Sharon Williams
June 07, 2011
Business Research Methods

Unit I and Unit II Assessment

Question # (1): How might business research help the new president make the right decisions?

Answer:

Cooper & Schindler (2008) argues, “Although not all organizations use business

research to help make planning decisions, increasingly the successful ones does.” (Cooper & Schindler, 2008)
The authors further argue the fact that “The managers of tomorrow will need to know more

than any managers in history.” (Cooper & Schindler 2008) This statement along introduce

and sheds light into the present situation regarding the problem that the new president of the

old established company is facing and he must make the best possible decisions to proceed

further so that this company can go back to a profitable status. It is fair to say that all

decisions related to business related matters are about problems of some sort, and decision

processes are usually different from company to company. An important difficulty in a

decision dilemma is failure to act until one is too close to the decision point—when

sometimes information and options are greatly limited. Managers and/or organizations

usually work or respond in a “reactive” mode. Problems are “found” only after the issue

has begun to have a negative impact on the company, such as the case of the problem for the

new president. He stated in the question scenario, that he felt the company was operating

inefficiently. 2 Nevertheless, proactivity can be a great strength to the president in his decision

making tactics, but it requires a decision strategy intelligence process that is absent from

many managers as leaders within the organization. Therefore it is the opinion of the student

that the following crucial questions are required to help guide the new president to make the

right decisions: • Identifying where exactly the problem lies; • Correctly recognizing the relevant factors in the situation needing investigation; • Know what type of information to be gathered and how; • Know how to make use of the information collected and then draw appropriate conclusions to make the right decisions? And; • Finally, know how to implement the results of this process to solve the problem.

Implementation is usually the final step in the decision making process. This method of

strategy is an extremely important facet of decision making; after all, the benefits associated

with even the most intelligent decisions can be severely compromised if the implementation

process is slow or flawed. Other key points that can help the president in his decision making

process is:

a) In considering research in the area of marketing, there is a need for the new

president to determine what the existing customer base is looking for and also prepare a

planned strategy and competitive advantage to attract new customers. Given the rapid

changes in consumer tastes, needs, and technology unproductive competition companies

must develop a steady stream of new products and services. By new products, the student,

mean original product improvements, product modifications and new brands that the

company develops through its own research-and-development efforts. When an 3 organization’s manager is face with industry changes and they desire to enhance their

products into a market they must ask themselves a number of questions: Therefore, the new

president can consider these strategies while making his decisions: And they are:

• Who is the product(s) aimed at? (existing customers, new customers, vendors, large food chains) • What benefit will they expect? • How does the manager (president) plan to position the existing product line within the market? And; • What differential advantage will the product(s) offer over their competitors?

These designed strategies for conducting research could give the president a general idea

of where the company is succeeding and where it needs revamping and assistance. With

information known such as this, the marketing strategy could easily be adjusted to place

focus on the needs of the company’s customers. Moreover, this kind of research could

present ideas as to what marketing tools and actions are currently generating negative

results so that such actions can be discontinued.

b) From a manufacturing viewpoint, the president must decide whether to implement a

new inventory management system. Equally, the president will need to investigate whether

or not the main teamsters are impacting inventory delivery to its various retail and wholesale

customers.

c) From a financial viewpoint, thorough and detail oriented research could help the new

president determine if some of its current financial operations are generating profitability

issues and why. This business research strategy could provide information indicating

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whether or not current purchase payments are generating issues with cash flow. Changing such payment option plans could assist with the cash flow as well as lowering inventory costs

by taking advantage of early payment discounts thus improving profitability. The new

president could also implement and build upon what is referred to as JIT (just-in-time).

“Just-in-time is a business strategy that strives to improve a company’s return-on-investment

(ROI) by reducing in process inventory and associated carrying costs.” (www.accountingformanagement.com/just_in_time.htm.)

