BUSINESS RESEARCH IN A GLOBAL ACTIVITY

Business today operates globally. Business research, like all
business activity, has become increasingly global. Some companies have
extensive international business research operations. Upjohn conducts
business research in 160 different countries.
Companies that conduct business in foreign lands must
understand the particular nature of those markets and determine
whether they require customized business strategies. For example,
although the 14 nations of the European Community not share a single
market, business research shows that they do not share identical tastes
for many consumer products. Business researchers have learned that
there is no such thing as a typical European consumer or worker; the
nations of the European Community are divided by language, religion,
climate, and centuries of tradition. For example, Scantel Research, a
British firm that advises companies on color preferences, found
inexplicable differences in the way Europeans take their medicine. The
French prefer to pop purple pills, while the English and Dutch wish for
white ones. Consumers in all three countries dislike bright red capsules,
which are big sellers in the United States. This example illustrates that
companies that do business in Europe must learn whether they need to
adapt to local customs and habits.
20 A.C. Nielsen, the company that does television ratings, is the
world’s largest business research company. More than 60 percent of its
business comes from outside the United States. Although the nature of
business research can change around the globe, the need for business
research is universal. Throughout this book we will discuss the practical
problems involved in conducting business research in Europe, Asia, Latin
America, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

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 The observance of ethics begins
with the person instituting the research, who should do so in good faith,
pay attention to what the results indicate, and surrendering the ego,
pursue organizational rather than self-interests. Ethical conduct should
also be reflected in the behavior of the researchers who conduct the
investigation, the participants who provide the data, the analysts who
provide the results, and the entire research team that presents the
interpretation of the results and suggests alternative solutions.
Thus, ethical behavior pervades each step of the research processdata collection, data analysis, reporting, and dissemination of
25 information of the Internet, if such an activity is undertaken. How the
subjects are treated and how confidential information is safeguarded are
all guided by business ethics.
There are business journals such as the journal of business Ethics
and the Business Ethics Quarterly that are mainly devoted to the issue of
ethics in business. The American Psychological Association has
established certain guideline for conducting research, to ensure that
organizational research is conducted in an ethical manner and the
interests of all concerned are safeguarded.

BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLIED RESEARCH

One reason for conducting research is to develop and evaluate
concepts and theories. Basic- or pure-research attempts to expand the
limits of knowledge. It does not directly involve the solution to a
particular, pragmatic problem, but it had been said, “There is nothing so
practical as a good theory.” Although this statement is true in the long
run, basic research findings generally cannot be immediately
implemented. Basic research is conducted to verify the acceptability of a
given theory or to know more about a certain concept.
For example, consider this basic research conducted by a
university. Academic researchers investigated whether or not an
individual’s perception that he or she was doing well on a task would
have any influence on future performance. Two nearly identical groups of
adults were given ten puzzles to solve. All of the individuals had identical
sets of puzzles to solve. After the subjects had given their solutions to the
researchers, they were told “how well” they did on the test. All of the
5 persons in the first group were told that they had done well (70 percent
correct regardless of the actual percent correct. The members of the other
group were told that they had done poorly (30 percent correct). Then both
groups were given another set of ten puzzles. The group that had been
told they had done well on the first set of puzzles performed better with
the second set of puzzles than did the group that had been told they had
been relatively unsuccessful with the first puzzle solving. The results of
this basic research expand scientific knowledge about theories of general
performance behaviour. This study was conducted because the
researchers thought the theory being tested was far-reaching and
applicable to a broad range of situations and circumstances.
Applied research is conducted when a decision must be made
about a specific real-life problem. Applied research encompasses those
studies undertaken to answer questions about specific problems or to
make decisions about a particular course of action or policy. For
example, an organization contemplating a paperless office and a
networking system for the company’s personal computers may conduct
research to learn the amount of time its employees spend at personal
computer in an average week.
The procedures and techniques utilized by basic and applied
researchers do not differ substantially. Both employ the scientific method
to answer the questions at hand. Broadly characterized, the scientific
method refers to techniques and procedures that help the researcher to
know and understand business phenomena. The scientific method
requires systematic analysis and logical interpretation of empirical
evidence (facts from observation or experimentation) to confirm or
disprove prior conceptions. In basic research, first testing these prior
conceptions or hypotheses and then making inferences and conclusions
about the phenomena leads to the establishment of general laws about
the phenomena.
6 Use of the scientific method in applied research assures objectivity
in gathering facts and testing creative ideas for alternative business
strategies. The essence of research, whether basic or applied, lies in the
scientific method, and much of this book deals with scientific
methodology. The difference in the techniques of basic and applied
research is largely a matter of degree rather than substance.

Introduction Research Methodology

Just close your eyes for a minute and utter the word research to
yourself. What kinds of images does this word conjure up for you? Do
you visualize a lab with scientists at work Bunsen burners and test
tubes, or an Einstein-like character writing dissertations on some
complex subject, or someone collecting data to study the impact of a
newly introduced day-care system on the morale of employees? Most
certainly, all these image do represent different aspects of research.
Research is simply the process of finding solutions to a problem after a
thorough study and analysis of the situational factors. Managers in
organizations constantly engage themselves in studying and analyzing
issues and hence are involved in some form of research activity as they
make decisions at the workplace. As is well known, sometimes managers
make good decisions and the problem gets solved, sometimes they make
poor decisions and the problem persists, and on occasions they make
such colossal blunders that the organization gets stuck in the mire. The
difference between making good decision and committing blunders lies in
how managers go about the decision-making process. In other words,
good decision making fetches a “yes” answer to the following questions:
Do managers identify where exactly the problem lies, do they correctly
recognize the relevant factors in the situation needing investigation, do
they know what types of information are to be gathered and how, do they
know how to make use of the information so collected and draw
appropriate conclusions to make the right decisions, and finally, do they
know how to implement the results of this process to solve the problem?
2 This is the essence of research and to be a successful manager it is
important for you to know how to go about making the right decisions by
being knowledgeable about the various steps involved in finding solutions
to problematic issues. This is what this book is all abou