INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

TOPICS DISCUSSED

DEFINITION OF RESEARCH

APPLIED AND BASIC RESEARCH

WHY MANAGERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RESEARCH

MANAGERS AND THE CONSULTANT-#RESEARCHER

° The Manager-Researcher Relationship g

° Internal versus External Researchers and Consultants

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RESEARCH AND MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS

ETHICS AND BUSINESS RESEARCH

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After completing Chapter 1' you should be able to:

1, Describe what research is and how it is defined.

2. Distinguish between applied and basic research, giving examples, and

discussing why they would fall into one or the other of the two categories.

5. Explain why managers should know about research.

4. Discuss what managers should and should not do in order to interact most

effectively with researchers.

5. Identify and fully discuss specific situations in which a manager would be

better off using an internal research team, and when an external research

team would be more advisable, giving reasons for the decisions.

6. Discuss what research means to you and describe how you, as manager,

might apply the knowledge gained about research. (

7, Be aware of the role of ethics in business research.

On August 27, 2001, Chunk Orlando, CEO of a 14-year-old automobile company,

was mentally assessing and pondering over the state of affairs in his organiza-

tion, Of late, things had not been going well, and matters seemed to be getting

out of hand. The market value of the shares of the company was down 72%,

dropping from $60 per share to $16.75. Performance and productivity levels were

on the decline and the quarterly loss of $206 million on sales of about 8 billion

did not portend a bright future for the company. The advertising agency did not

seem to be doing a good job either. To top it all, there was a lawsuit filed for

discrimination against female employees in the company. Chuck felt he had to

take a very active role in the running of the organization and make a 180 degree

change from his hitherto hands-off policy.

Instead of ruminating on the past, Chuck wanted to focus on the present and

plan for the future. Apart from the obvious changes like increasing the produc-

tivity of workers and getting a more effective advertising agency, Chuck felt that

he needed to take stock of “intangible” assets such as patents, customer lists,

brand value, intellectual knowledge of designers, and the like. These evaluations

would give investors a sense of the value of the assets and whether resources

were being effectively utilized. “Unless the accounting process takes stock of

these, capital cannot be allocated in a sensible way, analysts will not be able to

evaluate the company, and investors will not understand the worth of the com-

pany,” he said to himself.

There were several great ideas that came to Chuck’s mind, such as assessing

whether the current models of the vehicles manufactured appealed sufficiently

to the trendy _tastes of the increasing number of affluent buyers in the 25 to 40

age group, However, Chuck was baffled as to how to go about these enormous

tasks. Several questions came to his mind and he posed the following important

issues to himself: “How does one increase efficiency and productivity?” “How

does one account for intangible assets?” “Does anyone know at all?" and “How

does one go about assessing advertising needs and effectiveness?”

A major concern was to decide whether or not he should slash the advertising

budget since the anticipated revenues were not forthcoming during this downturn.

He remembered having read somewhere that those who did not bumish their

brands through increased advertisement budgets might find themselves worth a lot

less when the tough times end. IBM, for instance, was stated to have lost only 1%

of brand value last year, compared to bigger declines at other hi-tech companies

because IBM had increased its advertising budget. “But from where would the

advertising funds come?” he wondered. Such thoughts very much taxed his mind.

“Certainly,” he said to himself, “the company’s problems are a function of

industry trends, the economy, idle capacity, and the like. But there is much scope

for improvement on various fronts, such as increasing gas mileage, which would

find great favor with the government and customers, better designing and engi-

neering, improved marketing, designing for the trendy mod group, as well as

catering to clients in the lower economic strata, in addition to increasing the pro-

ductivity of workers.”

Then there were the ethical issues that disturbed Chuck. At the personal level,

he wondered if he should give himself a raise in salary and other perks when



WHATISRESEQRCH? 5

the rest of the company employees had a freeze on their salaries. Did he deserve

the compensation he would get when the company was on a downward spiral,

at least for now? He also toyed with the idea that a token cut in his salary would

serve as a morale booster to company employees.

He wanted answers to several of these issues, but did not know who would

help him to find thern. He knew that research in these areas would help, but did

not know where to seek the necessary guidance. Also, how would he verbalize

his various concerns and handle the researchers? He had broad visions for the

future of his company, but was at a loss to know how to execute these plans.

‘just because one is able to design a rail system and make trains, it does not nec-

essarily follow that one can make them run too,” he thought to himself.

It is not infrequently that chief executives and managers at various levels in an

organization find themselves facing such dilemmas. This book helps to find solu-

tions to the problems that managers, and those responsible for the execution of

projects, often face.

As a manager, you will have to make several decisions each day at work.

What would help you to make the right decisions? Will it be your experience

on the job, your sixth sense or hunch, or will you just hope for good luck? For

sure, all of these will play a part ujier you have thoroughly investigated or

researched the problem situation and generated some alternative solutions to

choose from. Whether or not managers realize it, they are constantly engaged

in research as they try to find solutions to the day-to-day problems, big and

small, that confront them at work. Some of the issues are solved with relative

ease, as when a machine on the shop floor stops working, and the foreman,

with his past experience, hastens to do the necessary repair and gets it to run

smoothly again. A few problems may present moderate difficulty, requiring

some time and effort for the manager to investigate into and find a solution, as

for example, when many employees absent themselves from work frequently.

Yet other problems could be quite complex and the manager might proceed to

seek the help of an “expert researcher” to study the issue and offer solutions,

as in the case of a company consistently incurring losses to the perplexity and

dismay of everyone.