Academic field 5.2 · 21 ideas
Economics and business
research ideas.
Qualified university research directions mapped to Economics and business. They are starting points for further scoping, literature review and supervision. They are not completed proposals or claims of novelty.
Ideas in this field
Search and filter these ideas →Developing Standardized Metrics for Evaluating the Efficacy of Organizational Resilience Coaching Interventions
While organizational coaching is widely used to improve employee resilience, the lack of standardized evaluation metrics hinders comparative efficacy studies. This research proposes a roadmap for developing consistent assessment frameworks for resilience coaching.
Enhancing Foresight Maturity in SMEs Through Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Stakeholder Integration
This study identifies key determinants of foresight maturity in manufacturing SMEs, emphasizing the role of dynamic capabilities. Future research could examine the causal relationship between foresight maturity levels and long-term financial performance.
Evaluating Digital Financial Service Adoption Across Diverse Socioeconomic Groups for Sustainable Economic Growth
Digital financial services are critical for achieving SDG8, yet their adoption varies significantly across different population segments. This research examines how targeted policy interventions can improve financial literacy and digital inclusion to foster equitable economic development.
What makes community-owned batteries survive beyond the pilot?
Many community energy trials end when grant funding does. This project would compare the governance, tariff and maintenance choices behind systems that remain useful five years later.
Where does gap-spotting enter a South African doctorate?
Published research questions in management are overwhelmingly framed as filling gaps in the literature rather than as challenges to underlying assumptions. Because this pattern has been established from finished texts, it is not known where in the doctoral and publication process a question changes form. The idea traces South African doctoral questions from proposal to thesis to journal article to locate that change and the actors and rules behind it.
Impacts of Split-Day Hybrid Work Models on Employee Performance and Wellbeing
This research explores the efficacy of 'split-day' hybrid work, where employees divide a single workday between office and home environments. The study aims to evaluate how this flexibility influences productivity, collaboration, and wellbeing compared to traditional full-day location models.
Optimizing Organizational Work Structures for Sustainable Human Performance
This research direction explores the relationship between various work arrangements—including duration, location, and flexibility—and the sustainable physical and cognitive capacity of employees. It seeks to move beyond traditional time-based metrics to evaluate how structural adjustments in work design influence productivity, wellbeing, and recovery across different types of professional tasks.
Integrating Soft Systems Methodology into Operations Research for Long-Term Strategic Scenario Planning
This paper explores the future of operations research by applying critical uncertainty approaches and soft systems methodology. It suggests that future studies should investigate the integration of these soft tools to address complex, non-linear changes in the field.
Do future-research suggestions in African management journals ever get taken up?
Future-research sections are meant to guide later work, yet they often mirror the study's own limitations, and little is known about whether anyone follows them. The idea estimates how often future-research statements in African management journals are taken up in later work, and whether specific statements are taken up more than limitation restatements.
Transformative Business Process Redesign: Moving Beyond Automation to AI-Native Workflows
This research explores methodologies for fundamentally restructuring business processes to leverage the unique capabilities of artificial intelligence, rather than merely accelerating existing, legacy workflows. It seeks to identify the conceptual and operational shifts required to transition from AI-assisted automation to AI-native process design.
Drivers of Growth in Technical Services Firms: Beyond Service Quality, Trust, and Visibility
This research direction examines the relative influence of service quality, client trust, and market visibility on the growth trajectories of technical services firms. It seeks to determine whether these factors are sufficient to explain firm expansion or if additional, under-examined variables play a significant role.
Quantifying Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Uncertainties in Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement
This research explores the primary technical barriers to accurate MRV in ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). It proposes the integration of observational data with predictive modeling to address uncertainties regarding air-sea gas exchange, background ocean variability, and ecological threshold responses.
Epistemic Justice and the Informal Oil Economy: Re-evaluating Artisanal Refineries in the Niger Delta
This study examines the framing of informal artisanal oil refining in Nigeria, arguing for a shift toward epistemic justice that acknowledges local knowledge and socio-economic realities.
Mapping the Socio-Economic Drivers of Migrant Participation in European Platform Labour Markets
This study explores the intersection of migration patterns and platform-based employment across diverse European contexts. It aims to identify the structural factors that influence migrant representation in the gig economy.
Knowledge Management Practices as Mediators for Strategic Foresight in Small and Medium Enterprises
This research investigates how knowledge management processes influence the relationship between business intelligence and strategic foresight. It seeks to understand how SMEs can better leverage internal knowledge to navigate market uncertainty.
Evaluating Longitudinal Impacts of Collaborative Foresight Processes on Organizational Strategy and Decision Making
Collaborative foresight is increasingly used to navigate complex futures, yet its long-term impact remains under-researched. This study proposes an empirical evaluation of how collaborative foresight exercises influence strategic outcomes over time.
Video-Based Learning Impacts on Undergraduate Business Numeracy Achievement: A Longitudinal Longitudinal Analysis
A longitudinal study evaluating the efficacy of video-based learning (VBL) in improving business statistics performance among first-year undergraduate students.
Mapping Strategy and Futures Methods: Relationships, Applications, Limits and Frontiers for Strategic Foresight
The contributor proposes a literature-based mapping of the methods associated with strategy and futures, asking what each comprises, how they complement one another, when they are used, and what is considered ineffective. The intended output is a structured guide for theorists and practitioners that identifies both existing resources and open research and practical frontiers for strategic foresight. The idea treats strategic foresight as a field whose methodological architecture can be described, compared and critically assessed.
A Comparative Analysis of Business Development Strategies Across Product, Commodity, and Service Sectors
This research explores the strategic variations in business development across different market offerings, specifically products, commodities, services, and professional/technical services. It seeks to identify core universal principles versus sector-specific requirements and examine the consequences of misapplying strategies across these categories.
Assessing the Role of University-Industry Knowledge Sharing in Emerging Economy Innovation Ecosystems
Open science and open innovation are critical for economic development in emerging markets. This study proposes examining the specific mechanisms that facilitate effective knowledge transfer between universities and private firms.
The Evolution of Technical Service Business Models in the Era of Artificial Intelligence
This research explores how the integration of artificial intelligence is transforming the operational structures, service delivery models, and value propositions of technical services companies. It seeks to identify the shifts in organizational strategy and service architecture necessitated by the adoption of automated and generative technologies.