Business research is essential because it involves statistical information about the external and internal environment of the company. This information is required while planning strategically, setting objectives and determining the competitive advantage of the company or the product. Studies based on morale, employee opinions, absenteeism and the management of people provide valuable insights into the prevailing conditions of employee management relations and tend to strengthen and improve levels of productivity and growth by fostering efficiency and effectiveness as well as competitiveness. Research on financial matters can guide the company with respect to financial issues and problems as well as opportunities. This research can lead to financial prosperity. While research is used widely to study markets and their opportunities, research is also used to study the company’s production and marketing operations.
The importance of research can be assessed from its invaluable contribution to the process of decision- making. Research aids the decision-making process by providing timely and accurate information, which helps the management to identify more efficient, less risky and more profitable alternatives. There is one complexity however, that the usefulness of research hinges on the ability of the researchers to understand the full details of the decision situation. Interest in scientific decision-making has been fostered by the increased need of managers for more and better information and the availability of improved techniques to meet this need. Additionally, these trends have as a result led to complex business organizations in a highly dynamic market where competition is vigorous, expansions leads to more complexity due to dynamism, increased risk rates, and a better informed public sensitive to its power. Overall, business research contributes to more effective decisions in all functional areas and has emerged as a specialty in marketing and operations research. Lets take the example of the different functions of a particular company and the relevance of research to the company’s success and growth. In the context of finance, with the help of research, a company can set effective and flexible budgets, manage its finances in an improved manner and have a secure financial future. In terms of production, how much to produce, how much is required, the new techniques and improved methods of production that reduce costs are the different types of information that are required. Similarly, in case of marketing, a company needs to know what the customers demand, at what price, what quantity, where and in what form. The decisions pertaining to the marketing mix depend on research. Research with respect to employee relations can help to identify causes of low motivation levels, high rates of absenteeism, and low productivity. Such research would provide a guide for a more effective human resource policy. Therefore, research is entirely essential for business managers.
Marketing research is a very vast field, which requires separate considerations and specialized professionals. There is no doubt that marketing research plays a vital role in strategic planning due to the provision of timely and accurate information which help in making decisions. It is important that there should be a separate R&D department in the company. Research in marketing is the second most widely recognized area with separate organizational status. In recent years operations research has grown rapidly and now is the next most widely encountered separate organizational research unit. Operations research has at this stage moved beyond its original concern with production and goods handling, instead now it has moved on to the concepts of OR specialists. Research isn’t just confined to the marketing sector; it deals with a lot of functional areas, such as HR, production and finance. If the two are integrated, the researchers will loose focus and all the information gathered will be interpreted in context of marketing plans. Since the business has to carry out strategic planning with reference to a company and its functions a separate specialized R&D department should be made. The reason is that research provides information on the external and internal environments of the company, on the development of a competitive edge, goals and performance measuring controls. The information collected may not be interpreted in the same way, which may lead to chaos and confusion and accurate and appropriate decisions may not be made. An un-integrated department for R&D would mean the employment of research specialists who have the expertise to collect accurate information, provide information about different opportunities and interpret it accurately. Researchers need to be well equipped with data collection, measurement and analysis tools to make the best possible use of the information gathered. There fore, in larger businesses, it is almost essential for company to have a separate well equipped research department to deal with large amounts of data in an effective manner in order to maintain the focus of strategic development on the different functions of the organizaiton
