used for research and various other organizational functions. In research, different types of software can be used to ensure greater accuracy and dependability of the data or information being collected and studied. Purposes of Organizational Research Business organizations require useful, valid and accurate data in order to run the business effectively. When data are made available in the form of raw and they are converted to more useful, analyzed, synthesized and evaluated form, known as information, they are more helpful to managers to make appropriate decisions (Sekaran, 2003, p. 42). Basically, the research is conducted for two different purposes, one is to find a solution to a current problem faced by managers in specific work setting and it requires timely solution. This is known as applied research. The second is to generate a body of knowledge in order to solve certain problems that are likely to occur within the organization. it is known as basic research (Sekaran, 2003, p. 7). For a business organization, financial and various other functional data play vital roles in decision making and many other managerial functions. For example, sales figures, gross and net profit, sales returns, reasons for sales return, commission or interest received, percentage increase in interest and profit and many other financial data are of greater use to the business. Both financial and management accounting departments can make use of these information for various decision making and strategic thinking processes. As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005, p. 5) noted, business organizations are attempting to develop strategic monitoring programs in order to help them identify and recognize competitors’ strengths, weaknesses and overall business strategies. Business firms can establish computer-based analysis so that they can provide better information-management system to help them develop effective strategies and thus to sustain business success. As it is clear with any case, none can take decisions on any important issue unless a more deep investigation about that specific issue can be conducted. This investigation is more likely to help analyze all these information to make a judgment about the right solution to the specific problem being identified. Business Research with presently available software Generally, in recent years computer has become an integral part of business and it plays extremely significant roles in research as well. In simple terms, computer software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and any other spreadsheet or document software that are currently available are widely used for various research purposes. All these sorts of software are used for recording, listing, analyzing, interpreting, calculating, controlling, evaluating and synthesizing different types of data. For instance, Microsoft Excel can be used for calculations and data presentation in a large numbers of different formats. Apart from these very basic software tools that are widely used for organizational research, following are some of other software that have recently gained significant importance in research. 1- Groupware- Groupware is a software, linked to networking to help research team work on joint projects and this provides departments or different authorities easy-access to database. Groupware assists different departments in a business organization, such as finance, sales, accounting, management etc to coordinate their tasks so that they can work for achieving a specific targeted goal. Most business organizations have various groups works of researches or gathering of relevant information and then making these information available for decision making or other important purposes. Groupware helps a business get this purpose fulfilled (Sekaran, 2003, p. 45). 2- Neural Networking- This is a special software that has potential to provide certain human characteristics of problem solving that are more likely to be very difficult to stimulate using standard software technologies. This software can analyze bulk quantities of data in order to establish patterns in some situations where rules are incomplete (Megrey and Moksness, 1996, p. 29). This software can also be used for projecting detecting weather pattern and many other scientific purposes too (Sekaran, 2003, p. 45). 3- CAM or CAD- CAM, that stands for computer-aided manufacturing is a software that helps constructors and engineers design and develop manufacturing components and helps them carry out the production function. Similarly, CAD, that stands for computer aided design, is a software that helps drawing and developing of complex projects and enables experimentation with various types of designs (Sekaran, 2003, p. 45). 2. (a) What is research? (b) How does one go about conducting research? (c) What is the research process? Be thorough and be sure to show how research is scientific. Research Research in simple term is a process of finding solutions to a problem after thoroughly studying and analyzing critical situational factors. According to Sekaran (2003), research is “an organized, systematic, data-based, critical, objective scientific inquiry or investigation in to a specific problem, undertaken with the purpose of finding answers to it” (p. 5). Research includes searching data, making them useful information and recording, interpreting and analyzing or synthesizing these information in order to make use of them for problem solving or decision making etc. Seeking information is key element to research. This information is mainly for generating a body of knowledge to solve certain issues that may occur in the future within the business or to solve issues that the business faces now. When it comes to business, research is a systematic and organized process to investigate a particular issue that came across in a specific work or function. Business research thus is basically a systematic process or organized effort that investigates information regarding an issue. A good business research will have a clearly defined purpose, detailed research process, thoroughly planned research design, higher ethical standards, limitations if so being frankly stated, adequate analysis for decision makers’ needs, findings being presented explicitly, justified conclusions and reflections of researcher’s experiences etc (Cooper and Schindler, 2003, p. 15- 17). Conducting Research Research is often a complex process and therefore the researcher need to observe and record faithfully what he has seen with no prejudice and bias in conducting research. For any managerial function, it must be well-planned and the same applies to research as well. The researcher should primarily plan what he is going to do and what specific methodology he will depend on to come to conclusion or to find solution to his problem. Basically, there are two ways to come to conclusion, they are induction and deduction. With