Research Methods for Managers

`Strengths of the text lie with the emphasis on a creative multimethods approach, the accesssible argument for validity and relevance of ethnographic methods in business and management research and the relative clarity with which philosophical issues are exposed′ - Human Resource Management Journal

Research Methods for Managers enables students to take their first steps in project work, confident that they are on firm ground in their choice of methodological approaches to the problems that they have set themselves. In the experience of the authors, this is what students engaged in research usually find most difficult. The authors` aim is to present a balanced approach to research methodology in business and management, and to offer intending researchers a wider range of options than deductive approaches alone.

The authors address the key philosophical foundations of the main methodological approaches to research in management and business. The text is practical and user-friendly, with a step-by-step approach and examples and exercises drawn from business. The book deals with all aspects of the research process, and especially with deciding on an approach or strategy and formulating the research plan.

John Gill, before his retirement, was Reader in Management in Sheffield Business School.

In recent years Phil has participated in the generation and management of over £420, 000 of research funding, over £330,000 of which was provided by EPSRC and ESRC. Involved in much of this research have been local public and private sector organizations as sponsors of research and as research sites for both data collection and for change-management interventions. This research has concerned a range of issues including: management control; corporate governance; contractor-client relations; evolving management roles. Recently Phil has engaged in ESRC sponsored research into "Benchmarking Good Practice in Qualitative Management Research" which is part of the ESRC Research Methodology Programme. Currently Phil is a referee for a number of academic journals and reviews book proposals for several major academic publishers. He has also been a guest editor for the journal Management Decision and has recently been appointed as Associate Editor for a new international journal, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. Phil′s education includes: BA (Hons) Sociology (Sheffield); MSc Organization Development (CNAA); MSc Advance Educational and Social Research Methods (Open University); PhD Management and Organization (CNAA).