SOLUTIONS MANUAL Essentials of Business Research Methods
5th Edition
Part I | Introduction
1: Business Research for the Twenty-First Century
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. INTRODUCE MODERN-DAY BUSINESS RESEARCH.
2. DEFINE BUSINESS RESEARCH AND THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT.
3. DISCUSS RECENT BUSINESS TRENDS AND HOW THEY AFFECT BUSINESS RESEARCH.
4. EXAMINE RESEARCH-RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.
5. INTRODUCE THE CONTINUING CASE USED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT.
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CHAPTER VOCABULARY
RESEARCH – A DISCERNING PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH – OF KNOWING THE FACTS
SCIENCE – SEEKS TO EXPLAIN THE WORLD AS IT REALLY IS
BUSINESS RESEARCHERS – LIKE SCIENTISTS, PURSUE THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS
PHENOMENA
BUSINESS RESEARCH – SEEKS TO PREDICT AND EXPLAIN PHENOMENA THAT, TAKEN
TOGETHER, CONSTITUTE THE EVER-CHANGING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT.
WIDE RANGE OF PHENOMENA – BUSINESS RESEARCH INVOLVES THE STUDY OF PEOPLE,
SYSTEMS OR GROUPS OF PEOPLE, THE INTERACTION OF PEOPLE WITH SYSTEMS.
FORMAL – SYSTEMATIC AND SOMETIMES EXHAUSTIVE PROJECTS AIMED AT ANSWERING VERY
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
INFORMAL – USING INFORMATION RECEIVED TO SEE IF IT HELPS TO IDENTIFY PATTERNS AND
IMPROVE DECISION MAKING.
ONE-SHOT RESEARCH PROJECTS – PERFORMED TO ADDRESS A SINGLE ISSUE AT A SPECIFIC
TIME
REPLICABLE – RESEARCH BY ANOTHER RESEARCHER CAN PRODUCE THE SAME RESULTS
USING THE IDENTICAL PROCEDURES EMPLOYED BY THE ORIGINAL RESEARCHER.
WORTHWHILE – PROVIDES MORE BENEFIT THAN THE COSTS
APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH – MOTIVATED BY AN ATTEMPT TO SOLVE A PARTICULAR
PROBLEM FACED BY A PARTICULAR ORGANIZATION
BASIC BUSINESS RESEARCH - MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND SOME
BUSINESS PHENOMENON AS IT APPLIES TO AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY
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, INFORMATION-ONLY BUSINESSES - ARE THOSE THAT EXCHANGE INFORMATION OR
INFORMATION RELATED SERVICES, SUCH AS DISTRIBUTION AND STORAGE, FOR A FEE
PERSONALIZED MARKETING – MAKING SURE MARKETING OFFERED ARE SUITED AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE TO THE INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCES OF THE CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER SHARE – THE PROPORTION OF RESOURCES A CUSTOMER SPENDS WITH ONE FIRM
IN A GIVEN COMPETITOR SET
CUSTOMER CHURN – THE ANNUAL TURNOVER RATE OF CUSTOMERS
CUSTOMER COMMITMENT - THE DEGREE TO WHICH CUSTOMERS IDENTIFY WITH THE VALUES
OF A FIRM
PSYCHOLOGICAL OWNERSHIP - THE PERCEPTION BY CUSTOMERS THAT THEY ARE OWNERS
OF A COMPANY EVEN WHEN THEY TECHNICALLY ARE NOT
CARD READER - A DEVICE USED BY AN ANALYST TO FEED DATA INTO A COMPUTER USING
ELONGATED CARDBOARD INDEX CARDS
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION – EXAMPLES INCLUDE E-MAIL, TEXT MESSAGING AND
TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS VIDEO CONFERENCING, VOICE OVER IP (VOIP) AND SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS
NETWORKING – REVERSE TO COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO ONE ANOTHER THROUGH VARIOUS
SERVERS
INTRANETS -NETWORKS THAT RELY ON INTERNET TECHNOLOGY TO LINK COMPUTERS
INTERNALLY IN A SINGLE ORGANIZATION
DATA WAREHOUSES - COMPANY INFORMATION IS NOW STORED, CATALOGED, TRANSFORMED
AND ANALYZED IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT
CLOUD SERVICES - FORMERLY CALLED DATA WAREHOUSES, COMPANY INFORMATION THAT IS
NOW STORED, TRANSFORMED, CATALOGED AND ANALYZED IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT
OFF-THE-SHELF DATA - READILY AVAILABLE INFORMATION COMPILED AND SOLD BY CONTENT
PROVISION COMPANIES
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) –A SOFTWARE APPLICATION THAT ALLOWS
USERS TO CREATE INTERACTIVE MAPS THAT INTEGRATE AND OVERLAY LOCATION-BASED
DATA FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS) – ON DEMAND SOFTWARE IS A SOFTWARE LICENSING AND
DELIVERY APPROACH IN WHICH SOFTWARE IS LICENSED ON A SUBSCRIPTION BASIS AND
HOSTED IN A CENTRAL LOCATION
ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY – A DATABASE THAT IS AN ELECTRONIC REPRESENTATION
RECORDING IMPORTANT EVENTS IN AN ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING - THE INTERNALIZATION OF BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL
INFORMATION FOR USE AS AN INPUT TO DECISION MAKING
DATA ANALYTICS – PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS DATA MINING AND ALSO KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY
IN DATABASES (KDD), INVOLVES ACCESSING RELEVANT DATA, SELECTING AND CLEANING
THE DATA FOR ALGORITHM USE, ESTABLISHING THE RULES FOR IDENTIFYING INTERESTING
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, RELATIONSHIPS, AND THEN ORGANIZING AND VISUALLY REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS THAT
MAY AFFECT FIRM PERFORMANCE
ALGORITHMS - STATISTICALLY ANALYZE POTENTIAL PATTERNS IN DATA STORED IN 3RD
PARTY CLOUD LOCATIONS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) - A COMPUTER TOOL THAT INFERS, PERCEIVES AND
SYNTHESIZES DATA INTO USABLE INFORMATION AND IS A METHOD THAT CAN EXAMINE
MILLIONS OF DATA POINTS INSTANTLY
MACHINE LEARNING (ML) – THE USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT ARE
ABLE TO LEARN AND ADAPT WITHOUT FOLLOWING EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS AND IS A METHOD
THAT CAN EXAMINE MILLIONS OF DATA POINTS INSTANTLY
