Companies conduct research before implementing strategic actions, such as marketing campaigns, price increases, or offering discounts. Business research provides organisations with the data-driven insights needed to make well-informed decisions.
The process involves systematically gathering, analysing, and interpreting data to guide strategic choices. Whether conducted at the departmental or organisational level, business research is crucial in ensuring a company’s success.
In this article, we will understand what is business research, the various types or research, its objectives, and its applications.
Table of Contents
What is Business Research?
Business research is the continuous process of studying, testing, and interpreting data to understand better the factors affecting a business. This includes consumer behaviour, market trends, technological advances, competitor products, and target market identification.
For those who are wondering what is business research, it aims to improve performance, increase efficiency, and create a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Business research is a key component of conducting business. It is a required step from the entrepreneurial to the expansion stage of a business. It can be used internally to improve supply chain efficiency or to analyse risk. It can be used externally to finalise pricing or develop new products.
What are the Key Objectives of Business Research?
When companies conduct business research, they better understand external factors that can affect the business in the short and long run. It helps managers base their decisions on the insights gathered from extensive research.
Business research is a continuous process, as no organisational decision is finalised without reliable and accurate data supporting the process. It helps organisations mitigate risk, be better prepared and take a safer route to conduct business.
These are some of the objectives that will help offer a clear understanding of what is business research.
- Understanding Market Trends: This can allow companies to understand their target market and create products that cater to their unique needs. This can also lead to targeted marketing campaigns.
- Problem Solving: It allows companies to identify problematic areas, such as marketing, sales, or operational efficiency.
- Innovation and Development: Companies can also learn to improve existing services, incorporate additional features into existing products or services, and design and launch new products.
- Competitor Analysis: It can allow companies to evaluate competitors’ products and strategies and how they compare. This is a key objective when trying to define what is business research.
What are the Types of Business Research?
The type of business research an organisation conducts depends on various factors, including how the outcome affects the overall business and its impact on market value. The research can be numerically based, conducted over interviews, by filling out online questionnaires, or by customer profiling.
The method that a business researcher selects depends on the problem they are trying to solve, the scope of the research, and the budget allocated for the same. To better understand what is business research, let us identify the types of research.
1. Qualitative Research
is a non-numerical research method that helps to understand a subject’s opinions, ideas, and feelings. It can be conducted through focus groups, surveys, interviews, comments, etc.
2. Quantitative Research
is a numbers-based research used when businesses require statistical data. It can be used to determine sales, calculate website traffic, and measure social media reach.
3. Exploratory Research
Companies use this research to gather more information about areas where little or no prior information exists. This is useful in drug trials and experimental treatments.
4. Descriptive Research
Organisations use this to identify a population’s behaviours, including the effects of product placement. It can also be used in retail to determine store layout or average spending habits.
5. Causal Research
This helps to study the cause-and-effect relationships between two related variables. This can be the effect of a holiday marketing campaign on sales or a new website design on customer engagement. When discussing what is business research and its types, this is an important research methodology.
What is The Business Research Process?
For any research to be practical and useful, it must follow a systematic process. This helps provide the research team with a problem and an objective. It also helps them to decide the type of business research they will need to complete in order to answer the research question.
When we answered what is business research earlier, we defined it as a systematic process. The process can be broken down into 7 steps to help researchers make informed decisions. Management can use the research results to make changes within the organisation and better understand their customers.
1. Defining the Problem
- Identify the problem
- Define the purpose
2. Developing a Research Plan
- Decide on the research methodology that best suits the problem
- Finalise the size of the study group, timeline for research
- Frame questions that are relevant to the problem
3. Data Collection
- Gather relevant data through primary and secondary sources
- Ensure it is reliable
- Guarantee that it meets quality standards
4. Data Analysis
- Transform raw data into actionable visuals
- Identify trends and correlations
5. Present Findings
- Communicate the results of the research to internal stakeholders
- Add recommendations
6. Make Decisions Based on Research
- Managers take steps to implement research findings
- Helps to increase productivity, launch unique products, or expand to new markets
7. Evaluation
- Study the effects of the research-backed decisions
- Monitor and track progress
What are the Benefits of Business Research?
