Business Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Research - Essay Example To quote Henry R. Luce, "Business more than any other occupation is a continual dealing with the future; it is continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight." This extract alone tells us the importance of Business Research; the process of obtaining information. This paper, in its first part, will discuss the purpose and importance of business research in detail. It will also put light on how it is conducted and its strength and weaknesses. The second part of my paper will examine and analyze my own business research proposal.With globalization taking its toll in its truest sense, the business world has become more competitive than ever. New businesses are formed, the market keeps growing and changing, competition keeps increasing. In order to remain informed, it is absolutely essential for businesses today to carry out research about the market, about businesses and about anything that helps them to make informed decisions. Research is not only for scholars, but it is for anybody, any business that wishes to update its knowledge base.In the past, there was no such (or maybe just a vague) concept of information. Firms used to sit in their seats and guess which decisions will be successful and which will fail. Today, fortunately or unfortunat ely, guess work will not get most businesses far. It is important to have information before making the right decision. This is the most important aspect of business research; it facilitates in smart decision making.... If, for instance, a firm has some kind of knowledge about some new, relevant technology being developed in the market, and none of the other competing firms have this (because they don't carry out market research), this firm will be at a much better position in its market only because it carried out business research and thus was informed. Finally, some importance should be given to another, related and spawned off advantage; it helps in problem-solving. Business Research is a great tool used for solving any business problem. It makes it easier to see all sides of a problem and gives firms a 360 degree, comprehensive view of the problem at hand. How Business Research is Conducted There are many different ways that a business can conduct research. There is primary research, which means researching a question yourself by going out in the field and then there is secondary research, which means searching using second-hand or desk information. Different groups and sources have different names for methods. Essentially, they are all the same. The following primary methods are useful for our purpose: Appreciative Inquiry, Case Study Design, Focus Groups, Interview Designs, Questionnaire, Observations and Surveys. Some of these are qualitative, for example, interviews while some are quantitative.Additionally, business research is conducted as a process. There are many different stages in the process of business research. It starts off with formulating a research question, that is, the focus of the research must be specified here. Then there is the hypothesis that gives your predictions and analysis of the answer to you research question. To test this hypothesis, some kind of a method (discussed earlier)