Research, whether in business or for the purpose of advancing the academic knowledge base, plays a vital role in promoting scholarship. While students have access to scholarly sites that are rich in information in various fields, it becomes a challenge for some to identify a topic they can explore. Exposure to such magnitude of content sometimes confuses students especially when they do not take sufficient time to analyze the material they have access to. Therefore, selecting a topic whether for business or academic research is a daunting task. After one is successful in finding a topic, the next step involves choosing a research approach. While some studies rely on already completed studies, some require gathering data and analyzing it to find whether there is a causal relationship between or among target variables. For this reason, an exploration of empirical research in business is warranted.
Description of Empirical Research
Empirical research involves observation and measurement of phenomena and acquires knowledge from actual experience as opposed to relying on theory. Thus, empiricism, which implies knowledge gained through observation, forms the basis of empirical research (White, 2005). There are two types of empirical research which are experimental and non-experimental. Under experimental research, a researcher uses an intervention or treatment to bring about a hypothesized change to a number of variables under study. The idea is to identify whether the intervention used projects a causal relationship between target variables. On the other hand, there is non-experimental research whereby the research simply observes subjects without exposing them to treatment or intervention (White, 2005). Thus, in such a case, the researcher allows the subjects to remain in their natural environment without any influence from a particular treatment. One can notice that empirical research is mainly about identifying facts, in particular the cause-and-effect relationship between certain variables.
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To some extent, empirical research is related to applied research. Oosterlinck, Debackere, and Cielen (2002) described applied research as involving mainly research that is used to solve a particular target problem across various fields such as business, health, education, among others. Thus, the primary goal of applied is practical utility. The description of applied research implies that researchers seek to identify certain characteristic, such as the cause and effect relationship between target variables. In such a case, empirical research provides the basis for applied research. Through experimentation, a researcher is able to identify particular features about certain variables under study, which can help assess the extent to which they one variable affects the other. Bentley, Gulbrandsen and Kyvik (2015) explained that applied research is strategic in that it is application-oriented. Therefore, when empirical research successfully validates a hypothesized change, individuals can use the findings an apply them in contexts where they are likely to be of highest utility.
Topics of Interest
The two topics that I would like to explore in business are: how shareholder value affects business operations and the impact of staffing techniques on employees’ performance.
Shareholder Value
The concept mainly entails the wealth that shareholders, in this case investors and business owners, have in a company. In a rather competitive environment, companies face the pressure to maximize profits in turn creating wealth for shareholders. Thus, promoting shareholder value is one of the core missions of any business (Largani, Kaviani & Abdollahpour, 2012). In the context of a business, the pursuit of shareholder value might affect business operations in various ways. Lichtenstein and Dade (2007) explored how executives’ values, as part of shareholders, influence business process. They noted that executives’ personal values have a considerable effect on a company’s strategic decision-making. They relied on the upper echelons theory which implies that organizational outcomes are, in part, due to the characteristics of the managerial background of the top-level management body. Lichtenstein and Dade (2007) noted that executive values affect strategic choice, but there is no exploration of how they determine what choices or routes to take in promoting shareholder value. In this case, one can understand the need to explore how the pursuit of shareholder value influences business operations in terms of, for instance, strategic decision-making.
Staffing
Comparatively, staffing is the process of selecting and training individuals to perform certain functions and allowing them a certain degree of authority through allocation of responsibilities. Hence, in any organization, employees occupy different positions with different roles. Through their input, they complement each other in advancing an organization’s set objectives (Collins & Scullion, 2012). Elnaga and Imran (2013) noted that employee training allows a company to realized competitive advantage through improved performance among the workforce. In most organizations, managers are under pressure to develop the capabilities of employees to create a good working environment. Thus, they engage in creating effective training programs with a focus on capacity building (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). Part of staffing, as noted, is to ensure that employees are placed in the right jobs to avoid a mismatch. There are various types of staffing techniques two of which are person-organization fit (POF) and person-job fit (PJF). Ardic et al. (2016) described the former as involving a situation whereby the characteristics of a worker are matched with his or her organization; while the latter entails matching an employee’s knowledge, skills and ability with a particular job or focusing on how one’s needs and desires match with a particular job position. With this understand, Farzaneh, Farashah and Kazemi (2014) explored how POF and PJF affect employees’ attitudes and organizational citizenship behavior. He found that commitment in an organization was contingent on both POF and PJF implying that the human resource department should consider investing in both techniques.
