After studying this chapter, you should

CHAPTER 5 1. Know when research should be conducted externally

and when it should be done internally
THE HUMAN SIDE 2. Be familiar with the types of jobs, job responsibilities
OF BUSINESS and career paths available within the business
research industry
RESEARCH: 3. Understand the often conflicting relationship between
management and researchers
ORGANIZATIONAL 4. Define ethics and understand how it applies to
AND ETHICAL business research

ISSUES
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After studying this chapter, you should

Introduction:
Who Does the Research?
5. Know and appreciate the rights and obligations of a) • Outside Agency
research respondents—particularly children, b)
 An independent research firm contracted by the
business researchers, and c) research clients or
sponsors company that actually will benefit from the research.
• In-house Research
6. Know how to avoid situations involving a conflict of
interest in performing business research  Research performed by employees of the company
that will benefit from the research.

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 Should Research Be Done In-House or By an Outside Agency?
Organizational Structure of Business
Research
• Small firms
 < 100 employees
 VP of marketing may be in charge of all significant
marketing research.
• Mid-sized firms
 100-500 employees
• Large firms
 > 500 employees

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Organizational Structure of Business Organizational Structure of Business

Research: Mid-Sized Firms
• Director of marketing research
 Provides leadership in research efforts and integrates
all staff-level research activities into one effort.
 Plans, executes, and controls the firm’s research
function.
• Research analyst
 Responsible for client contact, project design,
preparation of proposals, selection of research
suppliers, and supervision of data collection, analysis,
and reporting activities.
Research (cont’d)
• Research assistants (or associates)
 Provide technical assistance with questionnaire
design, data analyses, and similar activities.
• Manager of decision support systems
 Supervises the collection and analysis of sales,
inventory, and other periodic customer relationship
management (CRM) data.
• Forecast analyst
 Provides technical assistance, such as running
computer programs and manipulating data to forecast
sales.

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 Organization of the Marketing Research Department in a Large Firm
The Director of Research as a Manager

• Problems in directing research:

 Skilled research professionals like conducting
research better than managing people.
 The research management role often is not formally
recognized.
 Outstanding research professionals often have
trouble delegating responsibility.
 Research is often seen as a hodgepodge of
techniques available to answer individual, unrelated
aConducts
bConducts
research to improve total quality management in production.
research that cuts across product lines or involves competitive marketing practices or characteristics of customer groups.
questions.
cConducts research that cuts across product lines to measure the effectiveness of promotional activities.
dConducts research aimed at gaining a basic understanding of various elements of the marketing process.

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Sources of Conflict between Management Reducing the Conflict between

and Research Management and Researchers
• Ways to reduce conflict
Research that
implies criticism  Early in projects and working closely together
 Formal job description

Future decisions
 Better planning and an annual statement of the
based on Management Money research program
past experience versus  Communication of research findings and designs
Research
• Research generalist
 Serves as a link between management and research
Intuitive
decision making
Time specialists in acting as a problem definer, an
educator, a liaison, a communicator, and a friendly
ear.
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Cross-Functional Teams
• Cross-functional teams
 Composed of individuals from various functional
areas such as engineering, production, finance, and
marketing who share a common purpose.
• Benefits:
 Help organizations focus on a core business process,
such as new-product development.
 Reduce the tendency for employees to focus single-
mindedly on an isolated functional activity.
 Help to better communicate customers’ desires and
opinions across the firm.
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Limited Research Service Companies and
Custom Research
• Limited-Service Research Suppliers
 Specialize in particular research activities, such as
syndicated service, field interviewing, data
warehousing, or data processing.
• Custom research
 Projects that are tailored specifically to a client’s
unique needs.
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Research Suppliers and Contractors
• Research Suppliers
 Commercial providers of research services.
• Syndicated Service
 A research supplier that provides standardized
information for many clients in return for a fee.
• Standardized Research Service
 Companies that develop a unique methodology for
investigating a business specialty area.
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Ethical Issues in Business Research
• Business ethics
 The application of morals to behavior related to the
exchange environment.
• Moral standards
 Principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and
what is unethical.
• Ethical dilemma
 A situation in which one chooses from alternative
courses of actions, each with different ethical
implications.
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Ethical Issues in Business Research (cont’d)
• Relativism
 A term that reflects the degree to which one rejects
moral standards in favor of the acceptability of some
action.
 This way of thinking rejects absolute principles in
favor of situation-based evaluations.
• Idealism
 A term that reflects the degree to which one bases
one’s morality on moral standards.
General Rights and Obligations of
Concerned Parties
• Everyone involved in research can face an
ethical dilemma:
 The people actually performing the research—the
“doers.”
 The research client, sponsor, or the management
team requesting the research—the “users.”
 The research participants—the actual research
respondents or subjects.
• Each party has certain rights and obligations
toward the other parties.

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EXHIBIT 5.7 Interaction of Rights and Obligations Rights and Obligations: Research Participant

• Rights: • Informed Consent

 To be informed  The individual understands
 To privacy what the researcher wants
 Protected from harm
him/her to do and consents
to the research study.
• Obligations:
• Confidentiality
 To be truthful
 The information involved in
the research will not be
shared with others.

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Deception in Research Designs And the Protection from Harm
Right To Be Informed
• Questions to ask to help avoid harming a
• Experimental Designs research participant:
 Placebo  Has the research subject provided consent to
 A false experimental effect used to create the perception of a participate in an experiment?
true effect.
 Is the research subject subjected to substantial
 Debriefing
physical or psychological trauma?
 Research subjects are fully informed and provided with a
chance to ask any questions they may have about the  Can the research subject be easily returned to his or
experiment. her initial state?
• Human subjects review committee
 Reviews proposed research designs to ensure that no
harm can come to any research participant.

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Rights and Obligations of the Researcher Research That Isn’t Research

• The researcher should: • Pseudo-research
 Understand that the purpose of research is research  Conducted not to gather information for decisions but
(no sales pitch to research participants) to bolster a point of view and satisfy other needs.
 Maintain objectivity • Push poll
 Telemarketing under guise of research.
 Not misrepresent research
 Be honest in reporting errors
• Service monitoring
 Contacting customers about their experience with a
 Protect the confidentiality of both subjects and clients
product, there is no selling attempt.

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The Researcher and Conflicts of Interest
• Conflict of interest
 Occurs when one researcher works for two competing
companies.
Rights and Obligations of the Client
Sponsor (User)
• Issues in the client-researcher relationship
 Ethical behavior between buyer and seller
 An open relationship with research suppliers
 An open relationship with interested parties
 Advocacy research—research undertaken to support a
specific claim in a legal action or represent some advocacy
group.

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Privacy on the Internet

• Controversial issue
• Many researchers argue that they don’t need to
know who the user is, but they do want to know
certain things (e.g., demographics, product
usage) associated with an anonymous profile.
• Researchers should not disclose private
information without permission from consumers
who provided that information.

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