It is the final opinion of the student, that evaluating business problems is helpful in

today’s business environment because of the interdependency of individuals and departments

in executing tasks and addressing goals. Similarly, for a company’s survival, managers will

need to make sure that operational decisions are being made at the right level. Keys to

avoiding business related problems and other decision making pitfalls include: (1) giving the

problems their proper level of importance and context; (2) addressing problems in an

appropriate timeframe; and (3) be able to establish and shift the decision criteria in

accordance with the organization goals. Marketing plans and actions that are based on

better research information along with improved financial decisions has to lead to a more

profitable organization.

In understanding business research, it is the opinion of the student and equally the

pertinent understanding that to be a successful manager, it is important that they know how

to go about making the right decisions by being knowledgeable about the various steps 5

involved in solving problematic issues. Identifying the critical issues, gathering relevant

information, analyzing the data in ways that would help the decision making process, and

then implementing the right course of action.

References:

Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2008). Business Research Methods. 10th Ed. The Mc-Graw

Hill Companies.

Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing-Inventory Control System, Retrieved June 05, 2011, from

(www.accountingformanagement.com/just_in_time.htm)

Sharon Williams
Business Research Methods
June 07, 2011

Unit I and II Assessment

Question # 2

According to Cooper & Schindler (2008) argues that it is “vitally important for

researchers to be able to understand, explain and communicate in the language of research

the significant differences between what it is meant by the word concept and the word

constructs. The author(s) equally stated that it is very easy for one to confuse the two, thus

causing many misinterpretations of research data and confusion to the readers and/or

participants included in the study process.” (Cooper & Schindler 2008) “A concept is

defined as a generally accepted collection of meanings or characteristics that are associated

with certain events, objects, conditions, situations and/or behaviors. Whereas a construct is

an image or idea invented for a particular theory or research problem; a construct is in

other words, an abstract concept.”(Cooper & Schindler 2008)With that being said, it is the

opinion of the student the following assumptions:

• Front-line supervisors – concept; because it refers to a person directly in charge of line workers and/or person(s) reporting to unit managers.

• Employee morale – construct; that which is measured by how an employee feels toward his/her job; that which is measured by how often an employee reports for work on time.

• Assembly line – concept; area where the items are being assembled; area where line workers spend most of their day.

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• Overdue account – concept; an account balance that past 30 days; an account where the amount owed is past 60 days and less than 25% has been paid toward the balance.

• Line management – concept; a person to whom all line supervisors report; head of each functional area.

• Leadership – construct; a quality usually defined by how many people emulate this person; a quality defined by a rating by asking persons how good a leader is the subject under study.

• Union democracy – construct; the measure of how people say they have a say in the union; the measure of how the union heads have proceeded to do what the majority of the members asked.

• Ethical standards – construct; it is the value that an employee places on a variable; the untested opinion of how employees feel about the ethics within a company on a scale of 1-10.

Reference:

Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2008). 10th Ed. The Mc-Graw Hill Companies.

Sharon Williams
Business Research Methods
June 07, 2011

Unit I and II Assessment

Question # 3

In applying the student’s understanding for conducting good research, there are nine

characteristics listed in our text on page 13. Therefore, the student will look at each of these

characteristics customizing them in a manner specific to our firm in combination with the

actual goal of the designed research. For instance:

1. Goal clearly defined: Was the request by the consultant clearly defined? Also did the consultant clearly define the purpose of the research in the study and equally was the purpose focused in the topic enough to actually gather useful and reliable information.

2. Research process detailed: Does the study give detailed information as to how the research was conducted? Was the information gathered by using a questionnaire, interview, or some other means? What are the details of each method used and moreover, what actual questions were asked?

3. Research design thoroughly documented and planned: Was a research plan carefully designed and was it followed through during the actual research study process? Following an ad-hoc method, in other words, for a particular purpose, of conducting research can lead to skewed information. It is the opinion of the student that a plan must be followed to ensure that the intended or requested information is being gathered and is not being influenced by unwanted factors and/or variables.

