Since you will probably be bringing in researchers to solve problems instead of doing the research yourself, you may wonder why you should bother to study of doing the research. The reasons become clear when one considers the consequences of not knowing about research. With the ever-increasing complexity of modern organizations, and the uncertainty if the environment they face the management of organizational systems has become one of constant troubleshooting in the workplace. It would be helpful if managers could sense, spot and deal with problems. Before they get out of hand. Knowledge of research and problem solving processes helps managers to identify problem situations before they get out of control. While minor problems can be fixed by the manager, major problems would warrant the hiring of outside researchers or consultants. The manager who is knowledgeable about research processes, design and interpretation of data also helps managers to become discriminating recipients of the research findings presented, and to determine whether or not the recommended solutions are appropriate for implementations.

Another reason why today’s professional manager need to know about research methods is that they will become more discriminating when sifting though information in business journals. Some journal articles are more scientific and objective than others. Even among the scientific articles, some are more appropriate for applications or adaptation to particular organizations and situations than others. This is a function of the sampling design, the types of organizations is able to assess how scientific a study is and grasp what the published empirical research actually conveys, she or he is likely to err in incorporating some of the suggestions such publications offer. Such understanding also helps managers, to handle their own problems at considerable savings of cost by reading the results of “good” (discussed in next chapter) published research which has addressed similar issues.