1. The Role of Business Research Theory Building

2. The scope of business research
What is “business” anyway???
Is research applicable to all business units/functions?
profit, nonprofit, government, education…
Talk about various units and types of research.
My experience in each
Marketing example throughout this course
OPTION: end class

3. Business research defined
the systematic and objective process of gathering, recording, and analyzing data for aid in making business decisions
I said earlier that my three year old would not get an A on this course. This definition of business research underscores why.
Know this definition (hint) but also know what it means and the implications for how research is conducted:
systematic: what does this mean
Objective: what does this mean
scientific not intuitive or haphazardly gathered
impersonal
in business research, in contrast to some other forms of research which we will discuss shortly, the objective is the facilitation of business decisions. Why?

4. Types of research PURE expand the limits of knowledge
not aimed at solving a specific pragmatic problem
theory development
APPLIED
aimed at solving a specific pragmatic problem
“action research” is one type
Business research falls into which category. Applied. Why? Because it is geared towards facilitating business decisions. That implies action, or problem solving, not just knowing to know.
Give some examples of pure research that ultimately is applied.
Psychological research on compliance behaviour. Conclusions used by organizations and military to shape behaviour.
Research done on cognitive processing of moral decisions used by police interviewing suspects
MORE
Therefore pure research isn’t just ivory tower musings; it leads to application just not necessarily right away.
In this course we are focusing on applied research

5. Applications identifying problems or opportunities
diagnosis and assessment
selecting and implementing a course of action
evaluating a course of action
Evaluation
Performance monitoring
So… why do research
identifying problems or opportunities: new product, new markets, motivation, taxation
Something is wrong. Casino Lethbridge and absenteeism; students’ grade appeals, adoption disruption, what services should we provide our clients (young moms)
Course of action: should we offer AA type self help groups or professionally facilitated groups; should we use Simply Accounting or ACPAC, IBM or Mac?
Evaluation of a course of action: what do students think about the changes in the program structure? Have sales gone up or down since we raised the price on Cheerios

6. Research isn’t always the answer!
Before doing research consider the following:
time constraints
availability of data
nature of the decision
has the decision already been made?
does the cost outweigh the benefit?
Know this (hint) Just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should be
Time: is there time to do research before the competition owns the market segment; will the program (young moms) be shut down before we can evaluate how best to implement changes
Availability of Data: adoption disruption, research into motivation of illiterate introverts, or is the information already out there in secondary
Nature of the decision: Is this a critical decision that requires input from all the stakeholders? Is it a minor decision?
Already been made. Government experience of this
Cost and benefit: research is expensive.
OPTION: Break class one here and go to cookies

7. Nature of truth
knowledge is socially constructed

8. Sources of Knowledge Experience Authority but may not be systematic
may not be universal
Authority
custom
tradition
but how does authority know?

9. Francis Bacon

10. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE Experience Authority Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning

11. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE Scientific Method Experience Authority
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Scientific Method
inductive - deductive

12. Theory Formulation Deductive Reasoning Subject to error!
The logical process of deriving a conclusion from a known premise or something known to be true.
We know that all managers are human beings.
If we also know that John Smith is a manager,
then we can deduce that John Smith is a human being.
Subject to error!
Assumes premise is correct

13. Inductive Reasoning
The logical process of establishing a general proposition on the basis of observation of particular facts.
All managers that have ever been seen are human beings;
therefore all managers are human beings.
Subject to error too!

14. THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

15. THEORY
is a system for explaining a set of phenomena by specifying constructs and the laws that relate these constructs to each other.

16. Purpose of Theories to summarize and organize existing knowledge
to explain observed events and relationships
to predict the occurrence of unobserved events and relationships
to stimulate further inquiry
identifying areas
providing leads

17. What makes a good theory?
Validity
It fits the facts
Generalization
Makes predictions about future or other events
Replication
It can be repeated with similar findings

18. Constructs
In management we often use concepts or constructs as variables
examples:
leadership
social responsibility
GNP
agency
honesty
efficiency
But what do these mean?

19. Abstraction Concepts abstract reality
Are expressed in words that refer to various events or objects
Vary in degree of abstraction
Research operates at abstract and empirical level linking concepts together as we begin the journey to construct theory.

20. Propositions Concepts are the basic building blocks
Propositions propose the linkages between these concepts
Level of abstraction
theory
propositions
concepts

21. From proposition to hypothesis
Concept A:
Punishment
Concept B:
Attendance
Abstract
Level
Yelling at students
Increases attendance by 50%
Emperical
Level
Hypothesis

22. A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable
A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable. It is an empirical statement concerned with the relationship among variables.
A variable is anything that… varies!
Make sure that you define, or operationalize all your variables… an operational definition
Null hypothesis

23. What makes a good hypothesis?
precise
specifies variables to measure
specifies relationships between variables

24. A poor hypothesis
Students spend too much money on fast food.

25. A better hypothesis
Students with incomes of less than 10,000 per year spend a higher proportion of their income in fast food restaurants than the established mean for the general population.