Bina Nusantara University

1
Introduction to Research Methodology
Meeting 1
 REFERENCES

Zikmund, Babin, Carr, and Griffin. 2009. Business

Research Methods. Thomson South-Western. .
ISBN:978-0324320626

Bina Nusantara University

3
 INTRODUCTION

• This chapter focuses on the

relationship between business
research and managerial decision
making.
• Business success is determined
1 directly by the quality of decisions
made by key personnel.

Bina Nusantara University

4
 INTRODUCTION

Researchers contribute to decision making in several key ways

• Helping to better define the current situation
• Defining the firm—determining how consumers, competitors,
and employees view the firm
• Providing ideas for enhancing current business practices
• Identifying new strategic directions
• Testing ideas that will assist in implementing business
strategies for the firm
• Examining how correct a certain business theory is in a given
situation
Bina Nusantara University
5
 INTRODUCTION

• The student may seek out data, usually

in the form of advice provided by parents,
Go College?? guidance counselors, other students, or
Or Not go to various media sources. These data may
College?? be critical in reaching decisions.
• Indeed, the answers to each of these
questions shape a student’s future,
influence the way he or she is viewed by
others, and ultimately determine how
successful he or she will be.
2

Bina Nusantara University

6
 INTRODUCTION

Likewise, businesses face decisions that shape

the future of the organization, its employees, and
its customers. In each case, the decisions are
brought about as the firm either seeks to
capitalize on some opportunity or to reduce any
potential negative impacts related to some
business problem.
3

Bina Nusantara University

7
 INTRODUCTION

• A business opportunity is a situation that makes some potential

competitive advantage possible. The discovery of some
underserved segment presents such an opportunity.
• A business problem is a situation that makes some significant
negative consequence more likely.
• A decision making is the process of developing and deciding
among alternative ways of resolving a problem or choosing from
among alternative opportunities.
• A symptomp is observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem
because they are caused by that problem.

Bina Nusantara University

8
 INTRODUCTION

• Complete certainty means that the decision maker

has all information needed to make an optimal
decision.
• Uncertainty means that the manager grasps the
general nature of desired objectives, but the
information about alternatives is incomplete.
• Ambiguity means that the nature of the problem itself
is unclear

3
Bina Nusantara University
9
 INTRODUCTION

Bina Nusantara University

10
 Types of Business Research

• Business research can be

classified on the basis of either
technique or purpose.
• The following section introduces
the three types of business
research:
4
1. Exploratory
2. Descriptive
3. Causal
Bina Nusantara University
11
 Types of Business Research

• Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous

situations or discover potential business opportunities.
• As the name implies, the major purpose of descriptive
research is to describe characteristics of objects,
people, groups, organizations, or environments.
• Causal research seeks to identify cause-and-effect
relationships. When something causes an effect, it
means it brings it about or makes it happen. The effect is
the outcome.

Bina Nusantara University

12
 Types of Business Research

• Ideally, managers want to know how a change in one event will

change another event of interest. As an example, how will
implementing a new employee training program change job
performance?
• Causal research attempts to establish that when we do one
thing, another thing will follow. A causal inference is just such a
conclusion.
Three critical pieces of causal evidence are:
1. Temporal Sequence
2. Concomitant Variance
3. Nonspurious Association

Bina Nusantara University

13
 Types of Business Research

• Temporal sequence deals with the time order of events.

In other words, having an appropriate causal order of
events, or temporal sequence, is one criterion for
causality.
• Concomitant variation occurs when two events
“covary” or “correlate,” meaning they vary systematically.
• Nonspurious association means any covariation
between a cause and an effect is true, rather than due to
some other variable.

Bina Nusantara University

14
 Types of Business Research

In summary, causal research should do all of the

following:
1. Establish the appropriate causal order or sequence
of events.
2. Measure the concomitant variation between the
presumed cause and the presumed effect.
3. Examine the possibility of spuriousness by
considering the presence of alternative plausible
causal factors.
Bina Nusantara University
15
 Types of Business Research

Degrees of Causality

• Absolute causality means the cause is necessary

and sufficient to bring about the effect.
• Conditional causality means that a cause is
necessary but not sufficient to bring about an effect.
• Contributory causality is the weakest form of
causality, but it is still a useful concept

Bina Nusantara University

16
 Types of Business Research
Experiments
• Business experiments hold the greatest potential for establishing
cause-and-effect relationships.
• An experiment is a carefully controlled study in which the
researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any
corresponding change in the proposed effect. An experimental
variable represents the proposed cause and is controlled by the
researcher by manipulating it.
• Manipulation means that the researcher alters the level of the
variable in specific increments.
• A test-market is an experiment that is conducted within actual
business conditions.
Bina Nusantara University
17
 Types of Business Research
So, which form of research—exploratory, descriptive, or causal—is
appropriate for the current situation?

