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QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING/ANSWERS
1. What are the conditions that make in-house research preferable? What are the conditions
that make outside research preferable?
Conditions that make in-house research more attractive include:
a. The research project needs to be completed very quickly.
Reasons for using an outside agency:
a. Can provide a fresh perspective.
2. Read a recent news article from The Wall Street Journal or other key source that deals
with a new-product introduction. Would you think it would be better for that firm to do research
in-house or to use an outside agency? Explain.
3. What might the organizational structure of the research department be like for the
following organizations?
The placement of research within a firm’s organizational structure and the structure of the
research department itself vary substantially, depending on the firm’s acceptance of the concept of
internal research and its stage of research sophistication. Size of the firm can influence the
structure of the research function:
Small Firms – firms with less than 100 employees. In such firms, the VP of marketing
may be in charge of all significant research. This officer generally has a sales manager
Mid-Sized Firms – between 100 and 500 employees. The research department might be
organized as shown in Exhibit 5.3. Someone usually holds the position of director of
Large Research Firms – those with over 500 employees. Exhibit 5.3 illustrates the
48
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 49
a. A large advertising agency – see description above regarding “Large Research
Firms.”
4. What problems do research directors face in their roles as managers?
A director of research plans, executes, and controls the firm’s research activities. This person
spends more time in meetings and managing than actually conducting research
5. What are some of the basic causes of conflict between management and research?
In addition to areas of conflict between management and researchers listed in Exhibit 5.4, other
sources of conflict between management and research discussed in the chapter include:
research that implies criticism
6. Comment on the following situation: A product manager asks the research department to
forecast costs for some basic ingredients (raw materials) for a new product. The researcher asserts
that this is not a research job; it is a production forecast.
This situation illustrates narrow thinking by the researcher. Researchers who think their job is
only to do consumer surveys or to conduct research within a limited domain may be doing a
7. What is the difference between research and pseudo-research? Cite several examples of
each.
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 50
Research should be objective. Pseudo-research is conducted not to gather information for
managerial decisions but to bolster a point of view and satisfy other needs. The most common
type of pseudo-research is performed to justify a decision that has already been made or that
8. [Ethics Question] What are business ethics? How are ethics relevant to research?
Business ethics is the application of morals to behavior related to the exchange environment.
Ethical values can be highly influenced by one’s moral standards, which are principles that reflect
9. [Ethics Question] What is the difference between ethical relativism and ethical idealism?
How might a person with an idealist ethical philosophy and a person with a relativist ethical
philosophy differ with respect to including a sales pitch at the end of a research survey?
Relativism is a term that reflects the degree to which one rejects moral standards in favor of the
acceptability of some action. This way of thinking rejects absolute principles in favor of
10. [Ethics Question] What obligations does a researcher have with respect to
confidentiality?
With respect to rights and obligations of research participants, in return for being truthful,
research subjects have the right to expect confidentiality. Confidentiality in this case means that
11. How should a researcher help top management better understand the functions and
limitations of research?
This is largely an educational process. Researchers must become part of the management team,
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 51
12. [Ethics question] List at least one research obligation for research participants
(respondents), researchers, and research clients (sponsors)?
The main obligation for research participants is to be truthful. There are several obligations for
researchers: the purpose of research is research (i.e., not sales or pseudo-research), objectivity,
not misrepresenting research (i.e., honesty in reporting results and errors), maintaining
13. [Ethics Question] What is a conflict of interest in a research context? How can such
conflicts of interest be avoided?
14. [Ethics Question] What key questions help resolve the question of whether or not
research participants serving as subjects in an experiment are treated ethically?
Key questions that can determine whether a research participant is being treated unethically due
to experimental procedures:
Has the research subject provided consent to participate in an experiment?
15. Identify a research supplier in your area, and determine what syndicated services and
other functions are available to clients.
Students’ responses will vary on this question. One place to begin would be to search the Yellow
16. [Internet Question] Use the Internet to find at least five research firms that perform
survey research. List and describe each firm briefly.
17. What actions might the business research industry take to convince the public that
research is a legitimate activity and that firms that misrepresent their intentions and distort
findings to achieve their aims are not true research companies?
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 52
Field interviewers should indicate that they are legitimate researchers and name the company they
Research companies should adhere to the principles of the “Do Not Call” policy, which restricts
any telemarketing effort from calling consumers who either register with a no-call list in their
state or who request not to be called (and in California, Louisiana, and Rhode Island this
Certainly, there are researchers who would twist results for a client or who would fabricate results
18. [Ethics Question] Comment on the ethics of the following situations:
a. A food warehouse club advertises “savings up to 30 percent” after a survey
showed a range of savings from 2 percent to 30 percent below average prices for
selected items.
While the actual savings may be much lower than 30 percent, which is technically accurate
because the statement does not promise a 30 percent savings, consumers will most likely perceive
b. A radio station broadcasts the following message during a syndicated rating
service’s rating period: “Please fill out your diary” (which lists what media the
consumer has been watching or listening to).
c. A furniture retailer advertises a market test and indicates that prices will be 50
percent off for three days only.
If in fact this is truly a market test, this is an attempt to obtained desired results, which represents
d. A researcher tells a potential respondent that an interview will last 10 minutes
rather than the 30 minutes he or she actually anticipates.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 53
The researcher is being dishonest with the potential respondent. One of the obligations of the
e. A respondent tells an interviewer that she wishes to cooperate with the survey,
but her time is valuable and, therefore, she expects to be paid for the interview.
