Problems and issues in management consultancy-type research

As already suggested, conducting any type of research project can be messy and frustrating. Some of these problems and issues are common to all types of social research. For example, unlike the natural sciences, in social science research, we have the problem of trying to apply some of the processes and methodologies in settings or situations which are difficult and sometimes impos-sible to control. Unlike the physicist or chemist the social sciences researcher does not have the benefit of a ‘laboratory’ in which to conduct his/her research.

Similarly, quantification and hence statistical analysis and verification can be more problematical in social sciences research.

In addition, within the field of management research there are particular problems and issues which stem from, and are associated with, particular types or methodologies of management research. For example, the management research methodologies such as action research and ethnographic research tech-niques give rise to certain special issues and problems only associated with these particular methodologies.

Finally, there are special issues which arise when research is conducted in an organization on a consultancy-type basis. Here, the research involves and indeed is carried out for ‘clients’ which in turn can give rise to additional problems and issues in conducting research (van der Velde et al. 2004). However, what of consultancy-type management research projects – what special problems and issues for the researcher arise here?

Some of the main problems and issues in consultancy-type management research are the following:

● Ethical problems and issues: Conducting management research in general can give rise to ethical problems, but there are some special ethical issues and problems associated with management consultancy-based research.

Ethical issues in research encompass a set of mores and values for con-ducting and using research and the researcher must be careful not to violate these. The conduct of research therefore must conform to a set of ethical codes or values. A problem here is that what is considered ethical – and therefore unethical – behaviour can vary from situation to situation; from researcher to researcher; and from culture to culture. There are in fact guidelines for researchers in the social sciences regarding the treatment of ethical issues such as those published in the United Kingdom by the Social Research Association (2002), but in practice the researcher must carefully assess the likely ethical issues associated with any given research programme at the outset of that programme and determine an approach to dealing with them.

In other words, ethical issues must be part of the research plan and may affect key issues such as data collection methods; data recording and analysis tech-niques and reporting research findings. Examples of ethical issues which can and do arise specifically with management consultancy-type research, and particularly where this research is also the basis for a student project or dissertation, include:

– Whether or not the researcher will reveal to members of the organization the existence of the research study, and if so, which members will be privy to this information;

– Where the research study is revealed to members of the organization, how much information regarding, for example, the nature and purpose of the research will be revealed and to whom;

– How much ‘power’ the researcher will be given, for example, with regard to requiring organizational members to participate in the research, provide information, and so on;

– In the treatment of confidential/commercially sensitive information, for example, how much, and what types, of information can be included, or revealed in any report; whether or not respondents will be identified and so on;

– Related to the above, the extent to which results will be made available to other researchers (and possibly competitor companies) perhaps even through simply lodging a completed thesis in a University library.

● Access Issues: Perhaps this is a subset of ethical issues, but another potential problem which arises with consultancy-based research projects concerns that of ‘access’. Access in the context of consultancy-based management research encompasses a number of aspects.

First of all, access encompasses initial permission to enter an organization, and this is what Gummesson (2002) refers to as ‘physical access’. Obviously, without such permission, management consultancy-type research is virtually impossible. However, if the organization in question is that of the researcher that is, the researcher is employed by the company or perhaps even is the com-pany owner – a situation often found in the case of many MBA students these days – then physical access is much less of a problem. On the contrary, as we shall see, when we consider the initiation of management consultancy projects, often it is the organization itself which initiates the project for the researcher.

Besides this initial access/permission we also have the issue of access to infor-mation and people as part of the research design. For example, the researcher and organization have to consider and agree as to what information the researcher will have access to, and on what basis, and who/where the researcher will be allowed access and seek information from as part of the research.

Obviously, access needs to be negotiated and agreed between researcher and the client company, but overall should be such as to ensure that the research objectives can be met. In practice, limitations or problems in access often result in modifications to initial research objectives and programmes.

● Cultural issues: Where the consultancy research involves, or cuts across, dif-ferent cultures as when, for example, the research encompasses say difdif-ferent geographical divisions in a multinational organization, there can be particu-lar problems of methodology and interpretation. Even where the research is confined to one country, internal organizational culture too can be an issue in planning and conducting management consultancy-based research proj-ects. Because this type of research is conducted directly within an organiza-tional environment the researcher must be careful to ensure that the research approach, techniques of data collection and so on are appropriate to organi-zational systems and procedures.

Activity 3.4. Identify any examples of cultural issues, which you can think of, that might affect the process of management consultancy-based research.

● Client/consultant relationship issues: Consultancy-basedmanagement research can give rise to issues with regard to the client’s expectations of the consultant,

and equally for the consultant’s expectations of the client. For example, the consultant may refrain from revealing certain research results that are felt to be not in the client’s or consultant’s interest. The importance of, and approaches to, the management of such issues are discussed in more detail in Chapters 4 and 5.

