Business Research Methodology and Qualitative Methods

Question: Discuss about the Business Research Methodology and Qualitative Methods. Answer: Introduction: In The New, New Thing, Michael Lewis has explained the term business model as a team of art. However, it can be stated that it is less surprising than it seems because the entire concept depends on how people are using it. Brymann and Bell (2015) have defined that a business model is the way in which an organization or a company successfully generates revenue and tends to make the profit from the companys existing operations. It can be seen that the analysts use this specific metric gross profit as a simple way to compare the efficiency as well as effectiveness of the companys business model. In case of the firms, the gross profit is calculated by subtracting the cost of the goods and services sold from revenues. Therefore, in brief, it can be said that a business model is the conceptual framework that supports the viability of the existing business taking into account its purposes along with its goals and its ongoing plans to achieve them (Zikmund et al., 2013). Some researchers like Eriksson and Kovalainen (2015), have stated that a commerce representation is comparable to a business chart in its composition and content. However, it is required to specify here that a business plan specifies all the necessary fundamentals required to display the feasibility of a prospective business, while on the other hand, a business model clearly explains the rudiments that make an obtainable trade work productively. A disruption is a major disturbance, something that changes the plans or interrupts some procedures or events. Lambert and Davidson (2013) have said that one of the few ways left for the organizations for protecting their margins is through business model differentiation. It can be stated that the business models have become the innovative foundation of rivalry that replace the product features and benefits, as the playing field on which corporations appear as prevailing or stragglers. Amit and Zott (2012) have said that the concealed target of any of the organizations is to clearly maximize the profit within a specified time frame. Hence, each organization works with specific purpose of achieving their strategic goals as well as objectives it has formulated for the particular time. On the other hand to this, disruption is the way of blowing up the present business market, for making way for the emerging business (DaSilva Trkman, 2014). In the year 1989, two brothers named Tony and Terry Pearce with enough experiences in advanced aerospace materials and in manufacturing, the company Purple Mattress came into existence. They successfully created high-tech carbon fiber sporting goods and wheelchairs. Their thorough market research stated that huge numbers of Australians suffer from chronic sleep disorders and thus they wanted to solve this issue through innovation of mattress. This product supports back like a firm mattress, successfully cradles hips and shoulders like a soft mattress. This product does not compromise like a medium-firmness mattress and the product is firm and soft at the same time (McQuivey, 2013). From the company profile, it has been seen that the business model of Purple Mattress was disrupted, owing to the fundamental shifts in the existing home furnish industry. Now the question is to why such successful company has disastrously failed to sustain itself in the recent past. The answer can be found from the kind of business model incorporated by Purple Mattress over the last few years. Over the last few years, it has been seen that the company used to rely on offline marketing and it is believed that use of this business model is the reason of disruption. McQuivey (2013) has stated that given the internets tremendous rise in popularity, present days marketers refer to some other media channels that are not connected to the World Wide Web as offline. In order to reach to the target customers, the company used campaigns like radio and print advertising like billboards, signs and pamphlets, television advertisements and telemarketing. However, it can be stated that internet has been leaving strong impact in every aspects and thus many companies have shifted from offline marketing strategy to online marketing strategy (Downes Nunes, 2013). McQuivey (2013) has stated that it is important for the business owners as well as marketers in order to avoid the trap of binary thinking. It can be stated that though TV promotion and advertising were unsurpassed ways to arrive at customers for decades, the enlargement of internet video demands a significant transform in devices from marketers. Therefore, it can be stated that a business owner who rely only upon TV advertisements to attain the target customers might be surprised to learn that many members of their target customers watch far less TV than they think. Recent reports have stated that 84% of the internet users throughout the globe watch videos online and thus the companies must upgrade their marketing strategies. DaSilva and Trkman (2014) has stated that while there are no strict good or bad methods of marketing, each method has its own specific spectrum of good and bad strategies. Therefore, it can be stated that the best technique a marketer can use in their campaign is rigorous split testing for gaining refined data about the effectiveness of their strategies. Purple mattress used to depend only on offline marketing, while other companies updated their marketing strategies from offline mode to online mode. In the present day scenario, internet advertising is a major impactful means of marketing with significant consideration gripping traits for any type of commerce, especially those who are making money online. Therefore, it can be stated that the most extraordinary characteristic of internet advertising is its potentiality to let businesses converse openly with the aim addressees. In order to stay ahead of the competitors, the management of the company is required to rely on online marketing, as most of the businesses in the present day gain the attention of the customers through online marketing (Onpurple.com., 2016). In this part, it is required to mention some effective business marketing, so that the company can effectively restore their position in the existing market place. Eriksson and Kovalainen (2015) have stated that there is a multiplicity of imaginative tools obtainable for the online business in order to incorporate in their overall internet marketing campaign like: Social media advertising Affiliate selling Email advertising Online video advertising Content advertising At this stage, the marketing and the management team is required to focus on predetermined objectives. The company is required to increase brand awareness, increase in sales along with new online lead generation. They are required to focus on the following points to deal with disruption and these are as follows: The marketing and the management team is required to do thorough research work and this would help them to get trace of the target customers They are required to use the social networks in order to enhance their email service and attract the links (McQuivey, 2013) Apart from that, it can be stated that the company must focus on their presence in different social media sites like Facebook, Google+ and Instagram. Besides that, they are required to create YouTube slide shares and Picassa profiles. With the help of the IT professionals, the marketing team is required to enhance their Google+, Yahoo and Bing local profiles (McQuivey, 2013) At the end, it can be stated that the marketing and the management team of Purple Mattress is required to upgrade their offline business model to online business model, as this would be helpful for the company. References Amit, R., Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation.MIT Sloan Management Review,53(3), 41. Bryman, A., Bell, E. (2015).Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. DaSilva, C. M., Trkman, P. (2014). Business model: What it is and what it is not.Long Range Planning,47(6), 379-389. Downes, L., Nunes, P. (2013). Big bang disruption.Harvard business review, 44-56. Eriksson, P., Kovalainen, A. (2015).Qualitative Methods in Business Research: A Practical Guide to Social Research. Sage. Lambert, S. C., Davidson, R. A. (2013). Applications of the business model in studies of enterprise success, innovation and classification: An analysis of empirical research from 1996 to 2010.European Management Journal,31(6), 668-681. McQuivey, J. (2013). Digital disruption: Unleashing the next wave of innovation. onpurple.com,. (2016).Purple - No Pressure Mattresses and Seat Cushions.Purple. Retrieved 24 August 2016, from https://onpurple.com/ onpurple.com/about-us,. (2016).About us - Purple.Purple. Retrieved 24 August 2016, from https://onpurple.com/about-us/ Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., Griffin, M. (2013).Business research methods. Cengage Learning.