ResearchProposal1 xReflections xhelps xLiteraturereviewdetails x
An Investigation of How the Nature of Financial Management and Ethical Behavior Affects Business Performance
INTRODUCTION
In 2001, Enron Corporation an Energy company in Houston, Texas was rocked by a case of poor financial management and unethical practice which subsequently led to the bankruptcy of the firm (Hollywood Archive, 2015). The Enron scandal should have become a lesson for business managers with the way the company. Organisations are regularly engaging in unethical accounting and finance practices while ignoring that they could be the next Enron (Fassin, 2005). Unethical practice, especially in financial management, exposes businesses to various risks that even lead to the collapse of businesses and loss of shareholder wealth.
Managers are regularly tempted to engage in unethical practice (Tota and Shehu, 2012). The competitive nature of the contemporary trading environment can at times forces managers to put ethics aside to fulfil commercial interests. Managers argue that the constant pressure from shareholders to always improve the company’s performance as a significant cause of financial malpractice. Most managers focus on results rather than the relationships they have with their stakeholders.
Tota and Shehu (2012) in their article, The Dilemma of Business Ethics investigate the factors that influence businesses to act unethically. Business ethics focuses on the right and wrong or the good and bad behaviour within a business context. More concepts of right and wrong are being introduced to fit the business environment with terms such as equity, justice and fairness. This approach has created a problem whereby ethics become a relative issue. Ethical dilemmas exist in situations where committing a wrong is done to improve the business position.
Business managers encounter ethical dilemmas in the day to day activities, and this can affect an organisation’s financial management. Ethical dilemmas occur in cases where the business managers have a conflict of interest between their personal and work duties (Tota, Shehu, 2012). Conflicts of interest increase management risks as managers may adopt procedures that give them an advantage over the business they serve. The workplace environment or organisational culture that is built by business executives can be conducive for business risks. Cases of mismanagement of financial crisis have been on the rise. Tax evasion has also become a new financial fraud committed by business managers to raise their revenue. Such behaviour usually passes through an ethical dilemma test whereby employees are aware of what is morally acceptable and what is unacceptable in an ethical work environment.
Rao, Hamilton (1993) The Effect of Published Reports of Unethical Conduct on Stock Prices, investigate the causal link between a business’s ethical or unethical practice. Businesses can no longer afford to practice ethics if they are to remain highly profitable, competitive and attain a high stock value. Businesses only have to appear ethical just to succeed. Those who disobey or bend the rules are at an advantage in the business world. Despite this presumption, most business practitioners believe that ethical behaviour promotes financial success for organizations (Rao, Hamilton, 1993).
Rao and Hamilton (1993) state that government regulations and the law can reward ethical practices and punish unethical behaviour in the business place. This is supported by Tota and Shehu (2012) who believe that although managers are caught in ethical dilemmas, they are aware that laws and regulations are against the unethical practice. Rao and Hamilton state that the discovery of unethical practices in business hurts the stock value due to the ill perception of the business. External controls are adopted by financial markets to investigate whether companies engage in malpractice or any fraud. Although this assists the shareholders of a company in discovering what management was doing, it usually leads to a decline in shareholder value for an appreciable period.
Yves Fassin in his article The Reasons behind Non-ethical Behaviour in Business and Entrepreneurship states that financial management scandals have continued to appear despite the recent rise in interest in corporate governance. Fassin highlights that almost every country has had a similar case to the Enron scandal between 2002 and 2005 (Fassin, 2005). Financial mismanagement has been a critical contributor to business failure. This has been witnessed in the increased rate of bankruptcy cases, financial losses for investors and high levels of unethical behaviours by entrepreneurs and managers. Fassin (2005) and Lin and Wei (2006) believe that there is a direct relationship between business ethics and the high rate of business scandals. Top managers and employees do not observe the laws and regulations that they are required to adhere to. Business costs increase due to unethical practice in the workplace. Employee turnover, employee cynicism and low employee morale are usually overlooked in business ethics, but they are the product of unethical practices (Lin, Wei, 2006). They increase business costs either directly or indirectly and affect the profitability or position of a firm.
