Essentials of Business Research

A Guide to Doing Your Research Project

Jonathan Wilson

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781446293478
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: R&D
• Index: Business

Written specifically for business students, this best-selling, jargon-free textbook highlights each stage of the research process, guiding the reader through actionable steps and explicitly setting out how best to meet a supervisor?s expectations.

Easy to navigate and full of practical advice, it shows you how to choose atopic and write a proposal, with easy to follow tips and detailed screenshots and diagrams.

Key student features include:

• ?You?re the Supervisor? sections - helps students to meet learning objectives
• ?Common questions and answers? - real-world advice on how to tackle common challenges
• Examples from different types of international businesses
• Detailed guidance on software packages such as SPSS
• Student case studies
• Annotated further reading

Accompanied by a fully integrated companion website designed to support learning. Free to access, it includes author podcasts, guides to online tools, links to downloadable journal articles, examples of completed projects, PowerPoint slides and students? multiple choice questions to test progress.

A must-have title for all business and management students; this is the ideal companion for achieving success in your research project.

1

An Introduction to Business Research

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• know what research and business research are, and why they are important in both business and academia;

• understand the key concepts of research;

• be aware of the relationship between the key concepts of research as illustrated in the ‘Honeycomb of Research Methodology’;

• understand the rationale for using multi-strategy research;

• appreciate how business research is linked to the organization;

• be aware of the research skills required to undertake research;

• know the stages in the research process;

• understand the differences between academic and organizational research; and

• know the role played by research project supervisors and the kind of support they provide.

Introduction

Research is one of those words that you are likely to come across on an almost daily basis. You may have read in the newspaper that the latest market research study links passive smoking to an increased likelihood of lung cancer. Or perhaps a news headline makes reference to a groundbreaking piece of medical research into a possible cure for HIV/AIDS. To be sure, illustrations of various types of research are regularly publicized in the media. However, the information provided often only relates to research findings. What exactly is research? What distinguishes business research from other types of research? This chapter aims to answer these questions and sets out to provide a clear introduction to business research.

This chapter starts by clearly defining and explaining research, and more importantly business research. In order to emphasize the message that an understanding of research, methodology and methods is an essential requirement to your project, we spend a reasonable amount of time looking at these particular terms. Following this, readers are first introduced to The Honeycomb of Research Methodology. This is a new feature of the second edition. One of the aims of the honeycomb is to show the six main elements that combine to make up the centre segment – research methodology. We begin by examining the first three of these elements, also referred to as the ‘key concepts of research’, and consider the relationship between all three concepts. The other elements of the honeycomb are addressed later in the book. Next, we look at how business research is linked to the organization and explore the necessary research skills required to be an effective researcher. This is followed by an overview of the likely steps that you will go through when conducting your research. Although the majority of this book is aimed at business students, the next part of this introductory chapter provides an insight into the differences between academic and organizational research. Mature students and those of you who have worked within a business setting may already be familiar with the nature of organizational research. However, it is important to understand the differences that exist, not least because it will impact on your approach towards your research project.

The last section looks at the role of the project supervisor. The importance of your project supervisor cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately, many students fail to use their supervisor to good effect. Therefore, I have included a section, ‘The role of the supervisor’, in Chapter 1 in order to illustrate the importance of the supervisor from the outset. Finally, the chapter concludes with a case study, ‘You’re the supervisor’, and common questions and answers. These pedagogical features are a common theme within each chapter. They are designed to aid you during the research process by including actual student case examples, common student questions that I have come across in the context of project supervision, and finally what I call ‘role reversal’, where you are required to answer questions from the project supervisor’s perspective.

The Meaning of Research

Although the title of this book makes reference to ‘business research’, I think it is worth having a review of what is actually meant by the term ‘research’. The majority of students usually take some kind of research skills module as part of their study programme. For that reason, some of you may have an understanding of what is meant by research.

While research is important in both business and academia, there is no consensus in the literature on how it should be defined. The main reason for this is that different people can interpret research differently. However, from the many definitions there appears to be conformity that:

• research is a process of enquiry and investigation;

• it is systematic and methodical; and

• research increases knowledge.

Let us look at each of the above points in turn. First, a ‘process of enquiry and investigation’ suggests that research is all about having a predetermined set of questions, and then aiming to answer these questions through the gathering of information, and later analysis. Second, ‘systematic and methodical’ imply that your research must be well organized and go through a series of stages. Finally, ‘research increases knowledge’ is relatively self-explanatory. Your own knowledge about your chosen subject will certainly improve as a result of your research, but so too, hopefully, will that of your audience, and this may also include your project supervisor!

Research can be defined as a ‘step-by-step process that involves the collecting, recording, analyzing and interpreting of information’. As researchers, we are interested in improving our knowledge and understanding of our chosen topic. To do this effectively, researchers must have a clear set of research questions. The importance of research questions cannot be stressed highly enough. The research questions are the main focus of any project, and can probably best be described as ‘the glue that holds the project together’.