Bina Nusantara University

18
 Stages in the Research Process

Bina Nusantara University

19
Bina Nusantara University
20
 Questions

1. List five ways that business research can contribute to

effective business decision making.
2. Define business opportunity, business problem, and
symptoms. Give an example of each as it applies to a
university business school.

Bina Nusantara University

21
 Questions

3. Consider the following list, and indicate and explain whether

each best fits the definition of a problem, opportunity, or
symptom:
a. A 12.5 percent decrease in store traffic for a children’s shoe
store in a medium-sized city mall.
b. Walmart’s stock price has decreased 25 percent between
2007 and 2009.

Bina Nusantara University

22
 Questions

c. A furniture manufacturer and retailer in North Carolina

reads a research report indicating consumer trends
toward Australian Jara and Kari wood. The export of these
products is very limited and very expensive.
d. Marlboro reads a research report written by the U.S. FDA.
It indicates that the number of cigarette smokers in sub-
Saharan Africa is expected to increase dramatically over
the next decade.

Bina Nusantara University

23
Bina Nusantara University
24
 Pictures

1. https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=Q35&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-
US%3Aofficial&biw=1525&bih=690&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=introduction&oq=introducti&gs_l=img.3.0.0l10.875.6959.0.
9058.13.5.0.0.0.0.479.1629.2-
2j2j1.5.0....0...1c.1.32.img..11.2.463.Gpr_YuxZnKo#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=9ZF74btRipW-
tM%3A%3BnQni_zYpNKJ8fM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sqlsoldier.com%252Fwp%252Fwp-
content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252FIntroduction.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sqlsoldier.c
om%252Fwp%252Fsqlserver%252Fintroductiontointegrityinterpretingdbcccheckdbresults%3B336%3B355
2. https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-
US%3Aofficial&biw=1525&bih=690&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=student+thinking+cartoon&oq=student+thinking+cartoon&
gs_l=img.3..0.48736.49852.0.50268.7.7.0.0.0.0.285.971.2j4j1.7.0....0...1c.1.32.img..6.1.285.8u8ZOFLQu3s#facrc
=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=PPU4eIlYaITkUM%3A%3Bp8T6ElGWVKpZ6M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthumbs.dreamst
ime.com%252Fz%252Fboy-thinking-
2708693.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.dreamstime.com%252Fstock-photos-boy-thinking-
image2708693%3B954%3B1300.
3. https://www.google.com/search?q=introduction&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=ZJi&rls=org.mozilla:en-
US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vRKtUqTGF6jQsASl64H4Ag&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1525&bih
=690&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=j3TIRQezhZbEFM%3A%3B9n1XV3KCy6cZDM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%
252Fwww.writeawriting.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F03%252Ftips-on-writing-
introduction-intro-newsletter.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.writeawriting.com%252Fbusiness%252Ftips-
writing-introduction-newsletter%252F%3B480%3B480.

Bina Nusantara University

25
 Pictures

4. https://www.google.com/search?q=introduction&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=ZJi&rls=org.mozilla:en-
US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vRKtUqTGF6jQsASl64H4Ag&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1525&bih
=690&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=tWy6wIctIFWp1M%3A%3BqQzFZUT_T1xmyM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%
252Fstatic9.depositphotos.com%252F1695551%252F1212%252Fi%252F950%252Fdepositphotos_12125093-A-
cartoon-style-man-giving-an-
introduction.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdepositphotos.com%252F12125093%252Fstock-photo-A-cartoon-
style-man-giving-an-introduction.html%3B864%3B950
5. https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=WeN&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-
US%3Aofficial&biw=1525&bih=690&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=question&oq=question&gs_l=img.3..0l10.5731474.573317
4.0.5734365.8.8.0.0.0.0.643.4023.2-
1j0j3j4.8.0....0...1c.1.32.img..5.3.1132.9njo8lL68YM#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Svzi6XmFDj7erM%3A%3BI5Y5Wg
ylf9BouM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hdwallpapersinn.com%252Fwp-
content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252FMan-With-Question-
01.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hdwallpapersinn.com%252Fquestion-person-
pictures.html%3B1500%3B1500.

Bina Nusantara University

26