WORD COUNT 349
(Intro)
“Do we even have clubs here?”, I asked myself. [ see if you can make a better hook using this information]
As a newly enrolled community college student interested in business, I scoured my school’s website for clubs to join. To my surprise, most clubs were inactive or gone. Seeing that covid not only eliminated the opportunity to learn in person but also prevented students from taking part in extracurricular activities, I knew I had to act. I organized a business club that gave students valuable networking opportunities, financial knowledge, and the capability to expand their college resumes. (Thesis) [ please work on thesis! I need a better one please in redone paper add a few thesis options i can look through as well as helping edit opening paragraph]
(P1.) I envisioned a club that would meet on Zoom so that students could engage and learn about business from the comfort and safety of their homes. In an email to all business professors, I stated my vision and was luckily contacted by a professor who had run the business club previously and urged me to revive it. Our first meeting was held in February. ( Shortened this paragraph contemplating removing the last sentence but I feel like it will make this paragraph naked)
(P2.) Our meetings brought together students of all backgrounds interested in gaining a deeper understanding of business-related topics. The crazy financial movements during the pandemic led us straight to fun topics, including Tesla’s stock, Bitcoin, and what options trading is. I arranged career workshops and educational seminars for our members, inviting University of Redlands advisors and present-day real estate investors to speak at our meetings. With my initiatives, students gained valuable knowledge about financial issues that they can use in their everyday lives, as well as the ability to network with college representatives.
(Thinking about shortening the last sentence or rewording)
( P3.) Through my involvement, I have seen students flourish and grow, discovering the amazing impact extracurricular activities can have on students. Most of the participants were completely lost on these topics at the outset of the club, but by the end would come to the meetings eager to share new topics and ideas. The greatest accomplishment was seeing students’ goals and aspirations change, inspiring them to remain in community college and pursue higher education. As the impact of Covid continues to be felt throughout our community and institutions, I hope to be able to continue helping people and my community as I transition to the UC level.
2. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
WORD COUNT 366 needs to be 350 max
(Intro)
“This is how we get there, THROUGH AFFORDABLE STUDENT HOUSING AT OUR DISTRICT”, I furiously asserted, culminating my speech at my first LACCD board of trustee meeting. Public speaking has become both my greatest and proudest skill. No matter where I am or what the situation is, I’m always willing to volunteer and speak up. Developing my public speaking skills through patience and hardwork has allowed me to relate to audiences and drive my messages home effectively. [ please work on thesis! I need a better one please in redone paper add a few thesis options i can look through as well as helping edit opening paragraph]
(P1.) For most of my life, I struggled with social anxiety, missing public events and school days when I had to speak. I would always be last to speak, afraid of judgment and disapproval. When it came time for me to speak, my gaze was always glued to my paper, never looking at the audience. I would rush and slur my words, all to finish my presentations as quickly as possible. This all changed when I enrolled in the AFT Local 1521 student internship program.
(P2.) The program required me to participate in heated debates on social issues regularly, standing up and projecting my voice in front of members. I was challenged each time and learned lessons on pausing in between sentences, using body language, and not rushing my topics. Researching countless methods and learning techniques on empathy helped me learn to connect with the audience emotionally. Every time I made a speech, I would spend hours in the bathroom recording it and practicing it until the tone and pace was just right.
(Conclusion) Public speaking has enabled me to demonstrate my leadership abilities through giving me the confidence to become the treasurer of my student government. It has empowered me to speak up about my community’s injustices, prompting me to attend board meetings at my district to emphasize housing insecurity and food insecurity facing students. Through public speaking, I have created vital relationships for the future by becoming friends with professors, business owners, and students. Though I have developed my skill greatly, there is still room for improvement. With a greater understanding of the importance of one’s voice and the benefits one can reap, I am excited to grow and share my abilities with the UC community.
3. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
WORD COUNT 384 max needs to be 350
(Intro) Steve Jobs once said, “It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
My entire life, I have always struggled to find enough time to experience and try new things, whether it is to learn how to cook, learn a new skill, or even make more time for friends and family. Having been stuck in lockdown during the global pandemic, I was able to take advantage of the free time I had to educate myself on financial literacy using the tools of the internet and books. [ please work on thesis! I need a better one please in redone paper add a few thesis options i can look through as well as helping edit opening paragraph]
(P2) In just a matter of days, Covid-19 ravaged through my job, my lifestyle, and my mental health. Having been fired from my lead generating home improvement job and forced into isolation, I was left wondering what lay ahead. Having nothing but time and dissatisfied with where my life was headed, this provided a great opportunity to figure out what I enjoy and what I want my future self to do. My search for small business startup ideas on YouTube took me across dropshipping and clothing reselling, but one video changed everything for me–a ten-minute video on options trading.
