SOSSCHOSCHECHSSECSTHSSCHESHSSHHHESC HOES Table of Contents S.no Particulars Page no 1 COURSE OUTLINE ft 2 UNIT 1: Introduction to Business Research i 3 UNIT 2: Research designs 7H 9 4 UNIT 3: Data Sources 31 5 UNIT 4: Data Analysis 102 6 UNIT 5: Report Writing 131 7 LAST YEAR QUESTION PAPERS 143eseeeoeeeveovneneeoseeoeene eee eee ee e8ed 5. Course Learning Outeome ‘Afier successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Have basic understanding about research, Understand Research Process. Understand Sampling and Sampling Design Construct a basic questionnaire Process and analyse the data Write a Report. Aveeye Unit I: Introduction to Business Research (12hours) Nature and Scope of Research, Definition, objectives and types of business research, Role of Research in decision making. Steps of the Research process, Steps in Problem Formulation, writing the research proposal — objectives, hypothesis, methodology, time frame. Unit II: Research designs (@2hours) Research Design: importance and types - Exploratory, Descriptive, Causal. Sampling — need and importance of sampling, Sampling techniques, representative sample, Unit III: Data Sources (12hours) Secondary Data - Advantages & Disadvantages, Criteria for. evaluating secondary sources, Primary Data Collection: Comparison of different methods of collecting primary data, Observation, interviews ~ personal and telephone, questionnaire — self administered, mail, email, Qualitative Research Tools: in. Depth Interviews, focus groups and projective techniques; Surveys. Measurement: Scales of Measurement -Nominal, Ordinal, Interval’ and Ratio. Questionnaire — form & design. Unit IV: Data Analysis (12hours) Data Analysis — Basic data analysis - frequency distribution, Diagrammatic and Graphic representation, concept of univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. Unit V: Report Writing (12 hours) Types of reports, steps in Writing Reports , Format of a good report, Precautions in report writing, Reference Books : 1. Cooper & Schindler: Business Research Methods McGraw-Hill Education, 2. Aaker, Kumar, Day - Marketing Research. Wiley, 3. Gupta Kirti, Research Methodology - Tools and Techniques, Nirali Prakashan,UNIT 1: Introduction to Business Research eeesneeeeeevoeovneeveneceeeoesnaneoeeeae eee> Sue 16 September 2008: Ravi Mathaiyya, CEO of EEE—a KPO set up as an gutillary ofa Us.based credit § a card company, operating from Noida—read the story of the Lehmann Brothers, Merrill Lynch and the other financial disasters in the US. He reeled under the shock of the 158-year-old conglomerate which had just collapsed like a pack of cards, Of late, when the business was not doing well, it seemed that i this sub-prime crisis would eventually hit rhe banking credit and related sectors ina hig way. What |, would be the impact on the KPOs catering to the US market? On the human front, the company was not £ doing as well as it should have considering the fact that it was voted amongst ‘the top ten companies & - to work for in India’ by a popular business magazine, The attrition figures were as high as 67 per cent 5 in the last six months. Why didn’t his employees want to stay? What was the magic ingredient that “* zp would provide a conducive work environment for employees to work in and enjoy? Could the answer be compensation, flexible work policies, ob enrichment or rotation exercises? © Ravi.was an optimistic and futuristic kind of person. He was always looking at exploring and expanding his business. Had the time come for him to look for and evaluate new pastures? Food © 2 Tetalling seemed to be an interesting business proposition that Ramesh Kumar, his batchnnate, was Jf expanding into. How big was this market? Was it an organized ot an unorganized sector? How did the = & consumer carry out his or her grocery shopping? What was the nature of operations in terms of supply : hain and distribution? How could he develop an effective marketing strategy? Alternatively, he could venture into syndicate marke: research. He could train and absorb bi : i existing employees in a new venture. Would the employees be willing to take this opportunity? How i; sea Q ‘would the organizational goals match his/her personal career goals? So many questions and no single & ‘magic formula that could help him arrive at the answers that he wanted. It seemed to Ravi that the @ 27 answer might lie in the annals ofthe subject in his B-School, that he often kept as last on his study eo: | ist—recearch, He was certain that research would help and provide him with the information required é 41 to amtve a a viable answer/olution to his dilemma. He had big plans and 2 revolutionary vision of # what the future might hold, But how did one carry out a research for realizing them? How did one ™ @ | communicate and convert and then measure and evaluate whether the path that he wanted to traverse ‘, # would really lead to success? Was there a risk? Could he measure it and what. really was the answer? 