http://www.managementhelp.org/research/planning.htm 21/08/08 06:15 AM WIB
Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Copyright 1997-2008.
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation and Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development.
Sections of This Topic Include:
Description
Research Plans Depend on Information You Need and Available Resources
Key Considerations to Design Your Research Approach
The following information is intended to give the reader some general guidance about planning a basic research effort in their organization. The rest of the information in the section presents an overview of methods used in business, how to apply them, and how to analyze and interpret and report results.
Research Plans Depend on Information You Need and Available Resources
Often, organization members want to know everything about their products, services, programs, etc. Your research plans depend on what information you need to collect in order to make major decisions about a product, service, program, etc. Usually, you're faced with a major decision due to, e.g., ongoing complaints from customers, need to convince funders / bankers to loan money, unmet needs among customers, the need to polish an internal process, etc.
The more focused you are about what you want to gain by your research, the more effective and efficient you can be in your research, the shorter the time it will take you and ultimately the less it will cost you (whether in your own time, the time of your employees and/or the time of a consultant).
There are trade offs, too, in the breadth and depth of information you get. The more breadth you want, usually the less depth you'll get (unless you have a great deal of resources to carry out the research). On the other hand, if you want to examine a certain aspect of a product, service, program, eta., in great detail, you will likely not get as much information about other aspects as well.
For those starting out in research or who have very limited resources, they can use various methods to get a good mix of breadth and depth of information. They can understand more about certain areas of their products, services, programs, eta.,and not go bankrupt doing so.
Key Considerations to Design Your Research Approach
Consider the following key questions when designing your research plan:
1. For what purposes is the research being done, i.e., what do you want to be able to decide as a result of the research?
2. Who are the audiences for the information from the research, e.g., funders / bankers, upper management, employees, customers, eta.
3. What kinds of information are needed to make the decisions you need to make and/or to enlighten your intended audiences, e.g., do you need information to really understand a process, the customers who buy certain products, strengths and weaknesses of the product or service or program, benefits to customers, how the product or service or program failed some customers and why, etc.?
4. From what sources should the information be collected, e.g., employees, customers, groups of employees or customers, certain documentation, etc.?
5. How can that information be collected in a reasonable fashion, e.g., questionnaires, interviews, examining documentation, observing staff and/or clients in the program, conducting focus groups among staff and/or clients, etc? (An overview is provided about each method, back in the section Basic Research Methods).
6. When is the information needed (so, by when must it be collected)?
7. What resources are available to collect the information?
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