A Listicle of 15 Latest Research Topics in Management

Description of the topic

Covid-19 has disrupted almost every sector across the world in different ways. In addition, the social distancing and lockdown mandates have also disrupted the shopping as well as buying habits of consumers as they have learned new habits to improvise (Miah, et al., 2022). Due to a lack of understanding regarding changes in purchasing behavior, some organizations fail to maintain their productivity or face loss in business (Ahmed, et al., 2020). In this context, this study can aim at conducting an empirical study for the evaluation of the impact of Covid-19 on customers’ purchasing behavior so that accurate marketing strategies could be developed by different organization structures.

Research objectives

• To study the impact of Covid-19 on the purchasing behavior of consumers while purchasing daily products.
• To recommend effective strategies to organizations for maintaining the selling rate by making effective marketing strategies.

Research questions

RQ1: How Covid-19 pandemic change consumers’ purchasing behavior due to social distancing and lockdown mandates?

RQ2: What are the major concerns to be considered by organizations to understand changed customer behavior to build effective marketing strategies?

Research methodology

This research study can be conducted with the use of mixed methodology following which qualitative and quantitative analysis can be performed. The primary data can be gathered from the customers by selecting participants from the surrounding using a random sampling approach. The online survey can be conducted by sharing questions through email or other social media platforms to understand their behavior.

In addition, qualitative analysis can be performed by collecting secondary data from published reputed sources, including articles, research papers, and journals to recommend effective strategies to understand changed customer behavior to build effective marketing strategies. To analyze the collected data, thematic analysis can be conducted to obtain the findings and meet the objectives successfully.

References

• Miah, M.R., Hossain, A., Shikder, R., Saha, T. and Neger, M., 2022. Evaluating the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Bangladeshi consumers’ perspective. Heliyon, 8(9), p.e10600.
• Ahmed, R.R., Streimikiene, D., Rolle, J.A. and Pham, A.D., 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and the antecedents for the impulse buying behavior of US citizens. Journal of Competitiveness, 12(3), p.5.

Description of the topic

To make the business successful, the customers’ loyalty and attraction play a significant role, which can further result in retaining customers to a great extent (López García, et al., 2019). To achieve this, there is a need for accurate marketing actions, which can be possible through digital marketing (Ponzoa, and Erdmann, 2021). In this concern, the given study can focus on conducting a systematic study to analyze digital marketing actions for achieving better attraction and customer loyalty.

Research objectives

• To study the importance of better attraction and customers loyalty to increase business productivity.
• To explore the role of digital marketing in increasing attraction with customers and retaining them for a long time.
• To recommend suitable digital marketing actions for achieving better attraction and customers loyalty.

Research questions

RQ1: How can digital marketing help organizations in achieving better attraction and customer loyalty?

RQ2: What are the suitable digital marketing actions organizations can adopt to increase their customer base and retain existing customers?

Research methodology

This research study can be performed by conducting qualitative research following which review-based analysis can be performed to analyze the secondary data. The required data for this research study can be collected from various sources such as journal articles, review-based articles and other peer-reviewed sources. Also, the annual reports and marketing strategies of different reputed organizations can be reviewed to recommend digital marketing actions organizations can adopt to increase their customer base and retain existing customers. This will help organizations in better performance of their key performance indicators.

References

• López García, J.J., Lizcano, D., Ramos, C.M. and Matos, N., 2019. Digital marketing actions that achieve a better attraction and loyalty of users: An analytical study. Future Internet, 11(6), p.130.
• Ponzoa, J.M. and Erdmann, A., 2021. E-commerce customer attraction: Digital marketing techniques, evolution and dynamics across firms. Journal of Promotion Management, 27(5), pp.697-715.

Description of the topic

Social media influencers are individuals able to establish credibility in a particular industry by gaining access to the audience (Nafees, et al., 2021). Some small and medium-sized organizations are unaware of the role of social media influencers to improve brand value. Some organizations have less trust in social media influencers as a marketing strategy (Siddiqui, et al, 2021). In this concern, the primary focus of this selected research topic can be to conduct an empirical study to evaluate the role of social media influencers in brand promotion in the retail industry.

Research objectives

• To explore the technological shift in promotional and marketing activities used by organizations in the retail industry.
• To investigate the role of social media influencers in the technological era to promote products or brand.
• To evaluate the significant impact of social media influencers to increase brand awareness among customers to achieve a competitive edge in the market.

