The ManagementResearch Question Hierarchy 6 5 4 3

The Management-Research Question Hierarchy 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 -1 Management Decision Measurement Questions Investigative Questions Research Questions Mgmt. Questions Management Dilemma

Working with the Hierarchy • Management Dilemma – The symptom of an actual problem – Not difficult to identify a dilemma, however choosing one to focus on may be difficult Dropping Sales, Reduced Profits, Employee Turnover, Inventory Problems, Unstable Stock Market, Recession in US economy, Political instability because of ensuing General elections (Both Internal & External issues) 3 -2

Working with the Hierarchy • Management Question Categories – Choice of purposes or objective – Generation and evaluation of solutions – Troubleshooting or control situation PLC, Inventory Problem, HR Policy, Investment decision, Distribution channel 3 -3

Working with the Hierarchy • Fine tune the Research Question – Examine concepts and constructs – Break research questions into specific second-and -third-level questions – Verify hypotheses with quality tests – Determine what evidence answers the various questions and hypothesis – Set the scope of your study Is it the problem of Managerial skills especially among the middle managers? 3 -4

Working with the Hierarchy • Investigative Questions – Questions the researcher must answer to satisfactorily arrive at a conclusion about the research question Is it the lack of competent support staff? 3 -5

Working with the Hierarchy • Measurement Questions – The questions we actually ask or extract from respondents Is the remuneration low as compared to --- ? Do the staff members have required competence? Is there role clarity? Is there a growth prospect? Is the working environment good? 3 -6

Other Processes in the Hierarchy • Exploration – Recent developments – Predictions by informed figures about the prospects of the technology – Identification of those involved in the area – Accounts of successful ventures and failures by others in the field 3 -7

Research Process Problems • • • 3 -8 The Favored Technique Syndrome Company Database Strip-Mining Unresearchable Questions Ill-Defined Management Problems Politically Motivated Research

Designing the Study • Select a research design from the large variety of methods, techniques, procedures, protocols, and sampling plans 3 -9

Resource Allocation & Budgets • Guides to plan a budget – Project planning – Data gathering – Analysis, interpretation, and reporting • Types of budgeting – Rule-of-thumb – Departmental or functional area – Task 3 -10

Contents of a Research Proposal • • 3 -11 Statement of the research question Brief description of research methodology Pilot Testing Data collection Data preparation Data analysis and interpretation Research reporting

Data Collection • Characterized by – abstractness – verifiability – elusiveness – closeness to the phenomenon • Types – Secondary data – Primary data 3 -12

Final Steps in Research • Data analysis • Reporting the results – Executive summary – Overview of the research – Implementation strategies for the recommendations – Technical appendix 3 -13