Hess and Cottrell (2015) article, Fraud Risk Management: A small business perspective, state that companies lose an average of 5% of their income to fraud annually and fraud is a key reason for small enterprise failure. The total cost of fraud alone does not only involve monetary or financial loss. This is because other risks such as legal risks, business risks, liquidity risks and reputational risks arise due to fraud. Fraud causes an emotional toll on the victims especially the shareholders and reduces worker morale and productivity (Hess, Cottrell, 2015). Small businesses can protect themselves from financial fraud by employing business leaders who are explicit with the importance of ethics (Hess, Cottrell, 2015). Every activity in an organization should be done through an ethical procedure. The ethical code of conduct should be introduced in organizations and align them with the institution’s mission and values. Projecting the importance of ethics enhances employee sensitivity to ethical issues and encourages the workers to speak up when they see unethical behaviour or certain problems. Business risks can be prevented when organizations come up with fraud risk management plan.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Question: Does unethical practice by managers and employees in organisations have serious consequences?
A quantitative research proposal will assist in quantifying the underlying investigation. An impact of unethical behaviour will have to be determined. The impact will be assessed by trying to investigate an organisations financial management and the way unethical behaviour in financial management impacts an organisation’s financial performance and position. Quantitative research will increase the data that will be provided to help find a solution and an understanding as to why unethical practices exist. It will also shed light on all the possible implications unethical practice has in an organisation. Many organisations have failed due to mismanagement of the company’s finances arising from unethical management.
Quantitative research will leverage on the importance of utilising more data sources in research. There needs to be a better understanding of the role of management in ethical practice and the implication of their actions in a quantitative manner. Many organisations fail due to poor ethics and the failure results in a loss of investments, and this can be measured. Numerical data will need to be collected to measure the effect of unethical practice. Organisations such as Enron and the Lehman Brothers led to the loss of millions of dollars as shareholders did not receive their investments.
A quantitative analysis will also measure the impact of unethical practice in terms of employment loss and effect on employees and their families’ income. Most organisations engage in unethical practice for financial gain. The research will investigate the companies that have engaged in unethical practice for financial gain or performance and the money the company posted either through unethical accounting practice or unethical business practice. The measure will involve analysing the actual financial performance and compare it with the reported financial performance in cases why there is an unethical practice.
The paper will also look at the stock market price of a company engaged in unethical practice. The hypothesis is that companies that fraudulently report financial statements and performance to dupe existing shareholders and potential investors have a high stock price and their stock is in demand. The demand for the stock and the price will be evaluated from a certain period up to the period the unethical practice or fraud is discovered. There is existing data, forensic investigations, and records that show that companies that are engaged in unethical practice will likely report good turnovers to attract and appease investors.
Another hypothesis is that upon discovery of unethical practice or fraud in an organisation, the stock price eventually goes down and the demand level goes down. This will be done by measuring how low the stock price went after the discovery of fraud and if there were any purchases of shares of a company that was just reported for fraud. The aim or objective is to link unethical practice and stock price decline. The market price of a stock is determined by its demand and unethical practice by management will lead to the decline of demand and eventually stock price.
The research will also investigate how the stock markets also feel the effect of unethical practice by management in large organisations. The research will investigate the amount of money the economy and the stock market suffered due to the revelation of unethical practice. Any time there is a considerable decline in the stock price and demand of key shares in the market the stock index and stock exchange performance declines leading to a loss of money in the economy. The effect of unethical practice in the general stock market and the economy needs to be investigated so that unethical managers and employees who fail to observe ethical and professional guidelines can realize the effects of their actions.
