BUS114 GLOBAL ECONOMIES AND INTERNATIONAL

MARKETS

Session 7
Business and Management
Research, Reflective
Diaries
Mondays 9.30am
online synchronous class
Dr Alex Muresan
dralex@iconcollege.ac.uk
Last week we covered:

• Introduced CSR
• Presented the main principles of CSR
• Explained the importance of sustainable
development in international markets
• Defined ethics and morality
• Explained the relationship between
ethics, morality and CSR
• Presented examples
Session Outline
 Session Objectives:

• Introduce research and researching in

business and management
• Introduce and detail the research
process
• Introduced the main issues faced by
researchers when researching in
international environments
• Introduce reflection, the reflective
cycle and the importance of reflection
in business
• Present examples
• Work on your ideas
 Session Outcomes:

• Understand importance of research for

business
• Understand the research process
• Understand the importance of reflection in
business and management, respectively
 Main textbooks

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019). Research Methods for Business Students,
(8th ed). Pearson Education Ltd
Recommended textbooks
 1. Formulate and clarify the research topic

2. Critical literature review

3. Choose the research strategy (methodology)

4. Access and ethical issues

5. Data collection through:

secondary data / sampling / observation / interviews / questionnaires

6. Data analysis (qualitative and quantitative)

7. Writing up / conclusions / recommendations

 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

You must be CLEAR about:

• WHAT you are researching

• WHY you are researching it
• WHAT the implications are

Clear objectives prove:

clear purpose, clear likely outcomes, precision, depth

 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

WHAT MAKES A ‘GOOD’ RESEARCH TOPIC?

meets the examining board’s requirements

YOU ARE CAPABLE of researching and that stimulates

your imagination:

• you have the required skills

• have genuine interest in the topic
• financially affordable
• won’t take too long to research
deals with issues which can be linked with the theory
is likely to provide ‘fresh insights’ to the topic
I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

= involves:

TIME!

THINKING

READING

DISCUSSIONS
I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

Methods used:

Rational thinking Creative thinking

 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

Rational thinking:

examine your own strengths and interests

search the literature

past and present projects

discussions

(Source: Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis

I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

STRENGHTS

INTERESTS

JOB PROSPECTS

Definitely NOT good at /

don’t want to research
 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

STRENGTHS INTERESTS
stats skills fast learner fitness psychology
maths skills essay skills sports theatre shopping
marketing knowledge SCI-FI design radio
communicator Europe cooking photography
sports-person good listener travel to the Arctic disasters
analytical /critical skills advertising socialism
design architecture
music globalisation
economist PEST/SWOT painting collecting
people skills accounts leisure activities web
reading skills bonds Middle Eastern history
work experience DJ-ing charity resorts
 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

start mixing and matching

• sports marketing
• arts marketing
• resort promotion
• architecture and MacD
• psychology of buyer
STRENGTHS • promoting murder and mysteries INTERESTS
• internet radio
• marketing ports / insurance serv.
• event marketing
• gang culture & music
• Madonna & product adaptation
I. Formulate and clarify the research topic

Creative thinking:

keep a notebook of ideas

exploring personal preferences using past research

projects

relevance trees

brainstorming

(Source: Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis)

 Research Q
vs Hypothesis

How to focus your topic

What exactly am I looking to formulate?

1. research question

2. hypothesis / set of hypotheses

 What exactly am I looking to formulate?
1. research question (ex)
• what motivates tourists to go to theme parks?
a comparative study of EuroDisney and Blackpool Pleasure Beach

• why do people buy Gucci watches?

A comparative study of British and French buyers

• how market orientated are football clubs? A case study of

Derby County Football Club

• what are the key factors to success for Smirnoff?

 What exactly am I looking to formulate?

2. Hypothesis/es
= def. = testable proposition about the relationship between
two or more events or concepts (Saunders et al, 2003)
Ex.
Likeable adverts are likely to be remembered
If you like the advert you are more likely to like the brand

Health conscious consumers will have stronger preferences

for seeking product content information
Consumers who seek product information are primarily
women aged 25-40
 II. Conceptual frameworks
CONCEPT(S)):

def: ‘an invented name for a property of an object, person,

state or event’ (Tull and Hawkins, 1984, p. 228)
e.g. sales, market share, attitude, brand loyalty
def: ‘words which label ideas which are of key importance to us’
(Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 1996 p. 37)
e.g. truth, beauty, evil, hunger, destiny, love, work, quality, class
are working definitions used to shape analysis
are building blocks of models / theories
frame and structure research
are chosen for their usefulness
 WHY ARE THEORIES IMPORTANT?

