Business Research Methods under Approach.pdf

A business research method is a systematic and scientific process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data to solve business problems and guide managerial decisions. It involves a structured inquiry to collect objective evidence, helping businesses understand markets, customer behavior, and competitors to make informed, data-driven decisions that reduce uncertainty, improve performance, and gain a competitive advantage. This process includes defining the problem, designing the research, selecting samples, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings to mobilize the organization for action.

1. Business Research Methods
Dr. Garima Ranga

2. RULES OF THE GAME
•Late entry in the session is not allowed.
•Use of mobile phones is strictly prohibited.
•Do carry laptops but use only when asked.
•Read the suggested readings.
Let us all learn together….

3. Continuous assessment Break-up: (Minimum One Assignment Per Credit)
Indicative – to be completed by the faculty member at the time of developing the Session plan
Type Description (indicative)
Course
Outcome
Addressed (SL. No)
Out of
50 Marks
Module Coverage
/Module number
Quiz Multiple choice questions CO 1 & CO 2 10 Module 1, 2
Mid-term CO 1, CO 2 20 Module 1, 2 and 3
Project Group Project 4 20
End-term 2 50 Module-1,2,3, and 4

4. Project
•A group of 4 members
•Find out a real business problem
•Choose qualitative or quantitative research method
•Analyze the results
•Present the findings.

5. Session Flow…
Course overview
What is Business Research
Role of Business Research

6. Some commonly researched areas in business
•Employee behaviors such as performance, absenteeism, and turnover.
•Employee attitudes such as job satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational commitment.
•Consumer decision making.
•Customer relationship management.
•Consumer satisfaction, complaints, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth
communication.
•Cost of capital, valuation of firms, dividend policies, and investment decisions.
•Risk assessment, exchange rate fluctuations, and foreign investment.
•Strategy formulation and implementation.
•Just-in-time systems, continuous-improvement strategies, and production
efficiencies

8. It’s hard to believe from such a large company, but when
they launched their brand in Canada, they skipped market
research and banked on name recognition to drive
customer traffic. After buying the leases for a defunct
discount chain in Canada in 2013, Target quickly turned
the empty stores into new Target stores.
The big store conglomerate spent millions on marketing
on social media, radio, TV and billboards but never took
the time to deep dive into the specific Canadian
consumer segment. Customers in Canada knew the
brand, but when they went into stores, they saw different
products than what they’d seen in U.S. stores and prices
were higher. It took less than two years for Target to close
its Canadian stores and call the launch a failure.

9. Good decision-making fetches YES answer to:
•Do managers identify where exactly the problem lies?
•Do they correctly recognize relevant factors in the situation needing investigation?
•Do they know what type of information is needed to solve the problem?

10. Business
Research
The application of the scientific
method in searching for the truth
about business phenomena. These
activities include defining business
opportunities and problems,
generating and evaluating ideas,
monitoring performance, and
understanding the business process.

11. Types of research
Basic Research Applied research

12. Scientific
Method
•The way researchers go about
using knowledge and evidence to
reach objective conclusions
about the real world.

13. Managerial Value of Business Research
•Product Oriented
•Production Oriented
•Marketing Oriented

14. Business Research Process
IDENTIFYING
PROBLEMS OR
OPPORTUNITIES
DIAGNOSING AND
ASSESSING PROBLEMS
OR OPPORTUNITIES
SELECTING AND
IMPLEMENTING A
COURSE OF ACTION
EVALUATING THE
COURSE OF ACTION

15. When is Business Research Needed..?
Time constraints The availability of data The nature of decision
to be made
The value of research
information relation to
cost.

17. Data vs. Information
•Data
•Information

18. The Characteristics of Valuable Information
•Relevance
•Quality
•Timeliness
•Completeness

19. Find recent examples of news articles involving
the use of business research in making decisions
about different aspects of business.
Group Activity

20. https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/78-of-delivery-gig-workers-earn-less-than-rs-25-
lakh-a-year-just-66-pay-taxes-survey-442867-2024-08-24
https://www.pwc.in/industries/retail-and-consumer/voice-of-the-consumer-survey-
2024india-perspective.html
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/pwc-asia-pacific/hopes-and-
fears.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4fi7BhC5ARIsAEV1YiYYUm95kD7ILJJcKOKsX4X1M4G
Wk4PKuBjye9wMs0HMLmIeVcrWOjcaArmMEALw_wcB
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/how-can-organizations-work-better-
for-working-women.html
https://www.thehindu.com/business/fairwork-india-report-highlights-absence-of-local-living-
wage-for-gig-workers-aggregators-turning-their-back-to-collectivisation/article68731902.ece

21. SESSION-2

22. Recap

23. Session flow
Ethics in Research
Theory
Types of Research

24. Ethics and Business
Research
Ethics in business research refers to a code
of conduct or expected societal norm of
behavior while conducting research.
Ethical conduct applies to the organization
and the members that sponsor the research,
the researchers who undertake the
research, and the respondents who provide
them with the necessary data.
Ethical behavior pervades each step of the
research process – data collection, data
analysis, reporting, and dissemination of
information on the Internet, if such an
activity is undertaken.

26. What is a Theory
•Theory: A formal, logical explanation of some events that includes predictions of how
things relate to one another.
•Goals of Theory: Understand and Predict.

29. Terminology in Research Context
Concept: generalized idea about a class of objects that
has been given a name; an abstraction of reality that is
the basic unit for theory development
Ladder of Abstraction: Organization of concepts in
sequence from the most concrete and individual to the
most general.

30. Vegetation
Fruit
Banana
Reality
Increasingly more abstract
A Ladder Of Abstraction
For Concepts

31. Levels aof Reality
•Abstract level(concepts & propositions): in theory development, the level of
knowledge expressing a concept that exists only as an idea or a quality apart from an
object.
•Empirical level(variables& hypotheses): level of knowledge reflecting that which is
verifiable by experience or observation

32. Concepts, Propositions, Hypothesis
Proposition: Statements explaining the logical linkage
among certain concepts by asserting a universal
connection between concepts
Hypothesis: Formal statement of an unproven
proposition that is empirically testable

33. Variables, Deductive, and Inductive Reasoning
Variables: Anything that may assume different numerical values; the
empirical assessment of a concept
Deductive reasoning: The logical process of deriving a conclusion about a
specific instance based on a known general premise or something known
to be true.
Inductive reasoning: The logical process of establishing a general
proposition on the basis of observation of particular facts

35. Types of Research
• Exploratory- Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that
may be potential business opportunities

•Descriptive- Describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations,
or environments; tries to “paint a picture” of a given situation.
•Causal-Allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause and- effect
relationships.

36. Characteristics of Different Types of Business Research

37. In-class Exercise
Each group has to read the given theory and present
G1- Agency Theory
G2- Resource Based View
G3- Trait Theory
G4- Pecking Order Theory
G5-Prospect Theory
G6- Social Exchange Theory
G7- Theory of Planned Behavior
G8- Theory of Constraints
•G9- Brand Equity Theory
•G10- CAPM Model
•G 11-Contigency theory
•G12- Construal level theory
•G13- Toyota Production System
•G14-Game Theory
•G 15- Social network Theory