Applied
Research
Its Role in the
Business
Environment
Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may
lead this people, for who is able to govern this
great people of yours?“
2 Chronicles 1:10
Objectives
• To understand the importance of business research as
a management decision-making tool.
• To define business research.
• To understand the difference between basic and
applied research.
• To understand the managerial value of business
research and the role it plays in the development and
implementation of strategy.
• To define total quality management and show its
relationship to business research.
• To understand when business research is needed and
when it should not be conducted.
• To identify various topics for business research.
• To explain that business research is a global activity.
Why Study Research?
• Research provides
you with the
knowledge and skills
needed for the fastpaced decisionmaking environment
– Data leads to…
– Information leads
to…
– Knowledge
• Knowledge is power!
Who do you relate to the
most
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
7
10
13
11
14
12
15
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Brad Pitt (married to Angelina Jolie #13)
Coolio (rapper)
Tiger Woods (golf pro)
Michael Jordon (Ex-basketball pro)
Christopher Reeves (actor, disabilities advocate)
George W. Bush (President)
Denzel Washington (Academy Award winner)
Oprah (talk show host, business woman)
Lance Armstrong (7-time Tour de France winner)
Tom Cruise (actor)
Britney Spears (singer)
Rosie O’Donnell (actress)
Howard Schultz (Chairman of Starbucks)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (governor, former actor)
Stephen Hawkins (scientist)
Company Example
• 1980s market was
shrinking
• Confident w/core
customer
but concerned about
future sales
• Needed to find the
universal thread of
appeal for its product
• Wanted to reach other
markets
• Embarked on a series of
focus groups
• Current owners
• Prospective owners
• Competitors’ customers
• Surveyed 16,000 current
owners
• Did a psychological
inventory
Company Example
• Attributes that attracted
people to their product:
•
•
•
•
Independence
Freedom
Power
High degree of brand
loyalty
• Results:
• Gave company confidence
to expand marketing efforts
• 1996 sales grew to
105,000 from 30,000 in
1985
• Still has a waiting list
Stock Chart
1987-2002
Who are they?
They are…
• Hints:
•
•
•
•
Orange
Black
Leather
Rock & Roll
Information
Reduces
Uncertainty
"…The great Information Age is really an explosion of non-information; it is an
explosion of data. To deal with the increasing onslaught of data, it is imperative to
distinguish between the two; information is that which leads to understanding."
Richard Saul Wurman
Information Anxiety 2
Female Attractiveness
• Key to
attractive
females?
• Low waist-tohip ratio
Singh, D. (1993), "Adaptive Significance of Female Physical Attractiveness: Role of Waist-to-Hip
Ratio,"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65: 293-307
Male Attractiveness
• Key to attractive
men?
• Facial symmetry
• Body symmetry
• Body odor
Rikowski A., Grammer K. (1999): Human Body Odour, Symmetry and Attractiveness, Proc. of the Royal
Society London B, 266, pp. 869-874.
Business Research Types
• Basic research
– Applied research
• Business
Research
– Let’s take a look at
Basic and Applied
Research….
• Basic
research:
Basic
Research
embarks on the
unknown, enlarging
the realm of the
possible
• Attempts to expand
the limits of
knowledge.
• Not directly involved
in the solution to a
pragmatic problem.
Basic Research Expands
Knowledge: Example
• What are the characteristics of successful people?
• “Successful people share many characteristics. They are
constantly learning how to do their jobs better and take
responsibility for their own training in order to do so. They
empower themselves, are self-motivated, and take control
of their lives, rather than waiting for someone else to lead
them down the path to success. .”
• Source: John Tschohl, The Qualities of Successful People, Managing Service
Quality, Volume 9 Number 2 1999 pp. 78-80
• What are the characteristics of effective sales people?
• motivation; customer orientation; team orientation; and
sales support orientation.
• Source: A.T. Barker, Salespeople characteristics, sales managers' activities
and territory design as antecedents of sales organization performance,
Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 2001
"The secret of
success is to
know something
nobody else
knows. "
Aristotle
Onassis
Applied Research
• Conducted when a
decision must be
made about a
specific real-life
problem
• Applied research:
elaboration and
application of the
known
Why Business
Research in the
21st Century?
• Increased
globalization
• Growth of the
Internet and other
information
technologies
• Change, change,
and more change!
Global Research
• Business Research is
increasingly global
• Market knowledge is
essential
• A.C. Nielsen - more than
67% of large businesses
involved in international
business
Global Business Research
• 80% of all international investments come from developed
countries (the triad or golden triangle)
North America
Europe
Triad
or
Golden Triangle
Asia Pacific
The Internet
Is Transforming Society
•
•
•
•
Time is collapsing.
Distance is no longer an obstacle.
Crossing oceans is only a mouse click away.
People are connected 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
• "Instantaneous" has a new meaning.
• Horse drawn carriage:
1500-1800
– 10 mph
• Steam locomotive:
1850-1930
– 65 mph
• First cars: 1910’s
– 30 mph
• Jet aircraft: 1960’s
– 700 mph
• Internet: Now
– Instantaneous
The Delivery of
Information