The data collection method will be interviewed. Interviews help in collecting firsthand information from financial management professionals. Managers who had been involved in organisations that had unethical practice will provide information that is important for the research. Stock market brokers will also be interviewed to give information about the effects of unethical practice on the stock price before and after discovery. Stockbrokers who had dealt with the shares of Enron or the Lehmann Brothers will be interviewed to provide this information. They will also provide historical numerical data about how the two unethical scandals had on the stock market, shareholders and economy. The shareholders of companies that collapsed will be interviewed to give an account of the financial loss they suffered due to the unethical practice. They will provide information about the behaviour of the stock price before and after the discovery of unethical practice. The interviews will also be done on the employees of companies that engaged in unethical practice. They will provide the number of people who lost jobs due to unethical practice and the effect on their income. This research aims to investigate the critical forces behind the unethical practice and the overall quantifiable impact in terms of gains and loss suffered due to such practice in the business environment.
Data analysis will be done by evaluating the data that is applicable and relevant to the research after data is collected from shareholders, employees, managers and financial investors such as stockbrokers it will be tested for gains or losses values that were witnessed. Various criteria will be used for each data. In terms of managers and employees, the research will analyse how many managers and employees lost their jobs in the firm, how many went to jail and how many were fined. For employees and managers again, the financial implication will also be analysed in terms of what happened to their total annual income. This is because families that had members in companies with unethical practice may have had higher revenues due to financial practice and subsequent decline in income when investigations began.
In analysing data collected from shareholders, financial investors and stockbrokers, the research will measure the losses they incurred due to unethical practice in organisations they thought were upholding integrity and professional standards. It will also check the dividends paid by the stock during the period. The research will also analyse the stock market and the effect it had on the economy. It will measure how the stock market suffered in terms of loss and profit due to the unethical practice in companies they had interest.
Qualitative Research Proposal
Research Question: Why do employees or managers engage in unethical practice despite their being measures to prevent unethical practice?
Qualitative research is necessary for trying to gain an understanding of why employees engage in the unethical practice, yet they are aware of the dire consequences they pose for an organization. It is certain that the probability of unethical practice to occur at the workplace must exist at any given time. Managers expect employees to maintain ethical behaviour and adhere to ethical guidelines while still holding the perception that without proper management unethical practice will occur. The employees, on the other hand, reflect the nature of management instituted in a company. When employees are unethical, the same should be expected of the management. Leaders lead, and the followers follow the leaders as was the case of Enron.
This research will show the link between management practice and ethical behaviour in the workplace. A correlation between the nature of management and the behaviour at the workplace must be established and evaluated in ways that can help improve management and ethical behaviour. The objective is to understand better why unethical practice exists in a firm and yet management team is qualified professionals given the authority to maintain professional and ethical behaviour at the workplace.
Sampling techniques will include identifying employees of a company that has had cases of unethical practice. The employees of the collapsed Enron will provide key data as to why unethical practice existed at Enron or why it occurs in a business and what are the consequences. Employees of a company that have been identified as an ethical company will be used in the study. Aflac insurance has been identified as one of the most ethical businesses in the world. Its employees portray the values and morals that have been nurtured by the firm.
Interviews will be used to collect data from the employees and management team of this companies. The interviews will be done either face to face or through other media. Other media will include phone calls, social media, emails and messaging. All information will be recorded and the identity and role of the participant in the company will also be recorded to give information credibility.
Questionnaires will also be used in the study to collect information as to why unethical behaviour exists in business. Questionnaires are used in qualitative data collection. They will help in collecting current opinions and motivations in the current underlying problem, about unethical behaviour in an organisation. Questionnaires will also find out how employees and managers think unethical practice in organisations can stop.
Critical Evaluation
Qualitative research does not concern itself with numerical representation but with providing a deeper understanding of a specific problem (Queiros, Faria, Almeida, 2017). The qualitative research aims to investigate why managers and employees engage in the unethical practice, yet they are measures available to prevent unethical behaviour, and they are also aware that unethical practice leads to business failure. Discovering why they are unethical practice does not require any numerical representation. Qualitative research will collect data or information from managers and employees to provide an in-depth analysis of why employees and managers engage in unethical practice. Interviews and Questionnaires will be used as qualitative data collection methodologies. In the interviews and questionnaires, the qualitative analysis will design questions in a way that enhances the quality of information retrieved. It is impossible to quantify values, motives and attitudes of employees and managers to engage in the unethical practice. That is the reason why qualitative research and analysis is suitable for identifying the reasons behind unethical practice in organisations.
