Why Is Research Required in Higher Educational Institutions?
Most people are interested in what is not known. But how can a person possibly know what is not known? The answer is to research for what one wants to know. Albert Szcent-Gyorgyi, a Hungarian biochemist, who discovered Vitamin C and a Nobel Prize winner, says: "Research is to see what everybody else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought." Research play a vital role in the growth of economy, improvement of society, and add knowledge for the academe.
Big car manufacturing companies like Volkswagen and Toyota invest billions of dollars for innovation and improvement of their products in terms of technology. Likewise, microchip companies such as Intel and Microsoft are constantly improving their products every two years. Health care companies like Roche, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson, and Merck continuously do research and tests to keep up with the changing and challenging landscape of the health industry. Samsung, an electronic company, continuously does research in developing smart TV monitor and smart TV service. And, Google does "outlandish technologies such as self-driving cars, computer eyewear and balloon-distributed Wi-Fi" (Fortune Companies, 2014). These innovations and developments are not possible without research in the search for something better and something nobody else has seen. The discoveries these companies make lead to growth of the economy and results to the betterment of society.
Researchers and innovators in business companies did not just happen to know how to do research. They are the products of the academe. Therefore, where does one learn how to do research in the first place? While still at school and being trained for the professional world and entrepreneurship, students need to be trained in seeing what is present and in thinking "what nobody else has thought" (Gyorgyi). All research lead to the adding of knowledge not only for business but also for academic consumption. Research and innovations published are laid down for students and faculty to learn from. Aside from the human capital, research leads to economic and societal development and intellectualism. Enderun Colleges, being one of the trainers of leaders in the business industry, is on its way to becoming a center of development in the research arena.
By: Gabriela B. Almendral
Adjunct Faculty
Enderun Colleges
References: http://fortune.com/2014/11/17/top-10-research-development/ https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/research.html
