BUSINESS RESEARCH- I

Module-1 Introduction to Business Research

CHAPTER TOUR

Role of Research in Business- Definition and Need Information System- Concept and Sources Types of Business Research Theory Building

Stages in Business Research

Ethical Issues in Business Research Research Problem, Business Research Proposal: Need and Contents

Live Project Discussions

TOPICS COVERED
Theory

Building Systems- Concept and Sources

Information Ethical

Issues in Business Research

THEORY BUILDING

THEORY BUILDING
Theories

Theories are nets cast to catch what we call the world: to rationalize, to explain, and to Master it. We endeavor to make the mesh ever Finer and finer.
Karl R. Popper

MEANING OF THEORY

A Theory is a coherent set of general propositions, used as principles of explanation of the apparent relationships of certain observed phenomena.

1) 2)

Theories allow generalizations beyond individual facts or situations. Theory deals with abstraction. There are two purposes of Theory: Prediction

Understanding

THEORY BUILDING IS A PROCESS OF INCREASING ABSTRACTIONS

Concepts

Propositions

Theories

CONCEPT

A Concept or Construct is a generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes that as been given a name.

Concepts are building blocks. Concepts abstract reality, that is concepts are expressed in words that refer to various events or objects.

LADDER OF ABSTRACTION
Level Four: Abstractions

Examples: life, beauty, love, time, success, power, happiness, faith, hope, charity, evil, good.

Level Three: Noun classes: broad group names with little specification.

Examples: industry, People, men, women, young people, everybody.

Level Two: Noun categories: more definite groups.

Examples: clothing industry, newborn child, teen-agers, middle-class.

Level One: Specific, identifiable nouns.

Examples: Levi jeans, Tina's newborn, Mina, three bedroom house on Street.

A LADDER OF ABSTRACTION FOR CONCEPTS

Vegetation

Fruit

Banana

Reality

Increasingly More Abstract

SOME ABSTRACTION LADDER

Level Four Level Three Level Two Level One

Society Most People Spoiled Child My Sister, Mina

Human Endeavors Industries Cosmetics Company Lakme

CONCEPTS ARE ABSTRACTIONS OF REALITY

Abstract Level Concepts

Empirical Level Observations of Objects and Events

THE SCIENTIFIC BUSINESS RESEARCHER OPERATES AT TWO LEVELS

Level 1) The Abstract Level of Concepts and Propositions In theory development, the level of knowledge expressing a concept that exists only as an idea or a quality apart from an object.

Level 2) The Empirical Level of Variables and Hypotheses At this level we experience reality, that is, we observe or manipulate objects or events

PROPOSITIONS

Propositions are statements concerned with the relationships among

concepts.

A Proposition states that every concept about an event or thing either

has a certain property or stands in a certain relationship to other

concepts about the event or thing.

It is a statement about concepts that may be judged as true or false if

it refers to observables phenomena.

THEORY BUILDING IS A PROCESS OF INCREASING ABSTRACTION

Theories Levels of Abstraction

Propositions

Concepts

Observations of Objects and Events (Reality)

HOW THEORIES ARE GENERATED?

Well Begun is Half Done
1) Deductive Reasoning The logical process of deriving a conclusion about specific

instance based on a known general premise or something

known to be true.

2) Inductive Reasoning It is a logical process of establishing a general propositioning on the basis of observation of particular facts.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Scientific Method is a technique and a set of prescribed procedures

used to analyze empirical evidence in an attempt to confirm or

disprove prior conceptions.

There is no consensus concerning exact procedures for the scientific

method, but most discussions of the scientific method include references to empirical testability

The Whole of Science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking

STEPS INVOLVED IN THE APPLICATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS

1. Assessment of relevant existing knowledge of a phenomenon

2. Formulation of concepts and Propositions

3. Statement of Hypotheses Hypothesis: An unproven proposition that tentatively explains certain facts or phenomena; a proposition that is empirically testable Variables: Anything that may assume different numerical values 4. Design of research to test the hypotheses 5. Acquisition of meaningful empirical data 6. Analysis and evaluation of data 7. Proposal of an explanation of the phenomenon and statement of new problems raised by the research

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
1) 2) 3) 4)

Global Information Systems

Decision Support Systems

Internet Intranet

Data: facts, or recorded measures of certain phenomena

Information: body of facts in a format that facilitates decision

making or in a context that defines relationships between

pieces of data. (Relevance, Timeliness, Quality,

Completeness)

Knowledge: broader, richer, and deeper than data or information. It is a blend of information, experience, and

insights that provide framework that can be thoughtfully

applied when assessing new information or evaluating relevant situations.

Knowledge Management (KM): inclusive, comprehensive,

It is a process of creating an accessible organizational

easily

memory, which is often called the organization's intellectual capital.

New information technologies and new ways of thinking about data, information, and knowledge lie at the heart of KM.

The purpose of KM is to organize the intellectual capital of an organization in a formally structured way for easy use.

KM assumes that relevant information, intelligently and quickly communicated to the right person, can make the difference between making great decisions or making bad ones.

Knowledge is presented in a way that helps employees comprehend and act on that information.

GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)

GIS is an organized collection of computer hardware and software, data, and personnel designed to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and immediately display information about worldwide business activity.

GIS combine satellite communications, high-speed microcomputers, electronic data interchange, fiber optics, CD-ROM data storage, fax machines, and other advances in interactive media technology.

GIS is a tool for providing past, present, and projected information on internal operations and external activity.

GIS organizes and integrates data from various business functions.

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS)

DSS is a computer-based system that helps decision makers confront problems through direct interaction with databases and analytical software.

The purpose of DSS is to store data and transform them into organized information that is easily accessible to a division, department, or functional area of the organization.

Most major corporation have a DSS to facilitate Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

CRM is a DSS that brings together numerous pieces of information about customers and their relationship with the company.

DSS

Input

Database

Software

Output

INPUT MANAGEMENT

Input includes all the numerical, text, voice and image data that enter the DSS.

Business researchers, accountants, corporate librarians, sales

personnel, production managers, and many others within the organization collect data and provide input for the DSS.

Information
whole.

system

managers,

systems

analysts,

and

computer programmers are responsible for the DSS as a

Input can come from sources outside the company as well. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems integrate one companys computer system directly with another companys system.
DSS Continue...

DATABASE

It is a collection on raw data or information arranged in a logical manner and organized in a form that can be stored and

processed by a computer.

For Ex: Mailing List of customers When internal data from accounting, finance, sales,

manufacturing, payroll, and other areas of the business are stored in a computer system and arranged in a logical order, they are called Internal Databases.

Data Warehouse is used by managers of information technology to refer to a comprehensive collection of data that describes the extensive operations of an organization, current and historical both.
DSS Continue...

SOFTWARE

A software portion of DSS consists of various types of programs that tell computers, printers, and other hardware what to do.

Business Intelligence (BI) software allows managers to combine and restructure databases, diagnose relationships, discover patterns, estimate variables, and otherwise analyze various databases.

BI software computer programs that permit managers to restructure and analyze data in extensive data warehouses to discover significant patterns and relationships.
DSS Continue...

INTERNET

An internet is a Worldwide network of computers that allows access to information and documents from distant sources; a combination of worldwide communication system and the worlds largest public library, containing a seemingly endless range of information.

Computer communication and Resource discovery are two

central functions of the internet.

USE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH

1) Navigating World Wide Web

WWW refers to that portion of the internet made up of servers that support a retrieval system that organizes information into documents called web pages.

Search Engine: it is a computerized directory that allows anyone to search the www for information in a particular way.

Web Browsers

2) Interactive Media and Environmental Scanning

Two or more people who communicate one to one via e-mail using an internet service provider are also using interactive media.

Because of its vastness, the internet is an especially useful source for scanning many types of changes in the environment

For Ex: Ford Motor Company maintains an Internet-based relationship marketing program that helps automaker scan its environment using the Internet.

3) Information Technology

Pull Technology: When a web page isnt delivered until a browser requests

Push Technology: sends data to users computer without a

request being made

Smart Agent Software: also named as Smart Agents, Intelligent Agents, and Push Phase Technology.

It is a software that learns preferences and finds information

without the users having to search for it.

Cookies: Small computer files inserted by a content provider

into the computer of a visitor to a website; a cookie allows the

content provider to track the users visits to other websites and store that information

INTRANETS

An intranet is a companys private data network that uses Internet Standards and technology.

The information on an intranet is available only inside the organization.

The key difference between the Internet and Intranet is that security software programs, or firewalls, are installed to limit access to only those employees authorized to enter the system.

Knowledge from Experts- Experience and Expertise Databases.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN
BUSINESS RESEARCH

WHAT IS ETHICS?
A few years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, What does ethics mean to you? Among their replies were the following:

Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.

Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs. Being ethical is doing what the law requires. Ethics consists of the standards of behaviour our society accepts. I dont know what the word means.

ETHICS

Ethics involves concept of right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral.

Ethics is a set of moral principles or values which is concerned with the righteousness or wrongness of human behaviour and which guides your conduct in relation to others (for individuals and organizations).

Societal norms are codes of behaviour adopted by a group; they suggest what a member of a group ought to do under given

circumstances.

BUSINESS ETHICS

Business Ethics is a specialized study of moral right and wrong. It concentrates on moral standards as they apply particularly to business policies, institutions, and behaviour.

It is the application of general ethical principles and standards to

business behaviour.

It does not really involve a special set of ethical standards applicable only to business situations

Business actions are judged by the general ethical standards of society, not by a special set of more permissive standards.

There are three parties involved in the research process:

1)

The Researcher

2)
3)

The Sponsoring Client (User)

The Respondent

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE

RESEARCHER
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

The purpose of research is research Objectivity Misrepresentation of Research Protecting the confidentiality of both parties

Dissemination of FaultyConclusions
Competing Research Proposals

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE SPONSORING CLIENT (USER)

1)

Ethics between Buyer and Seller

2)
3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

A open Relationship with Research Suppliers

An Open Relationship with interested parties Privacy Privacy on the Internet Commitment to Research Pseudo-Pilot Studies Advocacy Research

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE RESPONDENT

1)

The obligation to be truthful

2)
3) 4)

Privacy
Deception The right to be informed