Bridging academia and industry through business research

The growth and progress of a nation largely rely on the scope and practice of research across its sectors, serving as a driving force for economic and social advancement. Industrially developed countries worldwide prioritise innovations at every part of their work, ranging from production to system line development, either by introducing new products or reshuffling the existing ones for better consistency in life.
The research culture in Bangladesh, especially in business, is currently underdeveloped, with research activities often being neglected and lacking practical application or real-world impact. The proportion of focus on business research is significantly lower compared to science and technology, leading to economic setbacks and a reluctance to embrace competitive advantages through innovation.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the Gross Expenditure in Research and Development (GERD) of Bangladesh was 0.30 per cent for the fiscal year 2020-2021. For the preceding two fiscal years, the GERD was 0.35 per cent and 0.31 per cent respectively.
According to the Global Innovation Index- 2022, Bangladesh is in the 102nd position in terms of spending on innovation, whereas India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are in the 40th, 85th, and 87th positions respectively.
In terms of attaining a global market, or widening the accessibility regarding export volume, marketers need more research or market surveys that actually aid the proliferation of the business sector in Bangladesh. Moreover, strengthening the joint venture businesses or attracting foreign investors to invest in the country can amend the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth as well as foreign currency inflow, where research is a must to grab the international market.
Dave Dowland, registrar of BRAC University, highlighted several promising sectors for business research in Bangladesh. He said, "There is scope to focus on more 'real world' problems regarding industry and business. There are many issues to study in this regard including green energy, digital trends and artificial intelligence, effective entrepreneurship, industrial use of space and transport in megacities like Dhaka and Chattogram regarding how to make those cities liveable, and many more." He added that one of the major aims of universities must be to work closely with industry and business to build national and regional prosperity.
Moreover, research in Bangladesh is mainly centralised in the science or technological field, which must be decentralised, and a balanced research culture should be implemented for the advancement of the business sector. Md. Mufidur Rahman is a lecturer in finance at Northern University Bangladesh. He highlighted the reasons for the less investment in business research than in science or technology, stating, "Research in the field of science or technology may provide tangible solutions through its components, which are measurable and can bring financial benefits. On the other hand, research in business is abstract, which is basically a behavioural study, which seeks the solution of complex economic relations that may not be measurable. Also, business research may not bring immediate outcomes, that does not always attract the investors to invest in this field."
In the industrial sector, the inadequate application of research leads to unhealthy competition during product development and marketing. MD Saiful Rahman is the founder of Backspace & Business Inspection BD. He addressed those problems and shared his opinions regarding how to make solutions for them. He said, "The key challenge in building a strong research culture in the business sector of Bangladesh is the tendency to imitate rather than innovate. Companies often replicate the products of the competitors due to weak enforcement of intellectual property laws. So, Strict application of patents and copyrights is essential to encourage originality and curb this practice of imitation."
He further said, "Large conglomerates should also invest in university-level research, as lack of funding often hinders progress in this field. Corporate support can drive innovation by bridging the gap between academia and industry." He added that the media must highlight the importance of business research to inspire companies and individuals to prioritise it as a tool for growth and competitiveness. Especially, while promoting brand value or enhancing customer engagement at the initial stage of a product, proper market research is essential to boost the sales of that product.
Farhin Islam, research associate at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said, "I think businesses should collaborate with the science arena to increase their research scope. For example, while science is inventing 'Sonali Bag' (jute bag) through research, the business sector should explore the potential market of it, so that it can reach the target people with a lower cost, which can make the project a successful one. As these two sectors are complementary to each other, optimum results can only be achieved, when the researchers and stakeholders from both sectors collaborate with each other efficiently and work simultaneously."
The availability of the necessary resources is obvious to conduct good research, as the lack of them often creates obstacles to continue research and achieve the expected outcome.
Syed Raiyan Amir, research associate at The KRF Center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA), mentioned, "The reasons for less investment in business research include focusing on short-term profits, lack of trained researchers, budgetary constraints, and the trend to emphasise applied knowledge instead of theoretical research."
Answering the question of how to build a research-based business environment in Bangladesh, he said, “Establishing research laboratories for business schools, training for the researchers, informing business firms about the importance of research, designing a good R & D (Research & Development) culture in the organisations, strengthening the research firms can be some of the effective ways to build up research based business environment in Bangladesh.”
In Bangladesh, the higher studies at the university level are not well-equipped with research, which often leads the students to traditional study procedures based on memorisation. Furthermore, university teachers need to engage in research driven by industry needs.
Teachers need to encourage students to start their own research projects and instill believe in research backed decisions.
Bangladesh needs tactical business plans and more investments in the field of research to cope with the challenges and grab more economic benefits. As the practice of business research in Bangladesh is not always adored by the stakeholders, industry leaders should increase the volume of investment in this field. The universities and research firms should engage the students and professionals in research and motivate them to practice it in the workplace, which will be helpful for the economy to get more advancement.
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