Republic of the Philippines

NORTHERN NEGROS STATE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Old Sagay, Sagay City, Negros Occidental
(034)722-4120, www.nonescost.edu.ph

COURSE BUSINESS/ COOPERATIVE RESEARCH

MODULE 1 (3HOURS) LESSON 1: The Role of Business Research

Princess Jeah Marie G. Calvo

COURSE
Jasmine Grace D. Camayra
FACILITATOR
John Rick B. Ogan

Princess Jeah Marie G. Calvo

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I. Introduction:
This lesson presents an introduction to the role of business research as to how it is being used in
aid to decision making among managers. At the same time, it presents the decision making process in
situations of uncertainty when decision makers face two or more course of action and seek to select the best
alternative under the circumstances.

II. Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. Know how to define business research;
2. Know how research contributes to business success;
3. Compare and contrast between basic and applied business research;
4. Recognize how research activities can be used to address business decisions;
5. Know when business research should and should not be conducted; and
6. Appreciate the way that technology and internationalization are changing business research.

III. MOTIVATION

Name some products that logically might have been developed with the help of business research.

PRESENTATION
▶ Is it possible to make sound managerial decisions without business research?
▶ What advantages does research offer to the decision maker?
▶ How have technology and internationalization affected business research?

IV. TEACHING POINTS

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John Rick B. Ogan
 Definition of Business Research
Business research is the application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about
business phenomena. These activities include defining business opportunities and problems, generating
and evaluating alternative courses of action, and monitoring employee and organizational performance.
Business research is more than conducting surveys. This process includes idea and theory development,
problem definition, searching for and collecting information, analyzing data, and communicating the findings
and their implications.
Business research is designed to facilitate the managerial decision-making process for all aspects
of the business: finance, marketing, human resources, and so on. Business research is an essential tool for
management in virtually all problem-solving and decision-making activities. By providing the necessary
information on which to base business decisions, research can decrease the risk of making a wrong
decision in each area. However, it is important to note that research is an aid to managerial decision
making, never a substitute for it.

Applied and Basic Business Research

One useful way to describe research is based on the specificity of its purpose. Applied business research is
conducted to address a specific business decision for a specific firm or organization. On the other hand,
basic business research is conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the
needs of a specific organization. It attempts to expand the limits of knowledge in general and is not aimed at
solving a particular pragmatic problem.
All research, whether basic or applied, involve the scientific method. The scientific method is the
way researchers go about using knowledge and evidence to reach objective conclusions about the real
world. The scientific method is the same in social sciences, such as business, as in physical sciences, such
as physics. In this case, it is the way we come to understand business phenomena.

Examples:
Basic Research – How does motivation affect employee performance?
Is executive success correlated with high need for achievement?
Applied Research – Should NONESCOST adopt a paperless office environment?
Should NONESCOT offer new program to its current course offerings?

Managerial Value of Business Research

In all of business strategy, there are only a few business orientations. A firm can be product-
oriented. A product-oriented firm prioritizes decision making in a way that emphasizes technical superiority
in the product. Thus, research gathering information from technicians and experts in the field are very
important in making critical decisions. A firm can be production-oriented. Production orientation means that
the firm prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness of the production processes in making decisions. Here,
research providing input from workers, engineers, finance, and accounting becomes important as the firm
seeks to drive costs down. Production-oriented firms are usually very large firms manufacturing products in
very large quantities. The third is marketing-oriented, which focuses more on how the firm provides value to
customers than on the physical product or production process. With a marketing-oriented organization the
majority of research focuses on the customer. Research addressing consumer desires, beliefs, and
attitudes become essential.
Business Orientation Example:
Product-Oriented Firm – The fashion industry makes clothes in styles and sizes that few can adopt.
Production-Oriented Firm – Jollibee is intent on reducing costs of production.
Marketing-Oriented Firm – NONESCOST offers new program offerings to address the needs of the
community.
The prime managerial value of business research is that it provides information that improves the decision-
making process. The decision-making process associated with the development and implementation of a business
strategy involves four interrelated stages:

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 1. Identifying problems or opportunities
Before any strategy can be developed, an organization must determine where it wants to go and how it will get
there. Business research can help managers plan strategies by determining the nature of situations or by
identifying the existence of problems or opportunities present in the organization. Business research may be
used as a scanning activity to provide information about what is occurring within an organization or in its
environment. The mere description of some social or economic activity may familiarize managers with
organizational and environmental occurrences and help them understand a situation.

2. Diagnosing and assessing problems or opportunities

After an organization recognizes a problem or identifies a potential opportunity, business research can help
clarify the situation. Managers need to gain insight about the underlying factors causing the situation. If there
is a problem, they need to specify what happened and why. If an opportunity exists, they may need to explore,
refine, and quantity the opportunity. If multiple opportunities exist, research may be conducted to set
priorities.

3. Selecting and implementing a course of action

After the alternative courses of action have been clearly identified, business research is often conducted to
obtain specific information that will aid in evaluating the alternatives and in selecting the best course of action.
It can be designed to gather the relevant information necessary to determine which, if either, course of action
is best for the organization. Objective information generated by business research to forecast environmental
occurrences may be the foundation for selecting a particular course of action.

4. Evaluating the course of action

After a course of action has been implemented, business research may serve as a tool to tell managers
whether or not planned activities were properly executed and if they accomplished what they were expected to
accomplish. In other words, managers may use evaluation research to provide feedback for evaluation and
control of strategies and tactics.