Generally speaking, research is all about generating answers to questions – to advance knowledge. The nature of these questions depends on the topic of research. For example, a marketer might carry out research to investigate consumer perceptions about a certain brand. Or a medical researcher might want to explore the association between recovery times and different medical treatments. Although the research questions are tailored towards a particular topic, essentially the process that researchers go through usually involves a similar series of stages, and I shall address these later on in this chapter.

In addition to research, it is likely that you have come across methods and methodology. It is necessary to distinguish the difference between the two terms as students often use them interchangeably, although there is a distinct difference. Methodology can be defined as ‘the approach and strategy used to conduct research’. In general, methodology is concerned with the overall approach to the research process. This includes everything from your theoretical application to the collection and analysis of your data. On the other hand, methods refer to the different ways by which data can be collected and analyzed.

Business Research

The purpose of business research is to gather information in order to aid business-related decision-making. Business research is defined as ‘the systematic and objective process of collecting, recording, analyzing and interpreting data for aid in solving managerial problems’. These managerial problems can be linked to any business function, e.g. human resources, finance, marketing or research and development. Your research project can also be interpreted as business research in the sense that it will be related to business and management. In some cases, this may encompass more than one particular business discipline. For instance, a study might focus on the level of marketing knowledge among finance managers (marketing and finance). Some examples of areas of business and possible research issues are shown in Table 1.1.

TABLE 1.1 Examples of business research

Why Research is Important

We have already established that research is all about providing answers to questions and developing knowledge. These questions in themselves are significant, hence the need to conduct research. You are likely to have conducted your own research to address questions that are important to you. For example, if the international students among you wish to return home for Christmas, it is unlikely that you would buy a ticket from the first airline that you see advertised. Instead, you would probably do some research to find out if there exists a cheaper alternative carrier. This may involve exploring various airline websites, or asking friends and family. Quite simply, research is the key to decision-making. Without sufficient information, decision-making is likely to be more difficult.

Importance of research in business

In business, research is important in identifying opportunities and threats. Often, a company’s success or failure is dependent on the actions undertaken as a result of conducting research. Although carrying out business research does not guarantee success, it is likely to increase the possibility that a new product, service, brand identity or even an event is successful. In some cases, the level of research conducted can be questionable, especially if public opinion is markedly different to that of an organization’s viewpoint, as illustrated in the following case example.

RESEARCH IN ACTION

The London Olympics 2012 logo

The logo of the London 2012 Olympic Games was unveiled to the world in June 2007. At a cost of £400,000, it was hailed as ‘dynamic’ and ‘vibrant’ by organizers, while its ‘graffiti style’ was designed to appeal to the younger generation and work across a variety of media platforms.

Designed by leading brand consultants Wolff Olins, the logo took the best part of a year to produce and bears a resemblance to the year 2012. However, shortly after its launch, the design came up against widespread disapproval, with one Jewish person even ringing the BBC to complain that it was reminiscent of the infamous Nazi SS symbol.

Design guru Stephen Bayley condemned it as ‘a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal’. An online petition to get the logo scrapped received thousands of signatures, while research conducted by Ipsos MORI, one of the UK’s leading research companies, found a similarly negative response. For example, when questioned ‘Do you approve or disapprove of the logo?’ only 16% of respondents commented that they approved of the logo.

Although the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) stressed that the logo was paid for by private money, Mr Bayley voiced his astonishment that the emblem – available in blue, pink, green and orange – had cost £400,000. ‘That’s outrageous,’ he said. ‘There are 5,000 talented designers who could have done the job for £10,000.’ (Carlin, 2007; Ipsos MORI, 2007)

In the case of the London Olympics 2012 logo, it can be questioned as to whether LOCOG carried out sufficient research prior to choosing the new logo. Later media coverage suggests that many people eventually warmed to the design, thus il lustrating that business research may only provide a snapshot of people’s opinion, and that attitudes can change over time.

Why studying research methods is important

The London Olympics 2012 logo example highlights why research is important in a commercial setting. However, as mentioned in the introduction, it is also an important part of your course. Your research project is probably the culmination of three to four years of hard study. Yet, for those students who participate in a research skills module as part of their study programme, in some cases the module is perceived as not being essential, or even relevant. There are perhaps two reasons for this. First, it is often embedded within a course and sits alongside modules that are relevant to your chosen subject. For example, if you are studying a finance degree, you will probably take modules in auditing, management accounting, corporate finance, etc. Yet a first glance at your study timetable may raise the question ‘What is this module?’, or perhaps ‘I’m here to study for a degree in finance, not research skills!’ A common problem facing us poor lecturers is to try to get across the message that research skills is relevant to your course, provides a wide range of transferable skills and, above all, serves to provide the necessary skills in order to successfully complete your research project. Second, when taking a research skills module, students usually have a wide range of questions from ...