Page 19 - [Uma_Sekaran]_Research_methods_for_business__a_sk(BookZZ.org)

WHAT IS RESEARCH? 3

the rest of the company employees had a freeze on their salaries. Did he deserve
the compensation he would get when the company was on a downward spiral,
at least for now? He also toyed with the idea that a token cut in his salary would
serve as a morale booster to company employees.
He wanted answers to several of these issues, but did not know who would
help him to find them. He knew that research in these areas would help, but did
not know where to seek the necessary guidance. Also, how would he verbalize
his various concerns and handle the researchers? He had broad visions for the
future of his company, but was at a loss to know how to execute these plans.
“Just because one is able to design a rail system and make trains, it does not nec-
essarily follow that one can make them run too,” he thought to himself.
It is not infrequently that chief executives and managers at various levels in an
organization find themselves facing such dilemmas. This book helps to find solu-
tions to the problems that managers, and those responsible for the execution of
projects, often face.
As a manager, you will have to make several decisions each day at work.
What would help you to make the right decisions? Will it be your experience
on the job, your sixth sense or hunch, or will you just hope for good luck? For
sure, all of these will play a part after you have thoroughly investigated or
researched the problem situation and generated some alternative solutions to
choose from. Whether or not managers realize it, they are constantly engaged
in research as they try to find solutions to the day-to-day problems, big and
small, that confront them at work. Some of the issues are solved with relative
ease, as when a machine on the shop floor stops working, and the foreman,
with his past experience, hastens to do the necessary repair and gets it to run
smoothly again. A few problems may present moderate difficulty, requiring
some time and effort for the manager to investigate into and find a solution, as
for example, when many employees absent themselves from work frequently.
Yet other problems could be quite complex and the manager might proceed to
seek the help of an “expert researcher” to study the issue and offer solutions,
as in the case of a company consistently incurring losses to the perplexity and
dismay of everyone.

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 char-
acter 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 sit-
uational factors. Managers in organizations constantly engage themselves in
studying and analyzing issues and hence are involved in some form of research