Difficulties to formulate specific research methods to use: 3 examples

Difficulties to formulate specific research methods to use: 3 examples

Example 1. My project is to study my personal business venture to launch a new service business, for the zone 2 research objective "to evaluate the business model development capability of ABC Ltd", what research method to use. I am the only person (the founder) of the new venture at this stage?

Example 2. My project is to study my ex-employer, my ex-colleague (as the gatekeeper) introduce me to interview a senior sales representative. Could my dissertation project employs a single research interview on 1 interviewee? To compensate for this research limitation, could I extend my questionnaire survey so that I have more survey data for analysis?

Example 3. My project is to study the sales department of ABC Ltd, and I am the newly appointed sales manager of ABC Ltd. I have difficulties to study the managerial competence of ABC Ltd, as the CEO who employs me is not in the office most of the time and does not like to communicate with the staff at ABC Ltd. CEO appears quite unapproachable. What research methods should I use too study this research objective (on managerial competence) in this case?

The key considerations in doing dissertation projects: a note to students

The key considerations in doing dissertation projects: a note to students:

Many students hold some misunderstanding about doing dissertation projects:

1. What research methods to use?

2. Can any people offer me some relevant academic readings to study?

3. Can I use my course assignment works to re-engineer a dissertation proposal?

4. Can I use my company's research reports, e.g. customer survey, employee survey, as my dissertation project research methods "to use"?

Comments: 

1. What research methods to use?: This is not the first question to ask.

2. Can any people offer me some relevant academic readings to study?: Ask this question only after you have figure out your agenda to do literature review; and then doing literature search is straightforward; you do not need to ask your "professor" friends to do that for you.

3. Can I re-engineer my course assignment works to come up with a dissertation proposal?: It may influence your research interest, but normal subject course work requires you to show knowledge a particular subject; dissertation project requires you to show competence as a researcher. So, it is not a good idea to "re-engineer" your assignment work in this regard.

4. Can I use my company's research reports, e.g. customer survey, employee survey, as my dissertation project research methods "to use"? Do not do that; it is not your primary research methods to use and they are not informed by your literature review findings.

My advice:

1. Follow the agile literature review approach (ALRA).

2. Reflect on your learning objectives, mindset*, intellectual curiosity and life priority.

3. Pay attention to time management on dissertation projects.

4. Pay attention to methods to accelerate learning.

5. You are the researcher and your project supervisor is your mentor**, not a supervisor who "instructs" you how to perform clearly defined tasks, nor your tutor on management subjects and research methods, and, finally, nor your boss who alone determine your dissertation project result.

* a case study on mindset and intellectual curiosity: student A: "all those discussion of academic theories are essentially dribbling". 

** as a mentor, in this setting, your supervisor raises "insightful"  (e.g. exploratory) questions to guide you to do your dissertation projects, mainly by reviewing and commenting on your dissertation project ideas. Some research experience sharing from your supervisor is also provided to you from time to time.

E-resource on positionality in Research Method study: a list

 E-resource on positionality in Research Method study: a list

Videos:

1. Positionality & Research: Awareness Strategies

2. Positionality Statements.

3. Positionality Statement-Megan.

4. Reflexivity and positionality in research.

5. Lightning Talk: Positionality Statements.

6. Good practices: reflexivity.

Lightweight academic-oriented dissertation project: a note for MBA students

Lightweight academic-oriented dissertation project: an ALRA note for MBA students

While consulting-oriented dissertation project type (in ALRA study), being management-concerned driven, is most suitable for MBA students to conduct, finding a case study and requesting a gatekeeper  (a topic in research ethics) to approve the MBA student to conduct the dissertation project in his/ her organization could be a serious challenge to many MBA students. In this case, a lightweight academic-oriented dissertation project appears more feasible. The initial steps are as follows:

1. Pick up a business management topic, e.g. talent management, AI application in business, and consumer behavior of generation Z, etc., and do some preliminary literature review of about 3-4 academic articles, plus a quick newspaper article study (about 3-4 articles).

2. Perform a quick research gap analysis to come up with 2-3 research gap statements. (All academic articles discuss research gaps in the introductory part of them in order to justify the study in terms of academic originality).

