SAMENVATTING BRT WEEK 1-11
BRT WEEK 1
What is business research? A series of well-thought out activities and carefully executed data
analyses that help a manager to avoid, solve, or minimize a problem.
Why should future managers (you) know about business research?
• Managerial decisions based on;
• The results of “good” research tend to be more effective.
• Hunches, intuition, and past experiences are more likely to be wrong.
Why should future managers (you) know about business research? (cont’d).
To be able to perform business research:
• E.g. undertake research yourself to solve smaller problems you encounter.
To be able to steer business research:
• E.g. interact effectively with researchers / research agencies.
To be able to evaluate business research:
• To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers / research agencies.
• To discriminate between good and bad published research studies.
Myths about business research
The “managers are from Mars, researchers are from Venus” myth:
• Myth: There is no need to do/study business research for a future manager.
• Reality: Managers with knowledge about research have an advantage over those without.
The “most research is not read” myth:
• Myth: Business research ends up in the bottom drawer.
• Reality: For a knowledgeable manager, research need not be intimidating.
The “big bucks” myth:
• Myth: Business research is only for the wealthiest organizations.
• Reality: Business research is very diverse – it can be cheap, it can be expensive.
The “big decision” myth:
• Myth : Business research is only useful when you have a major decision to make.
• Reality: For small decisions, the best managers carry out their own research.
The “universal truth” myth:
• Myth: There is just one best way of researching a business problem.
• Reality: There is no such thing as an absolute truth in business.*
,
, BRT WEEK 2
WEBCLIP 2.1 Step 1 of seven-step process; define the business problem
When does a business problem occur? When there is a gap between the desired state and actual
state.
Wat makes a good business problem?
- Feasibility & Relevance
Feasibility:
- Is the problem demarcated (not too big)
- Can the problem be expressed in variables
- Are you able to gather the required data? (existing & new data)
Relevance:
- Managerial relevance
o Who benefits from having the problem solved?
Managers / end users / publicly makers
- Academic relevance?
o Has the problem not already been seen in prior research?
Completely new topic / new context / integrate scattered research /
Reconcile research
WEBCLIP 2.2
Step 2 of seven-step process; formulate the problem statement
Business problem (manager-focused) -> problem statement (research focused).
What makes a good problem statement?
- Formulated in terms of variables and relations
- Open-ended question
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
What makes good research questions?
- Should collectively address the problem statement
- First theoretical, then practical research questions
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
Theoretical research questions:
- Context questions
- Conceptualization questions
- Relationship questions
Practical research questions:
- Relationship questions (to what extend)
- Implication question (implementation)
, WEBCLIP 2.3 Step 3 of seven-step process; develop a theoretical framework
How to define variables?
- Informative variable name (keep It short if possible)
- Variable definition without jargon (based on literature review, unless very obvious, pitfall:
examples do not substitute for a definition)
- Always use exactly the same word for a variable through a research
Variable types:
- Dependent
- Independent
- Mediating
- Moderating
- Control
Relationships are arrows (drawn)
- Main effect
- Direct / indirect effect
- Moderating effect
Example:
Independent variable: Dependent variable
Employee morale after merger -> employee productivity
Salary levels -> job satisfaction
New product introductions -> company sales
Mediating variable is the variable between the independent and dependent variable:
Advertising spending -> employee morale -> employee productivity
Moderating variable alters the strength and sometimes even the direction of the relationship:
Advertising spending -> tv advertising vs. internet advertising (possibly one is more effective than the
other -> sales
A conditional process model contains all variables and how they are in contact with each other.
Control variable: not the focus of research, but existence has a certain impact of the dependent
variable.
Example next page!!!
BRT WEEK 1
What is business research? A series of well-thought out activities and carefully executed data
analyses that help a manager to avoid, solve, or minimize a problem.
Why should future managers (you) know about business research?
• Managerial decisions based on;
• The results of “good” research tend to be more effective.
• Hunches, intuition, and past experiences are more likely to be wrong.
Why should future managers (you) know about business research? (cont’d).
To be able to perform business research:
• E.g. undertake research yourself to solve smaller problems you encounter.
To be able to steer business research:
• E.g. interact effectively with researchers / research agencies.
To be able to evaluate business research:
• To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers / research agencies.
• To discriminate between good and bad published research studies.
Myths about business research
The “managers are from Mars, researchers are from Venus” myth:
• Myth: There is no need to do/study business research for a future manager.
• Reality: Managers with knowledge about research have an advantage over those without.
The “most research is not read” myth:
• Myth: Business research ends up in the bottom drawer.
• Reality: For a knowledgeable manager, research need not be intimidating.
The “big bucks” myth:
• Myth: Business research is only for the wealthiest organizations.
• Reality: Business research is very diverse – it can be cheap, it can be expensive.
The “big decision” myth:
• Myth : Business research is only useful when you have a major decision to make.
• Reality: For small decisions, the best managers carry out their own research.
The “universal truth” myth:
• Myth: There is just one best way of researching a business problem.
• Reality: There is no such thing as an absolute truth in business.*
,
, BRT WEEK 2
WEBCLIP 2.1 Step 1 of seven-step process; define the business problem
When does a business problem occur? When there is a gap between the desired state and actual
state.
Wat makes a good business problem?
- Feasibility & Relevance
Feasibility:
- Is the problem demarcated (not too big)
- Can the problem be expressed in variables
- Are you able to gather the required data? (existing & new data)
Relevance:
- Managerial relevance
o Who benefits from having the problem solved?
Managers / end users / publicly makers
- Academic relevance?
o Has the problem not already been seen in prior research?
Completely new topic / new context / integrate scattered research /
Reconcile research
WEBCLIP 2.2
Step 2 of seven-step process; formulate the problem statement
Business problem (manager-focused) -> problem statement (research focused).
What makes a good problem statement?
- Formulated in terms of variables and relations
- Open-ended question
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
What makes good research questions?
- Should collectively address the problem statement
- First theoretical, then practical research questions
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
Theoretical research questions:
- Context questions
- Conceptualization questions
- Relationship questions
Practical research questions:
- Relationship questions (to what extend)
- Implication question (implementation)
, WEBCLIP 2.3 Step 3 of seven-step process; develop a theoretical framework
How to define variables?
- Informative variable name (keep It short if possible)
- Variable definition without jargon (based on literature review, unless very obvious, pitfall:
examples do not substitute for a definition)
- Always use exactly the same word for a variable through a research
Variable types:
- Dependent
- Independent
- Mediating
- Moderating
- Control
Relationships are arrows (drawn)
- Main effect
- Direct / indirect effect
- Moderating effect
Example:
Independent variable: Dependent variable
Employee morale after merger -> employee productivity
Salary levels -> job satisfaction
New product introductions -> company sales
Mediating variable is the variable between the independent and dependent variable:
Advertising spending -> employee morale -> employee productivity
Moderating variable alters the strength and sometimes even the direction of the relationship:
Advertising spending -> tv advertising vs. internet advertising (possibly one is more effective than the
other -> sales
A conditional process model contains all variables and how they are in contact with each other.
Control variable: not the focus of research, but existence has a certain impact of the dependent
variable.
Example next page!!!
