Every decision that we take in our daily lives is based on some research and our conclusive experiences that we encounter in past. This enables a person to decide whether a particular decision should be approved or discouraged. In organizations, business decisions require extensive research to come up with a viable decision. The data for the research comes from two main sources i.e. primary and secondary sources.
Primary data is the first-hand information gathered by the researcher himself for his use. Whereas, secondary data is gathered primarily for some other purposes but that can be used by someone else to make decisions based on already available secondary data (Harris, 2001).
A company can collect secondary data from its internal sources that are more reliable and accurate which may include its detailed sales report, financial report, inventory scheduling reports, etc. On the other hand, external sources for secondary data would be statistical publications, magazines, journals, books, government census reports, the company’s annual reports, and vice versa. The main reason the company prefers to go for secondary data is its cost-effectiveness and convenience due to time-saving and research which otherwise require company personnel to spent time in conducting a survey to gather data for the problem decision (Green, Tull & Albaum, 1993).
The main focus in the decision is to analyze the most credible sources of data that helps in assessing the conditions and system surrounding so that decisions for the pertaining problem can be made for better results.
Managers need to carefully analyze the context in which problems arise for which they can prefer secondary data to decide as it provides managers a thought about the already achieved results based on which they can propose several decisions and can predict its outcome (Harris, 2001). Secondary data enables the manager to understand the respondent’s response for a particular product or service that his company offers based on the past record of other companies offering the same or relevant product/services.
This historical data alarms the manager before taking a decision and this would help to solve the problem as it occurred by implementing suggested plans that were made by assessing the records. Planning is the major part of the business that is changed based on secondary data hence making a company contingent for any unexpected event. Managers prefer to see a positive trend in the progress of the company by incorporating several strategies in business operations, therefore to determine the optimum strategy managers should be aware of the facts so they can effectively manage to cope up with several problems that are unique and requires proper decision to be resolved (Berman and Evans, 2001).
The manager should be careful in preferring secondary data because of its inaccuracy due to irrelevancy with the problem that would end up with a wrong decision. However, the manager can effectively define the best target segment for a particular product category by seeing the financial record and sales reports of other companies that suggest the most attractive segment to be targeted to enhance the product revenue.
However, there are several companies that are involved in the collection of data for use by others as a business activity such as AC Nielsen, etc. These sources can be used by managers despite collecting data themselves. But one must be careful in selecting the details to make decisions as irrelevant and inconspicuous data can be a basis for a wrong decision.
Conclusion
Secondary data are sources that managers can use for their research or decision. These sources are not mainly addressing the criteria for research but relevant material can be extracted from it that pertains to suits best for the problem. Decisions play a key role in the success of any business therefore managers should make careful and logical decisions based on analysis of past trends and consumer responses.
References
Berman, Barry. Evans, Joel R. (2001). Retail Management. Edition: 8. Prentice Hall.
Green, P.E. Tull, D.S. and Albaum G. (1993). Research methods for marketing decisions, Edition: 5, Prentice Hall.
Harris, Howard. (2001). Content Analysis of Secondary Data: A Study of Courage in Managerial Decision Making. Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 24, pages 191-208. Web.