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Reviews by Michael Warren


RE-DEFINING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH WITHIN A BUSINESS CONTEXT
AUTHOR: SHEILA KEEGAN
PUBLISHERS: VDM VERLAG DR MULLER
This book is an examination – a re-think – of the nature and function of commercial qualitative research. It's particularly valuable because it comes not from an academic but from someone working in the industry.

There are times when its style can be a bit intimidating (I gulped slightly at 'alethic hermeneutics' and 'formative teleology') but the bulk of the book is clear, accessible and thought-provoking – and often good fun – and deals with problems that are familiar to every qualitative researcher.

There are useful thumbnail sketches of various types of qual research and their theoretical foundations, and these are followed by details of the four projects that were undertaken for Keegan's doctorate. Firstly, there was a close look at the current nature of the research; secondly, work to find out what it means to be engaged in qualitative research; thirdly, a look at changing working practices; and fourthly, a exploration of qualitative research as 'emergent enquiry' – that is, (i) a continuing process involving not just the researchers and respondents, but the clients and other stakeholders, and (ii) a process not limited to the traditional research paradigm.

Keegan suggests that we are currently seeing 'a groundswell of interest within the profession in re-examining and re-defining qualitative research practice'.


BRIGHT MARKETING: WHY SHOULD PEOPLE BOTHER TO BUY FROM YOU?
AUTHOR: ROBERT CRAVEN
PUBLISHER: CRIMSON PUBLISHING
Robert Craven's book is very much a manual for our times. It will help both those who are not in marketing but need to understand that world better, and those who have something to sell – their research agency services for example.

It's easy to read, clearly laid out and as much a work book as a manual, with sections to fill in on, for example, your current market positioning, where money is spent at the moment, an analysis of relatively unsuccessful products, and so on.

It's easy for the outsider to mock books like this. You could image a Paul Merton or Dara O'Briain sending it up and being very funny. And yet, when you look at it section by section, apply it to yourself or your firm and wonder what might be done differently, there's almost always something useful, and certainly something to think about.

Finally, and pleasingly, the eighth of the author's 23 cardinal rules of bright marketing says, 'What the customer thinks matters more than you can imagine. So do a customer survey, now.' What a good idea…


THE MANAGEMENT GURUS: LESSONS FROM THE BEST MANAGEMENT BOOKS OF ALL TIME
AUTHOR/EDITOR: CHRIS LAUER
PUBLISHER: ATLANTIC BOOKS
This is a summary of key findings from 15 top business management books and if the author and editors have got it right, it may be all you need to bring yourself up to speed with the current essentials.

The selected authors include John C. Maxwell, Bradford D. Smart and, of course, Charles Handy. The topics covered range from what are described as 'people principles for business and life', the skills of hiring, training and promoting staff, creating industry-changing profitability and dealing with change, the impact of the internet, and, of course, the future of leadership and management.

One of the most entertaining articles is based on some work by the UK's Charles Handy, who has taken four Greek gods as archetypes of the four keys aspects of management culture. There is Zeus, who is charismatic and allows his near-peers to follow their instincts, Apollo representing the culture of traditional bureaucracy, Athena who represents the culture of project-based teamwork and Dionysus, the god of wine and song, representing the culture of individualism. Get the balance between these four wrong, says Handy, and you're in trouble.

October | 2008