The quantitative investigation will focus on the objectivity of the research. It will quantify the effect of unethical practice in organisations. Quantitative research has a more extended scope compared to qualitative research. Apart from involving employees and managers in the sampling, it will also include stockbrokers, shareholders and potential investors. This will entail looking at the financial effect of unethical practice. The data collected will be quantified since the samples are generally large and form a representation of the population. Providing figures is more convincing in research (Almeida, Faria, & Querios, 2017). The issue of unethical practice in organisations may seem like a regular ordeal; however, when people see the impact they have on organisations in terms of quantifiable losses, then they realise the effect of their actions.
The quantitative research will require more resources than qualitative research. This is because it will cover a more significant scope compared to qualitative research. It will also need more time in terms of collecting all the financial data required to assess the impact of the unethical practice. Quantitative research will also require more expertise in statistical software’s. This will help in analysing the data and producing graphs and charts to measure the impact of the unethical practice.
Bibliography
Aflac. (2017, March 6). Working at Aflac; Tim Aflac Agent [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrqF2EfYydc
Almeida, F., Faria, D., & Querios, A. (2017). Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods. European Journal of Educational Studies, 1-5
Artistandhumans. (2012, April 15). A conversation about the documentary “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNIooXEeVu4
Enron (2000). Enron Annual Report.
Fassin, Y. (2005). The Reasons Behind Non-Ethical Behaviour in Business and Entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(3), pp.265-279.
Hess, M. and Cottrell, J. (2016). Fraud risk management: A small business perspective. Business Horizons, 59(1), pp.13-18.
Hollywood Archive. (2015, December 1). ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room’ Interview[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7TQPbJBOlc
Kim, Y., Li, H. and Li, S. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk. Journal of Banking & Finance, 43, pp.1-13.
Lin, C. and Wei, Y. (2006). The Role of Business Ethics in Merger and Acquisition Success: An Empirical Study. Journal of Business Ethics, 69(1), pp.95-109.
Orlitzky, M. and Benjamin, J. (2001). Corporate Social Performance and Firm Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review. Business & Society, 40(4), pp.369-396.
Rao, S. and Brooke Hamilton, J. (1996). The effect of published reports of unethical conduct on stock prices — Journal of Business Ethics, 15(12), pp.1321-1330.
Week One
The main aim of the lectures this week is to get you to think about research, the complexities involved and the decisions you need to make in terms of a robust and appropriate approach. I might have over-stressed the philosophy of research and paradigms a little, but I hope you can now see how you can start thinking about the ‘reality’ around you and the objective/subjective continuum through new angles.
Start to think about possible topics for your own research (I provided a session on techniques and sources for generating ideas). At this stage, don’t close down on topics just yet… get creative and start making lists of potential topics… don’t worry if they’re ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ at this stage. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few topics, think about what sort of paradigm might be most suitable…. This will then lead to an overall research approach and design. We’ll revisit topic selection in week 3.
I’ve put some past dissertation titles on Blackboard. I should stress again that these titles are in no way recommendations; some of them are poorly worded and constructed. Use them to spark ideas but don’t get too hung up on them.
The session on the literature review should have helped to cement a wide range of sources. Do take the opportunity to download the ABS journal guide and start to look for journals in your chosen field.
Week Two
We started this week with an additional session on ‘how to choose a topic’. I hope that this has helped to spark ideas and to get you thinking about possible topics. It’s still early days, so keep an open mind … also start to think about possible sources of data at the same time, as a topic without access to suitable data may change your decision. Once you have a topic in mind, remember to make sure that a) the scope is very specific, and b) you have clear and unambiguous aims and objectives. The biggest issue that I see year after year with research proposals are where the scope is unclear and/or too broad. You also need to make sure that your topic is aligned to your degree programme, RISK AND FINANCE, the main thing is to show us your understanding of research methods.