● Conflicting stakeholder issues: These issues in consultancy-based research proj-ects stem from the fact that a number of parties, or as we prefer to refer to them here, ‘stakeholders’ have an interest and possibly influence in the research. The most obvious stakeholder with an interest in the research or certainly the research results and recommendations, is of course the organization for which the consultancy research is being conducted. Clearly, the organization may seek to influence the nature of the research, how it is conducted, the objectives and so on. In addition, however, where the research is also the basis for a thesis or dissertation of some kind, there are also academic stakeholders. These stake-holders also have an interest in how research is conducted and its objectives and so on. However, this stakeholder group may have a fundamentally dif-ferent perspective on these matters and will certainly often have a difdif-ferent set of criteria for judging how effective the research has been. This means that the researcher must often resolve any potential conflicts which stem from trying to meet potentially conflicting aims of different parties. In some cases, this may result in two different reports being produced, one for the organization and its management, and one for the academic research supervisor.

● Resource and budget issues: Although, admittedly, not exclusive to consultancy-based management research, given that it is likely that this type of research must be organized around organizational resources and budgets for this activity, there can be problems and issues in terms of having to tailor the research approach and methodologies adopted to these resource and budgetary constraints.

3.5 Concluding comments

In order to understand both the process and nature of contemporary manage-ment research, it is necessary to understand some of the theoretical antecedents to research in general. In particular, the management researcher needs to appre-ciate some of the major alternative schools of thought or models of research.

Of particular relevance and importance in this context are the epistemological versus ontological orientations in research, the nature and differences between deductive and inductive research, and the comparison between nomothetic and ideographic research approaches.

The term ‘management research’ encompasses several different types and forms of research which can primarily be distinguished with regard to the objec-tives or purpose, and hence the outcomes of the research activities. Management research, therefore, encompasses both theoretical and applied research. Our particular interest in this book, however, is the process of consultancy-based management research.

Although we must be careful, it is possible to model the management research process in general terms, and by so doing, demonstrate the key steps in the process and how they are linked together.

Finally, we need to appreciate that management consultancy-type research in general, and particularly where this research forms the basis of an academic research thesis or dissertation, gives rise to a number of issues and problems not encountered in other types of social research.

3.6 References

Bhaskar, R. (1989) Reclaiming Reality: A Critical Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, London: Verso.

Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1979) Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis, London: Heinemann.

Burns, R. B. (2000) Introduction to Research Methods, 4th edn, London: Sage Publications.

Cook, T. and Campbell, D. T. (2004) ‘Popper and falsificationalism’ in C. Seale (ed.), Social Research Methods: A Reader, London: Routledge.

Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Lowe, A. (2002) Management Research: An Introduction, 2nd edn , London: Sage Publications.

Feyerabend, P (2004)’ Against method’ in C. Seale (ed.), Social Research Methods: A Reader, London: Routledge.

Gilbert, N. (ed.) (1993) Researching Social Life, London: Sage Publications.

Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (1997) Research Methods for Managers, 2nd edn, London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Graziano, A. M. and Raulin, M. L. (2004) Research Methods: A Process of Inquiry, 5th edn, Boston, USA: Pearson Education Group.

Gummesson, E. (2002) Qualitative Methods in Management Research, 2nd edn, Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage Publications.

Howard, K. and Sharp, J. A. (1983) The Management of a Student Research Project, Aldershot:

Gower.

Phillips, E. M. and Pugh, D. S. (1994) How to get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Popper, K. R. (1967) Conjectures and Refutations, London: Routledge.

Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research, 2nd edn, Oxford, Blackwell.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2003) Research Methods for Business Students, 3rd edn, Harlow: Pearson Education.

Sayer, A. (2000) Realism and Social Science, London: Sage Publications.

The Social Research Association’s Ethical Guidelines (2002): http://www.the-sra.

org.uk/index2.htm

van der Velde, M., Jansen, P. and Anderson, N. (2004) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

3.7 Glossary

action research A set of research methodologies based on monitoring and evalu-ating the effects of the actions of a planned intervention by the researcher.

applied research Research which is directed towards a practical aim or objective and is concerned with working out the solution to a specific problem.

deductive research Research aimed at testing theories and hypotheses through empir-ical observation.

epistemology A philosophical approach to theory building which investigates the nature, grounds, limits and validity of human knowledge.

ethnography A set of research methodologies based on the researcher using pri-marily naturalist modes of enquiry such as participant observation.

falsificationism That school of philosophy of science which suggests that scien-tists must attempt to refute rather than verify their theories.

ideographic Research techniques which use less structured research methodologies methodologies aimed at generating qualitative data to facilitate

explanation and understanding.

inductive research Research aimed at developing theories and explanations based on observations from the empirical world.

nomothetic Research techniques which are based on highly structured research methodologies methodologies primarily aimed at generating quantitative data to

explain causal relationships.

ontology A philosophical approach to theory building based on investi-gating the universal and necessary characteristics of all existence.

operationalize The translation of theories or hypotheses such that they can be empirically measured and tested through observation.

verificationism That school of philosophy of science which suggests that scien-tists must attempt to verify rather than refute their theories.

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Management