( P3) My isolation afforded me the opportunity to learn about the field of finance through utilizing the internet to educate myself. No matter if I was working out in my backyard or eating, I listened to podcasts ranging from millennial investing to Bloomberg’s odd lots for nearly the entire day. I took it upon myself to read educational books, such as Natenbergs options volatility and pricing to Rishi K Narangs inside the black box. By the summer, after a lot of trial and error, I had developed a strategy for buying cheap call options on many “meme” stocks and looking for moments of high volatility to make big profits without using much capital.
[ I need a better conclusion try to tighten up p1 and p2 and make conclusion better]
(Conclusion) The difficult times brought about by Covid-19 ignited a passion for trading that I would never have imagined to happen. Aside from taking full advantage of this period and learning as much as I could, I also realized that this was a field I wanted to explore as a career. With this idea in mind, I renewed my enrollment in community college. I am excited for the for the opportunity to continue to learn as well as share my knowledge and perspectives with the UC
4. Please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper-division courses once you enroll at the university.
WORD COUNT 392 needs to be 350 Max
Through the unique life experiences I have had and my educational journey as a business major at Los Angeles Valley College, I have developed the tools necessary for success in my upper-division courses. Knowledge and experiences inside and outside the classroom have helped me develop these tools. Within the classroom, I have studied business courses ranging from introduction to business to managerial accounting, while outside the classroom gaining experience through volunteering, networking, and leadership positions. (Check thesis)
(P1) My business courses have prepared me technically for success as an upper division business administration major. As I studied accounting, I learned how to read financial statements, prepare them, and understand the managerial mindset to succeed in highly demanding jobs. Allowing me insight in evaluating companies income statements when investing. My economics courses taught vital theories needed in the business world as well as in my upper-division courses. Economics has given me a new lens through which to view the world. When I view current $5 a gallon gas prices all I see is international supply chain bottlenecks and cost-push inflation.
(P2) As well, my life experiences have given me the necessary skills to tackle any adversity I face at the UC level. At sixteen years old, I volunteered at a mortgage retention clinic. I watched countless helpless people attempt to prove to lenders that they were solvent and their hardship temporary. By doing this, I gained better insight into the mortgage market. Additionally, I managed a real estate CRM and learned how to reach out to investors and potential homeowners. Through being the treasurer I was responsible for the student government budget preparing me with first hand experience in managing a budget and using excel to categorize disbursements. My passion for finance has also allowed me to network with a variety of professionals and traders, providing me with firsthand knowledge about markets and business.
( Help tighten paragraphs 1 and 2)
Preparing for my major has taught me valuable skills such as how to market myself, how to view things with a more analytical eye, and how to develop the necessary work ethic to juggle heavy coursework. Going to community college has given me the time and opportunity to deepen my passions and interests, build strong relationships, and character. In transitioning to the UC level, I’m excited to share my unique perspectives as well as use educational opportunities to cultivate and grow my passions.[supanova_question]
The Story Teller Portfolio Directions Some artists approach the process of making
The Story Teller Portfolio Directions
Some artists approach the process of making art much the same way writers approach writing a story. An artist using this approach must decide what story his or her art will tell or how to tell a story. Artists can plan this using a story map. A story map is a visual aid that is used to help develop a story. A story map can help the artist answer the following questions:
Who will be in the story?
What will occur in the story?
Where and when does the story take place?
How will the story be told?
Why does the art feature certain elements?
By answering these basic questions, the artist is better equipped to develop the progression of the story. The artist can help the viewer understand the importance of individual elements in the art to the story as a whole. The artist will be able to include in the art piece the individual components that help the story make sense.
Seeing the questions that exist within a story map do not always help to understand how it is used in either a written story or an artistic creation. For this reason, you will go through some examples to better illustrate the concept.
Now that you have a better understanding of how a story map can assist in developing art, you will have the opportunity to create your own work of art. First, pick a story you would like to illustrate.