Research questions

RQ1: How can social media influence help organizations increase brand awareness to attain a competitive edge in the market?

Research methodology

To address above-defined research objectives, the quantitative research method can be used following which an empirical study can be performed using an online survey technique. The study can be conducted based on primary data, which can be gathered through an online survey. To conduct a survey, the general public (customers) can be selected as participants to collect their opinions regarding social media influencers. It can help in understanding whether social media influence changes the mind of customers or encourages them to choose the product of a particular organization or not. The responses to be gathered through the survey can be analyzed through critical evaluation to obtain the results and achieve the defined objectives to evaluate the significant impact of social media influencers to increase brand awareness among customers to achieve a competitive edge in the market.

References

• Nafees, L., Cook, C.M., Nikolov, A.N. and Stoddard, J.E., 2021. Can social media influencers (SMI) power influence consumer brand attitudes? The mediating role of perceived SMI credibility. Digital Business, 1(2), p.100008.
• Siddiqui, M.S., Siddiqui, U.A., Khan, M.A., Alkandi, I.G., Saxena, A.K. and Siddiqui, J.H., 2021. Creating electronic word-of-mouth credibility through social networking sites and determining its impact on brand image and online purchase intentions in India. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(4), pp.1008-1024.

Description of the topic

Depression is a clinical mood disorder that a major part of the global population is suffering from (Schiller, et al., 2023). As per the recent reports of the World Health Organization, almost 3.8% of the world’s population is suffering from depression which is a huge number of people. Several factors lead to this disorder such as work pressure, failure, disrupted sleep etc (Vasilopoulou, et al., 2016). It brings a feeling of sadness and loss of interest among the people and leads the people to negative thoughts throughout their day. The impact of this disorder on human lives can be assessed throughout this research study considering the insights from existing studies and the opinions of the people.

Research objectives

• To explore the symptoms of depression among people and also the major factors leading to this severely impactful disorder.
• To determine the impact of this disorder on the quality of life of the individuals and also the measures are taken by the government to decrease its impact.

Research questions

RQ1: What are the major factors that lead to depression among individuals?

RQ2: Does depression has an impact on the number of suicidal deaths across the globe?

RQ2: What can the government take to enhance the quality of life of individuals and to limit the rate of depression?

Research methodology

The selection of a suitable methodology for conducting research is extremely important to solve the particular research problem and fulfill the proposed objectives. For this research, qualitative research methodology can be used in which literature-based analysis can be performed to determine the major factors that lead to depression among individuals. The information for this analysis can be taken from conference papers, journals and articles to maintain the reliability and validity of the research. Apart from the literature-based analysis, interviews can be conducted with individuals from different sectors who are suffering from depression to know their opinions and to determine the impact of this disorder on quality of life.

References

• Vasilopoulou, C., Bourtsi, E., Giaple, S., Koutelekos, I., Theofilou, P. and Polykandriotis, M., 2016. The impact of anxiety and depression on the quality of life of hemodialysis patients. Global journal of health science, 8(1), p.45.
• Schiller, J., Niederer, D., Kellner, T., Eckhardt, I., Egen, C., Zheng, W., Korallus, C., Achenbach, J., Ranker, A., Sturm, C. and Vogt, L., 2023. Effects of acupuncture and medical training therapy on depression, anxiety, and quality of life in patients with frequent tension-type headache: A randomized controlled study. Cephalalgia, 43(1), p.03331024221132800.

Description of the topic

The primary focus of this topic is to conduct a systematic review of different types of machine learning techniques used for improving the decision-making process in an organization (Pfob, et al., 2023). Here, machine learning refers to the field of study that provides computers with the ability to understand or learn without getting programmed (Zhou, et al., 2023). The study to be conducted in this research is to review different types of ML-based models proposed by different authors in different studies to analyze available data and make effective decisions.

Research objectives

• To study different types of machine learning techniques introduced by different authors for performing data analysis.
• To conduct a systematic review of different ML techniques and their role in improving the decision-making process.

Research questions

RQ1: How can the machine learning model help organizations in improving business decisions to achieve defined SMART goals and objectives?

Research methodology

To conduct this research, the qualitative research methodology can be used following which a systematic review can be performed to review the current studies to collect the required data and information for the given research. To collect systematic review, several secondary sources can be used such as research papers, journals, conference papers and other sources from different digital repositories such as IEEE Xplore, Science Direct, Springer etc.