We then looked at sampling… you will need to show a clear approach to sampling for both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Developing a plan for research is all about making decisions, so be sure to defend your choice(s) for sampling (ie. weigh up the pros and cons of the possibilities open to you).
You should now have a greater insight into how to collect qualitative data. Interviews can be appropriate, however don’t neglect alternatives. You’ll see next week that some research strategies (methodologies) favour certain methods for collecting data.
We finished the week by looking at ways of analysing qualitative data… you’ll see that many research strategies draw on similar approaches for analysing the data. We started with content analysis as a way of segmenting the data. Then we looked at a very typical form of segmenting via categorisation… breaking the data down into codes and categories, then looking for themes and relationships. Due to the interpretive nature, analysing qualitative data can be more an art than science, and it’s something that you need to practise in order to become proficient.
WEEK THREE
This week, we moved on to explore various qualitative methodologies (or strategies)… these are over-arching ways of ‘doing’ qualitative research that each have subtle differences to make them more or less suitable, depending on the topic/question and data. Recall that many of the methodologies draw on similar ways of collecting data and even more so, similar ways of analysing that data (coding, themes, data displays and drawing conclusions).
We started with Ethnography which has its roots in Anthropology… drawing primarily on participant observation (but other data sources can be incorporated), in the natural setting, Ethnography is useful for understanding behaviour, culture and human interaction with the environment.
Action Research was next up, and we explored how this can be used to facilitate change within an organisation. Very much ‘mode 2’, applied research where you as a researcher work with a team or teams to actually plan and bring about organisational change. A challenging type of research as you have a dual role; but it can be very rewarding to see the outcome of your research develop in real time.
We then looked at Case Study… you may recall the three types and the role of theory in distinguishing between explanatory and exploratory case studies. This approach to research can draw on both quantitative and/or qualitative data… be careful to fully justify the use of case study if that is what you decide on as it can often be seen as the ‘catch all’ and not robustly carried out. I emphasised the need for a clear and single unit of analysis to assist with the case development and scope.
The final qualitative approaches this week have been archival research and Grounded Theory. Archival research is more to do with the source(s) of data relating to a particular instance in time and/or organisational setting. You would analyse the data along similar lines to any quantitative or qualitative analysis techniques. I realise that the example I used for Grounded Theory was perhaps too complex for what may be needed just to get an idea for it. GT is really good for discovering why people do the things they do. It’s very much a discovery… it can be exciting and painful in equal measure… you need to be persistent!
We wrapped up the session by looking at risk, ethics and writing up your research.
WEEK FOUR
Briefly, the layers of the research onion. Although there was some repetition here, I hope it was useful to you to see how two different researchers talk about research. This is important because many issues in research–though not all!–are a matter of interpretation and point of view, and this makers the dissertation module unlike your other modules. The main goal of this first lecture was to encourage you to see research as a positive, well-motivated approach to solving real-world problems. And I want you to develop the confidence to have your own point of view on research. This will help you to pick a topic with confidence.
In the second lecture, we were less reflective and focused on some more concrete, technical things that you will have to face in your dissertation. We introduced the concept of sampling [fancy way of saying that the researcher picks a subset of the whole target population s/he wants to study], and defined different kinds of sampling. You need to learn these different kinds. For your dissertation, you need to be able to choose the appropriate kind of sampling, and justify your choice. Of course, you may choose to not sample but do a census, if your target population is small, or if you will not gather your own data. We also talked about secondary data, which includes the topic of big data. I want you to be as critical of big data as you need to be of any method or idea that is fashionable!
