Management Research Methods - Report Example

Management Research Methods Table of Contents Literature Review 3 Key Issues 6 Principles of a good Questionnaire 7 Testing Key Issue 8 Reference 11 Literature Review A literature review is a systematic method for identifying, evaluating and implementing the works completed earlier by researchers and scholars. A literature review can be divided into 7 stages; they are selecting Research Question, selecting bibliographic database & other sources, choosing search items, applying practical screening criteria, applying methodological screening criteria, review and finally synthesizing the result (Fink, 2009, p.6-8). A literature review is always considered as the central component of a research. In the context of this research it is expected that a huge volume of literature regarding Entrepreneurs and their features can be found on different sources. The sources include books, past research paper and scholarly articles, which can be from either online source or offline source. The topic which will be taken forward will be about entrepreneurship and only information pertaining to this will be taken into account. There are several research articles on Entrepreneurship and Enterprise but the articles which will be taken into account is “Differentiating Entrepreneurs from small business owners: A Conceptualisation” (Carland et.al, 1984, p.354). While studying the references it has been recorded that each author emphasizes on different aspects of Entrepreneurship. An enterprise is a business organisation which is engaged in the exchange of goods and services for the sake of earning profit. An enterprise can be either profitable or non-profitable; it depends on the intention of the entrepreneur who is behind the enterprise. Enterprise can be further classified as public-Enterprise or a private enterprise (Publish your Articles, n.d.). A public enterprise is a state controlled enterprise and on the contrary a private enterprise is owned by some individual or a group of individual. On the other hand an entrepreneur as defined first time in the history by Robert Cantillon in 1755 stating that an entrepreneur is the person linking the consumer and the manufacturer for the purpose of earning profit. (Definition of Entrepreneurship, n.d.). The author of the article “Differentiating Entrepreneurs from small business owners: A Conceptualisation” stresses on the fact that there exists a difference between an entrepreneur and a manager. Accordingly he pointed out that the major difference lies in bearing risk by the entrepreneur. However Schumptor countered that risk taking is an obligation in ownership, therefore it is not considered as an attribute. An entrepreneur always applies innovation and other management practices strategically while the same is not present in case of the owner of a small business. They also identified that there is a difference between small business and entrepreneurship, maybe there are some overlapping factors but the concept is not the same. An entrepreneurial firm may start at any size but the growth depends over time. In the article “Enterprise skill and enterprise learning” the author focuses on the fact that innovation and entrepreneurship has brought major technological changes and also contributed to the economic and social landscape of the developed countries. According to the author industrial revolutions with steam engine and Electrification was a result of new innovations and also mentioned that presently we are undergoing the third industrial revolution with trademarks like IT, Telecommunication, Biotechnology, Robotics and Nanotechnology. The author also mentioned that Entrepreneurship skills are amalgamation of skills, attributes, beliefs and qualities which is gained by theoretical learning, following somebody as idol and through real life experiences (Ward, n.d.). According to the author of the article titled “Entrepreneurs, the self employed and employees amongst young European Higher education graduate” that factors such as demography, professional background, previous work experience and education contribute enormously for an ordinary person in becoming an entrepreneur. The idea of becoming an entrepreneur is more in students as they feel it will allow them to be in the professional field without losing the freedom (Martinez, Mora & Vila, n.d. p.100-105). The next article which has been used as a reference by R. Lynn named as “Personality characteristics of a group of entrepreneurs”, where the author tried to compare Neuroticism between an entrepreneur and a General Manager, in his study he found that entrepreneurs scored high compared to the general managers. The reason he cited for this is the stress which an entrepreneur has to bear in his shoulder. Also he argued by providing examples that a creative writer is more anxious than a normal person and an entrepreneur is also a creative person in his own rights and thus there exists a common factor between them. There is another interesting article which has been considered while conducting the research is by Carland and Carland on the topic “Managers, Small business owners and entrepreneurs: The cognitive dimension” (1992, p.55). In this the authors have tried to solve the puzzle of the difference among the two types of individuals i.e. an entrepreneur and a person who seeks to become the manager of larger organisations on the basis of their personality and temperament. On studying they found that temperament plays a vital role in shaping up of one’s aspiration. According to them a small business owner is who establish a business for the sake of fulfilling its personal goals, devotes his maximum time on this business and it is the only source of their income. However they defined Entrepreneurs as a person who establishes and manages his own business for the main purpose of growth and profit, and they also carry innovation in their mind and make use of strategic management in their business. There is also another interesting area exist for studying about the subject is how an entrepreneur gets benefited from being optimistic. While going through different articles and books it has been observed that different authors focus on different aspects of Entrepreneurship. Key Issues The key issues which have been identified while going through various articles and books are generally different for different articles. The issues which really struck the mind are mainly the distinction which exists between a small business owner and an entrepreneur i.e. all new ventures are not entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs are mainly behind creating new things applying innovation. The second key issue lies in how entrepreneurship brings new technological changes and ultimately contributes to the national economy. Steam Engine and Electrification can be cited as the examples of new innovations and technological advancements. It has been also noticed that how temperament and personality contributes toward being an entrepreneur. The