e eBook Collection RESEARCH METHODS FOR BUSINESS A Skill-Building Approach Uma Sekaran Southern Illinois University at Carbondale John Wiley & Sons, Inc http://www.wiley.com/college Fourth Edition ACQUISITIONS EDITOR MARKETING MANAGER SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR SENIOR DESIGNER PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES COVER IMAGE Jeff Marshall Ilse Wolfe Patricia McFadden Harry Nolan Hermitage Publishing Services José Ortega/Stock Illustration Source This book was set in 10/12 Garamond by Hermitage Publishing Services and printed and bound by Malloy Lithographing, Inc The cover was printed by Von Hoffmann Press, Inc This book is printed on acid-free paper Copyright 2003 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470 Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@WILEY.COM To order books please call 1(800)-225-5945 ISBN 0-471-20366-1 ISBN 0-471-38448-8 (WIE) Printed in the United States of America 10 To Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly With Love ABOUT THE AUTHOR Uma Sekaran is Professor Emerita of Management, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC), Illinois Sekaran obtained her MBA degree from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and Ph.D from UCLA She was the Chair of the Department of Management and also the Director of University Women‘s Professional Advancement at SIUC when she retired from the University and moved to California to be closer to her family Dr Sekaran has authored or co-authored books, 12 book chapters, and more than 55 refereed journal articles in the management area, and has presented more than 70 papers at national, international, and regional management conferences Professor Sekaran has won recognition for significant research contributions to cross-cultural research from U.S and international professional organizations She is the recipient of Meritorious Research Awards both from the Academy of Management and SIUC She has also been conferred the Best Teacher Award by the University Dr Sekaran continues to teach courses from time to time During the summer of 2000 she taught a specially designed course titled ―Management in the New Millennium‖ at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, which highlighted the need for change in management styles in the face of technological advancements She also continues to engage in research iv PREFACE Revising Research Methods for Business for this fourth edition has been an enjoyable experience As in previous editions, the simple and informal style of presenting information has been maintained and the focus on practical skill building preserved The book provides several examples to illustrate the concepts and points presented Users will also note throughout the book the variety of examples in the different areas of business—production, operations management, business policy and strategy, organizational behavior, human resources management, information systems, marketing, accounting, and finance—cited to illustrate that research finds application in all areas of business It is hoped that students will find research to be interesting, nonintimidating, and of practical use In addition to the inclusion of more miniexercises at the end of chapters from cases adapted from business journals, the chapter on technology has been substantially revised to keep in line with the changing trends The application of software for collecting data, analyzing them, and presenting the results is also discussed in the relevant chapters The final chapter on managerial decision making and research elucidates the research cycle as encompassing the full gamut from qualitative data analysis to quantitative hypothesis testing empirical studies An additional case is presented to emphasize the need for research by exemplifying a company‘s failure due to lack of investigation Data analysis is illustrated through the current SPSS Version 11.0 in the data analysis chapter and the student version thereof is available with this edition of the book for the interested student Most chapters in the book include managerial implications of the contents discussed, emphasizing the need for managers to understand research The ethical considerations involved in conducting research are also clearly brought out The dynamics of cross-cultural research in terms of instrument development, surveys, and sampling are discussed, which in the context of today‘s global economy will be useful to students The final chapter of the book discusses two case studies, one set in a cross-cultural context further highlighting the need to be culture-sensitive, and the other illustrating how, for lack of research intervention, an organization can be obliterated The Refresher Module on Statistical Terms and Tests at the end of the book should help instructors to assign the material to students when they are ready to so It is presented in a simple way without discussing derivation of formulas, so that the student has enough knowledge to conduct research applying appropriate statistical tests Many have helped in the development of this edition The valued comments of Usha Sekar, President and CEO of CRIA Technologies, Inc., on the draft version of the chapter on technology have been duly taken into account Lakshmi v vi PREFACE V Thiyagarajan of Oblix Inc., and Pirasenna V Thiyagarajan, Sun Microsystems, Inc., supplied information on the security aspects of technology and ERP Professor Arun Pennathur helped in identifying the software available for questionnaire design, data collection, and data analyses The help of all these individuals is very much appreciated My sincere thanks also go to Tom Moellering of SPSS, Inc., who responded promptly to my request for the latest 11.0 version of SPSS software programs for data analysis My thanks are due to several other individuals as well Professor Elizabeth Barclay of Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, reviewed the third edition and suggested some changes for the revision Professor Metin Cakici of Isik University, Istanbul, pointed out some inaccuracies in the formulas in