4. Ethical standards applied: Was the research conducted in a way to minimize mental and physical harm to the subjects and/or participants in the study? Did the consultant use a blind or double-blind study research method? Does the report reveal and/or discuss the measure analysis in place to prevent such harm from occurring to

2 participants and/or subjects selected for the study? Were any privacy and/or ethical standards violated in anyway?

5. Limitation revealed: do the study list limitations, if any, of the research? Equally are those limitations acceptable when considering the purpose of the research? Were the participants and/or subjects of the research selected in a manner sufficient to provide a homogenous research study group and if not, was such a limitation noted in the research study? How did the consultant evaluate the demographics of the 600? Were the participants all in the same age range? From the same region of the country? Buyers of similar insurance products? The student would even investigate and look for if the 600 chosen participants a large enough sample size based on the number of customers the firm has. Finally, were the participants selected in a random manner and do they represent a diverse group of the total customer base?

6. Analysis adequate for decision maker’s need: Was the proper method of analysis used? Was the research extensive enough to provide usable results? Do the statistics supplied with the research provide indication of reliable information and do the results indicate significant indications concerning the defined purpose of the research study? Do the statistics used for the research indicate that the participant group was homogenous and did the results indicate for a normal distribution?

7. Findings presented clearly: Are the results of the research study presented in an easy to understand manner? It is the opinion of the student that sometimes study methods that use stats without a clear understanding of the goal and design for which the study was conducted can be very confusing and misinterpreted. Are the result classifications usable and pertinent to the purpose of the study?

8. Conclusions justified: Are the conclusions presented supported by the research data? Do the recommendations include generalizations by the research conductor or are they strictly limited to factually supported data?

9. Researcher’s experience reflected: Do the researcher provide information as to their experience and knowledge. Are they proud and confident enough about the work they performed or are they ashamed to provide references?

Reference:
Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2008). 10th Ed. The Mc-Graw Hill Companies. Chapter 1.
Sharon Williams
Business Research Methods
June 07, 2011

Unit I and II Assessment

Question # 4:

Distinguish between the following terms:

• Exploratory and formal studies: According to our text, author(s) Cooper &

Schindler (2008) states that “exploratory studies purposes are designed toward loose

structures with an objective of learning more about a subject so that hypotheses may be

obtained for further investigation or research” Whereas a formal study “continues from an

exploratory study in that it involves precise procedures and data sources and it requires

that the researcher and sponsor both have some understanding of the hypotheses involved;

the formal study generally tests hypotheses posed for the solution of a problem.” (Cooper & Schindler 2008).

• Experimental and ex post facto research designs: Cooper & Schindler (2008)argues

that the purpose of “experimental studies is to examine the possible influences that one

factor or condition may have on another factor or condition; in other words, experimental

research examines cause-and-effect relationships. It does so, ideally, by controlling for all

factors except for those whose possible effects are the focus of research. Unlike experimental

studies, causal-comparative designs involve no direct manipulation of the factors under

study. Moreover, post facto designs are generally constructed for reporting purposes only as

the researcher has no control over the variables.” (Cooper & Schindler 2008) 2

• Descriptive and causal studies: According to Cooper & Schindler 2008 argues that

“Descriptive studies are primarily concerned with determining “what is.” In other words,

“The description of natural or man-made phenomena—their form, actions, changes over

time, and similarities—with other phenomena, an effort to describe. In simple terms, involves

making careful descriptions viewed as understanding what people or things mean.” Whereas

causal-comparative research “Purpose is to explain a phenomenon through the study of

cause-and-effect relationships. The presumed cause is called the independent variable and

the presumed effect is called the dependent variable. Designs again where the researcher

does not manipulate the independent variable are called ex post facto research.

Reference:

Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2008). 10th Ed. The Mc-Graw Hill Companies.