5 0 oe eee eee eoee es e escrow eels e Revi is atypical of most managers and perhaps you, who might, at your individual or Leaffing ‘organizational level, face a similar decision dilemma, Effective decisions pave the way to @ Objqfioes ‘managerial success and this requires reducing the element of risk and uncertainty. ‘There understana the are different schools of thought on what could be the magic manta for this—some say itis ooeans cou-the-fob experience; others call it'a strong gut fee’; and some say it is the gamblers luck. Tole of researcivin ‘The authors believe that all this is possible but not before you have availed the scientific @ srenagement onc method of enquiry, followed « strucuured approach to collect and analyse information and ‘he significance of then eventually subjected itto the manager's judgement. And this is no magic mantra but a @ ihe research too! in scientific and structured tool available to every manager, namely-—Research. all functional areas of @rarogement, @ & What is Research? Research is atool thatis a building block and a sustaining pilar of every discipline—scientific or otherwise-that one knows of. Before comprehénding thé true meaning of the term, ‘we would iike to make it clear that this book primarily focuses on the process of business research. The premise of this decision-oriented enquiry is vast and may range from the‘ me @eeoveeeveevoenseeovseeeeeeeeed Management research is an unbiased, stucted and sequential methed of enquiry, directed towards 2 deat Impl or expt business objective Tis enquiry might ead to vaiating the xing postulates orang at ne theaties and modes cS A reseacher should work tovacds a gual, wheter immediate orftusielse the research sess sgnfcancein thei of management, ° simplistic view, which involves compilation and validation of information, to an exhaustive ‘theory and model construction. To distinguish between non-scientific and sclentificmethod, ‘we would like to consider a few definitions of research. One of the earliest distinctions was made by Lundberg (1942) who stated ‘Scientific methods consist of systematic observation, classification, and interpretation of data. Now obviously, this process is one in which nearly all people engage in their daily life, The main difference between our day-to-day generalizations and the conclusions usually recognized asthe scientific method lies in the degree of formality, rigorousness, veriflability, and general validity ofthe latter! ‘Fred Kerlinger (1986) also validated the thought and stated that ‘Scientific research is a systematic, controled and critical investigation of propositions about various phenomena! Grinnell (1993) has simplified the debate and stated “The word research is composed of two syllables, reand search. The dictionary defines the former as a prefix meaning again, anew ot ‘over again.and the Jatter as a verb meaning to examine closely and carefully, to test and try, ‘or to probe. Together they form a noun describing a careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in some field of knowledge, undertaken to establish facts or principles: “Thus, drawing from the common threads of the above definitions, we derive that management research is an unbiased, structured, and sequential method of enquiry, directed towards a clear implicit or explicit business objective. This enquiry might lead to validating existing postulates or arriving at new theories and models. ‘The most important and difficultsask of a researcher is to be as objective and neutral as possible. The temptation to skew theesulte in the hypothesized direction has to be avoided at all costs. Magazine articles and newspaper surveys which want to prove a point might ‘want to skew the opinion pollsin favour ofthe Capitalists or the Republicans, or onthe need for reservation versus no reservation in educational institutes but.a researcher has to collect and display the findings of the research as objectively as possible, Let us look at another example, a domestic hearing-aid company is not able to keep above the red line and has Identified inventory management in the company as probably one of the areas that needs to be refurbished. You take stock of the existing shipping, storing and delivery operations and find that you are losing out to a local competitor who is selling hearingalds ata much higher premiumn, because of out-of-stock conditions atyour end. You trackthis downtoa faulty inventory reporting system, where the dataebout stocksis provided fora cycle of 40 days. A small impromptu survey with retailers stocking your products and the pathology labs fecommending your products confirms your observations. You sady the latest inventory management techniques available. You Isolate three different practices and work out the feasibility of implementing each one of them in the company. The one that seems to be most cost and time effective is the one you choose and develop an inventory model which you implement for the base hearing aids (incidentally, these are your largest selling models). At regular intervals you monitor the sales data and compare it to past sales, data. You realize you have a probable winner on hand, So you extrapolate the result 10 the other two more expensive and technologically superior models and prepare a report on the proposed inventory management model with cost iruplications to the management. What do we observe here? A structured and sequential method of enquiry was conducted. The method systematically developed a new model, validated itand at the same time addressed theimmediate management problem faced by the company. In your opinion do you perceive. that some research has been cartied out? . ‘he last most important aspect of our definition that needs to be carefully considered is the decision-assisting nature of business research. Thus, as Fasterby-Smith et al. (2002) state, busitéss tesearch must have some practical consequences, either iramediately, when it is conducted for solving an immediate business problem or when the theory or model be. implemented and tested in a business setting, The world of business a ‘managers and researchers work towards a goal—whether immediate or cee esearch loses its significance in the field of management. Q-e &®> Types of Research e ‘The above discussion seems to be leading to a truly:Gestaltian perspective of business uw research, which should be theoretically and technically sound and yet have immediate onde and topological significance in the world of business. Hodgkinson et af. (2001) have also e ‘supported this argument, which states that business research must be able to