After you have decided what your story will be, create an art piece that illustrates the story. You may use any materials that you feel comfortable using. For example, you can draw with pencil, oil pastels, or paint using a paint or drawing program on the computer, or even sculpt an image. Use your imagination and creativity to develop an artwork that best represents the story you want to tell.
Remember to illustrate the following questions.
Who will be in the story?
What will occur in the story?
Where and when does the story take place?
How will the story be told?
Why does the art feature certain elements?[supanova_question]
Shaping One’s Buying Attitude People’s buying attitudes are influenced by several factors
Shaping One’s Buying Attitude
People’s buying attitudes are influenced by several factors and motives. People are influenced by their personalities, gender, values, self-identities, and attitudes. An attitude is a customer’s state of mind or viewpoint based on these factors. Three main categories of motivations can influence and affect buying attitudes, including emotional, rational, and patronage motives.
Emotional Buying Attitudes: It’s About the Experience
“The best part of skiing is looking good,” said the narrator on the Web ad.
Samantha remembered the ad as she tried on the ski jacket. Her friend, Cindy, was also weighing in on the jacket.
“But you’ll look so good in it,” said Cindy to Samantha. “It looks so great on you, too.”
Samantha was trying on a ski jacket for the upcoming snow season. It was expensive and a little out of her budget range. But she had seen it online and in the store display, and she was instantly drawn to it.
Consider the last purchase that you made. Did you base your motive on an emotional appeal from the advertisement?
A customer’s beliefs, feelings, and attitudes can be based on emotional motivators. Advertisers that emphasize an emotional appeal to the customer emphasize the importance of the experience over the quality of the product or service.
Rational Buying Attitudes: Quality Rules
“This is a good house that we can grow and retire in,” Kevin explained to his wife Katie.
“I think we should consider the open floor plan, yard, and location that is close to shopping.”
When a customer is concerned with logic and rational reasons to purchase a product, he or she is exhibiting a rational buying attitude. Customers often consider the purpose of the purchase first. For example, if a customer just needs a pair of shoes for a one-time event, he or she may choose a less expensive purchase. Or, when a couple plans on staying in a particular home for decades, a more expensive purchase may fill the need.
A rational buying attitude considers the product attributes of reliability, convenience, value, and cost (Kaser, 2013).
Patronage Buying Attitudes: Loyalty is Number One
“I only buy this particular brand,” Charlie reminded his friend Jason.
“Why?” questioned Jason. “They are all the same.”
“Not to me,” explained Charlie.
A patronage buying attitude is one of loyalty. Whether a customer buys the same brand of soft drink or car, shops at the same stores, or even buys the same clothing label, a patronage attitude rules the purchasing decisions.
If the customer has a positive experience with the brand, he or she will continue to buy it with a patronage buying attitude. Often, the motivator of a patronage appeal is based on family preferences. For example, if your family purchased a certain car brand, you may do the same (Kaser, 2013).
Reference
Social Mobility in America
Footage File. (2010). Social class in America [Video]. Retrieved from the YouTube Web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip9SyWkV_FI
America and Class in 2012
Sarah Kim. (2012). Social classes in the U.S. 2012 [Video]. Retrieved from the YouTube Web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx2s0YO4nlE
Effects of Economic Inequalities
TED Talks. (2011). Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html
How Class and Lifestyle Relate
“I’m just not sure that I should be spending $400 on a facial treatment,” commented Sara to one of her friends, Maria. “It seems quite extravagant for a weekend, and I’m just not in that ‘social class’ right now.”
Sara was discussing an upcoming bachelorette party for their friends, Josh and Jenna, who were getting married in a few weeks. The party consisted of everyone going to a fancy hotel with spa services. The popular hotel was elegant, and the luxurious rooms with amenities started at about $800 per night. It was a hotel designed for business travelers and upper-class customers who wanted amenities such as golf, spa, nightclub, and more. The clientele was usually successful businessmen and -women, doctors, lawyers, and retirees who had invested well.
Jenna had chosen the hotel as a different kind of experience to let her friends find out what “the good life” was all about. Jenna and Josh were from wealthy, upper-class families, and they were accustomed to such a lifestyle.
Class and Lifestyle
Numerous theories suggest that customer consumption of products is based on social class. Bourdieu (1984) noted that different classes often exhibit different lifestyles to show their class position or rank in society. Occupation is a factor in establishing class categories that influence consumption habits of customers, too.
