Develop Possible Research Problems

The manager's decision problem describes the manager's view of the situation. A research problem is a restatement of the decision problem in research terms, from the researcher's perspective. A research problem states specifically what research can be done to provide answers to the decision problem.

Consider again the coffee shop owner facing the aliscovery$-$oriented decision problem, "Why are store revenues so low?" As is true of most discovery$-$oriented problems, several avenues of research might provide insights into the problem, including these:

Determine what sales levels are required for breakeven. $($Researchers must first be good at overall business!$)$

Assess store traffic and purchase pattems. $($Is low revenue attributable to not enough customers, low revenue per customer, or both?$)$

Investigate current customer satisfaction. $($Is the shop getting repeat business?$)$

Assess the target market's perceptions of the coffee shop and its competitors.

Determine the target market's awareness of the shop.