Transcript Strategic Management Concepts & Cases Eighth Edition Fred R

Mgt 540
Research Methods
There’s lies,
damn lies,
and statistics”
Benjamin Disreli, popularized by Samuel Clements (Mark Twain)
1
Purpose of Research?

Increase understanding


Create order out of chaos
Make sense of everyday occurences

Improve decisions

Function of “Science”

Explain and predict
2
Influences on Research?
Organization
Politics
Researcher’s
Experience
Academic
Stakeholders
Research
Design
Choices
Researcher’s
Biases
Organization
Stakeholders
Field
Of
Study
3
Research Issues

Access


Issues of Power
Ethics
Personal versus Private
 Deceit


Utilization
4
What is Management

What are the implications for
research?
Is it what Organizations do?
 Is it how results are
accomplished?
 Is it what individuals do?
 Is it how they do what they do?

5
Management has been
viewed through …

Classical View

Functions of Management


Taylor, Fayol, etc.
Decision Theory

Analytical techniques
Simon, Cyert & March
 Rise of quantitative techniques

6
Management has been
viewed through …

Work-Activity (Behavioral)
Mintzberg
 Managing time and interpersonal
skills


Competencies


Livingston, Peters and Waterman
Critical
Shotter, Weick
 Dynamic, social-construction

7
Philosophical Foundations

Ontology
Being (existence)
 What is it we’re investigating
 Is it “real”
 Is it “rational”


Epistemology
Nature of knowledge and
understanding
 How do we investigate?
 Why?

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Is Management Art or Science?

Absent of clear boundaries
Eclectic
 Boundary spanning



Power based
Action / Results oriented
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Types of Research

Pure (esoteric) Research

Theory

Discovery


Invention


(e.g. TQM)
Reflection


(e.g. Hawthorne Study)
(e.g. Herzberg’s motivation framework)
Dissemination

Peer review / critique
10
Types of Research (cont.)

Empirical Research

Observation or experiment


Applied

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Verifiable or provable
What and why
Action Research


Process of research induces change
Ideally, open-ended

No finite solutions
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Approaches to Research

Qualitative (subjective / interpretive)



Distinctions based on qualities
Comparisons based on qualities
Quantitative (objective / rational)

Expressed or expressible as a quantity.


Of, relating to, or susceptible of
measurement.
Of or relating to number or quantity
There is a very good glossary of statistical terminology at:
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/research/glossary/ 12
Researcher’s
Personal Qualities
Pg. 20
13
Practical
Management Research
1.
Must be timely

2.
3.
4.
Address a topic of importance
Effective promotion &
distribution (for acceptance)
Relate to needs and concerns
of managers
Effective presentation

For practical application
14
Research Focus
15
Designing Research
1.
2.
3.
Statement of focus (main question)
Relationship to previous work &
existing state of knowledge
Summary of the research design


4.
Explanation of how data will be
interpreted

5.
Identification of what data
Discussion of how data will be
gathered
Tie to research question)
Identify practical value of research

Discussion of limitations (problems)
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Research Philosophies

Positivist View

Knowledge based on observed facts


Independence
Value Freedom



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Objective criteria
Causality
Hypothesis and deduction
Operationalization
Reductionism
Generalization
Cross-Sectional analysis
17
Contrasting Positivism and
Social Constructionism p. 30
Positivism
Social Constructionism
Observer
Independence
Inseparable element
Human Interests
Irrelevant
Main drivers of science
Explanations
Demonstrate causality
Increase general understanding
Research Progresses
through
Hypothesis and deduction
Rich data induces ideas
Concepts
Must be operationalized
and measured
Incorporate stakeholder
perspectives
Units of Analysis
Reduce to simplest terms
Include complexity of whole
situation
Generalization through
Statistical probability
Theoretical abstraction
Sampling requires
Large numbers,
randomness
Small mumbers of reasoned
choice
18
Ontologies and
Epistemologies
p. 33
19
Methodological Differences
Social Science Epistemologies
Positivism
Relativism
Social
Constructionism
Discovery
Exposure
Invention
Hypothesis
Suppositions
Meaning
Experiment
Triangulation
Reflexivity
Measurement
Survey
Conversation
Probability
Sense-making
Correlation
Understanding
Elements of Methods
Aims
Starting Points
Designs
Techniques
Anaysis /
Interpretation
Outcomes
Verification /
Falsification
Causality
20
Research Design Choices


How research topic is
determined?
How research topic is explored?
21
Research Design Matrix
p. 57
22
Research Issues

Context



Military Model

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Independent action, opportunistic
Investigative


Structured (ideal for resource rich)
Private Agent

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Global (Environmental) setting
Resource distribution
Concealment justified
Appropriate technology

Adjusted for prevalent technologies
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