In addition, education is often used with occupational factors in determining social class, showing that a college degree can be a major factor in determining a customer’s social class. Other factors, such as income, are another element of determining social class, but customers who make the same income can spend or save it in very different ways, often reflecting various lifestyles of social classes (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010).
Rags to Riches
You have read the stories: poor but ambitious individuals who rise to the top or move to another social class through hard work, education, promotions, investing, and saving money to reach a successful stature in society. Unlike some countries, in the United States, individuals can move from one social class to another. This is called social mobility (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010).
Consumer behavior can also be dependent on the social class that the person belongs to. Marketers often measure a customer’s social class based on both demographic and psychographic data that show income and lifestyle habits.
Advertising is usually targeted toward different social classes to appeal to their tastes, hobbies, lifestyles, and more. Purchases of clothing, leisure time, spending, saving, and investing are based on social classes. A few social classes that identify today’s consumer include the following (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010):
The Affluent Customer
This customer earns more than $75,000 per year. Much of the income of affluent customers is discretionary, meaning that they can afford to spend money on quality products and services.
The Middle Class Customer
This customer earns anywhere between $25,000 and $50,000 per year. This customer has some discretionary income for products and services.
The Working Class Customer
This customer usually earns $40,000 or less, with a tendency to be brand-loyal in his or her choices of cars, clothing, and food.
Roll of Market Research
Imagine a focus group on a popular auto maker’s trucks. “Why do you like this particular truck model?” asks the research facilitator to the group of 20 participants.
“I like the convertibility and compactness of the smaller truck,” responds one participant.
The focus group facilitator starts tapping the answers into her tablet as she prepares more questions.
A focus group is a research technique that companies and product brands often use to get customer feedback about how to make a product or service better and deliver the attributes, features, and qualities that the customer wants and needs. A marketer needs to know what a customer wants to make sure that the product meets or exceeds those expectations.
Establishing Research Objectives
One of the most important elements of creating any type of consumer research process is establishing objectives. Most of these objectives are focused on why a consumer wants to buy a particular product or service.
Collecting Consumer Data
Two types of research are conducted in any consumer research project: primary research and secondary research.
Primary Research
Primary research is conducted first-hand, such as in a customer feedback survey or focus group where the investigator writes the research questions and interviews the customer. The responses from the customers are collected, and the data are analyzed and interpreted.
Secondary Research
Secondary research includes using research that has already been conducted, such as sales reports, census data, and other analyses. A variety of research data exist from companies who specialize in this type of research.
Designing a Consumer Research Project: Quantitative Versus Qualitative Designs
Quantitative Designs
In addition, the research project can include collecting quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In consumer research, both methodologies are effective in understanding customer buying habits, attitudes, and decision making.
Quantitative research includes several data collection methods and instruments. For example, if a consumer researcher wanted to find out more about how customers choose products based on product shelf placement within a grocery store, the researcher might choose an observational method. Observational research can help the researcher gain more information about the customer by observing such buying patterns.
An experimentation methodology is another form of quantitative research that allows the investigator to observe customers in a laboratory or in the field. If a researcher wanted to observe how many people entered a particular store on a particular day, he or she might use this method.
Surveying or interviewing customers is another form of quantitative research. Sometimes, marketers use interviewers in a mall to find answers to certain questions from customers who are actually shopping.
The research instruments that the investigator can use include mystery shoppers, surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups both in-person and online. Surveys and questionnaires can be completed by customers in person, by telephone, by mail, or online. These types of research instruments help the marketer learn more about the customer.
Qualitative Designs
The other type of research methodology is qualitative research. Qualitative research seeks more abstract information from consumers. Often, the questions asked by the researcher are based more on emotion, feelings, or ideas related to the product or service. Qualitative research can include in-depth interviews with customers, consumer panels, and focus groups.
As part of the marketing research process, consumer research is essential in finding out more about the customer’s wants and needs. It should be conducted on a regular basis to evaluate customer attitudes, perceptions, buying habits, and patterns. Without an effective research program, companies can lose touch with current and potential customers (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010; Solomon, 2013).[supanova_question]
Assignment Instructions – Union Avoidance Managers of small businesses often react badly
Writing Assignment Help Assignment Instructions – Union Avoidance
Managers of small businesses often react badly when a union seeks to organize their employees. They lack the expertise in labor law and the time to plan an effective response. This case will help you understand ways to legally avoid union organizing in a small business.
