The nature of business and management research and structure of this book LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter you should: > be able to outline the purpose and distinct focus of management research; > be able to place your research project on a basic-applied research continuum ‘according to its purpose and context; > understand the stages you will need to complete (and revisit) as part of your research process; > have an overview of this book's purpose, structure and features; > be aware of some of the ways you can use this book. aw Introduction ‘This book is designed to help you to undertake your research project, whether you are an. undergraduate ot postgraduate student of business and management ot a manager It provides a clear guide on how to undertake research as well as highlighting the realities of undertaking research, including the more common pitfalls. The book is written as an introductory text to provide you with 2 guide to the research process and with the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake a piece of research from thinking of a research topic to writing your project xeport. As such, you will find it useful as a manual 0; handbook on how to tackle your research project ‘After reading the book you will have been Introduced to and explored a range of approaches, strategies and methods with which you could tackle your research project ‘Of equal importance, you will know that there is no one best way for undertaking all research Rather you will be aware of the choices you will have to make and how these ‘choices will impact upon what you can find out, This means you will be able to make an informed choice about the approaches, strategies and methods that are most suitable to yout own research project and be able to justify this choice. In reading the book you wil have been introduced to the more frequently used techniques and procedures for col- lecting and analysing different types of data, have had a chance to practise them, and beINTRODUCTION able to make a reasoned choice regarding which to use, When selecting and using these techniques you will be aware of the contribution that the appropriate use of information technology can make to yout research, However, before you continue, a word of caution In your study, you will inevitably 1ead a wide range of books and articles. In many of these the terms ‘research method’ and ‘research rhethodology’ will be used intérchangeably, perhaps just using methodology as a more verbose way of saying niethod. In this Dook we have been more precise in our use Cf these terms. Throughout the book we use the term methods to refer to techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse data This therefore includes questionnaires, observation and interviews as well as both quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (non- statistical) analysis techniques and, as you have probably gathered from the ttle, is the ‘main focus of this book In contrast, the term methodology refers to the theory of how research should be undertaken, We believe that it is important that you have some Te note is one of the best ‘Foown and most widely used office in rid. Yet, despite the dis- jdt the rapositionable adhesive that ote possible h 1868, ot Unt 1960 that the product was Ripaaliced to the. market (3M, 2006). In the: 49608, 3M research scientist, Spence Silver, {as looking for ways t improve the adho- ‘sive used in tapes. However, he discovered Something quite diferent from what he was ooking for, an adhesive that did not stick strongly when coated onto the back of tapes! What was unclear was how it might be Used. Over the next five years he dem- + oniivated and talked sbout his new ‘adhesive ‘to people working within the ‘Most peoole working for 3M know the story of what happened next and how the Postit® note concept came absut A new product development researcher werking for SM, Art Fry, was rustrated ow the scraps of paper he Used as bookmarks kept falling out of his church choir hymn book He realised that Silver's adhesive would ‘ean his bookmarks would not fal out. Soon afterwards the Post-i® nate concent was developed and markt research undertaken. This was extremely difficult as the product was revolutionary and was, in effect, designed ‘tO replace pieces of torn scrap paper! However, despite some initial scepticism within the company, Post-it® ‘notes were launched in 1980. One year after thelt launch, they were named 3M's outstanding new product ‘Whilst your research project will be within the discipline business and management rather than natural science (euch as developing a new adhosto), our introductory example stl offers a number af insights ito the nature of reeeareh and in particular the business and management research you wil be undertaking, In particular, it high- lights that when undertaking research we should be open to finding tne unexpected and how sometimes the appeabity of our research findings may not be immediately obvious. It also emphaslees the importance of is- ‘cussing your ideas with other people. Post.it® notes in useHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK understanding of this so that you can make an informed choice about your research. For this reason, we also discuss a range of philosophical assumptions upon which research q can be based and the implications of these for the method or methods adopted ‘When listening to the radio, watching the television or reading a dally newspaper it is { Easterby-Smith, M, Thorpe, R and Lowe, A (2002) Management Research: An Introduction (2nd edn), London, Sage@ Foe wes ues vit wow peesoned eal? uncos SELF-CHECK ANSWERS Ghautl,F. and Gronhaug, X (2005) Research Methods in Business Studies: A Practical Guide (3rd edn), Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall Gibbons, ML, Limoges, H, Nowotny, $, Schwarman, P, Scott, B and Ttow, M_ (1994) The [New Production of Rnowiedse’ The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies, London, Sage Hedrick, TE, Bickmann, Land Rog, DJ (1993) Applied Research Design, Newbuay Park, CA, Sage Hodgkinson, GP, Henfot, P and Anderson, N. (2001) ‘Realigning the stakeholders in man- agement research: lessons from industrial, work and organizational psychology’, British Journal of Management 12, Special issue, 41-8 Huff, AS and Huff, JO. (2001) ‘Re-focusing the business school agenda’, British Journal of ‘Management 12, Special Issue, 49-54 Saunders, MN.X and Lewis, P (1997) ‘Great ideas and blind alleys? A review of the literature on starting reseasch’, Management Learning 28: 3, 283-98, Starkey, K and Madan, P. (2001) ‘Bridging the relevance gap: aligning stakeholders in the future of management research’, British Journal of Management 12, Special Issue, 3-26 Taylor, A. (2005) ‘Students “upset” by interview treatment’, nancial Times, 26 May Tanfield, D and Starkey, K (1998) ‘The nature, social organization and promotion of man- agement research: towards policy’, British Journal of Management 9, 341-53 Walliman, N. (2001) Your Researcht Project: A Step by Step Guide for the First-Time Researcher, London, Sage Easterby-Smith, M, Thorpe, R and Lowe, A (2002) Management Research: An Introduction (2nd edn), London, Sage Chapter 1 provides a very clear and readable introduction to manage- ‘ment research and how it is distinct from other forms of research Starkey, K. and Madan, P. (2001) ‘Bridging the relevance gap: aligning stakeholders in the future of management research’, British Journal of Management 12, Speclal Issue, 3-26 This paper argues the need for relevant management research within 2 Mode 2 framework, emphasising a need for research partnership. I SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 2 Le ae | 1“ 12 13 “The features you outne ace Ikaly to include the: 1 transclscipinary nature of business and management eseerch; 5 dovelopment of ideas that are related to practice and in particular the requirement fr the research to have some practical consequence; '§ need for research to compete the vituous circle of theory and practice: 1 addressing of problems that grow out of te interaction between the worlds of theory and practice. ‘Tho key citferonces between basic and applied research relate to both the purpose and the context in ‘which itis undertaken, They are summarised in Figure 14 Figure 1.2 emphasises the importance of planning during your research project. Forward planning needs to occur at al stages up to submission. In adation, you will need to reflect on and to reviee your wor ‘throughout tho life of the research project Ths reflection aweds to have a wide focus. You should both ‘consider the stage you have reached and revisit eater stages and work through them again. Refloction ‘may also lsad you to amend your research plan. This should be expected, athough large amendments in the later stages of your research project are unlikely. 5CHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND STRUCTURE OF THIS 800K