1

The Role of Business

Research

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May

not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible
website,
in whole
or in part.
2013
Cengage
Learning.
All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

1. Understand how research contributes to business

success
2. Know how to define business research
3. Understand the difference between basic and
applied business research
4. Understand how research activities can be used to
address business decisions
5. Know when business research should and should
not be conducted
6. Appreciate the way technology and
internationalization are changing business
research

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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ESPN Hits a Home Run

ESPN has information in
many databases.
Business research
integrated it so they
could learn more about
how fans use their
media.
Gaining intelligence had
bottom-line implications
for their own revenue
and their advertisers'

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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Business Research Defined

Business research is the application of the
scientific method in searching for the truth
about business phenomena.
Financial managers, personnel managers;
marketing managers.

The process includes:

idea and theory development

problem definition
searching for and collecting information
analyzing data
communicating the findings and their implications

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

14

Business Research Defined

It aint the things we dont know that gets
in trouble. Its the things we know that aint
so.Artemus Ward
Accurate and objective information
Test idea

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

15

The Scientific Method

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

16

Managerial Value of Business Research

Business Strategies
Product-oriented:
technicians and experts in the field

Production-oriented
Input from workers, engineers, finance and
accounting

Marketing-oriented
Focus on customer: desires, beliefs and
attitude
Yoplait Go-Gurt
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

17

Business Class Success?

Business-class travelers
want comfort, good food,
and convenient boarding,
but the price is hefty.
Two start-ups offered
discount business-classonly airlines but failed.
Could more effective
research have determined
that these were not
feasible business
ventures?

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

1-8

Business Research in the 21st Century

Global Business Research
Business research is increasingly global.
Must understand the nature of particular
markets.
Cross-validation
Verify that the empirical findings from one culture
also exist and behave similarly in another culture.

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

19

Harley-Davidson Goes Abroad

Consumers in different
countries have different
preferences.
Even if consumers want it,
government regulations can
make it prohibitive (e.g.,
India).
Harley is pursuing the U.S.
womens market for bikes.

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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Jacques Daniels
Research findings:
Japanese use JD as a
dinner beverage
Australians drink
distilled spirits at home
British like to drink at
bars and restaurants
Chinese prefer knockoffs to save money and
enjoy it with green tea

2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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