INTRODUCTION

TO
BUSINESS RESEARCH

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 What is research?
Management research is an unbiased,
structured, and sequential method of
enquiry, directed towards a clear implicit
or explicit business objective. This enquiry
might lead to validating existing
postulates or arriving at new theories
and models.

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Types of research

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 Types of research
• Basic research : the basic premise is the
need to KNOW and the concern is
primarily academic in nature.
• Applied research: Solution or action
oriented research, that is contextual and
practical in approach.

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 Types of research
• Exploratory research is loosely
structured and the basic premise is to
provide direction to subsequent, more
structured method of enquiry.
• Conclusive research is structured and
definite in orientation. These studies are
usually conducted to validate formulated
hypotheses and specified relationships.
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Exploratory vs Conclusive Research

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 Conclusive research
• Descriptive research: The main goal of
this type of research is to describe the
data and characteristics about what is
being studied.
• Causal research: Explores the effect of
one or more variables on other variable(s),
with reasonable level of certainty by
controlling the impact of other influencing
variables.
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The research process

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 The research process
• The management decision problem
• Defining the research problem
• Formulation of the working hypotheses
• Construction of the research proposal

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 The research process
• Formulating the research design
• Sampling considerations
• Collecting the data for the study
• Data analysis and interpretation of findings

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 Research applications in marketing

• Market & consumer analysis

• Product research
• Pricing research
• Promotional research
• Place research

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Research applications in finance
• Asset pricing, capital markets and
corporate finance
• Financial derivatives and credit risk
modeling research
• Market-based accounting research
• Auditing and accountability
• Other areas: financial forecasting,
behavioural finance, volatility analysis
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 Research applications in
human resources
• Training & development studies
• Selection and staffing studies
• Performance appraisal–design and
evaluation
• Organization planning and development
• Incentive and benefits studies
• Emerging areas–critical factor analysis,
employer branding studies
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 Research applications in

production & operations management

• Operation planning and design

• Demand forecasting and demand
estimation
• Process planning
• Project management and maintenance
effectiveness studies
• Logistics and supply chain-design and
evaluation
• Quality estimations and assurance studies
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 Criteria for research
• MUST have: a clearly stated research purpose/
objective
• MUST have: a sequential plan of execution
• MUST have: a logical and explicitly stated
justification for the selected methods
• MUST have: an unbiased and neutral method of
conduct and reporting
• MUST have: complete transparency and ethical
conduction of the research process
• MUST have: provision for being reliable &
replicable
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END OF THE CHAPTER

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