Southern New Hampshire University Business Research Paper

Running head: Research Problem Statement and Research Question
RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTION
Joan Zimmerman
Southern New Hampshire University
Business Research 23TW3
February 5, 2023
Research Problem Statement and Research Question
2
Research problem
Market competition control
Preliminary Problem description
A successful business requires a constant high market demand for the produced products to
increase the supply and hence returns in form of profits. A business is threatened or set for
collapse when its products suffer a decline in their market demand. Every day, there are new
emerging companies producing similar goods as the established companies and this leads to
stiff competition for product sales, affecting company performance. Production of similar
goods by other companies increases customer choice and hence reduces demand, which in turn
affects production. Emerging companies integrate aggressive advertisement tactics, lowered
pricing points, broad range of products, distribution widening and attractive promotions to lure
loyal customers into purchasing their products. Managing of such competition requires
possession of unique properties and characteristics to make the company products outstanding
in the market, for favourable and advantageous sales position. This is inevitable to ensure
continued company operation in an environment of endless competition from similar or
alternative good production by other manufacturers. Investigation of the trend in product sales
prior and after entry of similar alternative products into the market within a range of the past 5
years can be done to establish the impact of market competition on sales. The research can be
based on the company products’ stronghold markets known and the local market where the
emerging similar products are of observably significant competition. The sales departmental
information on sales’ trend statistics can be used to determine the impact of the competition. A
survey can be conducted on random relevant customers to determine their view on the other
alternative products to establish the probable competition level for provision of a wide choice
of similar products in the market and determine the necessity of new markets.
Research question
Research Problem Statement and Research Question
3
How does developing entirely new markets for MSIL products and fortifying its position in
smaller markets impact in managing competition from companies producing similar
goods?
QSO 500 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview: In this final project, you will create a research report based on the application of action research processes for developing problem solving strategies.
In designing the report, you will follow the best practices for ethical research. You will utilize the research process to inform decisions in your professional life
and as a framework for approaching research projects in other courses in your program. The final product will be a comprehensive research report using the
five-step research process (identify the problem; understand the theoretical framework of the problem; design the research study; collect, explain, and analyze
the data; report the results; and make conclusions and recommendations).
For Milestone One, submit a draft of your business problem and literature review. Using the problem you identified in your Module One journal and the
feedback you received, describe the research problem including the context in which it exists. Using the problem statement, describe the stakeholders and
research objective. Based on the research objective, develop a research question that clearly and concisely articulates in one sentence the purpose of the study.
Consider the key real or potential ethical issues or challenges of the study.
After describing your business problem and research question, prepare a comprehensive literature review that carefully and thoughtfully examines the research
problem from a scholarly perspective using a minimum of seven quality sources. A minimum of three of the sources must be selected from scholarly, peerreviewed journals. Other quality sources can be professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or white papers,
or established news sources.
Prompt: Refer to the given case study Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership in the A-Segment and select a data-driven business problem that can be
addressed using action research to be the basis for your research report. Prepare a comprehensive literature review that carefully and thoughtfully examines the
research problem from a scholarly perspective using a minimum of seven quality sources. A minimum of three of the sources must be selected from scholarly,
peer-reviewed journals. Other quality sources can be from professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or
white papers, or established news sources.
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:
Business Problem: Refer to the given case study and select a data-driven business problem that can be addressed using action research to be the basis for
your research report.
A. Describe the research problem, including the context in which it exists. In other words, what caused or precipitated this problem? What has
already been done to address it?
B. Describe the key stakeholders (or potential stakeholders) of your business problem. In other words, who are the people who have the most to
gain or lose from a decision?
C. Explain the research objective. How would it benefit the stakeholder to know the results?
D. Develop a research question based on the research objective that clearly and concisely articulates in one sentence the purpose of the study.
E. Discuss the key real or potential ethical issues or challenges of the study. Consider the following: How will data be collected and protected? How
will human subjects be used, treated, and protected?
