Applied

Research
Its Role in the
Business
Environment

Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may

lead this people, for who is able to govern this
great people of yours?

2 Chronicles 1:10

Objectives
To understand the importance of business research as a
management decision-making tool.
To define business research.
To understand the difference between basic and applied
research.
To understand the managerial value of business research
and the role it plays in the development and
implementation of strategy.
To define total quality management and show its
relationship to business research.
To understand when business research is needed and
when it should not be conducted.
To identify various topics for business research.
To explain that business research is a global activity.

Why Study Research?

Research provides
you with the
knowledge and skills
needed for the fastpaced decisionmaking environment
Data leads to
Information leads
to
Knowledge

Knowledge is power!

Who do you relate to the

most
1

10

11

13

14

12

15

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Brad Pitt (married to Angelina Jolie #13)

Coolio (rapper)
Tiger Woods (golf pro)
Michael Jordon (Ex-basketball pro)
Christopher Reeves (actor, disabilities advocate)
George W. Bush (President)
Denzel Washington (Academy Award winner)
Oprah (talk show host, business woman)
Lance Armstrong (7-time Tour de France winner)
Tom Cruise (actor)
Britney Spears (singer)
Rosie ODonnell (actress)
Howard Schultz (Chairman of Starbucks)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (governor, former actor)
Stephen Hawkins (scientist)

Company Example
1980s market was
shrinking
Confident w/core
customer
but concerned about
future sales
Needed to find the
universal thread of appeal
for its product
Wanted to reach other
markets

Embarked on a series of
focus groups
Current owners
Prospective owners
Competitors customers

Surveyed 16,000 current

owners
Did a psychological
inventory

Company Example
Attributes that attracted
people to their product:

Independence
Freedom
Power
High degree of brand loyalty

Results:
Gave company confidence
to expand marketing efforts
1996 sales grew to 105,000
from 30,000 in 1985
Still has a waiting list

Stock Chart
1987-2002
Who are
they?

They are
Hints:

Orange
Black
Leather
Rock & Roll

Information
Reduces
Uncertainty
"The great Information Age is really an explosion of non-information; it is an
explosion of data. To deal with the increasing onslaught of data, it is imperative to
distinguish between the two; information is that which leads to understanding."
Richard Saul Wurman
Information Anxiety 2

Female Attractiveness
Key to
attractive
females?
Low waist-tohip ratio

Singh, D. (1993), "Adaptive Significance of Female Physical Attractiveness: Role of Waist-to-Hip

Ratio,"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65: 293-307

Male Attractiveness
Key to attractive
men?
Facial symmetry
Body symmetry
Body odor

Rikowski A., Grammer K. (1999): Human Body Odour, Symmetry and Attractiveness, Proc. of the Royal
Society London B, 266, pp. 869-874.

Business Research Types

Basic research
Applied research
ds
Business Research
a
e
L
to

Lets take a look at

Basic and Applied
Research.

 Basic
research:
Basic
Research
embarks on the
unknown, enlarging
the realm of the
possible
Attempts to expand
the limits of
knowledge.
Not directly involved
in the solution to a
pragmatic problem.

Basic Research Expands

Knowledge: Example
What are the characteristics of successful people?
Successful people share many characteristics. They are
constantly learning how to do their jobs better and take
responsibility for their own training in order to do so. They
empower themselves, are self-motivated, and take control
of their lives, rather than waiting for someone else to lead
them down the path to success. .
Source: John Tschohl, The Qualities of Successful People, Managing Service
Quality, Volume 9 Number 2 1999 pp. 78-80

What are the characteristics of effective sales people?

motivation; customer orientation; team orientation; and
sales support orientation.
Source: A.T. Barker, Salespeople characteristics, sales managers' activities and
territory design as antecedents of sales organization performance, Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, 2001

"The secret of
success is to
know something
nobody else
knows. "
Aristotle
Onassis

Applied Research
Conducted when a
decision must be
made about a
specific real-life
problem
Applied research:
elaboration and
application of the
known

Why Business
Research in the
21st Century?
Increased
globalization
Growth of the
Internet and other
information
technologies
Change, change,
and more change!

Global Research
Business Research is
increasingly global
Market knowledge is
essential
A.C. Nielsen - more than
67% of large businesses
involved in international
business

Global Business Research

80% of all international investments come from developed

countries (the triad or golden triangle)

North America

Triad
or
Golden Triangle

Europe

Asia Pacific

The Internet
Is Transforming Society

Time is collapsing.
Distance is no longer an obstacle.
Crossing oceans is only a mouse click away.
People are connected 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
"Instantaneous" has a new meaning.

 Horse drawn carriage:

1500-1800
10 mph

Steam locomotive:
1850-1930
65 mph

First cars: 1910s

30 mph

Jet aircraft: 1960s

700 mph

Internet: Now
Instantaneous

The Delivery of
Information