.

MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH The prime managerial value of business research is that it reduces uncertainty by providing information that facilitates decision making about strategies and the tactics used to achieve an organizations strategic goals. The decision-making process involves three interrelated stages. A. Identifying the existence of problems and opportunities. Before any strategy can be developed, an organization must determine where it wants to go and how it will get there. Business research can help managers plan strategies by determining the nature of situations by identifying the existence of problems or opportunities present in the organization. B. Diagnosis and Assessment . After an organization recognizes a problem or identifies a potential opportunity, an important aspect of business research is often the provision of diagnostic information that clarifies the situation. Managers need to gains insight about the underlying factors causing the situation. If there is a problem they need to specify what happened and why. If an opportunity exists they may need to explore, clarify, and refine the nature of the opportunity. C. Selecting and implementing a course of action. Business research is often conducted to obtain specific information to help evaluate the various alternatives, and to select the best course of action based on certain performance criteria. D. Evaluation of the course of action. Evaluation research is conducted to inform managers whether planned activities were properly executed and whether they accomplished what they were expected to do. It serves an evaluation and control function. Evaluation research is a formal, objective appraisal that provides information about objectives and whether the planned activities accomplished what they were expected to accomplish. This can be done through
performance-monitoring research, which is a form of research that regularly provides

feedback for evaluation and control of business activity. If this research indicates th ings are not going as planned, further research may be required to explain why something went wrong.