induction, the researcher can draw general conclusions from his empirical observations. Induction is thus more closely related to projecting the solution from observations and findings. This type of research is more likely to be associated with qualitative research and this research process goes from assumptions to conclusions. With Deduction, the researcher can draw conclusion through logical reasoning. It does not necessarily need to be true, but it must be logical. The researcher deduces hypotheses from an existing knowledge or literature, mostly based on empirical scrutiny (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005, p. 14- 16). Research Process Research process is certainly a systematic and more importantly a sequential process that involves several clearly defines steps. It includes problem definition or problem statement, preliminary data gathering, processing of the information, reviewing of literatures, theoretical framework and hypothesis development, research design, and finding conclusion etc (Sekaran, 2003). Cooper and Schindler (2006, p. 54) stressed that the research does not necessarily requires completion of each step before going to the next one. Some time, recycling, circumventing and skipping occur. Some steps may be started simultaneously where as some may be omitted as well. but still, maintaining a sequence is critical to a successful research process. As shown in the figure below, the research process is hierarchy of sequential steps starting from management dilemma and ending with managerial decision making. As for management dilemma, the management has to explore what symptoms cause management concerns and what environmental stimuli raise their concerns. As for management question, the management has to think about eliminating the negative symptoms and fully capitalizing on opportunity. As far as research question is concerned, the management has to think about plausible courses of actions that are available to management to correct the problems or take advantages of the opportunity. Out of various courses of actions, the management requires to know which and what specific course of actions to be selected and what should be observed and asked to obtain relevant information required and also come to management decisions regarding what is the recommended course of action to come to research findings (Cooper and Schindler, 2003, p. 66). Scientific stance of research As Sekaran (2003, p. 20-25) described, a research normally comprises of various steps like observation, preliminary information gathering, theory formulation, hypothesizing, further scientific data collection, data analysis and deduction etc. The research process and all these steps can be found to have science’s hallmarks like purposiveness, rigor, testability, replicability, precision and confidence, objectivity, generalizability and parsimony etc. Research is a scientific process for it not only includes various steps that necessarily aligns scientific hallmarks, but also it first forms an assumption and then uses different procedures to prove the assumption. Taking assumption is often the preliminary steps and various other research processes are meant to come to a conclusion that might have already been assumed. 3- Basic and Applied research in business and appropriate situations for each A research is conducted either for solving a current issue or for creating a body of knowledge that can be helpful to solve issues that are likely to occur in the future. Sekaran (2003, p. 7) emphasized that basic research is conducted to solve a current problem faced by the manager in the work setting. It thus provides a timely solution. Applied research is conducted to generate a body of knowledge by comprehending a way to solve issues and problems that may arise in the future. Applied research is practically a problem-solving approach, although the problem solving is not always generated by negative circumstance. Basic research is also based on problem solving based, but in a different sense that it attempts to solve questions of a theoretical nature having relatively little impact on action, performance and policy decisions (Cooper and Schindler, 2003, p. 12). Basic research tends to be theoretical in nature and it primarily concerns itself with theory development and hypothesis testing etc. applied research in contrast tends to be more pragmatic and it emphasizes providing information that is immediately useable for solving issues in the organization (Powell, 1997, p. 44). Basic research is concerned with the advance of scientific knowledge and it is likely to come up with findings of interest to different organization setting. Basic research is of greater importance because its findings can later be used for serving inputs for further applied-research. Applied research has reasonably immediate commercial application to one particular technology, product or industry etc (George and Lynk, 1992, p. 251). In short, if the research is conducted with an intention of applying its results and findings in order to solve specific issues that an organization currently faces is known as applied research. If the research is conducted mainly to enhance the understandings of the certain problems that are very common to an organization, and it seeks a method of solving such problems, it is called basic research. Basic Research and appropriate situations Basic research is done where knowledge is generated to understand an interesting situation for the researcher. Normally, most departments and specific teams in various organizations and some professors in colleges conduct basic research in order to generate more knowledge in particular areas of interests to such organizations. The very basic objective behind basic research is to gain relevant knowledge of certain phenomenon and problems that may occur in several organizations and industries with a view to find solutions. For example, Apple Inc conducts a research about its sales and marketing figures between sex months in 2010. This research will be intended to equip the organization with information about its marketing, sales figures, relation between its sales and effectiveness of advertising etc. When these information are gathered, they can be used for various other purposes like checking how effective its retail-marketing, how attractive is are its products to its customers, how effective are its marketing strategies etc. Apple gains vast knowledge base and this can be kept as an ‘information’ bank and it can be used for analyzing a problem and finding solution to it when the organization faces any such issues in its future. Thus basic research is very appropriate when the organization expects some issues to occur in its future. Applied Research and appropriate situations Applied research is very appropriate when the organization experiences a specific issue or problem and the research can be used for solving such issues. A researcher who conducts an applied research engages in those projects that offer immediate benefits to the society. Applied researchers have more and greater opportunities for professional consulting as well (Smith, 1998, p. 18). Applied research is thus focused to answer real-world, practical and pragmatic questions that provide relatively immediate solutions to a problem that the organization currently faces (Johnson and Christensen, 2010, p. 9). . For example, Microsoft Corporation experiences a 20 percent decline in its sale during the first quarter of 2011. This is a problem the company currently faces and the company requires accurate information about why the company faces loss and what solutions can be brought. When the researcher investigates the issues and attempts to find solutions to the problem, it is considered to be applied research. Thus applied research is more suitable when there are issues that an organization currently faces. 