3. Convert the research gap statements into research objective statements.

4. Construct preliminary diagrams as specified in the agile literature review approach (ALRA) (for the academic-oriented dissertation project type).

Having done that, the MBA student should now be capable of producing a synopsis form and, shortly afterward, a dissertation proposal. 

Taking up an academic-oriented dissertation project avoids the necessity to do a case study research (and the need to gain the approval of a gatekeeper). Nevertheless, it is still expected to employ  at least two primary research methods, e.g. observational research, questionnaire survey, interview research and focus group research.

The lightweight guideline proposed here is mainly about how to produce a dissertation proposal in a lightweight manner.

Reading materials on the management-concerns diagram in the agile literature review approach (ALRA)

Reading materials on the management-concerns diagram in the agile literature review approach (ALRA)

Some of my MBA students request me to explain the topic of management-concerns diagram further in lecture. In this regard, I produce the following reading list for study purpose:

1. Wording used in the diagram

2. On the nature of the management-concerns diagram

3. On the ALRA zones.

4a. Converting a factual statement into a management-concern item [zone 1]

4b. Converting a factual statement into a management-concern item [in zone 1]

5. On the exploratory interview exercise.

6. Contributors to the construction of management-concerns diagram.

7. The basic form of the management-concerns diagram.

Research objective justification and the intended project values to be created: an ALRA note on dissertation projects

Research objective justification and the intended project values to be created: a note on dissertation projects (two types), notably for MBA students learning the agile literature review approach (ALRA):

Type 1: For consulting-oriented dissertation projects:

The justification: Research objectives are the direct response to the management concerns to be addressed in the dissertation project; the research objectives are management-concerns derived.

The intended project values: (i) addressing the management concerns create the dissertation project's practical value; (ii) reflecting on the dissertation project experience of using chosen academic theories and research methods leads to some concrete (preferably original) knowledge which contributes to the theoretical development/ refinement of the topics (about the theories and research methods employed); in this case, the project creates some academic value.

Type 2: For academic-oriented dissertation projects:

The justification: Research objectives are the direct response to the research gaps (identified from the research gap analysis [in the topic of literature review]) to be addressed in the dissertation project; the research objectives are research gap-derived.

The intended project values: (i) addressing the research gaps create the dissertation project's academic value; (ii) reflecting on the dissertation project experience of the research investigation on the research gaps under examination leads to some concrete (preferably) knowledge useful to real-world management practices; this is the case if curiosity on the research gaps chosen to be studied are also triggered by certain real-world management concerns at the company and/ or business sector levels. In this regard, the project also generates some practical value.

The literature review steps specific to academic-oriented dissertation project: a note

The literature review steps specific to academic-oriented dissertation project type: a note

Steps in literature review for academic-oriented dissertation project type	Related ALRA deliverables for academic-oriented dissertation project type
Step 1: Identification of research theme and the underlying research interest triggering factor	A research-gap translation diagram with the triggering point of intellectual curiosity
Step 2: Literature synthesis	Theoretical framework-A
Step 3: Research gap analysis	A research-gap translation diagram with the triggering point of intellectual curiosity A research gap-objective table Theoretical framework-A
Step 4: Research gap derived research objectives	Theoretical framework-A A research gap-objective table
Step 5: A synthesized research objective framework	Theoretical framework-A and the research gap-objective table used together
Step 6: A research objective framework with associated academic ideas for analysis employment	The academic literature review tree
Step 7: A research objective framework with academic ideas and research methods to use	Theoretical framework-B and the research gap-objective table used together

 

From the agile literature review approach (ALRA) perspective, the 7-steps literature review should be considered as a reference framework, because the actual literature review process is performed in the agile spirit; that is, the 7-steps literature review is not a water-fall model. The ALRA deliverables are also not to be constructed sequentially. Nevertheless, the ALRA deliverables are to be inserted into the dissertation report in specific chapters, thus possibly giving a superficial impression that they are produced with a linear fashion.

Step 7 (literature review) is a liminal activity dealing with both the literature review domain and the research methodology domain of a dissertation project. For dissertation report writing purpose, the account of step 7 should be presented in the chapter of Research Methodology.