Our team has spent hours to put together this list of research paper topics in business to help you spend less time on brainstorming.
All you have to do now is to review the list, chose a topic that fascinates you, conduct preliminary research, come up with a research question, and the write your paper.
What is a Business Research Paper?
A business research paper evaluates your ability to collect, analyze, and interpret information that commercial organizations and entrepreneurs can use to make sensible decisions, set smart goals, identify profitable market opportunities, drive sales, and maximize profit potential.
Best Research Paper Topics in Business
The best business research topics are the ones that fall within the scope of your lecturer’s assignment brief.
Your topic can be on anything, from consumer behavior to digital marketing to management, provided it relates to business.
Below we share ideas focused on proposal, law, ethics, marketing, management, consumer behavior, work and employment relation, and administration.
Business Proposal Topics
In the context of academic writing, a business proposal shows your ability to persuade a prospect to have a business agreement. The proposal is different from a business plan in that it focuses on selling a product or service rather than a business.
Below are some topics in this area:
- Evaluate the impact of employee motivation on business performance.
- Analyze the strategies and solutions businesses can offer to address global unemployment.
- Do stakeholders have any role in ensuring business success?
- What are the initiatives to protect small businesses from potential economic issues both presently and in the future?
- Explain the actions your business can take to address the decline of trust among its stakeholders.
While you’ll write the paper for your teacher to grade, the content of the document goes a long way to demonstrate how you would engage clients and partners in the real business world.
Business Law
Business laws topics examine how people establish, run, and manage their enterprises. Everything commercial, from decisions and employee rights to debts and transactions, require relevant governing laws for smooth operations.
- How do data privacy laws impact business operations?
- What is the current legal standing and creditor protection under United Kingdom business laws?
- Examine the availability of workplace sexual harassment in a company.
- What are the possible defenses against trademark infringement?
- How do e-commerce practices and the workforce in the United States intersect legally and what are the implications?
Other areas in business law include property rights, taxes, consumer protection, dissolution, corporate governance, and environmental regulations.
Business Ethics
A research paper in business ethics mainly focuses on the moral principles, policies, and values in business. In addition to establishing clear codes of conduct in a business environment, ethics help companies and individuals to build trust and have fair treatment for each other.
Below are some topic ideas to consider in this area:
- Examine the influence of gender discrimination on employee performance within an organization.
- Ethical challenges: Mitigating cultural, political, and religious conflicts in the workplace
- Analyzing the implications of environmental pollution on consumer trust in business
- What are the philosophical underpinnings of business ethics?
- Do a comprehensive assessment of the impact of profit seeking on product quality.
Marketing Research Topics
Choose a marketing topic for which you can deliver a research paper packed with value for consumers and prospects.
Looking at your document, your professor should clearly see that your assignment focuses on product value, brand loyalty, and long-term business-customer relationship.
Below are some example topics:
- What’s the impact of brand equity on consumer purchasing behavior?
- Define and explain the implementation strategies of sustainability marketing in business.
- How significant are the cross-cultural buyer-seller relationships to the growth and sustainability of a business?
- Should professional marketing ethics in international business be a consideration in the first place?
- A deep look at the evolving marketing trends, strategies, and decision-making within marketing segments
Business Management
A research paper in business management should focus on how a company operates to achieve its goals. Account for factors such as resources, coordination, and decisions that set an enterprise in the right direction.
Some topics worth considering are as follows if you intend to write a research paper in business management:
- What is the current impact of coronavirus on international trade?
- How can businesses finance challenges in international trade and overcome?
- Leveraging Information and Communication Technology for business growth by business managers
- The role of the human resource team in local and international business management
Consumer Behavior Topics
A research paper on consumer behavior focuses on the actions and decisions that customers make. Consider the cultural, psychological, and sociological aspects that influence consumers to buy and use different products and services.
Below are some interesting topics about consumer behavior:
- Can understanding of language and culture attract new customers to a business?
- What role does the geographical change of a business play in consumer behavior?
- Is there a need to analyze consumer behavior before venturing into the international market?
- Discuss the main barriers that make it difficult to know the needs of your international consumers.
- What business aspects or factors should you consider when analyzing consumer behavior for the internal market?
For the best results, spend enough time on in-depth research. Doing so allows you to identify problems, collect sufficient consumer data, and easily dig into consumer purchase decisions and experiences with products and services.
Business Topics on Digital Marketing
Digital marketing case studies show how powerful the internet is as a business promotion channel.
Entrepreneurs, public companies, and private entities use websites and apps to reach their target audience.
Some businesses harness the power of social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok and search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing to sell products and services.
Examples of topics that fit into this category are as follows:
- How does internet or digital marketing contribute to international business growth and expansion?
- Can international businesses enhance growth through digital marketing?
- Examine the effectiveness of emails, digital newsletters, and search engine marketing in international business expansion.
- Digital vs traditional marketing: Analyze the effectiveness and distinctions in strategies.
- Can businesses leverage digital marketing with limited budgets?
International and Global Business Management
For international and global business management, your focus should be on demonstrating a clear understanding of different management practices around the world.
Your professor will review your work to determine if you understand the principles of running a business at a global scale.
Below are some interesting topics to consider:
- What challenges do entrepreneurs and established agencies face when establishing businesses in foreign countries?
- Examine the role of a business logo in shaping the image of a business in both local and international markets.
- Determine the correlation between providing quality goods and services and establishing a trustworthy brand in local and international markets
- Challenges encountered by businesspersons when developing a new brand in the international market.
- Are the marketing strategies by businesses to capture the attention of target customers in the international market effective?
Work and Employee Relation
A research paper on work and employee relation should focus on the relationship between employers and employees.
You can write about organization change, relationships at workplaces, theories and policies that support employees, or anything that fascinates you.
Consider the following ideas:
- Explain the reasons behind employee resistance to change in the workplace.
- Explore social movements, voice, and representation in business.
- Conduct an in-depth analysis on the impact of altering governance and organizational structure in a business.
- Focus on how employees’ skills and occupational abilities influence business performance.
- Contrast professions and precarity in the evolving landscape of work.
Business Administration Topics
Business administration is a wide field focused on different areas such as accounting, marketing, project management, human resources, finance, ethics, and employee relation.
Ideally, you’ll focus on activities related to running a company if you choose to write a research paper in business administration. These activities include employees’ management, business operations, and leading workers towards a common objective.
Some topics that fit well in this area are as follows:
- How does marketing segmentation influence production planning in a business?
- What is the effect of product packaging cost on the profitability of a business's manufacturing division?
- How do salaries and wages affect the overall performance of employees in a business?
- What is the effectiveness of communication in achieving a business's overall goals and objectives?
- How does time management affects employee productivity within a business or organization?
Students with leadership skills and the ability to solve simple-complex problems tend to do well in business environment after graduating college.
Controversial Business Research Topics
Controversial research topics in business are those that easily evoke debate. While you’ll present viewpoints that are clearly in conflict, you’ll do so in a way that promotes academic integrity.
Below are some topic ideas to consider:
- Can outsourcing lead to economic efficiency and global competitiveness or does it exacerbate income inequality in developing countries?
- Do companies prioritize profit margins over the well-being of workers and local communities affected by outsourcing decisions?
- Is creating jobs at minimum wage levels an effective strategy for poverty alleviation or does it encourage a cycle of low-income dependence?