Business Research Techniques
Summary of OLM
1
,Module 1: The research process
Why business research?
Research can be consumed, produced and delegated.
Business research = the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting
data to support managerial decision-making.
Key elements of business research:
1. A systematic process: business research follows a structured sequence of stages
2. Involves data: business research is empirical: it relies on data
3. Decision-oriented: business research aims to support evidence-based
decisions: decisions grounded in empirical facts.
System-1 thinking relies on pattern recognition built
through experience. When people operate in stable
environments, where situations repeat themselves and
patterns remain consistent, System-1 thinking can be
extremely effective.
Business environments are very different from such
stable settings. Markets change quickly, consumer preferences evolve and
unpredictable external shocks (e.g., pandemics, geopolitical crises) create entirely new
situations. Business research is a clear example of System-2 thinking. It forces
managers to slow down, collect empirical evidence, test assumptions, and consider
alternative explanations.
Intuition should not be ignored. It often provides a useful signal that something is worth
investigating. However, intuition should never replace research. Why can managers'
intuition be so wrong? The answer lies in cognitive biases.
The most common are:
1. Confirmation bias: is the tendency to seek information that agrees with
("confirms") your preexisting beliefs, while ignoring or downplaying contradictory
evidence.
2. Availability bias: is the tendency to base judgments on information that comes to
mind easily, even when that information is not representative. Information that is
vivid, recent, or emotionally charged is more easily recalled and therefore
overweighted in decision-making, leading individuals to overestimate its
frequency or importance.
2
,The stages of the research process
There are 2 fundamental research approaches:
1. Deductive research: from theory → data to test an existing theory.
o You start with an existing theory. Based on that theory, you make
predictions (hypotheses) about how certain things are related
(relationships between variables). These predictions (hypotheses) are
then tested with data.
2. Inductive research: from data → theory to develop a new theory.
o You first collect data. Then you look for patterns in that data. Based on
those patterns, you develop a new theory or explanation.
Advantages of deductive research in business:
• Hypotheses provide precision and direction
• Rigorous statistical analysis becomes possible
• Research becomes structured, efficient, and replicable
• Perfect for practical recommendations .
The deductive process can be cut up in 7 steps:
1. Demarcate the business problem
2. Formulate research questions
3. Develop the theoretical framework
4. Choose a research strategy
5. Collect the data
6. Analyze the data
7. Write a report
Possible exam questions
▪ Choosing between confirmation or availability bias
▪ A displayed reasoning, asking if it is inductive or deductive research
3
, Module 2: Theory formation
Demarcating a business problem
→ STEP 1: Demarcate the business problem
A business problem needs to be demarcated or narrowed before it can be researched. In
a research context, a business problem refers to a gap (or discrepancy) between a
company's current performance or position and its desired performance or position.
Such a discrepancy may stem from threats or from opportunities:
• Threats are developments that may adversely affect a firm if left unaddressed.
• Opportunities are developments that offer potential for improvement.
A well-demarcated business problem must be specific in two ways:
1. Focused on a single explicit action or a limited set of actions (e.g., to find out
which one works best).
2. Focused on a single explicit outcome or a limited set of outcomes (e.g., to find
out which one is affected most)
Example: “I want to grow my neobank app and make it huge” is not well demarcated.
An example of a demarcated business problem is: “How can we improve 30-day user
retention by adding AI-driven personalized financial goal recommendations after
account setup?”
Problem relevance
Academic relevance means that your study advances existing knowledge. If your
research questions have already been answered in prior work, or if your study merely
repeats what has been done many times before, its academic contribution is minimal.
A study is academically relevant if:
• Investigating an entirely new topic
There is no (or hardly any) existing scientific research on the topic.
• Studying an already researched topic in a new context
For example, in a different type of country or a different type of organization.
• Integrating previously scattered findings
When different studies have each examined a specific aspect, but an overarching
picture is lacking.
• Reconciling earlier conflicting findings
When previous studies have reached different conclusions (positive, negative, or
no effect).
Managerial relevance addresses a different but equally critical question: will anyone
actually use your results? A study is practically relevant if it provides actionable insights
→ specific recommendations that can be applied directly: “It is managerial relevant if
one or more parties benefit from your study”
4
Summary of OLM
1
,Module 1: The research process
Why business research?
