RAMADA DEMONSTRATES ITS PERSONAL BEST
Although the term "business research" is often heard in the media and in the business world, it is used to describe many different types of research. Marketing research may be the most common type of business research in many people's minds, but there are many other types of business research ranging from economic research to financial research to management research. Research can include discovering new training techniques for employees, finding the best computer system for an office, determining whether a company is eligible for pollution tax credits and many other items. In short, the definition is limited only by the limitations of the term itself. Despite this, companies increasingly rely on business research to help them formulate strategy and refine their business operations. This research considers the issue of business research in general, and its application at Ramada Franchise Systems in particular.
Fundamentally, business research can be defined as the "systematic and objective process of gathering, recording and analyzing data for aid in making business decisions" (Zikmund, 2003, p. 6). Based on this definition, the research does not have to be primary research, but can include secondary research such as reviewing articles in professional publications, white papers, or information in industry sources. Business research also requires the analyzing of data, whether gathered from primary or secondary sources; since data cannot be analyzed without a clear understanding of what the researcher is looking for, the research must be focused. Businesses regularly collect a great deal of data, such as number and types of sales transactions, names of customers, how long customers take to pay and similar facts. Those facts can be organized in many different ways; unless a research question is formed, the data remains unorganized and unanalyzed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD BUSINESS RES...