CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH
Discussion Questions
1. Describe a situation where you used research in order to inform thinking,
decisions, and/or actions in relation to a personal issue of interest such as buying
a new mobile phone or going to the movies. Provide information about the
purpose of your research, the problem, the information you collected, how you
collected this information, the role of theory, and the solution to the problem.
Answers will vary. Example: going to the movies.
The problem: I wanted to go the movies last weekend with a friend. I did have enough
information on which movies were playing.
Purpose: I wanted to have a good time with my friend.
Information: I collected information via my iPhone. I collected information about
current movies playing, and other relevant info via the websites of two different
cinemas. I watched trailers of three movies via the website of the se cinemas. I also
looked up information about the movies via the IMDB site. Finally, my brother
provided me with a few suggestions.
Theory: I usually don’t like the movies my brother suggests. He has a completely
different taste. He usually prefers movies that contain violence. He also has a
completely different sense of humor. That’s is why we didn’t go to th e movie he
suggested.
Solution: based on the trailers and the information via IMDB we decided to go to Spy.
2. Why should a manager know about research when the job entails managing
people, products, events, environments and the like?
The manager, while managing people, products, events, and environments will
invariably face problems, big and small, and will have to seek ways to find long
lasting effective solutions. This can be achieved only through knowledge of research
even if consultants are engaged t o solve problems.
3. For what specific purpose is Basic Research important?
Basic research is important for generating and building upon the existing knowledge
in the areas of interest. It offers the foundation for applied research by which one can
circumvent reinventing the wheel.
4. When is applied research, as distinct from basic research, useful? (Research Methods For Business A Skill Building Approach, 8e Roger Bougie, Uma Sekaran)
(Solution Manual all Chapters)
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Applied research is useful in solving specific problems in particular situations where
early action might be needed to solve problems in organizations.
5. Why is it important to be adept in handling the manager -researcher
relationship?
The manager who knows how to relate to researchers facilitates the problem solving
process and benefits the research team as well as the organization. The one who is not
adept at this will frustrate and be frustrated during the research process and thereafter.
Being capable of handling the manager -researcher relationship is thus a big advantage
and some of the nuances of handling research teams are:
(i) knowing how much and what in formation to give to the team;
(ii) meaningful and purposeful interactions with the team members;
(iii) stating up front what records of the company will and will not be accessible to
the team members and expressing the core values of the system.
6. Explai n giving reasons which is more important – applied or basic research.
Both are equally important. Without basic research, applied research cannot work as
well, and if the results of basic research are not applied, such research would be futile.
Whereas bas ic research is the foundation of knowledge, applied research is its
practical application and helps to provide the additional information base for theory
building and further generation of knowledge.
7. Give two specific instances where an external researc h team would be useful
and two other scenarios where an internal research team will be deployed, with
adequate explanations as to why each scenario is justified for an external or
internal team.
The answers will vary.
For the external team, the suggestions could be:
a. to help non -tech companies to build up sophisticated technology in their
environment; (only those with specialized knowledge of technology can help non -tech
companies)
b. to evaluate the successful and deficient operations of the company (to avoid
bias of internal team members).
For the internal team, it could be:
a. to figure out how the companies affected by the September 11th disaster can
rebuild themselves; (internal team would be more knowledgeable about the company
and could rebuild fast er);
b. to solve the problem of consistent losses of a small division of a large
company (only a small pocket of a large company is involved and the situation can be
rectified by the internal team).
8. Describe a situation where research will help you as a manager to make a good
decision.
Again, the answers will vary. One scenario is that a work team fails to deliver results
time and again.
9. Given the situations below, (a) discuss with reasons, whether they will fall into
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the category of Applied or Basic research, and (b) for scenario 1 explain with
reasons, who will conduct the research.
Scenario 1
Companies are very interested in acquiring other firms even when the latter
operate in totally unrelated realms of business. For example, Coca -Cola has
announ ced that it wants to buy China Huiyuan Juice Group in an effort to
expand its activities in one of the world’s fastest -growing beverage markets. Such
acquisitions are claimed to “work miracles.” However, given the volatility of the
stock market and the slo wing down of business, many companies are not sure
whether such acquisitions involve too much risk. At the same time, they also
wonder if they are missing out on a great business opportunity if they fail to take
such risk. Some research is needed here!
This is a general issue that relates to all or most companies contemplating
acquisitions. Of course, the results of the study are likely to be useful to, and applied
by all the concerned companies. This could fall into the realm of basic or applied
research, depending on who sponsors the study. If one company or a consortium of
companies investigates the issue to find an answer for immediate application, then it
will be applied research On the other hand, if a Finance professor in a university
undertakes the study as a matter of academic interest, it will be basic research. Either
an individual such as a professor or a finance expert can do this basic research, or a
company or consortium of companies can undertake the applied research.
Scenario 2
Reasons for A bsenteeism
A university professor wanted to analyze in depth the reasons for absenteeism of
employees in organizations. Fortunately, a company within 20 miles of the
campus employed her as a consultant to study that very issue.
The basic research aspirat ion of the professor has taken the form of applied research
in this particular system, where they would apply the findings of her research to solve
the problem. No doubt, the professor would continue her research in a variety of
organizations to add to the existing base of knowledge on absenteeism and continue
the topic as a basic research project.
Scenario 3
Effects of Service Recovery on Customer Satisfaction
A research scientist wants to investigate the question: What is the most effective
way for an org anization to recover from a service failure? Her objective is to
provide guidelines for establishing the proper "fit" between service failure and
service recovery that will generalize across a variety of service industries.
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This will be a case of basic re search, the purpose of which was to study the efficacy of
different service recovery strategies and add to the body of existing marketing
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