Research Methods

Competency

Examine the use of qualitative and quantitative studies for business research.

Scenario

You work in a senior manager role at a software development company. There has recently been a major restructure and you are required to take on the management of both the sales and customer support departments. The departments have never fallen under the same manager and have traditionally had a tense relationship. The tension comes from the tendency of the sales team not always being forthcoming about the limitations of the software product. The result is angry phone calls to customer support representatives. Additionally, the previous managers of the two departments had very different management styles and were often at odds with one another.

The combination of the overall organizational restructure, the merging of departments that had a history of tension, and the change in managers seem to be affecting the morale and productivity of your newly acquired staff. This observation is supported by high turnover in both areas, tendencies to miss deadlines, a high rate of employees calling in sick, and no responses to important email and phone correspondence. As manager, you need to create a team that trusts you and works well together in order to be productive and meet your company’s sales goals while providing excellent customer support. In order to address what you believe to be a serious morale issue, you have decided to research the exact root of the problem in order that you come up with solutions to begin team-building exercises and ultimately increase productivity.

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Instructions

You have decided that the problem is serious enough that it should be brought to the attention of senior management in the form of a presentation. In your presentation you will begin by briefly describing the ways you believe low morale is affecting productivity. You will then describe the research methods you will use to determine the exact cause for low morale so that you can make appropriate actions in your area. Create a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint or other presentation software of your choice (voice-over is not needed) that includes the following:Describe four ways that you see low morale affecting productivity in your area (1 – 2 slides)Explain the qualitative and/or quantitative research method(s) you would use to discover the exact cause of low morale and why you chose it. (2-3 slides) Quantitative methods – surveys, experiments, surveys, and case studies Qualitative methods – focus groups, interviews, observations, content analysis Identify the target audience that will be included in your sample and why (2-3 slides)Define how large the sample will be Determine whether all members of the team will be included in your research or only selected members.Determine the type of data you will be gathering and how it will allow you to interpret the exact cause(s) of low morale in your area. (2-3 slides)