Current Trends in Business Research

Business research comes in many different forms depending on the purpose of the study as well as the intended audience. Prior to conducting business research, it is important to determine who will receive the results and where and how the results will be disseminated. This module will examine some of the current trends in business research and appropriate scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. This module will also introduce ABC Consulting, which is a business-based scenario discussed throughout this Research Ready Certification. 

Learning Objectives

• Understand the types of research conducted within different business industries
• Understand how current trends in business impact research projects
• Be able to identify scholarly, peer-reviewed sources associated with business topics

Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Media

Understanding the role businesses play in the American and global marketplace is an important element of business research. Corporate social responsibility is an essential business practice that has been the focus of academic research since the 1950’s (Chae & Park, 2018). The four components of corporate responsibility include economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic (Chae & Park, 2018). In recent years, the role of social media in corporate social responsibility has spanned to social media and its role in business as means to share product information, marketing, and customer engagement. Social media is a means to disseminate a wide variety of business-related content to gain a competitive advantage (Holsapple, Hsiao, & Pakath, 2018). However, as early as 2013 there was much debate on whether it was socially responsible for organizations to allow employees to use social media at work (Beasley, 2013). In the current workplace, it is common for businesses to hire social media experts or entire departments devoted to social media. 

Organizational Change and Development

The role of technology in today’s global marketplace requires organizations to constantly adapt and change in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Church and Burke (2017) explain the rate of change in technological advances doubles every 18-24 months. Therefore, business research helps organizations remain current and relevant in an ever-changing environment. Church and Burke (2017) discuss that business research has been able to identify three key factors that drive effective organizational development. This includes ways of work, big data, and workforce. This research indicates organizations should focus on effective software platforms, hiring talent instead of employees, upgrading from mechanical to digital, and developing insights over relying on data (Church & Burke, 2017). Business research continues to play an important role for companies, stakeholders, and consumers as the landscape of global organizations continues to evolve. 

Leadership across Different Generations

Another highly studied topic in business research is appropriate leadership styles for different generations of employees from Baby Boomers to Millennials. According to Anderson, Baur, Griffin, and Buckley (2018), Millennials make up the largest population of the American workforce causing business to change their leadership approaches. Business researchers have found Millennials hold unique qualities to the workforce not held by their predecessors including creativity, concern for social values, technical ability, and inclusive attitudes towards diversity. However, business research shows Millennials also bring a different set of challenges including lack of work ethic, sense of entitlement, and narcissism (Anderson, et al., 2018). Furthermore, business research indicates the need for continued in-depth analysis of effective and efficient leadership styles organizations can utilize for this specific demographic of employee (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). 

Examples of Peer-Reviewed Journals for Business Research

There are wide variety of peer-reviewed journals dedicated to publishing business research. It is not uncommon for several peer-reviewed journals to exist related to the same business topic. It is also not uncommon for business research to be published in journals across different disciplines. Please see below examples of peer-reviewed journals for business research.

Leadership and Management: 

Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

Economics and Finance:

Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Economics and Finance. 

Organizational Change and Development:

Journal of Organizational Change and Development, Journal of Management, Journal of Change Management.

Technology:

Journal of Technology and Design, Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, Computers & Education.

Scenario: ABC Consulting

For this Research Ready certification, a business example will be explored through the various stages of research. In this case, ABC Consulting is considering a move to a new data management platform. Each module will explore techniques, procedures, and ideas for conducting business research. 

References

Beasley, K. (2013). Should employees access social media at work? Business2Community.com. Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/employees-access-social-media-work-0639919#Egu8D1FjdUW2SEBf.97

Chae, B., & Park, E. (2018). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): A survey of topics and trends using twitter data and topic modeling. Sustainability, 10(7), 2231.

Church, A. H., & Burke, W. W. (2017). Four trends shaping the future of organizations and organizational development. OD Practitioner, 49(3), 14-22.MI

Holsapple, C. W., Hsiao, S. H., & Pakath, R. (2018). Business social media analytics: Characterization and conceptual framework. Decision Support Systems, 110, 32-45.

Lyons, S., & Kuron, L. (2014). Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the evidence and directions for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(2014), 139-157.