Literature Review:
A. Explain the theories that best ground your organizational problem. Support your explanation with specific examples. These theories might be
management, behavioral, social, and/or business related.
B. Discuss the bias and limitations present in the relevant literature and the potential impact these may have on your research.
C. Summarize at least one other research study that has faced this challenge that could potentially be replicated and applied to your research
study.
D. From the literature, analyze at least one other organization that has faced similar problems, explaining what they have done to address the
problem.
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your milestone must be submitted as a 5- to 6-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman
font, one-inch margins, and at least seven sources cited in APA format.
Critical Elements
Business Problem:
Research Problem
Proficient (100%)
Describes the research problem,
including the context in which it
exists
Business Problem:
Stakeholders
Describes all key stakeholders of
the business problem
Business Problem:
Research Objective
Explains the research objective,
including how this research
would benefit the stakeholder
Business Problem:
Research Question
Develops a research question
based on the research objective
that clearly and concisely
articulates in one sentence the
purpose of the study
Needs Improvement (75%)
Describes the research
problem, but description is
cursory or does not include the
context in which the problem
exists
Describes the stakeholders of
the business problem, but
description is cursory or
neglects to address all key
stakeholders
Explains the research objective,
but explanation is cursory or
does not show how this
research would benefit the
stakeholder
Develops a research question
based on the research
objective, but it does not
clearly or concisely articulate in
one sentence the purpose of
the study
Not Evident (0%)
Does not describe the research
problem
Value
9
Does not describe the
stakeholders of the business
problem
9
Does not explain the research
objective
9
Does not develop a research
question based on the research
objective
9
Business Problem:
Ethical Issues
Discusses all key real or
potential ethical issues or
challenges of the study
Literature Review:
Theories
Explains the theories that best
ground the organizational
problem with support from
specific examples
Literature Review:
Bias and Limitations
Discusses the bias and
limitations present in the
relevant literature, including the
potential impact on research
Literature Review:
Other Research Study
Summarizes another research
study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated and applied to
your research study
Literature Review:
Other Organization
Analyzes another organization
that has faced similar problems,
including an explanation of
what was done to address the
problem
Articulation of
Response
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Discusses real or potential
ethical issues or challenges of
the study, but discussion is
cursory, contains issues of
clarity, or neglects to address
key ethical issues
Explains the theories that best
ground the organizational
problem, but explanation is
cursory or not supported with
specific examples
Discusses the bias and
limitations present in the
relevant literature, but
discussion contains issues of
clarity or does not address the
potential impact on research
Summarizes another research
study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated and applied to
your research study, but
summary is cursory or contains
inaccuracies
Analyzes another organization
that has faced similar
problems, but analysis is
cursory or does not explain
what was done to address the
problem
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Does not discuss real or potential
ethical issues or challenges of the
study
12
Does not explain the theories that
best ground the organizational
problem
12
Does not discuss the bias and
limitations present in the relevant
literature
12
Does not summarize another
research study that has faced this
challenge that could potentially
be replicated
12
Does not analyze another
organization that has faced
similar problems
12
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
4
Total
100%
CHAPTER 3
DEFINING AND REFINING THE PROBLEM
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing Chapter 3 you should be able to:
Identify problem areas that are likely to be studied in organizations.
Narrow down a broad problem into a feasible topic for research using preliminary research.
Develop a good problem statement.
Develop a research proposal.
Be aware of the role of the manager in the early stages of the research process.
Be aware of the role of ethics in the early stages of the research process.
INTRODUCTION
Earlier in this book we have described business research as a systematic and organized effort to
investigate a specific problem encountered in the work setting. Indeed, managers have to be alert and
responsive to what is going on, both within their organization and in its environment in order to take
effective decisions and develop effective courses of action. The origin of most research stems from the
desire to get a grip on issues, concerns, and conflicts within the company or in its environment. In other
words, research typically begins with a problem.