This is a dilemma for researchers. First, providing financial incentives to respondents drives up
f. When you visit your favorite sports team’s home page on the web, you are asked
to fill out a registration questionnaire before you enter the site. The team then
sells your information (team allegiance, age, address, and so on) to a company
that markets sports memorabilia via catalogs and direct mail.
People believe that the collection and distribution of personal information without their
19. [Ethics Question] Comment on the following interview:
Interviewer: Good afternoon, sir. My name is Mrs. Johnson, and I am with
Counseling Services. We are conducting a survey concerning
Memorial Park Cemetery. Please answer the following questions
with “yes” or “no.”
Respondent: (pauses)
Interviewer: Are you familiar with Memorial Park?
Respondent: Yes.
Interviewer: Do you consider Memorial Park to be one of the best maintained
cemeteries in this area?
Respondent: Yes.
Interviewer: You do own a funeral plot?
Respondent: No.
Interviewer: Would you mind if I sent you a letter concerning Memorial Park and
the availability of funeral plots?
Would you please give me your address?
20. [Ethics Question] Try to participate in a survey at a survey Web site such as
http://www.mysurvey.com or http://www.themsrgroup.com. Write a short essay response about
your experience with particular attention paid to how the sites have protections in place to
prevent children from providing personal information.
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 54
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
1. Find the mission statement of Burke, Inc. (http://www.burke.com). What career
opportunities exist at Burke? Would you consider them a small, mid-sized or large firm?
The mission stated at this Web site is, “To provide superior decision support services that enable
our clients to succeed.” The number of employees listed for this company is 205 full time and 89
2. [Internet Question – Ethics Question] One purpose of the United Kingdom’s Market
Research Society is to set and enforce the ethical standards to be observed by research
practitioners. Go to its Web site at http://www.mrs.org.uk. Click on its code of conduct and
evaluate it in light of the AMA’s code.
Students will be able to find the code of conduct fairly easily by clicking on Code/Guidelines at
CASE 4.1 Global Eating
Objective: To encourage students to think about the sources of conflicts between management
and research as well as the ethical issues in business research.
Summary: Barton Boomer is a director of marketing research for a large research firm, and he
has been asked to conduct research for a local restaurant chain, Eats-R-Wee. Mr. Big,
VP-Operations for Eats-R-Wee, tells Barton that they are set to move across the border to
Ontario, Canada, and wants him to provide some research that will support that position. He also
needs a comprehensive research project completed within a month. He’s also interested in
whether or not Barton has done research for any of Eats-R-Wee’s competitors because he is
interested in how they will react. Finally, he tells Barton not to worry about the fee because they
will pay top money for a “good” report.
Question
Critique this situation with respect to Barton’s job. What recommendations would you have for
him? Should the company get involved with the research? Explain your answers.
This situation illustrates the sources of conflict between management (in this case, the client) and
research (Barton and his research firm). The four sources of conflict discussed in the chapter are
illustrated here:
1. Research that implies criticism – it is very clear from this case that Mr. Big does not want
research that will contradict what he has already decided to do and that he is willing to pay
top dollar for a “good” report, implying one that supports his position.
2. Money – this does not appear to be a source of conflict as long as the report supports Mr.
Big’s opinion.
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Chapter Five: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues 55
3. Time – Mr. Big wants a comprehensive research project completed in a very short period of
time, which could cause problems for Barton because good research takes time to plan and
implement.
4. Intuitive decision making – Mr. Big has already made his decision and wants Barton to
provide research to support that decision.
Students’ responses regarding whether or not Barton should get involved with this research will
vary. One of the rights and obligations of the researcher that seems to be relevant to this case is
objectivity, which might not be possible given the direction Mr. Big wants the research to take.
Another is confidentiality. If Barton’s firm has conducted research for a competitor, an ethical
dilemma will result because he must maintain client confidentiality and not share what he knows
with Mr. Big. Information about Barton’s family will likely play in students’ answers.
CASE 4.2 Big Brother Is Watching?
Objective: To encourage students to think about the ethical issues surrounding individuals’
privacy and the impact on research.
Summary: Technology is making our behavior more and more difficult to keep secret. Mobile
phones, RFID tags and GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices are ways that your location and
movements might be tracked. While legitimate use of this type of technology exist and may
assist in easing traffic patterns and provide better locations for retail establishments, at what point
does the collection of such information become a concern?
Question
Suppose a GIS research firm is approached by the state legislature and asked to provide data
about vehicle movement within the state for all cars with a satellite tracking mechanism. Based
on the movement of the cars over a certain time, the police can decide when a car was speeding.
They intend on using this data to send speeding tickets to those who moved too far, too fast. If
you are the research firm, would you supply the data? Discuss the ethical implications of the
decision.
This question brings up two points: the rights of participants and the obligation of the researcher.
Participants have a right to privacy, and in this case, a GIS research firm is collecting data from
respondents passively. If this information is to be shared with a third party (i.e., the government)
a specific consent agreement is needed. The other point is that researchers have an obligation of
confidentiality, which comes into play in several ways. The researcher often is obligated to
protect the confidentiality of both the research sponsor and the research participant.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
