The Researcher and his Report

In April 2010, International Corporate Research (ICR) released an assessment report on the website of banks operating in Nigeria. The report titled the Nigerian Banks Website Assessment Report (http://icr.stakescapital.com/reports/webass.html) assigned assessment ratings on the website of the banks based on the Connected09 Model developed by the ICR model design department.

Since the release of the report, activity has been observed in website of some banks. Now one year after the release of the well circulated report, preliminary assessment of the website of the banks covered by the report has shown marked improvements that are obviously in response to the deficiencies cited by the report.

Even the website design company that held the account of the two leading banks in the report under review has seen a rise in the number of bank clients in its portfolio.

The Nigerian banks website assessment report was informed specifically to encourage increased information disclosure on the website of banks considering their public company status. Before the report was released, website of banks in Nigeria were poorly informed and starved of critically relevant public information. Today, many banks have had dramatic turn-around in their website. The new websites are now better informed and present the companies as public companies as proposed by the Connected09 Model.

Also, a report on the economic impact study of women owned businesses in the USA by the Center for Women Business Research in 2009 was enough to cause many banks in America to review the way they lend especially to women-owned companies with the report having revealed that women-owned businesses employed more people than the Fortune 500. The report highlighted key statistics on the size of the women-owned business industry, profitability, employment etc. The report was an eye opener and there was no better way to drive the message home than through research and the subsequent report. Earlier reports by CWBR have influenced a change in how the U.S census bureau defines women-owned businesses.

In our view, these reports have fulfilled their purpose. The purpose of research is basically to observe live events and draw information and trends from it. Research creates new knowledge and helps validate or rebuff norms. Research is supposed to help improve the status quo and innovate the future.

When individuals and companies take positive action based on research, the researcher is encouraged to keep studying and bringing new knowledge to the notice of industry practitioners. When they (companies and individuals) do not respond by basing decisions on already conducted research, the resources (both time and material) invested in such research is made a waste [even though it never can be considered a total waste].

A larger emphasis should therefore be placed on research, assessment and evaluation by organizations and on a broader perspective.