When Business Research is Needed

The need to make intelligent, informed decisions ultimately motivates an organization to engage in business
research. Not every decision requires research. Thus, when confronting a key decision, a manager must initially decide
whether or not to conduct business research. The determination of the need for research centers on (1) time constraints,
(2) the availability of data, (3) the nature of the decision to be made, and (4) the value of the research information in
relation to costs.

1. Time Constraints
Systematic research takes time. Management believes that a decision must be made immediately, allowing no
time for research. Decisions sometimes are made without adequate information or thorough understanding of
the business situation. Although making decisions without researching a situation is not ideal, sometimes the
urgency of a situation prevents the use of research. The urgency with which managers usually want to make
decisions conflicts with researchers’ desire for rigor in following the scientific method.

2. Availability of Data
Often managers already possess enough data, or information, to make sound decisions without additional
research. When they lack adequate information, however, research must be considered. This means that data
need to be collected from an appropriate source. If a potential source of data exists, managers will want to
know how much it will cost to get the data. If the data cannot be obtained, or it cannot be obtained in a timely
fashion, this particular research project should not be conducted.

3. Nature of the Decision

The value of business research will depend on the nature of the managerial decision to be made. A routine
tactical decision that does not require a substantial investment may not seem to warrant a substantial
expenditure for research.
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 4. Benefits versus Costs
Conducting research to obtain these benefits requires an expenditure of money. In any decision-making
situation, managers must identify alternative courses of action and then weigh the value of each alternative
against its cost. Business research can be thought of as an investment alternative. When deciding whether to
make a decision without research or to postpone the decision in order to conduct research, managers should
ask three questions:
1. Will the payoff or rate of return be worth the investment?
2. Will the information gained by business research improve the quality of the managerial decision
enough to warrant the expenditure?
3. Is the proposed research expenditure the best use of the available funds?

Technology and Internalization

Both technology and internationalization have affected business research in many ways. The big two are the
amount of information available and the ease of accessing that information. Technology has not only allowed us the
ease of searching out information but also collecting and recording much more information that we could previously in
the past. Technology has also offered us the ability to work with others across the world all in real time through the
internet. This ability to collaborate on an international level has brought forth many great ideas and findings that would
previously be unknown or difficult to obtain. People can exchange information from nearly anywhere in the world to
nearly anywhere in the world almost instantly.
Business researchers have used sources from all over the world for a research topic that one doubt it would
have been able to read if only one had access to the print sources of old contained within libraries. The time to search
out these sources has also been lessened dramatically with the ability to search out keywords or filter searches with
ease that would not be possible with print references. This has not only made business research much more cost
effective but also has reduced the amount of time required to obtain results. More companies would utilize research
less if it was not for the ease of performing it in today's technological age.
Technology has changed almost every aspect of business research. Modern computer and communications
technology makes data collection, study design, data analysis, data reporting, and practically all other aspects of
research easier and better. Furthermore, as more companies do business outside their own borders, companies are
conducting research globally. This places a greater emphasis on research that can assess the degree to which research
tools can be applied and interpreted the same way in different cultures. Thus, research techniques often must cross
validate results.

V. ASSESSMENT

General Instructions: Provide your answer to what is being asked in every activity in not less than ten
sentences. You will earn a total points of 25 in every activity and will be graded based on the attached
rubric.

Activity 1. Directions: Find recent examples of news articles or other sources of information involving the
use of business research in making decisions about different aspects of business. Present salient
information of the article by writing your answer in the box provided.

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 Title of the Article
Author’s Name
Date Published

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Activity 2. Directions: Suppose you owned a themed restaurant in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. You are
considering opening a second branch just like your current restaurant. You are undecided on whether to
locate the new restaurant in another location in Sagay City or in Escalante City. Why would you decide to
have some research done before making the decision? Should the research be conducted? What
information would be useful in the research before opening a second restaurant? Write your answer on the
space provided.

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Reference:
1. Zikmund, et. al. (2014). Business Research Methods. 9th Edition. Cengage.

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25
 Has a strong central idea
that is related to the topic
 provides compelling support
to the topic
 has a clear, logical
organization with well-
developed major points that
are supported with concrete
and specific evidence
 Uses effective transitions
between ideas
 Uses appropriate words
composing sophisticated
sentences
 Expresses ideas freshly and
vividly
 Is free of mechanical,
grammatical, and spelling
errors
 Is not more or less that
required sentences/length.
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20
 Has a strong central idea
that is related to assignment
 Has a clear, logical
organization with developed
major points, but the
supporting evidence may not
be especially vivid or
thoughtful
 Uses appropriate words
accurately, but seldom
exhibits an admirable style
while the sentences tend to
be less sophisticated
 Has few mechanical,
grammatical, and spelling
errors that do not distract
from the overall message
 Is substantially more or less
than required
sentences/length
ESSAY RUBRICS
15 10
 Is not related to the  Is not related to the
assignment assignment
 Is substantially more or  Has a central idea that is
less than required presented in such a way
sentences/length that the reader understands
the write’s purpose
 Has an organizational that
reveals a plan, but the
evidence tends to be
general rather than specific
of concrete
 Use common words
accurately, but sentences
tend to be simplistic and
unsophisticated
 Has one or two severe
mechanical or grammatical
errors
 Is substantially more or
less than required
sentences/length
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5
Exhibits one or more of
the following problems:
 lacks a central idea
 lacks clear
organization
 is not related to the
assignment
 fails to develop main
points, or develops
them in a repetitious
or illogical way
 fails to use common
words accurately
 uses a limited
vocabulary in that
chosen words fail to
serve the writer’s
purpose
 has three or more
mechanical or
grammatical errors.