When we discuss what is business research, it is important to identify its benefits. Ultimately, it is valuable because it helps increase an organisation’s market value. Correlating the benefits to the objectives of business research is easy.
Research identifies and solves problems, enabling managers to make informed decisions. Companies gain a competitive advantage by recognising market trends and conducting competitor analyses.
These are some of the benefits of conducting systematic business research that will better explain what is business research.
- Informed Decision-Making: Business research allows companies to make informed decisions supported by extensive research, which helps lower risk.
- Enhanced Customer Understanding: Companies gain a clearer picture of consumer trends, preferences, purchasing patterns, and if the products are meeting their current needs.
- Increased Efficiency: Internal research processes can help companies remove inefficiencies and optimise operations. This leads to higher productivity and helps generate greater revenue.
- Competitive Advantage: Consistent and regular research can allow companies to gain a first-mover advantage by identifying trends and launching products into the market before their competitors.
What are the Applications of Business Research?
Since business research can be conducted internally and externally, it can be executed at the departmental level or on a company-wide scale. Internally, it can help to identify and solve issues with company culture, work-life balance or conflict resolution.
Externally, business research allows companies to identify consumer behaviour, market gaps, and the impact of marketing strategies. Managers can use the research to upgrade their websites and applications, launch new products, and finalise their marketing campaigns.
These are some examples of how various departments use research and can help provide insight into what is business research at the functional level.
- Marketing: Help them measure the effectiveness of a campaign, judge customer preferences, and design store layout.
- Finance: Analyse the risks of launching in a new market, opening a new factory or using a new supplier.
- Operations: Can help to automate certain processes which can streamline production.
- Human Resources: Internal surveys and job portal reviews can help management understand overall employee satisfaction and how company culture affects employees.
What is the Importance of Business Research in South Africa?
Business research is not limited to large corporations or developed economies. Rather, when we look at what is business research, it serves a much larger purpose in emerging economies such as South Africa as companies align their practices to international standards.
It allows companies launching in South Africa to develop products and strategies that help resolve the unique challenges that consumers face here.
New businesses in South Africa also have a better survival rate since entrepreneurs have completed comprehensive business research. This helps them identify product gaps, study their target markets and plan a marketing strategy based on the business research results.
This is how business research can help organisations in South Africa.
- Navigating Economic Challenges: Helps companies better address the economic structure and price their products and services accordingly.
- Understanding Cultural Diversity: Tailor products and marketing strategies that resonate with South Africans
- Complying with Regulations: This allows businesses to comply with local laws pertaining to labour, tax, accounting, etc.
How to Study Business Research?
Regenesys Business School is one of the top private institutions where students can enrol in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in business and business management. These accredited programmes allow students to gain a foundational knowledge of key business aspects and teach them the importance of consistent and systematic research.
In addition, students can volunteer for real-world research projects and complete internships. This allows students to see firsthand how businesses operate, the problems and challenges they face, and the problem-solving steps that they employ.
Conclusion
Behind every strategic business decision is a systematic business research process proposed to help resolve a problem. Research can use various methodologies and sometimes multiple methodologies to help resolve any problem a company faces.
Business research relies on accurate and reliable data converted from raw data into actionable visuals. This allows the company management to take steps based on the research recommendations.
Aspiring business students must open the Regenesys website for detailed information on courses, curriculum details, and financial aid information.
What is Business Research? – FAQs
What is business research?
Business research is the systematic process of identifying a problem, gathering accurate data, analysing it, and presenting it to management.
How to do business research?
These are the steps businesses can follow tok do research: define the Problem, develop a research plan, collect data, analyse it, present findings, make decisions based on the data, and evaluate.
How to conduct market research for a new business?
A new business will need to carry out various stages of research to help it identify the target market, price points, and competitor analysis, etc.
Identify the methodologies companies can use during business research.
What to research when starting a business and research questions for an established company will differ. Companies use qualitative, quantitative, exploratory, and casual research to resolve problems best.
How do you study business research?
Business research can be studied through formal education, such as the undergraduate or postgraduate programmes in business offered at Regenesys Business School. It should be supported by working on real-world projects and internships that offer practical research experience.
What are the benefits of business research?
Business research provides informed decision-making, enhances customer understanding, increases operational efficiency, and offers a competitive advantage by identifying market trends and competitor strategies.
