Research IS the Advantage!

Research in its simplest form is new knowledge. Jack Welch, retired Chairman and CEO of General Electric, adds deeper meaning to the idea of business knowledge as he states, "An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." Business is competitive and research will create the advantage over your adversary’s. In all positions and in all departments in business research should be the basis from which all decisions are made. The outcome of business is development which explains why nearly all big business have departments of Research and Development.

The type of research conducted is vitally important to achieving the desired information and ultimately the results needed to inspire development. Again research is ultimately anything that generates or inspires knowledge, so whether it is uncovering business practices and products of your competition or determining the needs, desires and buying habits of your customers, research is imperative. In the age of technology that we live in there is no viable argument for the lack of research. There are basically four types of research that can be conducted utilizing unlimited techniques:

• Case Studies are a method of determining a comprehensive understanding of interaction and response to products or services. A case study could investigate responses to business practices (personal or competitors practices), customer buying habits, or successes and failures. Often the situation is that the intensity of the Case Study will provide an immense amount of information to inspire development and change. Data gathering will often be initiated by searching the internet followed by potentially on site observations, surveys, personal interviews, or focus groups which encompass the remaining types of research types as well. A Case Study when performed thoroughly is typically all encompassing.

• Surveys are one of the most common forms of research. Surveys obtain information very quickly and are extremely inexpensive. Critical to the process of surveys is asking the pertinent information to receive the relevant information. The downside to surveys is the lack of participation. Another advantage of surveys is as a result of the widespread popularity of their use there are numerous options of electronic web based survey facilitators that are cost effective and easy to use.

• Interviews typically follow and seek to investigate the same information gathered on a survey. The greatest advantage of the interview is the ability for individuals to expand upon their answers and provide more detail to their responses. Interviews can potentially insight biases or influence responses which could impact the final assessment and should be considered in drawing conclusions.

• Focus Groups are a collaboration of small groups of individuals that have been previously profiled to discuss a specific topic, product, or service. The focus group process affords the benefits of all the types of research by delving deeper into the perspective of the participants than surveys much like the interviews while participants can also utilize insight from other participants to formulate their own responses. However, much like the interview, Focus Groups can also be encumbered with biases from the facilitator.

If you would like support in developing your Research and Development Initiative, we are eager to team together with you to get the results you desire. Visit our website at www.themeritgroupindy.com or call 317-805-4896 today!

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