BHMS4418 Applied Business Research Lecture 1a PDF

BHMS4418 Applied Business Research 1 The Role of Business Research Lecture 1a Introduction of Business Research ©20...

BHMS4418 Applied Business Research 1 The Role of Business Research Lecture 1a Introduction of Business Research ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  BHMS4418 – Objectives This course aims to prepare students for the final year project through development of fundamental business research knowledge while fostering their interpersonal, communicative, analytical and literacy skills. It provides an opportunity for the students to learn about the key concepts and techniques in conducting a business research project. It develops their ability to plan and organize research projects through seeking out, evaluating and analyzing materials from a range of sources. It also enables students to communicate their findings and results coherently in writing and 1-2 ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in  BHMS4418 – TP & AG Learning outcomes Teaching and Learning Approach Assessment Teaching Schedule Textbook and Reference Books Other Requirements → Please refer to Teaching Plan (TP) and Assessment Guide (AG) 1-3in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  1 The Role of Business Research Introduction of Business Research ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. LEARNIN G OUTCOM ES 1. Understand how research contributes to business success 2. Know how to define business research 3. Understand the difference between basic and applied business research 4. Understand how research activities can be used to address business decisions 5. Know when business research should and should not be conducted 6. Appreciate the way technology and internationalization are changing business research 1-5in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Business Research Defined Business research is the application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about business phenomena. The process includes: idea and theory development problem definition searching for and collecting information analyzing data communicating the findings and their implications 1–6in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Applied and Basic Business Research Applied business research conducted to address a specific business decision for a specific firm or organization. Example: ◗ Should McDonald’s add Italian pasta dinners to its menu? ◗ Which health insurance plan should a business provide for its employees? 1–7in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Applied and Basic Business Research Basic business research (also called pure research) conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the needs of a specific organization. ◗ Attempts to expand the limits of knowledge in general. ◗ Not aimed at solving a pragmatic problem. Example: ◗ Do consumers experience cognitive dissonance in low-involvement situations? ◗ Does employee tenure with a company influence productivity? 1–8in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  EXHIBIT 1.1 A Summary of the Scientific Method 1–9in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Managerial Value of Business Research The decision-making process associated with the development and implementation of a business strategy involves four interrelated stages: 1. Identifying problems and opportunities 2. Diagnosing and assessing problems or opportunities 3. Selecting and implementing a course of action 4. Evaluating the course of action 1–10in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  When is Business Research Needed? The determination of the need for research centers on: 1. Time constraints 2. The availability of data 3. The nature of the decision to be made 4. Benefits versus costs (the value of the research information in relation to costs) ◗ Will the payoff or rate of return be worth the investment? ◗ Will the information improve the quality of the managerial decision enough to warrant the expenditure? ◗ Is the expenditure the best use of the available funds? 1–11in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Business Research in the 21st Century Global Business Research Business research is increasingly global. Must understand the nature of particular markets. Cross-validation ◗ Verify that the empirical findings from one culture also exist and behave similarly in another culture. 1–12in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  BHMS4418 Applied Business Research 1 The Role of Business Research Lecture 1b The Business Research Process: An Overview ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. LEARNIN G OUTCOM ES 1. Define decision making and understand the role research plays in making decisions 2. Classify business research as either exploratory research, descriptive research, or causal research 3. List the major phases of the research process and the steps within each 4. Explain the difference between a research project and a research program 4-14in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Introduction Key ways in which researchers contribute to decision making: 1. Helping to better define the current situation 2. Defining the firm—determining how consumers, competitors, and employees view the firm 3. Providing ideas for enhancing current business practices 4. Identifying new strategic directions 5. Testing ideas that will assist in implementing business strategies for the firm 6. Examining how correct a certain business theory is in a given situation 4–15in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Types of Business Research Exploratory Descriptive Causal 4–16in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Exploratory Research Exploratory Research Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem. ◗ Does not provide conclusive evidence ◗ Subsequent research expected 4–17in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Descriptive Research Describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments. Addresses who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. Considerable understanding of the nature of the problem exists. Does not provide direct evidence of causality. Diagnostic analysis Seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products. 4–18in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Causal Research Research conducted to identify cause and effect relationships (inferences). Evidence of causality: Temporal sequence—the appropriate causal order of events. Concomitant variation—two phenomena vary together. Nonspurious association—an absence of alternative plausible explanations. 4–19in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  EXHIBIT 4.2 The Spurious Effect of Ice Cream 4–20in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Stages in the Research Process Process stages: 1. Defining the research objectives 2. Planning a research design 3. Planning a sample 4. Collecting the data 5. Analyzing the data 6. Formulating the conclusions and preparing the report Forward linkage—earlier stages influence later stages. Backward linkage—later stages influence earlier stages. 4–21in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  EXHIBIT 4.5 Stages of the Research Process 4–22in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Defining the Research Objectives Research objectives The goals to be achieved by conducting research. Deliverables The consulting term used to describe research objectives to a research client. 4–23in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Exploratory Research Techniques Previous Research Literature review ◗ A directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand. Pilot Studies ◗ A small-scale research project that collects data from respondents similar to those to be used in the full study. ◗ Pretest  A small-scale study in which the results are only preliminary and intended only to assist in design of a subsequent study. ◗ Focus Group  A small group discussion about some research topic led by a moderator who guides discussion among the participants. ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights 4–24in Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Planning the Research Design Research Design A master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information. Basic design techniques for descriptive and causal research: ◗ Surveys ◗ Experiments ◗ Secondary data ◗ Observation 4–25in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Selection of the Basic Research Method Survey A research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or the behavior of respondents is observed and described. ◗ Telephone ◗ Mail ◗ Internet ◗ In person 4–26in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Sampling Sampling Involves any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the population. Sampling decisions Who to sample?—target population What size should the sample be? How to select the sampling units? 4–27in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Gathering Data Unobtrusive Methods Methods in which research respondents do not have to be disturbed for data to be gathered. 4–28in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Processing and Analyzing Data Editing Involves checking the data collection forms for omissions, legibility, and consistency in classification. Codes Rules for interpreting, categorizing, recording, and transferring the data to the data storage media. Data analysis The application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered. 4–29in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  Drawing Conclusions and Preparing a Report Steps in communicating the research findings: Interpreting the research results Describing the implications Drawing the appropriate conclusions for managerial decisions Reporting requirements Conclusions fulfill the deliverables promised in the research proposal Consider the varying abilities of people to understand the research results A clearly-written, understandable summary of the research findings 4–30in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,  The Research Program Strategy Research project A single study that addresses one or a small number of research objectives. ◗ Uses specific techniques for solving one- dimensional problems, such as identifying customer segments, selecting the most desirable employee insurance plan, or determining an IPO stock price. Research program Numerous related studies that come together to address multiple, related research objectives. Because research is a continuous process, management should view business research at a strategic planning level. 4–31in ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website,