Scope of Business Research

Business research 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.

Scope of Business Research Includes the Following Areas

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.

Personnel Management: Research works well for job redesign, organization restructuring, development of motivational strategies and organizational development.

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.

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.

Materials Management: It is utilized in choosing the supplier, making the decisions relevant to make or buy as well as in selecting negotiation strategies.

General Management: It contributes greatly in developing the standards, objectives, long-term goals, and growth strategies.

To perform well in a complex environment, you will have to be equipped with an understanding of scientific methods and a way of integrating them into decision making. You will have to understand what good research means and how to conduct it. Since the complexity of the business environment has amplified, there is a commensurate rise in the number and power of the instruments to carry out research. There is certainly more knowledge in all areas of management. We now have started to develop much better theories. The computer has provided us a quantum leap in the capability to take care of difficulties. New techniques of quantitative analysis utilize this power. Communication and measurement techniques have also been improved. These developments reinforce each other and are having a substantial impact on business management.

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.