AUTOMATIC INTERACTION DETECTION (AID) - SOFTWARE THAT CONSIDERS POSSIBLE
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ALL PAIRS OF QUANTIFIED DATA WITHIN A DATA SET
DIVERSITY ECOSYSTEM - A COMBINATION OF FIRM POLICIES, PUBLIC STATEMENTS, AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF CONCEPTS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE GREATER DIVERSITY BASED ON
EXAMINING THE WILLINGNESS OF AN ORGANIZATION TO INCREASE ITS DIVERSITY THE
CONCEPT INCLUDES FOUR ELEMENTS 1) ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY 2)
ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE 3) OPENNESS TO CHANGE AND 4) EMPLOYEE VOICE
OUTSIDE RESEARCH CONSULTANTS - RESEARCHERS NOT EMPLOYED WITHIN A FIRM
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CHAPTER SUMMARY
PROVIDE AN ORIENTATION TO MODERN-DAY BUSINESS RESEARCH
Businesspeople have been conducting research for millennia. It is as old as international trade
itself. The formal study of business research is relatively young. The need for business research
increases as firms realize more opportunities in the form of increased trade or more
competition. These conditions create an environment in which a business stands a chance of
benefiting from well made decisions.
DEFINE BUSINESS RESEARCH AND THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT
Business researchers try to accurately determine the truth about business-related phenomena.
Business research is a truth-seeking function responsible for gathering, analyzing, interpreting,
and reporting information so that business decision makers become more effective. There are
few limits to what a business researcher might be asked to study. The work could involve any
business discipline and affect tactical or strategic business decisions. All organizations, profit
and nonprofit, large or small, that manage employees, study systems, or market to customers
are potential users of business research.
DISCUSS RECENT BUSINESS TRENDS AND HOW THEY AFFECT BUSINESS RESEARCH
Several trends are affecting business research. These include relationship marketing, which has
brought new concepts and a greater need to integrate research studies across multiple
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, stakeholder groups; the globalization of business, which requires researchers to study
previously unfamiliar cultures; and the information revolution including big data and data
analytics, which provides researchers easier access to greater volumes of data and the ability to
quickly and easily analyze it, and the emergence and popularity of social media sites. These
trends are increasing the importance of business research.
EXAMINE RESEARCH-RELATED TECHNOLOGIES
Technology is affecting the way business research is conducted. Cloud storage and computing
provides the researcher with off-the-shelf data and software, saving enormous amounts of time
and avoiding expensive data collection in many situations. Researchers’ ability to network
online and via intranets, as well as to access information in the cloud, enables information to be
shared much more readily. Tools like neural networking (NN), machine learning (ML), natural
language processing (NLP) and cognitive analytics have made researchers much more
productive.
INTRODUCE THE CONTINUING CASE USED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT
The book has a case study that is used in all the chapters to help you apply the concepts to a
realistic situation. The case is Samouel’s Greek Cuisine, and it focuses on how the owner, Phil
Samouel, can improve his business. His direct competitor is Gino’s Italian Ristorante. Gino is
more successful for a variety of reasons, and your task is to help Phil Samouel identify his
problems and develop solutions to improve his operations. In order to do that, you will need to
evaluate both secondary and primary data to have a complete understanding of the
restaurant’s situation. You will also have to comment on research designs, sampling, and
questionnaires, as well as use statistical software to analyze data and develop appropriate
strategies.
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BUSINESS RESEARCH DASHBOARD – LEARNING FROM THE PAST BY APPLYING DATA
ANALYTICS
Pfizer is increasing its efforts to get more from its clinical trial data. The company has moved away from the
tradition of filing away clinical trials once a drug has been submitted for approval. Whether or not the drug is
approved for a particular application, Pfizer now adds the clinical test results to an active database that is
available for continued data mining by its scientists and statisticians.
According to the Mani Lakshminarayanan, clinical statistician and senior director at Pfizer, the company is
seeking to extract as much as possible from its clinical trials. Exploratory analysis of clinical trial data using data
analytics techniques helps identify specific or unknown patterns of potential relevance for future studies.
Pfizer uses secondary data from clinical studies for numerous reasons that include but are not limited to (1)
helping design new studies by providing additional information on sample size and target population, (2)
supporting bridging studies when the company has approval in one national jurisdiction and wishes to apply for
a license in another, (3) supporting its capacity to undertake confirmatory and extension studies sometime
during the patent life of the drug to explore further opportunities, and (4) undertaking finer segmentation and
looking for correlated effects in targeted ethnic or age-specific populations.
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