Business Research

Week 1: Assignment

(Discussion Questions 1, 2, and 5, page 22).

What is business research? Why should there be any question about the definition of research?

According to Cooper and Schindler (2011), business research is a systematic inquiry that provides information to guide managerial decisions. It is a process of planning, acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating relevant data, information, and insights to decision makers in ways that mobilize the organization to take appropriate actions that, in turn, maximize performance (p.4).

Research is a systematic way of finding answers to question(s). There are definite steps to take in order to obtain accurate results that are focused and limited to specific question(s). The research may be presented with varying viewpoints, but with proper questions and focus the direction of the study can then be identified or determined.

What is the difference between applied research and basic or pure research? Use a decision about how a salesperson is to be paid, by commission or salary, and describe the question that would guide applied research versus the question that would guide pure research.

According to Cooper and Schindler (2011), applied research has practical problem-solving emphasis, and is conducted to reveal answers to specific questions related to action, performance, or policy needs; Pure research or basic research aims to solve perplexing questions, or obtain new knowledge of an experimental or theoretical nature that has little direct or immediate impact on action, performance, or policy decisions.

First off, let’s look at the difference between commission and salary. Commission benefits the employer because they only have to pay employee on sales made, thereby improving cash flow of the business because they don’t pay for amount of work performed, just the sales. For the employee, being paid by commission is benefit because they are paid based on skill and work performance. This may often...