the chapter on sampling in the third edition Thanks to him, these have now been rectified Mr Narayanan Pennathur patiently read the draft versions of the chapters and significantly improved the language and style of writing Mr A.R.C Sekaran helped in getting the manuscript ready for publication My appreciation to both these individuals My heartfelt thanks to Sudha Pennathur, President of the House of Pennathur, for an update on the case study in the last chapter and for providing another case for the book Her help is deeply appreciated I expect that students and instructors alike will enjoy this edition Students should become effective managers, helped by the requisite knowledge and skills acquired by the study of this book The Instructor’s Manual that accompanies this text will be a good additional teaching aid for teachers I hope both the instructors and the students will find this book useful Any comments or suggestions may be e-mailed to Chins@Juno.com or mailed to me at the following address: 4571 Latimer Ave, San Jose, California 95130 For additional information check web site http://www.wiley.com/college/sekaran Good luck! Uma Sekaran CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH /1 CHAPTER SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION /20 What Is Research? /3 The Hallmarks of Scientific Research /22 The Excitement of Research and Why Managers Should Know about Research /4 Business Research /5 Definition of Research /5 Research and the Manager /5 Types of Business Research: Applied and Basic /7 Applied Research /8 Basic or Fundamental Research /9 Managers and Research /11 The Manager and the Consultant–Researcher /12 How to Locate and Select a Researcher /13 The Manager–Researcher Relationship /13 Values /14 Internal versus External Consultants/Researchers /14 Internal Consultants/Researchers /14 Advantages of Internal Consultants/Researchers /15 Disadvantages of Internal Researchers /15 External Consultants/Researchers /16 Advantages of External Consultants /16 Disadvantages of External Consultants /16 Knowledge About Research and Managerial Effectiveness /17 Ethics and Business Research /17 Summary /18 Discussion Questions and Points to Ponder /18 Purposiveness /22 Rigor /22 Testability /23 Replicability /23 Precision and Confidence /24 Objectivity /25 Generalizability /25 Parsimony /26 Some Obstacles to Conducting Scientific Research in the Management Area /26 The Building Blocks of Science in Research /27 Deduction and Induction /27 The Hypothetico-Deductive Method /29 The Seven-Step Process in the Hypothetico-Deductive Method /29 Two Examples of the Application of the Hypothetico-Deductive Method in Organizations /32 Review of the Hypothetico-Deductive Method /35 Other Types of Research /35 Case Studies /35 Action Research /36 Summary /36 Discussion Questions and Points to Ponder /37 CHAPTER TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS RESEARCH /39 Information Needs of Business /41 Commonly Used Technologies in Business Research /42 vii viii CONTENTS The Internet /42 Electronic Mail /43 The Intranet /44 Browsers /44 Web Sites /45 Some Software Used in Business Research /45 Groupware /45 Neural Networks /45 CAM/CAD /45 Enterprise Resource Planning /46 Data Analytic Software Programs /46 Emerging Applications in Technology /47 Handheld Devices /47 Interactive Voice Technology, CD-ROM, and Relational Data Bases /47 Digital Whiteboards /47 Group Videoconferencing /48 Virtual Reality /48 Linkage of PCs to Electronic Devices /48 Information Systems and Managerial Decision Making /48 Data Warehousing, Data Mining, and Operations Research /49 International Dimensions of Cyberspace /50 Data Storage and Surveillance /50 Storage of Data Bases /50 Data Security /50 Managerial Advantage of Technological Advancements /51 Ethics in Handling Information Technology /51 Summary /52 Discussion Questions and Points to Ponder /52 CHAPTER THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEPS TO 3: THE BROAD PROBLEM AREA, PRELIMINARY DATA GATHERING, PROBLEM DEFINITION /54 The Research Process for Applied and Basic Research /55 Broad Problem Area /57 Preliminary Data Collection /58 Nature of Data to Be Gathered /58 Background Information on the Organization /59 Information on Structural Factors and Management Philosophy /60 Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behavioral Responses /61 Literature Survey /63 Reasons for the Literature Survey /63 Conducting the Literature Survey /65 Identifying the Relevant Sources /65 Extracting the Relevant Information /66 Writing up the Literature Review /66 Examples of Two Literature Surveys /67 Problem Definition /69 Examples of Well-Defined Problems /70 Managerial Implications /71 Ethical Issues in the Preliminary Stages of Investigation /71 Summary /72 Discussion Questions and Points to Ponder /72 Practice Projects /74 APPENDIX /75 Section 1: Some On-Line Databases Useful for Business Research /75 Section 2: Bibliographical Indexes /78 Section 3: APA Format for Referencing Relevant Articles /80 Section 4: Referencing and Quotation in the Literature Review Section /82 CHAPTER THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEPS AND 5: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT /85 The Need for a Theoretical Framework /86 Variables /87 Types of Variables /88 The Distinction between an Independent Variable and a Moderating Variable /92 ... of Research and Why Managers Should Know about Research /4 Business Research /5 Definition of Research /5 Research and the Manager /5 Types of Business Research: Applied and Basic /7 Applied Research. .. http://www.wiley.com/college /sekaran Good luck! Uma Sekaran CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH /1 CHAPTER SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION /20 What Is Research? /3 The Hallmarks of Scientific Research /22 The... INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH TOPICS DISCUSSED DEFINITION OF RESEARCH APPLIED AND BASIC RESEARCH WHY MANAGERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RESEARCH MANAGERS AND THE CONSULTANT–RESEARCHER • The Manager–Researcher