WEEK FIVE
We started this week by continuing to talk about data (as we had done in Week 4). We focused now on how to gather data by making questionnaires. Questionnaires are a very broad category of quantitative methods, including for example our well-known surveys. Except for discussing some technical terms, the focus was on the big power, and hence responsibility, you all have when creating a questionnaire: There are so many ways, such as visual salience and verbal framing, in which the participants can be influenced to give biased responses! Please always think twice before committing to a questionnaire design. Pilot testing is indispensable. I took the opportunity to link verbal framing to behavioural-science claims that people systematically think irrationally, and posted on the discussion forum a debate on the issue. We first discussed types of data (categorical and numerical; and their sub-types)–you have to know which type(s) you gathered in your dissertation. We also touched on coding, which should be done carefully. The bulk of the lecture focused on exploratory statistics. In contrast to numerical statistics–which we will discuss next week–no hypotheses are tested or regression, or other mathematical, models are run. Rather, the idea is to use intuitive graphs, tables, and figures to gain insight into the data, and form hypotheses (which will be tested later, as just said). It was fun to discuss some particular graphics with you, and to see how opinions and tastes can differ!
WEEK SIX
This was our week of numerical statistics. This statistics is in contrast to exploratory statistics, which used visuals; numerical statistics uses numbers.
As such, numerical statistics tends to be more suitable for quantitative research. Still, students with an interest in qualitative research should also know some basics of numerical statistics:
Numerical statistics can be descriptive or inferential. Descriptive statistics refers to the computation of measures of central tendency and dispersion. Central tendency is measured by averages such as mean, median and mode and dispersion is measured by range, variance, standard deviation, and so on. These measures give us a first idea about our data based on the participants we have sampled.
But descriptive statistics does not allow us to make rigorous inferences from our sample about the target population. For example, if we sample, say, 50 out of 5,000 employees in a company and measure their job satisfaction under two different managers, A and B, and find that what does that say about the satisfaction of all 5,000 employees under A and B? Is it the same or different? Such are the reasons why inferential statistics was developed.
Inferential statistics is, in some ways, the most challenging material we covered together. Please do review, and try to understand significance testing (t test).
Choose a single research topic and then develop two research proposals (that are both based on the same topic). Then you should develop a critical evaluation in order to propose the most suitable approach (which might be quantitative or qualitative, or indeed a combination (ie. mixed methods)
Part 1 – Introduction 10% ….One topic, common introduction – literature review, context, why it’s important. (this should be common to both proposals and so only need be presented once)
• Provide a title for your research Background context: give an overview of the topic or problem, draw on key topic-related literature (correctly referenced), and explain why researching the topic or problem is important.
Part 2 – Quantitative research proposal 25%
• Overall research question: state what your overall research question is. This should be clear, succinct and specific.
• Research aim(s) and objective(s): List your aims and objectives relating to the research question(s). You may include a hypothesis (or hypotheses) here. State any key theories that you may be using or testing.
• Explain which quantitative research strategy you have chosen.
• Explain and justify the sampling method.
• Design a way of collecting suitable quantitative data (include it as an Appendix) and explain how you would administer it. NB. If you are proposing to use secondary data instead, clearly show how the data were originally collected and discuss their relevance and quality.
• Explain how the data will be analysed and presented in order to address the research question, aim(s) and objective(s).
Part 3 – Qualitative research proposal on the same topic- 25%
• Design a succinct research proposal for the same topic, but this time using a ′qualitative′, inductive approach. Your question, aim(s) and objective(s) may need to change from those in Part 2.
• Overall research question: state what your overall research question is. This should be clear, succinct and specific.
• Research aim(s) and objective(s): List your aims and objectives relating to the research question(s). If appropriate, state any key theories that you may be using.
• Explain which qualitative research strategy you have chosen.
• Explain and justify the sampling method.
• Design a way of collecting suitable qualitative data (include a list of questions as an Appendix) and explain how you would administer it. NB. If you are proposing to use secondary data instead, clearly show how the data were originally collected and discuss their relevance and quality.
• Explain how the data will be analysed and presented in order to address the research question, aim(s) and objective(s).
Part 4 – 20% critical evaluation and recommendation
• Going down through each layer of Saunders et al.’s (2016, or earlier) ‘Research Onion’, write a critical evaluation of your two research proposals developed in parts 2 and 3 (drawing on a wide range of research methodology literature to support your argument).