Justifying Topics
In any research, a topic should be justified which allows for validation of a study. Bhattacherjee (2012) emphasized the importance of business research projects to contribute to a body of science through following a scientific method. The main idea behind scientific research is to build and add onto already existing scientific knowledge. Therefore, having such an understanding, one can notice that the topics chosen are focused on explaining how the two phenomena, shareholder value and staffing techniques, influence business operations and employees’ performance respectively. Both topics allow for the use and application of theory and observations which are fundamental components of a scientific research (Bhattacherjee, 2012). For instance, one can notice how Lichtenstein and Dade (2007) used the upper echelons theory to help explain how the characteristics of the top management body influences an organization’s outcomes. The same theory can be used in demonstrating how the pursuit of shareholder value influences the top-level management’s approach towards strategic decision-making. Similarly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model can be used to demonstrate how staffing techniques such as POF and PJF influence employee performance. The topics allow for exploration of how the shareholder value and staffing techniques, as independent variables, influence the nature of business operations and employees’ performance, as dependent variables. The idea is to establish a cause and effect relationship which the chief purpose of experimental research.
Description of Sources
The quality of the research process is partially contingent on the sources from which a researcher acquires information. Deegan (2016) emphasized the need for researchers to evaluate the quality as well as the value of sources used. In identifying the two topics described earlier, I focused on online databases for known journal articles such as ScienceDirect, NCBI, Taylor & Francis Online, Emerladinsight, ResearchGate, among others. Bhattacherjee (2012) noted that the first phase of research is exploration. During this stage, the researcher explores and selects research questions which he or she will investigate further. The idea is to examine already published literature in a specific area of inquiry. Consequently, one is able to understand the current state of knowledge in the particular area of interest and he or she can identify relevant theories which may help promote a clearer understanding of the phenomena under study. Thus, Bhattacherjee (2012) considers the use of published literature, such as that acquired from the journal databases mentioned, to inform a research process. The sources used to identify the topics provide one with access to relevant literature pertinent that can help in advancing already existing knowledge base on the two phenomena. The criteria for topic selection mainly depend on the availability of literature on the potential topics, whether they fit any of the three types of research (exploratory, descriptive and explanatory), and how exploring them adds to the body of scientific knowledge (Bhattacherjee, 2012).
Conclusion
Empirical research helps researchers explore various topics thereby expanding the already existing knowledge base. However, it is important to consider the delicate nature of selecting a topic for research. There is a high likelihood for students choosing the wrong topic thereby ending up wasting time and or generating research that does not cannot be considered scientific. Thus, to avoid such an outcome, one should invest time in research a topic prior to beginning a research project whether for business or academic papers. Verifying sources from which information is acquired also helps strengthen the credibility of the research project upon completion.
References
Ardıç, K., Uslu, O., Oymak, Ö, Özsoy, E., & Özsoy, T. (2016). Comparing person organization fit and person job fit. Journal of Economics and Management, 25 , 5-13. doi:10.22367/jem.2016.25.01
Bentley, P. J., Gulbrandsen, M., & Kyvik, S. (2015). The relationship between basic and applied research in universities. Higher Education,70 (4), 689-709. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9861-2
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. USF Tampa Bay Open Access Textbooks Collection.
Collings, D. G., & Scullion, H. (2009). Global staffing. The International Journal of Human Resource Management,20 (6), 1249-1252. doi:10.1080/09585190902909798
Deegan, A. (2016). Graduate Writing Handbook. Trident University International. Retrieved from https://mytlc.trident.edu/files/GRADUATE_WRITING_HANDBOOK.pdf
Elnaga, A. & Imran, A. (2013). The effect of training on employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 137-147.
Farzaneh, J., Farashah, A. D., & Kazemi, M. (2014). The impact of person-job fit and person-organization fit on OCB. Personnel Review,43 (5), 672-691. doi:10.1108/pr-07-2013-0118
Largani, M. S., Kaviani, M., & Abdollahpour, A. (2012). A review of the application of the concept of Shareholder Value Added (SVA) in financial decisions. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,40 , 490-497. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.221
Lichtenstein, S., & Dade, P. (2007). The Shareholder Value Chain: Values, Vision and Shareholder Value Creation. Journal of General Management,33 (1), 15-31. doi:10.1177/030630700703300102
Oosterlinck, A., Debackere, K., & Cielen, G. (2002). Balancing basic and applied research. In a time of economic changes and stagnating support from the government, universities have to restructure and reshape their mission. EMBO reports , 3 (1), 2-5.
White, L. (2005). Writes of passage: Writing an empirical journal article. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67 (4), 791-798. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3600238