References

• Pfob, A., Mehrara, B.J., Nelson, J.A., Wilkins, E.G., Pusic, A.L. and Sidey-Gibbons, C., 2023. Towards patient-centered decision-making in breast cancer surgery: machine learning to predict individual patient-reported outcomes at 1-year follow-up. Annals of surgery, 277(1), pp.e144-e152.
• Zhou, Y., Lei, H., Zhang, X., Wang, S., Xu, Y., Li, C. and Zhang, J., 2023. Using the Dual Concept of Evolutionary Game and Reinforcement Learning in Support of Decision-Making Process of Community Regeneration—Case Study in Shanghai. Buildings, 13(1), p.175.

Description of the topic

Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization for preventing employee turnover, which also has a direct impact on the business performance and overall success of the business (Bekhit, et al., 2022). It has been determined that HRM plays a vital role in retaining talented employees, which can be possible by adopting best strategies or practices (Sekar, et al., 2022). In this concern, the given research study can be conducted to investigate different HRM practices and their impact on employee retention rate and the micro environment of the organizations.

Research objectives

• To study the role of HRM in offering an efficient working environment to employees.
• To investigate different HRM practices to be adopted by organizations to provide a better environment for customers.
• To analyze the impact of best HRM practices for retaining talented employees for a long time.

Research questions

RQ1: What are the most effective HRM practices that organizations must adopt to build an accurate working environment for their employees?

RQ2: How can the deployment of best HRM practices help organizations in retaining talent for a long period?

Research methodology

The above-defined research questions can be addressed using a quantitative research study in which Human resource managers and employees of different organizations can be considered as main participants to gather necessary data. The online survey can be conducted with these participants who can be recruited through LinkedIn profiles by sharing posts regarding the survey. Interested candidates can be asked to share their emails and other personal details using which survey link can be shared with them to collect their opinions. The responses can then be analyzed using descriptive analysis to obtain the required results at the end.

References

• Bekhit, K.E., El Leithy, W. and Mahmoud, A., The Impact of Green Human Resource Management Practices on Employee Retention and Environmental Sustainability: A Conceptual Model.
• Sekar, S., Sivakumar, G., Magenthiran, J., Kirupanantha, J.R.T., Fernandez, R. and Loy, C.K., IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE TURNOVER INTENTION.

Description of the topic

As per the current statistics, almost 33% of the business have integrated sustainability strategies for the improvement of operational efficiency as well as decreased costs (Sharma, et al., 2023). It can also result in boosting operational profit margin to a great extent as per the report of McKinsey (Ekawati, et al., 2023). Along with this, sustainable business practices are expected to improve customer loyalty due to the increasing purchase of sustainable products by people across the world. By considering this concern, the given study can aim at reviewing the implications of sustainable business practices for purchasing behavior of customers in future.

Research objectives

• To study different sustainable business practices adopted by organizations these days.
• To investigate the impact of sustainable practices on changing customers’ purchasing behavior.
• To analyze the future implications of sustainable practices on improving customer loyalty or changing purchasing behavior.

Research questions

RQ1: How can the adoption of sustainable business practices impact the consumers’ purchasing behavior?

Research methodology

This study can be conducted with the adoption of qualitative research methodology, which is the method to conduct the research using non-numeric data. The secondary data can be collected for this research following published sources (research articles, sustainability reports, news articles etc.) based on which findings can be obtained. The review-based analysis can be conducted in this research study using secondary data to address the research questions significantly.

References

• Sharma, S., Mahajan, A., Virmani, N., Kukreja, G. and Mehta, K., 2023. An empirical model for assessing consumer behavior towards hotel sustainable practices: a study from an emerging economy. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 33(1), pp.222-239.
• Ekawati, N., Wardana, I., Yasa, N., Kusumadewi, N. and Tirtayani, I., 2023. A strategy to improve green purchase behavior and customer relationship management during the covid-19 new normal conditions. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 11(1), pp.289-298.

Description of the topic

Green marketing mainly concerns selling services and products based on their benefits to the environment by adopting sustainable practices, deploying eco-friendly packing and products etc. The increase in global warming across the world and awareness regarding environmental issues among people has changed their mindset to make purchases (Nguyen, and Mogaji, 2022). Therefore, it can be said the adoption of green marketing strategies could help organizations in changing the brand perception of customers or increase their loyalty to a particular company or product. Considering this concern, the given study can focus on studying the impact of using green marketing strategies and tactics on consumers brand perception.