withstand the Cognize and distinguish requirement of both theory and practice. e Defween dierent kn Within this domain of creating and propagating theories and models and resolving bosedonthe purpose immediate managerial problems, the purpose and context of your research project might ond note oftne be conceptualized differently. Sometimes this may be done for a purely acedemic reason management deckion, of 4 need to know, to investigate some best practices—inventory management, or a new ‘cause and effect relationship, work-family conflict and its impact on tumover intentions. ‘The purpose behind the study is wider and all encompassing, where the benefits generated would be applicable to the entire business community. The Context is vast and time period flexible. This research is termed to be fundamental or basic research. On the other end of the continttam, you have more contextual and restricted studles, For example, your product which was dectared a winner in the test marketing that you conducted is notable to take off after the product Jaunch and you need to identify the reasons for this in order to take comective action, Thus the study you undertake would have limited relevance and be able to generate knowledge specific to the problem situation. This would be of practical value to the specific organization. Secondly, it has implications for immediate action. This action- oriented research is termed as applied research. However, at this juncture we would like to advise the reader not to look at the two as ‘opposites of each other. They, in fact, just lie at two ends of a continuum and in certain situations, merge or lead to the other. For example, you might need to study the impact of a merger between two large business corporations on employee mucrale and subsequent ‘umover intention. The findings of the study might reveal an intricate impact of other individual and organizational correlates which could be modifying the relationship. ‘the recommendations would thus look at a vast spectrum of amendments required in HR policies. This is direct and applied research. In case the relationship between the two ‘variables is further investigated in like and different organizations, the researchers might bbe able to develop a broader model and framework to explain tumover intentions, Thus the research which started as contextual might lead to some fundamental and basic research ‘which expands the body of knawiedge. The process followed in both basic and applied research [s systematic and scientific; the difference between them could simply be a matter ‘of context and pinrpose.. Research studies can also be classified on the basis of the nature of enquiry or the objective behind the conduction, The orientation of this book—in terms of research design, ‘methodology ahd analysis—is based on this distinction, thus at this stage we would like to clearly di between these. Exploratory research’ Asthename suggests, exploratory researches are conducted to resolve ambiguity. Differing @ mainly in design from descriptive research, exploratory research is used principally to gaina e Eploratry esearch alows | deeper understanding of something. Its role isto provide direction to subsequent and more ‘herseader to gain abeter | Structured andrigorous research. A review of market opportunities available toa prospective © ncestancing of the conegt { entrepreneur; an informal survey conducted to identity the problem in the supply chain of a and provides direction in rd: | Product; different ways that women professionals adapt to manage work-family conflict are @ 0 iniine a more srucued | examples ofthis kind of esearch. As can be seen, studies of this nature are less structured, research. more flexible-in-approach and aré not conducted to test or validate any preconceived Propositions; in £86 exploratory research could lead to some testable hypotheses, Some schools theft pilot or feasibility studies. It is the first step the researcher e takes into 19 explore new frontiers which determine whether a full scale investigation! JEWSRHWhile Exploratory studies are also conducted to develop, refine or test Fundamental ‘Whereas in aplid research, ‘the galisaconaiented and focuses on immediate resus,FIGURE 1.1 Types of esearch v the designed measuring instruments. For example, in designing a questionnaire to measure the parameters an individual looks at whlle taking an investment decision, oneneeds to first explore the benefits of a financial instrument, which could be the advantages sought by a consumer while saving. Another case could be that we identify the selection parameters a person considers while enrolling for a pilot training institute. After an assessment is made about the importance of the parameters considered, one can then work out the financial feasibility of setting up a private pilot training institute. “The nature ofthe study being loosely structured means the researcher's skill in observing and recording all possible information and impressions determines the accuracy of the findings. Along with the researcher's versatility, there ate other ways in which findings of the exploratory research can be greatly enhanced. These will be discussed in detail in the data collection chapters. Conclusive research ‘The findings and propositions developed as a consequence of exploratory research might be tested and authenticated by conclusive research. This kind of research study is especially carried outtotestand validate formulated hypotheses and specified relationships. In contrast to exploratory research, these studies are more structured and definite. ‘the variables and constructs in the research are clearly defined with explicit quantifiable indications or simply, thevariables can be denoted in the form of numbers that can be quantified and