INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH
LECTURE 1 – SETTING THE SCENE – 03/02/2022
WHAT IS BUSINESS RESEARCH?
A series of well thought out activities and carefully executed data analysis that help a manager to avoid, solve,
or minimize a problem
WHY SHOULD FUTURE MANAGERS KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS RESEARCH?
- To be able to perform business research
o Undertake research yourselves to solve the smaller problems you encounter
- To be able to steer business research
o Interact effectively with researchers/research agencies
- To be able to evaluate business research
o To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers/research agencies
o To discriminate between good and bad published research studies
HALL MARKS OF GOOD BUSINESS RESEARCH
1. Purposiveness
- Knowing ‘’the why’’ of your research
2. Rigor
- Ensuring a sound theoretical base
- Ensuring a sound methodological design
3. Objectivity
- Drawing conclusions based on facts (rather than on subjective ideas)
4. Parsimony
- Shaving away unnecessary details
- Explaining a lot with a little
5. Replicability
- Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
6. Generalizability
- Being able to apply the research findings in a wide variety of different settings
o Should hold for fundamental research
o …but much less so for applied research
FUNDAMENTAL VS. APPLIED RESEARCH
Applied research
- To solve a current problem faced by a manager
- Applies to a specific company
- Withing firms or research agencies
,Fundamental (or basic) research
- To generate new knowledge about how problems that occur in several firms can be solved
- Applies to several organizational settings
- Mainly within universities and knowledge institutions
THE SEVEN-STEP RESEARCH PROCESS
Deductive vs. inductive research
Deductive research (focus in this course)
- Theory data
- Testing theory
Inductive research
- Data theory
- Building theory
Seven-step deductive research process
1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Develop a theoretical framework
4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. Write-up
Seven-step inductive research process
1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Provide a conceptual background
4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. Develop theory
LECTURE 2 – THE RESEARCH PROCESS – 10/02/2022
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BUSINESS PROBLEM?
When does a business problem occur?
- Desired state the actual situation is not seriously wrong but can be improved
- Actual state the actual situation is seriously wrong and need to be solved asap
What makes a good business problem?
- Feasibility is it doable?
- Relevance is it worthwhile?
,Feasibility
- Is the problem demarcated?
- Can the problem be expressed in variables?
- Are you able to gather the required data?
o Existing data
o New data
Relevance
- Managerial relevance
o Who benefits from having the problem solved?
o Managers (brand managers, supply chain managers, accountants, …)
Of one company
Of one industry
Of multiple industries
o End users (consumers, investors, tax payers, …)
o Public policy makers (government, EU, …)
- Academic relevance
o Has the problem not already been solved in prior research?
o Completely new topic
No research available at all, although the topic is important
o New context
Prior research is available but not in the same context
o Integrate scattered research
Different studies have focused on different IVs/moderators; consequently, their
relative importance is not clear
o Reconcile contradictory research
Solve the contradictions through introducing one or more moderators
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROBLEM STATEMENT?
From business problem to problem statement
- Business problem manager focus
- Problem statement research-focused
- Preliminary research
o Organization/context
o Extant literature
What makes a good problem statement?
- Formulated in terms of
o Variables, and
o Relations
- Open-ended question
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
- (Is managerially and academically relevant)
WHAT MAKES GOOD RESEARCH QUESTIONS?
, - Should collectively address the problem statement
o One problem statement is translated into multiple research questions
- First theoretical, then practical research questions
o In the same order as they will be addressed in your research report!
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
o No vague elements
Theoretical research questions
- Context questions (what is…)
o Only if context needs elaboration
- Conceptualization questions (what is…)
o Only for the key variables that need elaboration
- Relationship questions (which variables…, how… affect …, how does the effect of … on … depend on…)
o Al relationships in the problem statement should be covered
Practical research questions
- Relationship questions (to what extent…)
o To what extent does X affect Y?
o What is the (relative) magnitude of the relations?
- Implication questions
o How can practitioners implement your results?
o Open question
Wise words to remember; ‘’If I were given one hour to save the world, I would spend 59 minutes defining the
problem and one minute solving it.’’ – Albert Einstein
DEVELOPING A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Theoretical framework consists of…
- Variable definitions
- Conceptual model – graphical representation
- Hypotheses – relationship between variables (predictions)
How to define variables?
Variable definitions
- Based on a careful literature review
- What if many different definitions exist in the literature?
o Acknowledge the major differences
o End with a definition that focuses on the shared. Meaning across definitions or pick one
definition and justify why
- Avoid jargon, use more simplified and commonplace terms
- Pitfall examples are not substituted for a definition
- Always use exactly the same variable names throughout your research
How to build a conceptual model?
