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Chapter 1

The Nature of Business and Management Research


By
Raja Rub Nawaz

Research reSearch : Whats in a word


Its an entire process
Etymology :
Middle French recerche to investigate thoroughly,
from Old French, from re + cerchier to search

When ? 1577

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Research reSearch : Whats in a word


If I look Research up in a dictionary what will it tell me?
Research means :
1. To search or investigate exhaustively
2. Studious inquiry or examination, especially :
investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery
and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted
theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical
application of such new theories or laws
3. The collecting of information about a particular subject
Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition
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What is the Nature of Research


Research has a number of characteristics:
1.
2.
3.

Data are collected systematically,


Data are interpreted systematically,
There is a clear purpose: to find things out.

We can therefore define research as :


something that people undertake in order to find out
things in a systematic way.
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What is the Nature of Research


Research is based on logical relationships and not just
beliefs.
1. Your research will involve an explanation of the
methods used to collect the data,
2. Will argue why the results obtained are meaningful,
3. Will explain any limitations that are associated with
them.

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What is the Nature of Research


There are many possible purposes for your research.

These may include:

Describing
Explaining

Understanding
Criticizing
Analyzing
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The Nature of Business and


Management Research
Three things combine to make business and management a
distinctive focus for research:
1.

The way in which managers draw on knowledge developed


by other disciplines;

2.

The fact that managers tend to be powerful and busy


people: they are unlikely to allow research access unless
they can see personal or commercial advantages;

3.

The research must have some practical consequence.

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Theory and Practice


It is generally held that business research should
complete a virtuous circle of theory and practice.
Business and management research needs to engage

with both the world of theory and the world of


practice.
So, the problems addressed should grow out of

interaction between these two worlds rather than


either on their own.
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Good Theory makes Good Practice


Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology proposed by

Abraham Maslow in 1943.


Used as a basis for understanding consumers motives for action.
By designing a product that meets a consumers needs,consumers will
more often choose that product over a competitor

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The Basic-Applied Continuum


All business and management
research projects can be
placed on a basicapplied
continuum according to their
purpose and context.

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The Basic-Applied Continuum

Figure 1.1 Basic and applied research


Source: Authors experience, Easterby-Smith et al., 2002, Hedrick et al., 1993

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The importance of Rigor


1.

Wherever students research projects lies on this continuum,


they should undertake their research with rigor.

2.

To do this, they will need to pay careful attention to the


entire research process.

?
?
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?
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An example where rigor was


lacking
May 12, 2006
Disgraced Korean Cloning Scientist Indicted
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea, Friday, May 12 (AP) Prosecutors on Friday indicted a
disgraced cloning scientist on violations linked to faked stem cell research,
officials said.
The scientist, Dr. Hwang Woo Suk, and five members of his research team
were indicted, a prosecution official, Lee In Kyu, said at a nationally
televised news conference.
Dr. Hwang was hailed as a global stem cell pioneer and treated as a national
hero until investigations late last year showed that he had fabricated key
data in two papers published in the journal Science.
He was later fired from his post as a professor at Seoul National University,
where he did his research.
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The Stages of Research are flexible


In this course, research is represented as a multistage process;
however, this process is rarely straightforward and
will involve both
1. reflecting on and
2. revising stages already undertaken and forward planning.

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The Research Process

Figure 1.2 The research process

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Source: Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2006

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The Research Process cont.

Figure 1.2
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Source: Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2006

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Theory and Practice


1. Business and management research

need to provide findings that advance


knowledge and understanding.
2. It needs to address business issues and

provide a process for solving


managerial problems.
3. You may satisfy your intellectual

curiosity but you must also consider


the practical implications of your
findings.
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Class Activity
Read chapter 1 and make
notes when answering the
three self-check questions at
the end.

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In Class Activity
Brainstorm two interlinked questions in groups of four to
six.
These are the following:
1. What do you understand by the term research?
2. What distinguishes business and management research
from research more generally?

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For the next class


Read Chapter 2.
As you read think about the following:
1. What is your proposed research topic?
2. Which of the attributes in Box 2.2 on p. 22 does your topic possess?
3. What research questions are suggested by your research topic?
4. What research objectives are suggested by your research topic?
5. To what literature does your research topic relate?
6. What are the key dependent and independent variables in your
proposed study?
7. What relationship between the dependent and independent
variables do you think you will find?

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