Business Research Project
Create a research report based on your application of action research to research a specific business problem present in the given case study Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership in the A-Segment.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed in your research report:
I. 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.
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 t o 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?
II. Literature Review: 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 professional publications or magazines, internal corporate publications such as annual reports or white papers, or established news sources.
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.
III. Research Design: Explain how you will carry out your research. Remember that your business problem should be able to be addressed using action research.
Explain the research design and methods you will use, justifying why they are appropriate for your research study.
B. Describe the key variables from primary and/or secondary data sources that you will
use to analyze your research problem.
C. Explain the key dependent and independent variables. In other words, how would the
independent variables predict, explain, or prove the dependent variable?
D. Explain the key ethical considerations for using these data sources, including how
they meet le gal and professional standards.
IV. Data Analysis: After you have collected your data, analyze it using descriptive and inferential statistics.
A. Accurately analyze the data using the appropriate descriptive statistics.
B. Construct appropriate tables or graphs to accurately display the results of the data
analysis. Include explanations of the meaning of the information presented.
C. Accurately analyze the data using the appropriate inferential statistics. Be sure to
include the output.
D. Explain the meaning of the results of your data analysis in practical terms (e.g., what
were the results? What results were expected? What results were unexpected? What
results were unsettling?).
E. Discuss the ethics of analyzing data to ensure it is fair, objective, and scholarly. What
safeguards did you put in place to ensure the integrity of the study?
V. Conclusions and Recommendations for Action
A. Summarize your research findings succinctly for stakeholders.
B. Explain how the research problem can be addressed by incorporating the results from
your literature review and data analysis. In other words, what do you now know about
your research problem that you did not know or understand before?
C. Based on the conclusion, make recommendations to address the research problem that
are actionable, feasible, and realistic.
D. Recommend appropriate strategies for handling any potential questions and concerns
of stakeholders.
E. Based on your study, make appropriate recommendations for additional research that
would improve the organization’s effectiveness.