MB 450 Choosing a Research Strategy - 1 The Research Process Choosing a Topic Writing the Proposal C M Clarke-Hill

The Purpose of Business & Management Research involves undertaking systematic research to find out things about B&M ‘systematic’ suggests research based on logical relationships and not just beliefs ‘finding out’ suggest a multiplicity of possible purposes: describing explaining understanding criticising analysing C M Clarke-Hill

Three Distinctive Characteristics The way in which managers (& researchers) draw on knowledge developed by other disciplines Managers tend to be powerful and busy people - unlikely to allow research access unless personal or commercial advantages Management requires both thought & action - research needs to incorporate this (Easterby-Smith et al, 1991) C M Clarke-Hill

The Purpose of Academic Vs. Applied Research expand knowledge of processes of B&M results in universal principles relating to the process & its relationship to outcomes findings of significance & value to society in general improve understanding of particular B&M problem results in solution to problem new knowledge limited to problem findings of practical relevance & value to managers in organisations C M Clarke-Hill

The Research Sequence IDENTIFY BROAD AREA SELECT TOPIC DECIDE APPROACH FORMULATE PLAN COLLECT INFORMATION ANALYSE DATA PRESENT FINDINGS C M Clarke-Hill

Attributes of a Good Research Topic to satisfy assessment criteria your capability research skills genuine interest resources: financial/time access to data relation to theory / fresh insights clearly defined research question & objectives symmetry of potential outcomes C M Clarke-Hill

Checklist of Attributes of a Good Research Topic Does the topic fit criteria for examining institution? Does the topic really fascinate you? Does it contain issues that have strong links to theory? Can you develop the research skills? Is it achievable within the available time& resources? Can you get access to the data? Can you state your research question & objectives clearly? Will it provide fresh insights on this topic? Are the findings likely to be symmetrical?

Generating Research Topics Rational Thinking Creative Thinking Examining own strengths & interests Looking at past research projects Discussion Searching the literature Keeping a notebook of ideas Exploring personal preferences using past research projects Relevance trees Brainstorming C M Clarke-Hill

Research-Focusing Techniques identifying your research questions or hypotheses who, how, what, when or why? defining the key concepts, issues and contexts concepts label ideas ie management decision making, gender, organisational development issues are broad underlying questions ie relation of pay to staff motivation contexts comprise the background of existing research & knowledge C M Clarke-Hill

Research-Focusing Techniques balancing the topic & the broader field a detailed study should be set within the context of the broader field of study sketching a research outline or proposal note of sections/chapters with subheadings & details explaining to a non-specialist informal piloting interviews with friends, observation studies C M Clarke-Hill

Research Idea & Derived Questions Research Question The sponsorship of county cricket clubs by commercial orgs. The adoption by manufacturing cos of flexible workforces The loss of mutuality status by building societies & the effect on the future of the industry The future of trade unions What benefit do commercial orgs derive form their sponsorship of cricket clubs? Why do manufacturing cos divide their workforces into core and peripheral workers? Will the loss of mutuality status by building socs lead to them offering less attractive terms to borrowers & savers than mutual socs What are the strategies that trade unions should adopt to ensure their future into the next century?

Research Proposal Title Background Research Questions and Objectives Methodology research design data collection Timescale Resources References C M Clarke-Hill

The Research Process Hypothesis/ Research Question Concepts Evidence (Literature) (Fieldwork) Evaluation Discussion C M Clarke-Hill

A Typical Dissertation Structure C M Clarke-Hill

Outlines Models Mind Mapping -1 Mind Mapping -2 Getting Started Outlines Models Mind Mapping -1 Mind Mapping -2 C M Clarke-Hill