research-methodology, Summaries of Research Methods for Managers

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Research Methodology

Definition: Business Research

 Systematic and Scientific inquiry aimed at providing information to solve managerial problems

Applied Research

 Solution to some practical problems  Conducted to reveal answers to specific questions related to action or policy needs E.g. Study of declining sales of particular car model

Why business research?

 Manager wants improve decision making skill by widening his knowledge  to reduce uncertainty  to justify his decision

 Financial Research:  Portfolio analysis  Business opportunities & threats analysis  Cost analysis  Production:  Total quality management

 Sales & Marketing:  Market potential  Market share  Market segmentation  Sales analysis  Sales forecasting  New product testing  Effectiveness of marketing strategies

 Information system:  Data mining  Technical support satisfaction  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)/Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems

Types Of Research

 Exploratory  Descriptive  Predictive

Descriptive Research

 Fact finding inquiries  Who, what, when, how, where etc  No powerful inference is drawn E.g. mining company databases for describing the nature customer complaints.

Predictive Research



Cause –effect relationship



Conducted for well understood

problems

E.g. sale of small cars depends on

price, fuel efficiency, engine

Formulating a Research Problem

Problem: Dilemma faced by manager

E.g. Software consulting firm is witnessing high attrition of employees

Research Question

 What is the employee satisfaction level in the organisation?  What are the corrective measures available?

Investigating Question

 Timings, travelling, facilities available, work culture  Annual increment, additional incentives, permission to pursue higher education