WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Just  close   your   eyes   for  a  minute   and   utter  the  word   research  to  yourself.  What kinds   of images  does   this  word   conjure   up  for  you?  Do  you   visualize  a  lab  with scientists  at  work   with Bunsen   burners   and   test  tubes,    or  an   Einstein-like  character   writing   dissertations  on  some complex  subject,   or  someone  collecting  data to  study   the   impact   of  a   newly  introduced  day-care system   on   the   morale    of employees?  Most   certainly,  all   these   images  do   represent  different aspects   of research.  Research, a  somewhat  intimidating term  for  some,   is  simply   the  process of finding   solutions  to  a  problem  after  a  thorough  study   and   analysis  of  the  situational  factors. Managers  in  organizations  constantly  engage  themselves  in studying  and  analyzing  issues   and  hence are  involved  in  some   form  of  research activity   as  they   make   decisions  at  the  workplace.  As  is  well   known,  sometimes managers  make   good   decisions  and   the   problem  gets   solved,  sometimes  they make   poor  decisions  and  the  problem  persists,  and  on  occasions  they  make such colossal  blunders  that   the   organization  gets   stuck   in    the   mire. The difference between  making  good   decisions  and   committing  blunders  lies    in  how   managers go   about   the decision-making  process. In  other   words,   good   decision  making fetches a yes answer  to  the  following  questions:  Do managers  identify    where exactly  the  problem  lies, do  they   correctly  recognize  the  relevant  factors   in  the situation   needing  investigation,  do  they   know   what   types   of  information  are   to be  gathered  and  how,   do  they know   how  to  make   use  of  the  information  so  collected    and draw appropriate  conclusions  to  make   the  right  decisions,  and  finally, do  they   know   how   to  implement the   results   of  this   process  to  solve   the   problem?  This  is  the  essence  of  research  and   to  be  a successful  manager  it  is  important  for  you  to  know    how  to  go  about   making  the right  decisions by  being knowledgeable  about   the   various   steps    involved  in    finding    solutions  to  problematic issues.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular post

The Manager–Researcher Relationship

Research is necessary for manager Also see:   Advantages and Disadvantages of internal and external researchers Handling manager research relationship d uring   their   careers, it often   becomes necessary for managers to deal    with   consultants.    Many   academicians also   have   their students do research projects   for the class   and several organizations  allow   access  to  them, asking  only   that  a  copy of the  research  project  be  made   available to  them.  Some professors interested in publishing   the results of basic research also approach organizations and   are afforded the facilities to conduct   research.  If the research has been done   scientifically, then the results of ...
Read more

Applied Research: Cases

Applied  Research Consider   the  following  two  situations  cited   in  Business  Week. 1. Oxford Health Plans Inc. saw trouble brewing. It was a company in distress experiencing computer problems.  Turnover   among   Oxford‘s   programmers  was unusually high and processing of claims became  a  big nightmare. Clients started cancelling  their policies, claims for bypass surgery  and   such were way up, and  premiums  paid out  relative to clients‘   medical  expenses,  on  a  percentage basis,   was   close   to  85%. 2.  Xerox is insular and isn‘t ready for  the increasingly  competitive,  high-tech   world. Xerox   still   relies on old-fashioned  and   slow-selling  analogue copiers for more than half its revenue and despite   its double-digit growth in digital prod...
Read more