4- Case analysis/ scenario – Internal and External Consultants for research Business organizations often do hire external people or authorized research consultants for investigating an issue in the business or assign an internal research department for the same task. Both these options have their own advantages and disadvantages. In some cases, assigning the internal research bodies like the R&D department or research department or Management Service Department etc would be a better option as it wont be much expensive and as they are internal to the organization, they know better about the organization’s environment. Since there can be prejudice or less accuracy when an internal department handles the research, some organizations assign the duty of research to an external research consultant. When it comes to the case of Pennathur Corporation, its President Mr. Darcy has already observed that the morale in his organization has become very low as employees and other important personnel in the lower level look listless and it seems there is apathy in the organization. The company has been recruiting many lower and middle level managers from outside and this is, according to what Mr. Darcy observed, is one of the main reasons for the lower level of morale among the employees. I would recommend the company to hire Asthagiri Associates, an external body of professional research consultancy, to investigate the reasons behind why the employees are less morale. Why to choose external consultancy for research 1- The main issue that the company has to investigate is related to the morale and effectiveness of the employees who are internal to the organization and when the research task is being assigned to the team internal to the organization, it is very likely that the research and investigation will be largely influenced by bias, prejudice and it may not be as accurate as if done with an external consultancy. 2- As Sekaran (2003, p. 16) found, an external team will be more effective for investigation and research because they will be wealthy of experience from having worked in different types of organizations and they might have handled similar types of issues in other organizations as well. As they are highly experienced with different situations, conditions and organizational environments, they will be extremely careful in handling the morale issue in Pennathur Corporation. External consultancy will be more concerned about finding exact reasons for less morale among the employees. Cummings and Worley (2008, p. 53) described that external consultants for research typically work more accurately as they have expertise that is unavailable internally. External consultancy brings different and potentially more objective perspectives in to organization’s development process. 3- Many of the external teams will be from well established and reputed research and consulting firms and therefore they are more likely to be more knowledgeable of current and updated problem solving models. They mostly get workshops and training programs conducted for various other purposes and these also will be of greater advantages to the firm. If the research is assigned to the internal body or department, they will be less likely to handle difficult situations since they have not got training and they don’t have previous experiences too. External research institutions ensure that their members are up-to-date on the latest innovations through regular and scheduled training programs. Why not internal consultancy 1- According to Sekaran (2003, p. 15), internal consultancy possibly fall in to a stereotypes way of looking in to the organization and its problems. As Pennathur Corporation has to investigate why its people are less morale in performing many of the assigned tasks and therefore if the same people are or their colleagues are assigned to investigate this issue, this would be more likely to be influenced by their thoughts, preferences and their perception etc. 2- Misrepresentation, concealing and distorting of certain facts can be there if an internal body has been assigned to conduct research within the organization. The investigators may not deal in just because they will deliberately hide facts in order to save others or misrepresent actual facts. 3- Suppose, Pennathur Corporation assigns an internal team to conduct the research and this team investigates the facts genuinely and it is not influenced by others, but still, whatever the team recommends may not be as acceptable as if the research is done by an external team of consultancy research. 4- Internal team for conducting organizational research will undervalue their role and importance of their work as well. Their investigation will be influenced by organization’s culture, work setting and individual preferences etc. References Cummings, TG and Worley, CG 2008, Organization development & change, Ninth illustrated edition, Cengage Learning Cooper, DR and Schindler, PS, 2003, Business Research Methods, Eight Edition, The McGraw Hill Companies Cooper, DR and Schindler, PS, 2006, Business Research Methods, Ninth Edition, The McGraw Hill Companies Ghauri, P and Gronhaug, K 2005, Research Methods in Business Studies: A Practical Guide, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Limited George, KD and Lynk, CJEL1992, Industrial organisation: competition, growth and structural change, fourth illustrated edition, Routledge Johnson, B and Christensen, L 2010, Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches, Fourth edition, SAGE Megrey, BA and Moksness, E 1996, Computers in fisheries research, Springer Powell, RR 1997, Basic research methods for librarians, Illustrated third edition, Greenwood Publishing Group Sekaran, U 2003, Research Methods for Business, A Skill building Approach, Fourth edition, John Wiley and Sons Smith, RV, 1998, Graduate research: a guide for students in the sciences, Illustrated edition, University of Washington Press Read More