Introduction and Overview
BMAN 73652 (BASM):
Professional Analytical Skills
Lecture 1
William il-kuk Kang
Objectives for today's session
PART 2: What does it mean by research? – Basic concepts
.
Understand what it means by research
Understand the core requirements for a ‘good’ research
Understand meaning of ‘theory’ and why it is important
The goals of science
Ultimately, the goal of social science is to provide knowledge
about social life and society (cf. King, Keohane and Verba 1994, ch. 1)
Two main types of knowledge:
Descriptive knowledge: “Firm A has strong capabilities”
Causal knowledge: “Strong capabilities lead to better economic
performance”
Types of Dissertation
In MSc BASM – there are three types of dissertations that students may
undertake:
Traditional dissertation
Project-based dissertation where the student sources the project
Project-based dissertation where Alliance MBS sources the project
Yet, the underlying logic is identical
We come across
various issues in
reality
From the news and business press, or even through experience!
BBC, Bloomberg, The Economist
Many current developments provide starting points for
a wide range of research topics and questions
Digitalisation, Bitcoin, blockchain
Brexit
Client Facing Projects
Sample Sample
1 2
From such, you may build a research
idea based on
Your own interests/curiosity
For your career (e.g. industry you
want to work for/company you want
to work for)
Client facing projects – ideas are
somewhat embedded in the client
briefs
But then what?
Research Questions
Research starts with ideas (e.g. interests, extant literature, experiences,
‘stumbling’) that must be turned into research questions;
‘One of the key criteria of your research success will be whether you have
developed a set of clear conclusions from the data you have collected. The
extent to which you can do that will be determined largely by the clarity with
which you have posed your research question’ (Saunders et al., 2016);
Your research questions will influence the literature review and research
design, methodology and even how you write your research;
They may also indicate your underlying research philosophy;
Research questions are not necessarily set in stone.
Research topics and questions
Topic
“Multinationality and peformance”
“Descriptive” research question
Does Firm A have a high degree of multinationality?
Do state owned enterprises have a lower degree of multinationality than privately owned
enterprises?
“Causal” research question
Does a high degree of multinationality lead to high performance?
Research topic and literature
co review
mp
ara
When you have found an interesting topic, the next step tiv is to search for previous
e,
academic literature on the topic Tomorrow’s labcois mainly about the
literature mp
Previous literature will help you learn more about the topicetit
ive
Previous literature can also help you to understand why and how the chosen topic
matters
Previous literature can suggest relevant theories and methods for studying the
topic
Also, you want to avoid duplicating what previous research did
However, replication of previous research can be valuable – more about this later
Research Process Overview
Research Questions to Research objectives
Objectives derived from research questions –
who/what are you going to study and how to do
what you intended;
Influenced by:
.
Phenomenon under investigation;
Research topic and questions; and
Research philosophy (i.e. ontology and epistemology) – the
underlying set of often taken-for-granted metatheoretical
assumptions which determines the range of methodologies
that can be employed in the inquiry (e.g. Bechara & Van de
Ven, 2011; Cunliffe, 2011; Tsoukas & Chia, 2011).
Pragmatic considerations (e.g. time constraints, access
restrictions).
Shaping your research design (next week)
Types of academic studies
Theoretical/conceptual
.
I.e. developing new theoretical arguments without testing them
However, usually anecdotal evidence or previous (empirical) literature will be cited
Empirical
.
Papers mainly testing previous theoretical arguments
Both theoretical/conceptual and empirical
.
Papers developing and testing new theory (e.g. using statistical methods)
Theory-building case studies
Literature reviews
.
Several types: E.g. systematic, narrative, bibliometric, meta-analysis
Methodological papers
.
Such papers may describe (novel) methods providing guidance for researchers
Two types of research: Theory driven
research
Theory driven:
Formulating a research problem that will test a theory already
developed
e.g. Can we explain emerging market MNEs using the theories
developed to explain Western MNEs in the 1970s? Or Can
theories based on manufacturing firms be used to explain digital-
based firms?
Theories often have ambitions to be “universal” – but in practice
tend to reflect characteristics of the context in which they were
developed
Two types of research: Phenomenon driven
research
Phenomenon driven:
“any research that takes as a principal focus the ability to accurately
and insightfully inform a real-world phenomenon or phenomena”
(Doh, 2015: 609)
e.g.
study a specific phenomena
further validate or expand established theories
develop new theory
What is theory?
‘A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain
something, especially one based on general principles
independent of the thing to be explained’ (Oxford English
Dictionary Online, 2019).
A theory is an explanation of observable events in terms
of constructs and laws that specify the relationships
between these constructs
Conceptual framework, model and diagram
Students often confuse theory with conceptual framework
Miles and Huberman (1994, p.18) defined a conceptual framework as
“a visual or written product, one that explains, either graphically or in
narrative form, the main things to be studied- the key factors, concepts or
variables – and the presumed relationships among them.”
A conceptual model essentially relates two or more concepts to each other.
A conceptual diagram shows the model visually.
.
Boxes represent concepts (or the variables measuring concepts), and arrows
represent the relationships among concepts (Thomas et al 2011)
Culture differences Merger and
acquisition (M&A)
performance
Theories
A theory goes beyond a conceptual model by explaining how and why
one concept causes the other
It is not simply a framework, but a story about what is happening and
why
.
Theories are about the arrows connecting the boxes – they explain the logic of
the relationships depicted in the arrows (Thomas et al 2011)
Culture differences Merger and
acquisition (M&A)
performance
Theoretical arguments on
communication problems,
language differences, diversity
and new ideas, etc.
The questions theory should answer
(Whetten, 1989)
What and how determine what theory is about (“the boxes and
arrows”)
Why explains the relationships expressed in boxes and arrows
Where, when and who determine the context and the boundaries
for a theory
Example: Can we understand why and how firms may pursue ‘routine
technology’ without the constructs and conditions of ‘high’ variety and
‘high’ analysability?
“There is nothing more
practical than a good theory!”
(Kurt Lewin, 1952)
“Theories help us organize our thoughts, generate
coherent explanations, and improve our
predictions. In short, theories help us achieve
understanding” (Hambrick, 2007, page 1346).
However not all theories are the same:
Institution Theory – What makes them
different?
Douglass C. North – W. Richard Scott – Neo
Institutional Economist Institutionalism
Computer labs for Week 1
Computer Lab:
Reference management software (Mendeley) linked to MS Word
Search for literature in journal databases
Important formatting functions in MS Word
