Business Research Process: Methods, Models, and Decision-Making

Introduction: The Importance of Timely Business Research

In the Age of Information, business research would appear to be a fairly straightforward enterprise, but some observers have equated the experience today to drinking from a fire hose because of the enormous amount of information available. Nevertheless, understanding the environment in which a company competes is a fundamental aspect of good business management practice, and managers are constantly looking for business research methods that will help them in their decision-making processes.

The purpose of Part I of this paper is to provide an overview of current business research practices, explain why the business research process is necessary to assist managers in decision-making, and describe how such research is typically conducted. A discussion and assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various parts of the business research process is followed by an analysis of why this research is important to companies seeking to maintain and expand their market share in an increasingly globalized marketplace. Part II of the paper provides a business research proposal to collect relevant primary data concerning the importance of business research in the decision-making process and how managers are using such resources today. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.

Generally speaking, all business research methods share some commonalities, including obtaining and analyzing data in order to answer questions, solve problems, or test hypotheses, thereby contributing to the understanding and knowledge of the larger environment in which companies compete (Thomas, 2004). According to Thomas, "Although there are many different ways to do research, and although different fields have their preferred research styles, all research does share certain features:

Overview of Current Business Research Practices

Research is empirical; it involves studying the world outside ourselves. Research adopts systematic and explicit methods; it is essentially a public endeavor in which it is possible, in principle, for others to repeat investigations and check on their accuracy" (p. 3).

Current business research practices vary according to industry and need, but the concept involves much more than simply asking a question and trying to answer it. According to Thomas (2004), "Sometimes research methodology is portrayed as if it were simply a set of tools and techniques used to solve research problems. But this is far from being the case… There is no one best way to do research" (p. 3). Even though there may be no single best approach to conducting business research, the importance of timely business research to the decision-making process — in helping managers accomplish their organizational goals — is well established, and these issues are discussed further below.

Good managers are able to accomplish a great deal in virtually any environment based on an intuitive sense of what is needed to achieve organizational goals, but this "seat-of-the-pants" management style will only take a company so far. Timely information about a company's own performance as well as its competitors' performance, the environment in which it competes, and current economic trends represent just part of the vast array of information that business managers need to remain competitive today. Moreover, there is always the risk of relying on the wrong information, or even the right information for the wrong purposes. Because humans are involved, there is also the fundamental issue of the highly subjective nature of interpretation and application of research data.

Business Research and the Decision-Making Process

In this regard, Vernon (2002) emphasizes that "The literature on decision-making is vast, since the subject is regarded as a critical management activity, though fraught with danger. All stress the importance of gathering information prior to decision making, being aware of factors that have a bearing upon the process itself, and identifying ways of dealing with the uncertainty that is at the nub of the problem" (p. 55).

While the term "business research" is an umbrella term that encompasses virtually every research endeavor a company undertakes to better understand its competitive environment, several popular business research models have been developed in recent years that reflect current practices. For instance, Cooper and Robertson (1990) described four types of decision-making in relation to the environments in which they are most appropriate. These are summarized below together with an analysis of their respective strengths and weaknesses.

The neo-rational model takes note of the cognitive insights suggesting that decision-making involves both rational and non-rational processes. However, because it tries to account for intangible factors such as feelings, it tends to be suited to situations in which only a few decision-makers are involved, such as top management.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Business Research Models

The open-ended model takes note of the uncertainty that surrounds decision-making, preferring a number of small, reactive decisions to be taken in order to best shape the overall outcome to real circumstances. The emphasis on flexibility suits innovative organizations.

The bureaucratic model is characteristic of large corporations where decision-making is inevitably complex and involves many participants. The emphasis on rigor brings thoroughness to the process, although at the expense of the time required to reach a conclusion.

The arena model of decision-making is typically used in organizations where responsibility is widely distributed. Generally speaking, different interest groups make representations to the organization as a whole in the hope that a consensus can be reached on the course that should be followed. This model is necessary to hold certain kinds of organization together, although it best suits those that are least sensitive to compromise (Cooper & Robertson, p. 101).

Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the highly subjective nature of the business research process itself is a constraint. Nevertheless, the importance of the enterprise is sufficiently compelling to require companies of all types to engage in business research on an ongoing basis.

Aristotle Onassis once suggested that "The secret of business is to know something nobody else knows." Because resources are by definition scarce, however, "knowing something nobody else knows" requires careful management of a company's existing resources to ensure it receives the most value from its research investment. Therefore, identifying which business research methods are most appropriate for a given company — based on its day-to-day operations and long-term strategic needs — represents a timely and important endeavor. Part II below provides a business research proposal that will help identify what research methods are currently being used by business managers and for what purposes, as well as their relative strengths and weaknesses.