Well appointed chapters in management

Reviewed by Carlton N. Samarajiwa

Management has become a subject of growing importance the world over and in Sri Lanka it is a popular and prestigious academic subject, considering the thousands of MBAs being 'produced' by universities, both local and foreign.

Each MBA student produces as part of his or her examination requirement a thesis or dissertation on a subject to do with management. The addition thereby to the pool of knowledge, consisting of both theory and practice, must be truly astounding.

The growing numbers of MBA aspirants need guidance in the planning and preparation of their theses and dissertations. The book titled Research in Management: A Guide to Practice by Professors Sudatta Ranasinghe and Mangala Fonseka, two long-serving university management gurus, will undoubtedly fulfill this student need.

It is bound to be eagerly studied by the hundreds of postgraduate management students who spend agonizing months engaged in the arduous process of completing a research project of acceptable standard and worthy of the award of the prestigious MBA degree.

The procedure for conducting a research study covers several steps beginning with the choice of a subject and ending with conclusions of the study. Many postgraduate students abandon this project out of sheer frustration caused by their inability to cope in the midst of their regular full-time jobs.

For such MBA aspirants in particular and for all others in general, the book by the two professors is bound to offer courage and confidence to labour on with their academic pursuits.

Research in Management-A Guide to Practice consists of ten well appointed chapters covering quantitative and qualitative traditions of research, aspects of statistical analysis and use of computing software in research.

It is also enriched with several annexes that provide a wealth of information for the student of research.

They range from a sample literature survey, a specimen of a survey questionnaire, a comprehensive list of management journals, an introduction to Cronbach's Alpha and a specimen research proposal, all which make the book also ready-reckoner for the student researcher.

The first chapter introduces the reader to the arena of research and its manifold facets. It also provides a detailed account of deductive and inductive traditions of research.

The second chapter introduces the empirical research process diagrammatically, and having outlined the steps involved it proceeds to describe some of its aspects.

For example, the reader is guided to identify a research problem, formulate research questions and research objectives, prepare a literature survey, conceptualize the problem, formulate hypotheses, operationalize concepts and variables and understand the scope and limitations of a research study. Some of these are elaborated in greater detail in subsequent chapters.

The third chapter titled Aspects of Measurement of Variables deals with a range of the esoteric terminology of research that can befuddle and bemuse the lay reader. Consider, for example, terms such as continuous and discrete variables, scales (nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio), reliability and validity (face, content and empirical) of measurements to get an idea of the complexities of the management research process.

It is to the credit of Ranasinghe and Fonseka that in their book they clarify and simplify with the help of copious examples these theoretical concepts that would otherwise overawe the management student.

In contrast to the earlier chapters, Chapter 4 onward gives second wind, as it were, to the exhausted student gasping for breath in bewilderment at the intricacies of empirical research. Methods of data collection for a research study are explained lucidly in Chapter 4, supported by examples. For instance, questionnaire surveys, structured and unstructured interviews and observation, case study and experiment methods are lucidly explained in this chapter.

Chapters 5 and 6 to deal with two research approaches which are in vogue at present, viz., the Case Study and Grounded Theory method. The latter, according to the authors, requires the researcher to be in constant touch with the real world and unearth the 'theory' which is 'grounded' in the data.

The application of grounded theory is clearly explained with examples of visionary companies, both Sri Lankan and global. The next step is to analyze the data that the researcher has painstakingly gathered using the methods detailed in the earlier chapters.

This task of analysis is comprehensively covered in Chapter 7 (Data Analysis and Reporting) as qualitative and quantitative approaches followed by how to discuss the research findings in relation to the existing knowledge of the subject.

This chapter also provides the accepted format for presenting a research paper: 1) Introduction consisting of Background, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Objectives, Significance of the Study, Methodology, and Scope of the Study; 2) Literature Survey; 3) Conceptual Framework and Methodology; 4) Data Analysis and Findings; 5) Discussion of Findings; and 6) Conclusions and Recommendations.

The rest of the volume (Chapters 8, 9 and 10) deals with the statistical analysis associated with a research study and each chapter is replete with illustrative examples. Chapter 8 deals with Sampling Methods covering probability and non-probability sampling methods which include an enquiry into the requisite sample size.

The next chapter titled Statistical Techniques for Data Analysis covers a wide array of commonly used statistical techniques (descriptive, uni-variate, bi-variate and multi-variate) used in data analysis.

It also prescribes when each technique should be used in research.

The final chapter (A Guide to Practice) is devoted to illustrating testing of a set of hypotheses associated with a real life example.

It uses some of the statistical techniques described in the previous chapter and a special feature is the use of computer software in the analysis of data.