summarized. ‘The timeframe of the study and respondent selection is more formal and representative. The emphasis on reliability and validity ofthe research findingsassume critical significance asthe © concluded results might need to be implemented, in case itis an applied research study. For example, ifa research study has to be conducted to test the impact of a new data monitoring ‘programme on the inventory management system of a hearing aids’ manufacturer, then the impact needs to be clearly discernible for the management to install the monitoring system. : listo be noted, however that tis not always the exploratory that leads to the conclusive, Sometines the hypothesized relationship to be tested might be spelled out by the manager as the problem to be investigated. Ai example is testing the level of consumer satisfaction ‘with different insurance policies that an organization has offered to consumers at large. A simple differentiation between the two broad areas of research is presented in Table 1.1. = bh Concusive research iets mad authenticates Propositions revealedae chronological order. We might question the phenomena by an inductive hypothes and then. collect more facts and reasons to deduct that the hypothesized conclusion is correct. S Defining the Research Problem Have a clear and precise understancing of what ore the components of a scientific and objective research model. . Ao or uncertainty which £ hampersthepcessofeficent ‘econ making in 2 gien brady of knee i coed a research problem, Problem identification’ process action oriented and requires a natowing down ofa ‘bad decision problem to the level of infomation creted problem in crder ware ata rmesningfulcandusin, The management can aso cutoure the problem identification process to research agency in ase of of tne, means a knoed regarding he market pus The first and the most important step ofthe esearch process is to identify the path of enquiry {inthe form ofa research problem. tislike the onset ofa journey, in thisinstance the research journey, and the identification of the problem gives an indication of the expected result being sought. A research problem can be defined as a gap or uncertainty in the decision makers’ existing body of knowledge which inhibits efficient decision making. Sometimes it may so happen that there right be multiple reasons for these gaps and identifying one of these and pursuing its solution, might be the problem. As Kerlinger (1986) states, ‘If one ‘wants to solve a problem, one must generally know what the problem is. It can be said that 4 large part ofthe problem lies in knowing what one fs trying to do’ The defined research problem might be classified as simple or complex (Hicks, 1991). Simple problems are those that are easy to comprehend and their components and identified relationships are linear and easy to understand, eg, the relation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Complex problems on the other hand, talks about interrelationship between antecedents and subsequently with the consequential component. Sometimes the relation might be further impacted by the moderating effect of external variables as well, eg, the effect of Job autonomy and organizational commitment on work exhaustion, at the same time considering the interacting (combined) effect of autonomy and commitment, This might bbe further different for males and females. These kinds of problems require a model or framework o be developed to define the research approach, Thus, the significance of a clear and well-defined research problem caniot be overemphasized, as an ambiguous and general issue does not lend itself to scientific enquiry. Even though different researchers have their own methodology and perspective in formulating the research topic, a general framework which might assist in problem formulation is given below. Problem identification process ‘The problem recognition processinvariably tarts with the decisionmakerandsome difficulty or decision dilemma that he/she might be facing. ‘This is an action oriented problem that addresses the question of what the decision maker should do. Sometimes, this might be related to actual and iminediate difficulties faced by the manager (applied research) or gaps experienced in the existing body of knowledge (basic research). The broad decision problem has to be narrowed down to information oriented problem which focuses on the data or information required to arrive at any meaningful conclusion. Given in Figure 2.1 is a set of decision problems and the subsequent research problems that might address them, Management decision problem ‘The entire process explained above begins with the acknowledgement and identification of the difficulty encountered by the business manager/researcher. {the manager is skilled enough and the nature of he problem requitesto beresolved byhim orheralone, theproblem. idemtification process is handled by him or her, else he or she outsources it toa researcher or a research agency. This step requires the author to carry out a problem appraisal, which, ‘would involve a comprehensive audit ofthe origin and symptoms of the diagnosed business problem, For illustration, Jet us take the first problem listed in the Figure 2.1. An organic farmer and trader in Uttarakhand, Nirmal farms, wants to sell his organic food products in the domestic ladien market. However, he isnot aware ifthis isa viable business opportunity and since he-does not have the expertise or time to undertake any research to aid in the formulation: tmaiketing strategy, he decides to oistsource the study. — Discussion: with subject experts b ‘The next step involves geiting the problem in the right perspective through discussions with industry and ject experts. ‘Ihese individuals are knowledgeable about the industry as