Definition:
‘a formulation regarding the cause and effect relationships
between one or more variables, which may or may not
have been tested’
• suppositions which explain or seek to explain something

• ideas about issues, events, themes, processes, actions, individuals

relate to each other and are shaped or enacted

• means through which we generate descriptions and expectations

of the world derived from previous experience and which shape
future interactions

(Source: Gill and Johnson, 1991 ,Research Methods for Managers, London: Paul Chapman)
 II. Conceptual frameworks

Developing a conceptual framework:

analytical scheme to simplify reality and make it

easier to discuss, analyse, research
simplifies reality by selecting phenomena and
suggesting relationships
judged in terms of utility, not correctness
good theory is a practical theory
 I. Formulate and clarify the research question

WRITING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION:

General idea
START BROAD
(ex. relationship marketing and
finance)

1- 3 months

FOCUS Precise idea

(ex. how successful was the implementation of

database marketing at Norwich Union?)
(ex. how successful was the implementation of database marketing at Norwich
Union?)
I. Conceptual framework - example -start!
relationship marketing (RM) finance
What is
corporate finance?
Definition? History? Annual figures? Sales?
What is it made of? Market share?
Who uses it? Profit? Analysis?
Brands? Brand loyalty?
Comparative analysis?
Consumer attitudes/theory?
Forecast?
British customers - Different in the UK?
theories? Insurance?

What business? Industry?

Country? Size? Market share?
Norwich Union Approach? Mission? Objectives?
 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic
WRITING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION:
General idea
START BROAD
(ex. Marketing and Germany)

1- max 3 months

FOCUS Precise idea

(ex. Is the Heineken brand perceived in the same way
by customers in different countries? A comparative
study of English and German consumers)
Is the Heineken brand perceived in the same way by customers in different
countries? A comparative study of English and German consumers

I. Conceptual framework - example -start!

theory on brands/alcohol perceptional theory

How are perceptions
re: brand formed?
Definition? History? Comparative analysis?
What is it made of? British customers
How important brands are? German customers-
Brands? Loyalty? Forecast? theories?
Industry? Psychology/buyer behaviour
Consumption patterns UK,
Germany

Define business? Size? Market share?

Heineken Approach? Mission? Objectives?
Understanding of branding!
 I. Formulate and clarify the research objectives:

The research question:

Is the Heineken brand perceived in the same way by customers in different
countries? A comparative study of English and German consumers

Objectives of the project:

• to explore the role of branding in the beverage industry

• to investigate the use of branding at Heineken
• to explore and understand the perceptions of Heineken by British buyers
• to explore and understand the perceptions of Heineken by German buyers
• to identify potential similarities and discrepancies between the perceptions
of Heineken by buyers from different cultures
• to offer future strategic solutions to the branding of Heineken
= means generating/identifying theories that you can test in
various environments
 I. Formulate and clarify the research topic
WRITING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION:
General idea
START BROAD
(ex. Marketing and Ghana)

1- max 3 months

FOCUS Precise idea

(ex. Marketing Ghana as a holiday destination for

British tourists- an investigation into governmental
strategies)
(ex. Marketing Ghana as a holiday destination for
British tourists - an investigation into governmental strategies)
I. Conceptual framework - example -start!
British tourists
Marketing strategies for tourism Who travels/
How important are they?
Definition? History? Where do they travel?
Role of governments How are they targeted?
strategies 7Ps? Benefits? World figures?
Branded destinations? Future trends?
What strategies?
What messages?

What product? Offer?

Why? Tourism statistics?
Governmental Mission? Objectives?
Ghana Why UK tourists?
 I. Formulate and clarify the research question
The research question:

ex. Marketing Ghana as a holiday destination for

British tourists - an investigation into governmental strategies

Objectives of the project:

• to define the shape and role of government strategies in attracting

foreign tourists
• investigate UK tourists present and future travel behaviour and patterns
• to define and test Ghana’s marketing strategy on UK tourism
consumers
• to offer strategic recommendations to the government of Ghana with
regards to targeting UK consumers
 SOME EXCITING FACTS ABOUT RESEARCH:

research is:

• very time-consuming •is about being nosy

• subjective
• can be done in many ways
• is done by spies and reporters too!
• uses everyday skills
• is often boring
• can also be fun • has no definitive answers

• can take over your life

• gets into your dreams
• can lead you in unexpected directions...
• can turn theory into action
• can be much more interesting than its results
• can be undertaken by you too!