Review the following online resources:
5 Union Avoidance Tips that will Transform your Strategy. Retrieved from http://blog.unionproof.com/5-union-avoidance-tips-that-will-transform-your-strategy/ (Links to an external site.)
A Lesson on Union Avoidance. Retrieved from https://www.workforce.com/2014/01/29/a-lesson-on-union-avoidance/ (Links to an external site.)
Read the case study below
Case Study: Union Avoidance at Sid’s Market
Sid’s Market is an upscale supermarket that caters to a clientele living in the prosperous suburbs of Chicago’s North Shore. Although most of the supermarkets in the Chicago area are unionized, Sid’s market has been able to avoid unions by matching unionized markets’ pay and benefits. Sid Clark, founder and owner of Sid’s, has told store manager Lee Shaw that one of her top priorities should be discouraging union organization at the market. Clark is convinced that if the store is unionized, it will lose its “family” environment and become a bureaucratic, impersonal market like the other major food chains in Chicago. Recently, Shaw became aware that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union is attempting to organize Sid’s market. In trying to discourage the UFCW, she took the following actions to implement Sid’s union avoidance strategy:
She monitored all employees to make sure they were not soliciting for the union on company time.
She disciplined two courtesy clerks who were wearing UFCW buttons on their clothing and told them to remove the buttons. Another courtesy clerk in the store was wearing a button that said “Go Bulls” in support of the Chicago basketball team, but Shaw did not reprimand him.
The UFCW wrote to Shaw and asked her to provide a list of the names and addresses of all the employees who work at Sid’s market. Shaw refused to do so.
Shaw set up small group meetings of store employees on company time to explain why Sid’s Market would be much better off without a union.
Shaw instructed the market’s security guards to ask the union organizers who are not employed at Sid’s to stop handing out union literature to employees as they enter and leave the market. When the union organizers ignored this request, the guards escorted them off the market property and confiscated their literature.
A few weeks after these four incidents, Shaw received a letter from the National Labor Relations Board indicating that the UFCW had accused Sid’s market of engaging in unfair labor practices designed to prevent employees from forming a union.
THE ASSIGNMENT
Analyze this case study, fully answering the following three (3) questions:
1. Which of these four incidents is the NLRB most likely to view as unfair labor practices, and why?
2. Which of these four incidents is the NLRB not likely to consider unfair labor practices, and why?
3. What could Lee Shaw have done differently to operate within the law that governs union-organizing activities?
A quality response should be approximately 400 – 600 words. [supanova_question]
Bus 326 Prof Woodside FL 2021 Extra Credit Assignment 12/3 in Kodiak
Bus 326
Prof Woodside FL 2021
Extra Credit Assignment 12/3 in Kodiak
Write a two page double spaced reflection paper after watching the documentary on Holmes and her start up by answering the following questions:
What do you make of Elizabeth Holmes’s obsession with the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs? Why was it so important for Holmes to be just like Jobs to the point where she imitated his way of dressing and business practices?
What do you think it was about Elizabeth Holmes that made so many people believe in her in spite of the fact that she dropped out of college and had relatively little experience in the field? How was she able to get so many people to follow her and back up her idea?
Elizabeth Holmes is characterized as the type of employer who easily turns on her employees after the slightest infraction or smallest sign of disloyalty. Do you think that this type of work environment is unique to Theranos? Or are there shades of this behavior in many companies? Is this ethical? Why or why not?
The documentary focuses on Elizabeth Holmes and her role in the Theranos fraud. But who else in the company is to blame, if anyone? Who else was complicit?
What was her motivation?
Is she a bad person? Why or why not?
Is the account of the Theranos scandal biased in any way? If so, in what way? How do you think other people involved with this story would have told it differently?
What was the most shocking part of the movie to you? Were there any parts that were shocking to some that you didn’t find surprising at all?
At the end what do you make of Elizabeth Holmes? Do you think she truly believed these ideas to be possible? How much did she buy into her own business system? Do you sympathize with her more (or less) after watching the movie?[supanova_question]
Choosing a Population Pt 1. What are the considerations in choosing a
Choosing a Population Pt 1.
What are the considerations in choosing a population to research, analyze, and measure?
To answer that question, review the following topics:
Understanding the population sample
Analyzing data
Determining measurement strategies
The following scenario will help illustrate the situation:
We are working with a new online company that specializes in finding its customers weekly specials on anything from groceries to shoes. In keeping up with the products and bargains the customers are most interested in finding, the company’s marketing department has a problem.
