Qualitative Analysis Methods Review

Qualitative research plays an important role in business research. The popular research methods that researchers used are; Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods. Researchers who conduct qualitative studies, often struggle to pick the best technique to analyse their data. This report aims to present six different methods that can be used to analyse qualitative data collected for business studies. A comparison between the techniques is found useful to present in order to help decision made by researchers who are embarking upon qualitative research studies. Qualitative Analysis Methods (QAM) can be used in some of the mixed-methods approaches as appropriate

Knowledge Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Between Academic Research and Industry Regulations

The pharmaceutical sector is one of the pillars of the world’s economy. A significant proportion of its value lies in intellectual assets generated through continuous innovation and lengthy development cycles within a strictly regulated environment. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap between knowledge management (KM) as an expanding academic discipline in the pharmaceutical industry and at the same time a growing regulatory expectation. A systematic review of 137 refereed KM articles revealed six empirical research themes in the pharmaceutical industry. In a subsequent step, the discovered themes and subthemes were compared with the extant regulatory expectations as explained in 128 regulatory guidelines. Findings shed the light on the gap between academic KM research and the current thinking of regulatory bodies. Some regulated knowledge processes were underrepresented in academic literature. The paper offers also novel insights and recommendations for future developments in academic research, regulations and/or industry

A Scientometric Analysis of Knowledge Management Research and Practice Literature: 2003 – 2015

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current research trends in Knowledge Management (KM) through a scientometric analysis of all literature published in KMRP between 2003 and 2015 (506 articles). The review framework explores three sets of review questions addressing Research Productivity, Research Themes and Methods, and Citation Analysis. The study elucidates wide global interest in KM and an increasing trend towards multi-author collaboration. Although more than 55 different industries have featured in the journal, certain knowledge-intensive sectors remain underrepresented. Country productivity shows few nations taking the lead with an interesting correlation between research activity and economic prosperity. Moreover, a growing tendency towards empirical methods is observed in contrast to a decrease in literature review papers, coupled with a recent rise in articles that integrate KM and Information Technology (IT). In terms of citation and influences, few published articles have stood out in the journal’s history. This is the first comprehensive scientometric research of KMRP describes the state-of-the-art value and provides an outlook of the future

Seasonal recruiting policies for table grape packing operations: A hybrid simulation modelling study

The packing process is a critical post-harvesting activity in table grape industry. Workers in packing stations are hired under seasonal contracts because of product seasonality and operations labor intensity. Seasonal workers, however, are usually characterized by inconsistent performance, high turnover and experience variation which leads to low productivity and high waste. Few mathematical models were used for evaluating fresh products packing operations, but in a deterministic nature which hinders the complexity and dynamics of the business processes. Hence, a hybrid Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) are employed to evaluate a set of seasonal recruiting policies in a large grape packing station. The paper aims to investigate the impact of workers experience on packing operations efficiency. The model outcomes demonstrate the improvement in operations efficiency and total running cost (about 20% savings) that can be achieved when applying optimal recruiting policies that reduce labors variations

Research Methodology in Business: A Starter’s Guide

A cardinal requisite of successful research lies in the proper selection of the research methodology applied to achieve research objectives using the available resources. In addition to acquiring sufficient knowledge of their specific research topic, researchers are urged to develop good understanding of alternative research methodologies at their disposal to be able to identify the best-suited methods to address the research question. This, however, often poses a challenge for novice researchers who face difficulty in grasping the vast methodology landscape and its encompassing array of debates. The purpose of this paper is to provide new researchers with a comprehensive overview of the main elements of research methodology, particularly in the business domain. After a brief introduction, the paper introduces the principles of research philosophy, approaches, and methods, and explains the different paradigmatic stances adopted by researchers in the field. A number of mixed methods designs are then discussed to highlight the different means by which qualitative and quantitative research are combined. The final section presents sampling techniques then explores the most prominent data-collection tools employed in business, including interviews, questionnaires, and case studies. The paper aims to offer business postgraduate students embarking on their research journeys with a useful summary that would guide in them navigating the methodological aspect of their research work