other vital aspects include the study of why do students in general have more fascination towards becoming an entrepreneur? The result was also drawn that they generally do it in order to indulge themselves in the professional field as well as to preserve their independence. The final and most important aspect of this study lies in the positive effect of remaining optimistic for an entrepreneur. Studies have shown that entrepreneur who remains optimistic or to say those who believe in staying positive always get more success when compared to others. Principles of a good Questionnaire A questionnaire is a form of written questions which are completed either verbally or by writing. Questionnaire can be either closed or open. Depending on the need of the subject nature of analysis, a questionnaire is designed. Therefore a questionnaire can be defined as the medium of communication among the researcher and subject matter. Sometimes it happens that an interviewer takes the interview on behalf of the researcher. In a questionnaire the researcher illustrate the questions about the topic for which he wants to get the data. It becomes very much important for the interviewer to design the question in such a way that it portrays same meaning to everyone regardless of the fact or the way by which the interviewer may have presented the question. Generally to design a good questionnaire some attention is to be provided to the following steps. The first step is to formulate a clear objective of the research and only on that basis the questionnaire needs to be designed. The step followed by this is the set up of a team which will design the questions; the team must contain members from the field work department, data analyst department and policy makers. The third step comes to test the feasibility and look after the available financial resources. The next step is to draft the questions according to a particular module. The final step comes in the form of pilot testing, where field testing and final form of the questionnaires is to be designed (IHSN, n.d.). The principle of designing a good questionnaire in the context of the topic ‘entrepreneurship’ lies where a questionnaire consisting of demographic and strategic questions. A primary research is needed to be carried out for the purpose of the project in recording various aspects of persons becoming entrepreneurs and what motivates them to take up a new venture. In this process a sample group of 10 new graduates have been chosen who will be responding to the questions which will be asked to them with the primary objective of knowing the difference between an entrepreneur and a small business man. Questions were designed in such a way that the students feel free to respond and options were provided where the respondents can ignore the question where they did not feel like responding. The questions which have been designed in this questionnaire are getting started with demographic question like age, sex, location among others, and then questions which involve thinking and proper understanding or to say established questions. The questionnaire to be designed will be open ended as the topic demand quality rather than quantity. The advantage of having an open ended questionnaire is that respondents will be present their views more precisely and elaborately than what a closed ended would have offered. An interviewer has been appointed to carry out the interview process; the utility of using a particular interviewer is that it will ensure the presentation of question in a similar way to all the respondents. In the data analysis portion, it will be analysed on a qualitative basis as it considers aspects like attitudes, temperament, personality, belief, values and other different traits. And after collecting and analyzing the data, it will be presented in a graphical manner which will help in understanding the information accurately. Testing Key Issue The key issue which lies in the framework of this research is to test the validity of the saying that ‘there exists a difference between an entrepreneur and a small business man’. So accordingly hypothesis has been used to carry out the test. H0 (Null Hypothesis) - The null hypothesis in this research stand out to test whether there is a difference between an entrepreneur and a small business man. H1 – There is no difference between an entrepreneur and a small business man. In order to test this, a primary research has been carried out. There were 10 samples taken consisting of newly graduate students. The questions which were asked to them in order to take their feedback are:- What are their plans for future in taking up business as a profession? What will be their main motive behind doing a business? Do they believe in innovation and taking risk? Figure 1 Figure 2 (Main reason for doing business) (Will they take risk?) The result which has been recorded says that there is a group of people who believes in innovation, profit making and providing job to others, may be this group is referred to as entrepreneur. However on the other hand a group says there is no need of innovation in the business, it should be simple and there is no point in taking risk. Therefore the null hypothesis holds true for the research and actually there exist a difference between an entrepreneur and a small business man. Reference Carland, J. C & Carland, J. W. (1992). Managers, Small business owners and entrepreneurs: The cognitive dimension. Journal of Business Entrepreneurship, 4(2). [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.thedrscarland.com/Research/JBE_1992_Article.pdf. [Accessed on 12 April 2012]. Carland, J. W., et al. (1984). Differentiating Entrepreneurs from small business owners: A Conceptualisation. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.thedrscarland.com/Research/AMR_1984_Article.pdf. [Accessed on 12 April 2012]. Definition of Entrepreneurship. (No Date). What is Entrepreneurship. [Online]. Available at: http://yipekenya.org/DefinitionofEntrepreneurship.htm. [Accessed on 10 April 2012]. Fink, A. (2009). Conducting research literature review. US: SAGE. IHSN. (No Date). Principals of questionnaire design. [Online]. Available at: http://www.surveynetwork.org/home/index.php?q=tools/questionnaire/principles. [Accessed on 10 April 2012]. Martinez, D., Mora, J. G & Vila, L. E. (No Date). Entrepreneurs the self employed and employees amongst young European Higher Education Graduates. [Pdf]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc/business/october08/martinez_en.pdf. [Accessed on 11 April 2012]. Publish Your Articles. (No Date). Meaning, definition and characteristics of public enterprises. [Online]. Available at: http://www.publishyourarticles.org/knowledge-hub/business-studies/meaning-definition-and-characteristics-of-public-enterprises.html. [Accessed on 10 April 2012]. Ward, A. (No Date). Entrepreneur Skill and Enterprise learning. [Pdf]. Available at: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/entrepreneur-skills. [Accessed on 11 April 2012]. Read More