Variables are building blocks
LECTURE 1 – SETTING THE SCENE – 03/02/2022
WHAT IS BUSINESS RESEARCH?
A series of well thought out activities and carefully executed data analysis that help a manager to avoid, solve,
or minimize a problem
WHY SHOULD FUTURE MANAGERS KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS RESEARCH?
- To be able to perform business research
o Undertake research yourselves to solve the smaller problems you encounter
- To be able to steer business research
o Interact effectively with researchers/research agencies
- To be able to evaluate business research
o To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers/research agencies
o To discriminate between good and bad published research studies
HALL MARKS OF GOOD BUSINESS RESEARCH
1. Purposiveness
- Knowing ‘’the why’’ of your research
2. Rigor
- Ensuring a sound theoretical base
- Ensuring a sound methodological design
3. Objectivity
- Drawing conclusions based on facts (rather than on subjective ideas)
4. Parsimony
- Shaving away unnecessary details
- Explaining a lot with a little
5. Replicability
- Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
6. Generalizability
- Being able to apply the research findings in a wide variety of different settings
o Should hold for fundamental research
o …but much less so for applied research
FUNDAMENTAL VS. APPLIED RESEARCH
Applied research
- To solve a current problem faced by a manager
- Applies to a specific company
- Withing firms or research agencies
,Fundamental (or basic) research
- To generate new knowledge about how problems that occur in several firms can be solved
- Applies to several organizational settings
- Mainly within universities and knowledge institutions
THE SEVEN-STEP RESEARCH PROCESS
Deductive vs. inductive research
Deductive research (focus in this course)
- Theory data
- Testing theory
Inductive research
- Data theory
- Building theory
Seven-step deductive research process
1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Develop a theoretical framework
4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. Write-up
Seven-step inductive research process
1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Provide a conceptual background
4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. Develop theory
LECTURE 2 – THE RESEARCH PROCESS – 10/02/2022
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BUSINESS PROBLEM?
When does a business problem occur?
- Desired state the actual situation is not seriously wrong but can be improved
- Actual state the actual situation is seriously wrong and need to be solved asap
What makes a good business problem?
- Feasibility is it doable?
- Relevance is it worthwhile?
,Feasibility
- Is the problem demarcated?
- Can the problem be expressed in variables?
- Are you able to gather the required data?
o Existing data
o New data
Relevance
- Managerial relevance
o Who benefits from having the problem solved?
o Managers (brand managers, supply chain managers, accountants, …)
Of one company
Of one industry
Of multiple industries
o End users (consumers, investors, tax payers, …)
o Public policy makers (government, EU, …)
- Academic relevance
o Has the problem not already been solved in prior research?
o Completely new topic
No research available at all, although the topic is important
o New context
Prior research is available but not in the same context
o Integrate scattered research
Different studies have focused on different IVs/moderators; consequently, their
relative importance is not clear
o Reconcile contradictory research
Solve the contradictions through introducing one or more moderators
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROBLEM STATEMENT?
From business problem to problem statement
- Business problem manager focus
- Problem statement research-focused
- Preliminary research
o Organization/context
o Extant literature
What makes a good problem statement?
- Formulated in terms of
o Variables, and
o Relations
- Open-ended question
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
- (Is managerially and academically relevant)
WHAT MAKES GOOD RESEARCH QUESTIONS?
, - Should collectively address the problem statement
o One problem statement is translated into multiple research questions
- First theoretical, then practical research questions
o In the same order as they will be addressed in your research report!
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
o No vague elements
Theoretical research questions
- Context questions (what is…)
o Only if context needs elaboration
- Conceptualization questions (what is…)
o Only for the key variables that need elaboration
- Relationship questions (which variables…, how… affect …, how does the effect of … on … depend on…)
o Al relationships in the problem statement should be covered
Practical research questions
- Relationship questions (to what extent…)
o To what extent does X affect Y?
o What is the (relative) magnitude of the relations?
- Implication questions
o How can practitioners implement your results?
o Open question
Wise words to remember; ‘’If I were given one hour to save the world, I would spend 59 minutes defining the
problem and one minute solving it.’’ – Albert Einstein
DEVELOPING A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Theoretical framework consists of…
- Variable definitions
- Conceptual model – graphical representation
- Hypotheses – relationship between variables (predictions)
How to define variables?
Variable definitions
- Based on a careful literature review
- What if many different definitions exist in the literature?
o Acknowledge the major differences
o End with a definition that focuses on the shared. Meaning across definitions or pick one
definition and justify why
- Avoid jargon, use more simplified and commonplace terms
- Pitfall examples are not substituted for a definition
- Always use exactly the same variable names throughout your research
How to build a conceptual model?
Variables are building blocks
