Business research?
It is described as the systematic
and objective procedure for producing information for help in making business
decisions. Business research should be objective, which means that the
information found needs to be detached and impersonal instead of biased.
Research facilitates
the managerial
decision process for all aspects of a business. By
lowering the uncertainty of decisions, it cuts down on the risk of making
incorrect decisions.
Research should be an aid
to managerial judgment but not a replacement for it.
Market Research is a continuous process for collecting,
investigating and interpreting information about a particular market a company
operates in or a product/service the company offers for selling in that market,
and also about potential and existing competitors and the past, present and
potential customers who purchase and consume the offered product/service.
Conducting market research means making an analysis of all information about
the market, product/service, customers and competitors in order to investigate
possible ways for the company to successfully operate in the market, sell the
product/service, attract the target audience and gain competitive advantages.
Planning and conducting market
research is one of the key duties of marketing departments and teams. For your
company it is also important to organize regular market research to get insight
into the market, investigate spending habits of your customers, identify
existing and potential competitors, develop solutions for product promotion and
advertizing, increase your company’s recognition, improve your business
reputation, and so on. Researching the market is an important activity
providing your company with more business planning solutions that can improve
the company’s performance, improve sales and increase revenue.
Today it is nearly impossible to
efficiently sell a product or service without having conducted market research.
The importance of market research is
that a business company gains a suite of solutions for developing business
processes, increasing profits, improving company performance, investigating
competitors and getting more satisfied customers. The following article
highlights three key opportunities that your organization can gain from
planning and conducting market research.
Scope
of Business Research Includes the Following Areas in an organization.
1. Production Management: The research performs an
important function in product development, diversification, introducing a new
product, product improvement, process technologies, choosing a site, new
investment etc.
Production management also called operations management, planning and control of industrial processes to ensure that they
move smoothly at the required level. Techniques of production management are
employed in service as well as in manufacturing industries. It is a
responsibility similar in level and scope to other specialties such as
marketing or human resource and financial management. In manufacturing
operations, production management includes responsibility for product and
process design, planning and control issues involving capacity and quality, and
organization and supervision of the workforce
.
2. Personnel Management: Research works well for
job redesign, organization restructuring, development of motivational
strategies and organizational development.
HR professionals use survey research to gather information
used to inform strategic direction for functional areas and the organization as
a whole. Organizations with a strategic approach to HR management view individuals as
a vital asset, a competitive advantage to organizational effectiveness. Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and
maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management concerned with
employees at work and with their relationship within the organization.
3. Marketing Management: Research performs an
important part in choice and size of target market, the consumer behavior with
regards to attitudes, life style, and influences of the target market. It is
the primary tool in determining price policy, selection of channel of
distribution and development of sales strategies, product mix, promotional
strategies, etc. Therefore, in the marketing, managers use marketing research as
an important tool to solve marketing problems.
Marketing research helps
company and decision makers as follows: Marketing research (MR) provides valuable data. It studies
and provides data about consumer behavior.
4. Financial Management: Research can be useful
for portfolio management, distribution of dividend, capital raising, hedging
and looking after fluctuations in foreign currency and product cycles. The research
programme on Finance deals
with aspects of financial decision making for individuals, corporates, and
financial institutions and its consequences for the behavior of financial
markets. This is elaborated in three lines of research: (1) Financial
management and corporate finance; (2) Financial markets; (3) Banking and
regulation. All three themes formulated within the programme aim at performing
fundamental research that can be translated into practically useful results.
5. Materials Management: It is utilized in
choosing the supplier, making the decisions relevant to make or buy as well as
in selecting negotiation strategies. The purpose
of materials management organization
in any industry is to plan the materials requirements
for the production of goods and services. The structure of the organization
must be such so as to have the efficient management of materials
controlling its flow, conservation and utilization.
6. General Management: It contributes greatly in
developing the standards, objectives, long-term goals, and growth strategies. Business
research assists decision makers shift from intuitive information gathering to
organized and objective study. Even though researchers in different functional
fields may examine different phenomena, they are comparable to each other
simply because they make use of similar research techniques. Research is
the fountain of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and it is a crucial source
of providing guidelines for solving various business issues. Thus, we can say
that the scope
of business research is enormous.
There is no doubt about the
importance of market research. To prove this statement, let’s view why you
should research markets. Market research is important for your business because
it provides you with the following opportunities:
§ Increased Sales. Through researching your
market you gain valuable information that helps you identify how successful
your product/service is likely to be, what the best price you can set for the
product/service, and which customers are interested in purchasing and consuming
the product/service. Having investigated this information helps you increase
sales.
§ Better Customer Management. The importance of
market research is that you can use tools of marketing campaigns
(questionnaires, meetings, discussions, messaging) to reach a wide audience of
customers, reduce the timeframe within which your product/service reaches the
customers, investigate current and future needs and expectations of the customers,
and achieve higher customer satisfaction.
§ Business Growth. As due to market
researching your sales tends to an increase and your customer management gets
better, your company gains an opportunity for further business growth and
development.
Conclusion
The importance of business research is
explained by three key opportunities that your business gains. First, you get
sales increased, then you reach better customer management, and finally you
lead your company to continuous business growth and development.
It provide better work
environment, motivation , branding, training, managing time, Rising growth, Taking
into account these opportunities, you should research because business
researching paves the way for better inventory management, business planning,
time management, employee management, etc. Obviously the research in any part
of the department of your organization can optimize its overall campaigns
through planning and conducting business research activities.