Research objectives

• To study different types of green marketing strategies adopted by organizations to reach sustainability goals.
• To explore the impact of green marketing strategies on changing the brand perception of consumers.
• To investigate the effectiveness of using green marketing strategies to increase the customer base and improve brand value.

Research questions

RQ1: How can the adoption of green marketing strategies impact the consumers brand perception by promoting sustainable products and services?

Research methodology

To conduct this study, the qualitative methodology can be used, which is an approach to resolve the research problem with the collection of non-numeric data. For this, secondary data can be collected by considering several sources from reputed libraries such as Science Direct, Springer, ResearchGate and Google scholar. In addition, sustainability reports and marketing-based reports can also be considered to gather required knowledge and information by performing review-based analysis to address the research questions significantly.

References

• Rahman, S.U. and NguyenViet, B., 2022. Towards sustainable development: Coupling green marketing strategies and consumer perceptions in addressing greenwashing. Business Strategy and the Environment.
• Nguyen, N.P. and Mogaji, E., 2022. A theoretical framework for the influence of green marketing communication on consumer behavior in emerging economies. Green Marketing in Emerging Economies: A Communications Perspective, pp.253-274.

Description of the topic

Russia- Ukraine war has become one of the major challenges for organizations or businesses in different countries due to its high impact on the supply chain as well as import and export procedures (Jagtap, et al., 2022). Similarly, it has also impacted the UK in different ways and the retail industry has been impacted the most due to supply chain disruptions (Liadze, et al., 2022). This study can aim at studying the influence of the Russia-Ukraine war on the UK’s retail business by conducting a qualitative study to understand the challenges encountered by retail companies.

Research objectives

• To explore the influence of the Russia-Ukraine war on the retail industry in the UK.
• To study the major operations associated with the retail industry influenced by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Research questions

RQ1: How has the UK's retail industry been influenced due to the Russia-Ukraine war?

Research methodology

This study can be performed with the use of qualitative research methodology with the help of which systematic study can be conducted based on existing data available on different digital libraries. Science Direct, Emerald Insights, ResearchGate etc. are some common libraries to be used for collecting main sources, including news articles, research papers, journals etc. using which review-based analysis can be conducted to determine the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the retail industry in the UK. In addition, case study-based analysis and PESTLE analysis can also be performed to review case- scenarios of different organizations to analyze the impact of this war on their business.

References

• Jagtap, S., Trollman, H., Trollman, F., Garcia-Garcia, G., Parra-López, C., Duong, L., Martindale, W., Munekata, P.E., Lorenzo, J.M., Haifa, A. and Hassoun, A., 2022. The Russia-Ukraine conflict: Its implications for the global food supply chains. Foods, 11(14), p.2098.
• Liadze, I., Macchiarelli, C., Mortimer-Lee, P. and Juanino, P.S., 2022. The economic costs of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Description of the topic

Accurate safety management is very important in the construction industry due to unstable working surfaces, more chances of human errors and other several issues due to the complexity of the construction procedure (Umar, 2022). To manage this issue, there is a need to deploy effective solutions to ensure that accurate safety could be provided to the labor and other project team members during the construction (Shaqour, 2022). For this major problem, this study mainly focuses on analyzing the BIM in managing safety issues in the construction industry to build a secure environment for construction workers.

Research objectives

• To explore the concept of building information modeling (BIM) and its applications in the construction industry.
• To study the role and importance of using BIM in managing the safety of construction workers.

Research questions

RQ1: How can BIM help in building a safe environment for construction workers through effective safety management?

Research methodology

The given study can be conducted with the use of qualitative research methods using which thematic analysis can be performed to obtain the research results significantly. Under thematic analysis, different themes can be created such as BIM, the role of BIM in the construction industry, applications of BIM, BIM for safety management etc. to achieve the defined objectives. Under all the defined themes, secondary sources such as journals, conference papers, research papers, journals etc.

References

• Umar, T., 2022. Challenges of BIM implementation in the GCC construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 29(3), pp.1139-1168.
• Shaqour, E.N., 2022. The role of implementing BIM applications in enhancing project management knowledge areas in Egypt. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 13(1), p.101509.