• As a result, you should conclude by stating what would be, based on your critique, the most suitable approach for your chosen research topic and why.
• This may be a quantitative or qualitative approach, or indeed a mixture of the two – you must decide and defend your choice.
Part 4 is the critical evaluation of the two proposals, qualitative and quantitative. You are to go through the layers of the research onion, and provide arguments why, for your project, for example, interpretivism is more suitable than “positivism”, mixed methods are more suitable than a single method, etc.
Please make such arguments in Part 4 of the assignment. While you might touch on them in Parts 2 and 3, making the arguments only there, and then simply write in Part 4 “see above”, might be confusing for your markers because they will not find the material where they expect to find it.
I SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO ALL RESOURCES USED EXTENDED DEADLINE
·It must be underpinned throughout by awareness of theory. Your argument should be placed within the context of existing theory relevant to the subject.
“Literature reviews should be succinct and… give a picture of the state of knowledge
and
of major questions in your topic area” (Bell 2010, 112)
“the selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed.” (Hart 1998)
“Typically, the literature review forms an important chapter in the thesis, where its purpose is to provide the background to and justification for the research undertaken (Bruce 1994, 218
Here are a few general pieces of advice for writing a successful literature review:
• Show the connections between your sources. Remember that your review should be more than merely a list of sources with brief descriptions under each one. You are constructing a narrative. Show clearly how each text has contributed to the current state of the literature, drawing connections between them.
• Engage critically with your sources. This means not simply describing what they say. You should be evaluating their content: do they make sound arguments? Are there any flaws in the methodology? Are there any relevant themes or issues they have failed to address? You can also compare their relative strengths and weaknesses.
• Signpost throughout to ensure your reader can follow your narrative. Each time you bring up a new source it should be made obvious to your reader why you are doing this and where the discussion is headed. Keep relating the discussion back to your specific research topic.
• Make a clear argument. Keep in mind that this is a chance to present your take on a topic. Your literature review showcases your own informed interpretation of a specific area of research. If you have followed the advice given in this guide you will have been careful and selective in choosing your sources. You are in control of how you present them to your reader.
· To show that you have a good understanding of your area of research.
· To show you have considered your research within the context of previous and ongoing research.
· To inform the reader of the current state of knowledge and questions in your research area.
· Remember that you can also challenge or comment on earlier research findings.
· You should usually attempt to refer to as wide a range of research as possible, and not rely on one or two examples.
A Literature Review might look something like this extract:
Early research on COO tried to understand how the originating country affected consumer perceptions about products, regardless of whether those perceptions were warranted. For example,
Samlee
(1994)
found 60 empirical studies published on COO effects just from 1965 to 1994. Many studied country of origin effects and product perception (
Al-
Sulaiti
and Baker, 1998
;
Bilkey
and
Nes
, 1982
; and
Thakor
and
Katsanis
, 1997
.) Some researchers (e.g.
Wang and Lamb, 1983
) define COO effects as a negative consumer bias toward imported products. In fact, nationalism is a factor in a number of studies which found consumers generally prefer products made in their own countries (
Olsen
et al.
, 1993
;
Bannister and Saunders, 1978
;
Chao and
Rajendran
, 1993;
Gaedeke
, 1973
; and
Nagashima
, 1970
). Levin et al. (1993) found a strong bias in US students for American-made cars over Japanese cars in the face of a “Buy America First” campaign. They concluded that nationalistic feelings may dominate other COO perceptions.
Becker (1986)
, however, they found US consumers’ desire to purchase American products dissipating in the face of perceived inferior quality. In addition,
Ettenson
et al.
(1988)
found only a minor COO effect for “Made in America” claims for a ladies’ blouse and a man’s dress shirt.
Source:(Adapted from) Drozdenko, R. and Jensen, M., (2008) Translating country-of-origin effects into prices, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Emerald Insight Publishing – www.emeraldinsight.com).