Research Methods and Agile Methodologies

Lecture Notes Summary

• Lecture 1: Scientific contribution is a gap in current literature and practice. Social sciences focus on human behavior, use messy data, and do not have universal answers. Scientific research contributes to a body of knowledge by discovering laws and postulating theories, explained using logic and evidence. Methods followed by scientific research are methodical. Data are collected and interpreted.

• Lecture 1: Research Paper Structure and Significance. Before research papers are developed, the significance of the topic and novelty must be addressed, along with curiosity and approachability.

• Lecture 2: Value-in-use is the providing of utility. Value co-creation is complex and dynamic, dealing with uncertainty which requires facilitation of subjectivity, complexity, and chaos management.

• Lecture 2: Agile, Scrum/Lean-Startup methods are used to address value co-creation in entrepreneurial settings. Agile is an iterative approach, Scrum is a project management framework for software development, and Lean Startup is methodology for business and model innovation. Agile guidelines include individuals and interactions, working software, and comprehensive documentation.

• Lecture 2 & 7: Agile methods and frameworks, and design thinking processes, are used in practice when applying the agile viewpoint.

• Lecture 3: Elements of Theory. This covers constructs, ideas, and variables in relation to each other, as well as the boundaries of the theory. Types of variables are discussed. These elements are part of any study or published marketing research. A theory is presented, often in the form of a model, to explain different types of variables in a proposed research model.

• Lecture 3: Common approaches to theory building use inductive and deductive methods.

• Lecture 4: Possible Exam Questions. Discussion on Cronbach's alpha and validity, along with the purpose of Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs). Research gaps are important to identify within a topic.

• Lecture 4: Deductive and Inductive Research Approaches. Summarized.

• Lecture 4: Discussion of digital marketing.

• Lecture 5: Business Models. This defines a business model as a simplified representation of a company's activities. Components of the model include strategic components (e.g., strategy, resources, network), customer & market components (e.g., customer model, revenue model), and value creation components (e.g., manufacturing, procurement, financial). There are examples of business model components such as Razor-Razor Blade models, and how to analyze these elements.

• Lecture 5 & 6: The importance, and applications of business models around, are discussed.

• Lecture 6: Discussion on constructs/variables. Concretely discussing the components of a research paper by Kronemann, and the elements of a research paper, such as objectives, units of analysis, and methodology, including internal and external validity.

• Lecture 6: Exam example - Discussion on models, variables, and how those concepts are used in practice.

• Lecture 7: Methodology and methods are distinct although related. A methodology provides a rationale for a specific research approach, whereas a method is used to gather data in order to answer research questions. A properly developed research design reduces bias and increases confidence in findings. Types of analysis (qualitative and quantitative) and data collection are discussed.

• Lecture 7: Different research processes, and the different types of research.

• Paper Summary (Article 1): Lean startup, operationalizing. This is about lean startup (LS) as a method for opportunity exploration. Discusses the research gap in the literature, lack of quantitative LS research. Lean startup is a toolset for exploration, utilizing experimentation and early customer insight.

• Paper Summary (Article 2): Agile co-creation process. This is about how companies use agile methods for co-creation processes, how value is created and organized between parties involved. It deals with a digitalization paradox, where increased revenues do not always yield higher profits due to rising costs.

• Paper Summary (Article 3): Business Models. This is about the concept of business models, and components like strategic components (strategy, resources, network), customer and market components, and value creation components. Examples and the importance of the business model canvas are explored.

• Paper Summary (Article 4): Harnessing the potential of AI in government services. This is about the importance of using AI-enabled services by different government departments to better meet the needs of citizens. Discusses research questions, limitations of previous studies, and an explanation of the research method/approach used to explore the topic(s).

• Paper Summary (Article 5): Impact of Online vs. Offline acculturation. This is focused on consumer acculturation. There are specific questions about online and offline cultures and consumer adaptation in the research.

• Paper Summary (Article 6): How AI encourages consumers to share secrets. The study covers AI in marketing and customer service, discussing the privacy paradox, consumer trust, and anthropomorphism with various aspects in AI.

• Paper Summary (Article 7): Effective Marketing Communication. This explores how interactive and non-interactive advertising formats affect messaging effectiveness on social networks. The study used experiments, and tie strength and advertising literacy moderate the effectiveness of different conditions. There is a discussion of the model, along with methods and techniques.

Paper Summaries (additional points):

• Multiple articles presented in the paper summaries had research questions and hypotheses.
• There were multiple types of data collection methods, for example, surveys and interviews.
• Each paper had a methodology section and a discussion/conclusion section.