Research can be consumed, produced and delegated.
Business research = the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting
data to support managerial decision-making.
Key elements of business research:
1. A systematic process: business research follows a structured sequence of stages
2. Involves data: business research is empirical: it relies on data
3. Decision-oriented: business research aims to support evidence-based
decisions: decisions grounded in empirical facts.
System-1 thinking relies on pattern recognition built
through experience. When people operate in stable
environments, where situations repeat themselves and
patterns remain consistent, System-1 thinking can be
extremely effective.
Business environments are very different from such
stable settings. Markets change quickly, consumer preferences evolve and
unpredictable external shocks (e.g., pandemics, geopolitical crises) create entirely new
situations. Business research is a clear example of System-2 thinking. It forces
managers to slow down, collect empirical evidence, test assumptions, and consider
alternative explanations.
Intuition should not be ignored. It often provides a useful signal that something is worth
investigating. However, intuition should never replace research. Why can managers'
intuition be so wrong? The answer lies in cognitive biases.
The most common are:
1. Confirmation bias: is the tendency to seek information that agrees with
("confirms") your preexisting beliefs, while ignoring or downplaying contradictory
evidence.
2. Availability bias: is the tendency to base judgments on information that comes to
mind easily, even when that information is not representative. Information that is
vivid, recent, or emotionally charged is more easily recalled and therefore
overweighted in decision-making, leading individuals to overestimate its
frequency or importance.
2
,The stages of the research process
There are 2 fundamental research approaches:
1. Deductive research: from theory → data to test an existing theory.
o You start with an existing theory. Based on that theory, you make
predictions (hypotheses) about how certain things are related
(relationships between variables). These predictions (hypotheses) are
then tested with data.
2. Inductive research: from data → theory to develop a new theory.
o You first collect data. Then you look for patterns in that data. Based on
those patterns, you develop a new theory or explanation.
Advantages of deductive research in business:
• Hypotheses provide precision and direction
• Rigorous statistical analysis becomes possible
• Research becomes structured, efficient, and replicable
• Perfect for practical recommendations .
The deductive process can be cut up in 7 steps:
1. Demarcate the business problem
2. Formulate research questions
3. Develop the theoretical framework
4. Choose a research strategy
5. Collect the data
6. Analyze the data
7. Write a report
Possible exam questions
▪ Choosing between confirmation or availability bias
▪ A displayed reasoning, asking if it is inductive or deductive research
3
, Module 2: Theory formation
Demarcating a business problem
→ STEP 1: Demarcate the business problem
A business problem needs to be demarcated or narrowed before it can be researched. In
a research context, a business problem refers to a gap (or discrepancy) between a
company's current performance or position and its desired performance or position.
Such a discrepancy may stem from threats or from opportunities:
• Threats are developments that may adversely affect a firm if left unaddressed.
• Opportunities are developments that offer potential for improvement.
A well-demarcated business problem must be specific in two ways:
1. Focused on a single explicit action or a limited set of actions (e.g., to find out
which one works best).
2. Focused on a single explicit outcome or a limited set of outcomes (e.g., to find
out which one is affected most)
Example: “I want to grow my neobank app and make it huge” is not well demarcated.
An example of a demarcated business problem is: “How can we improve 30-day user
retention by adding AI-driven personalized financial goal recommendations after
account setup?”
Problem relevance
Academic relevance means that your study advances existing knowledge. If your
research questions have already been answered in prior work, or if your study merely
repeats what has been done many times before, its academic contribution is minimal.
A study is academically relevant if:
• Investigating an entirely new topic
There is no (or hardly any) existing scientific research on the topic.
• Studying an already researched topic in a new context
For example, in a different type of country or a different type of organization.
• Integrating previously scattered findings
When different studies have each examined a specific aspect, but an overarching
picture is lacking.
• Reconciling earlier conflicting findings
When previous studies have reached different conclusions (positive, negative, or
no effect).
Managerial relevance addresses a different but equally critical question: will anyone
actually use your results? A study is practically relevant if it provides actionable insights
→ specific recommendations that can be applied directly: “It is managerial relevant if
one or more parties benefit from your study”
4