THE BROAD PROBLEM AREA
A “problem” does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong with a current situation that
needs to be rectified immediately. A problem could also indicate an interest in an issue where finding
the right answers might help to improve an existing situation. Thus, it is fruitful to define a problem as
any situation where a gap exists between an actual and a desired ideal state. Box 3.1 provides examples
of problems that the manager may encounter in the work setting.
BOX 3.1
EXAMPLES OF PROBLEMS
Long and frequent delays lead to much frustration among airline passengers. These feelings may
eventually lead to switching behavior, negative word-of-mouth communication, and customer
complaints.
Staff turnover is higher than anticipated.
The current instrument for the assessment of potential employees for management positions is
imperfect.
Minority group members in organizations are not advancing in their careers.
The newly installed information system is not being used by the managers for whom it was primarily
designed.
The introduction of flexible work hours has created more problems than it has solved.
Young workers in the organization show low levels of commitment to the organization.
The foregoing problems provide us with enough information to embark on our research journey.
However, what these problems also have in common is that they still have to be transformed into a
researchable topic for investigation. Indeed, once we have identified the management problem, it needs
to be narrowed down to a researchable topic for study. Very often much work is needed to translate the
broad problem into a feasible research topic.
EXAMPLE
Problems versus symptoms of problems
It is very important that symptoms of problems are not defined as the real problem. For instance, a
manager might have tried to decrease employee turnover (the best people are leaving the organization)
by increasing wages, but with little success. Here the real problem may be something else such as the
low motivation of employees who feel they do not have enough control over their work. The high
turnover rate may merely be a symptom of the deep-rooted motivational problem. Under these
conditions, in the long run, a higher salary will not affect employees’ intentions to leave. Thus, finding
the “right” answer to the “wrong” problem definition will not help. Hence, it should be recognized that
correct problem identification is extremely critical for finding solutions to vexing issues.
Frequently, managers tend to describe the problem in terms of symptoms. Rather than accepting it as
such, the researcher needs to identify the problem more accurately. One way of determining that the
problem, rather than the symptom, is being addressed is a technique called “5 Whys” or “5 Times Why”.
5 Whys is a fairly straightforward approach that will help you to get to the root cause (the most basic
cause) of a problem (via preliminary research). Developed by the Japanese industrialist Sakichi Toyada,
the idea is to keep asking “Why?” until the most basic cause is arrived at.
Let’s go back to our example to illustrate this approach.
My best employees are leaving the organization.
Why? Because they are not satisfied with their jobs.
Why? Because they do not find a challenge in their jobs.
Why? Because they do not have control over their work.
Why? Because they do not have a lot of influence over planning, executing, and evaluating the work
they do.
Why? Because we have been reluctant to delegate.
Note that the number five is a general guideline for the number of whys needed to get to the root cause
level, but asking “Why?” five times versus three, four, or six times is not a strict requirement. What
matters is that we investigate recurring problems by addressing true causes and not symptoms of these
causes.
“The introduction of flexible work hours has created more problems than it has solved” provides a nice
starting point for a research project, but it lacks the specificity and focus needed to investigate it. We
need to transform the broad problem into a feasible topic for research by a) making it more specific and
precise and by b) setting clear boundaries. Finally, we need to select a c) perspective from which we
investigate the subject (Machi and McEvoy, 2012).
EXAMPLE
Bringing clarity and focus to the problem
The “secret” to bringing clarity and focus to your problem is to isolate the key ideas in the first version of
the problem statement. A broad, first statement of the problem often includes several words and/or
phrases that need definition. Check out the following problem statement:
“Minority group members in organizations are not advancing in their careers.”
To identify the key terms in your problem statement, look for the subjects (careers), verbs (advancing),
and objects (minority group members) in your statement. Definitions of key terms must be precise in
order to identify the subject of the research and to gain access to relevant academic literature. Precise
definitions will allow you to explore the literature. The literature review will help you to refine your
research objective(s) and research questions and thus to develop a feasible topic for research.
The selection of a particular (academic) perspective on the problem will allow us to draw upon a rich
body of literature to help us to formulate a feasible problem statement, as exemplified by the following
example.