“I’d like you to consider doing research on this marketing problem,” Tori, the director of social media, explained to her social media specialist, Jacob.
“Sure,” said Jacob. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, we need to find out more about what our customers want when it comes to our weekly deals,” Tori continued. “I think we should start with our most recent, current customers who have visited the Web site during the past 6 months.”
“What if we tried a virtual focus group?” asked Jacob.
“That is an excellent idea,” replied Tori. “How about if you give me an update on the population sample by next week?”
“Absolutely,” said Jacob. “I’ll work on creating a sample population to work with, then we can select from the current customers to create a database of possible focus group members to start the research.”
Questions that researchers should consider in choosing a population sample include the following:
What is the largest population sample you can draw your research from?
What characteristics are you looking for in your selected population?
How will you gain access to this particular population?
How does the population sample align with your selected research project?
Is the sample large enough to generate meaningful and useful results?
Choosing a Population Sample Pt 2.
Introduction
Beginning research on any project includes choosing a population to search from. In most cases, potential populations are extremely large and would not be conducive to research projects. A researcher must choose a sample from the population to research.
A sample is a representative group of people who can help a researcher with the research project. For example, if the research is about a marketing problem, (such as finding out what customers want relative to weekly deals in the scenario from Part I), the researcher will most likely want to find out who is visiting his or her Web site, buying his or her product, or taking advantage of the current bargains. This information will help determine what a larger population is interested in buying.
Understanding the Population Sample
In research, to determine what a particular group thinks about something, the researcher needs to extract a sample population. This extraction is a smaller group selected from a larger group—like cutting a piece of pie from the entire pie. The pie would represent the population, and the piece of pie would represent the sample from the larger population.
Because most populations are large groups, it is not possible to interview everyone from large, general populations. Sampling is about selecting units of people or groups to research (Troche, 2006). In research terms, the sample is a unit selected from the larger population of interest, such as an organization’s customers.
The Sampling Frame
The first question in the research project is: How can one gain access to a population that he or she is interested in researching? This is the sampling frame. The sampling frame consists of the accessible people a researcher can include in his or her study. In this case, the sample frame would be an organization’s current customer database. Within the sampling frame are the following concepts:
The population sample: The next thing the investigator needs to consider is: Who do I want to talk to? This is the population sample of the study project.
Measurement: In research, measurement is about observing and recording what is being researched. In the scenario, Tori wanted to determine the types of weekly specials current customers wanted to buy. This can be done by considering the customers’ purchasing criteria that need to be measured. Research involves measuring the relationships between the attributed values of the variables.
In this scenario, the variable is a new online company that specializes in finding its customers weekly specials on anything from groceries to shoes. For example, the attributes might be foods, activities, and vacation trips; these are the weekly deals the customers are looking for. To measure the attributes, you can assign numbers or ranking such as 1, 2 and 3. You evaluate the research by choosing measurement levels such as 1) nominal or numeric value 2) ordinal or rank order 3) ratio or fraction and 4) interval or distance (Trochim, 2006).
Data Analysis
Research is also about analyzing the data, which involves the following three major steps:
Organizing the collected data
Describing the data
Testing the data with models and hypotheses
For more information, check out this Web site.
References
Trochim, W. (2006, October 20). Research methods knowledge base. Analysis. Retrieved from The Research Methods Knowledge Base Web site: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php & http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/analysis.php
Data Measurement and Analysis
Question 1: What is a balanced scorecard, and how does it relate to implementing strategy?
Answer 1: An average plan that is executed well will have a better outcome than an excellent strategy that is poorly implemented. Numerous organizations have problems putting their strategies into operation. This may result from a failure to effectively communicate the strategy to the employees or a failure to coordinate resources and reward systems around the strategy.
The Balanced Scorecard is one of several best management tactics for implementing strategy. The scorecard looks at the combination of traditional financial measures with forward-looking measures that drive profitability. There are four basic concepts in a comprehensive framework used to develop measures:
Customer: identify existing and emerging customer needs, and then create measures for these important performance drivers
Internal Processes: focus on the internal processes that best serve the identified needs. Regularly, the organization will need to develop new processes to satisfy growing customer specifications
Learning and Growth: the organization defines and measures the infrastructure needed to build continuing organizational improvement
Financial: the organization’s financial result should improve by measuring and managing profit drivers in the above three areas. A cause and effect illustration of the business results from the Balanced Scorecard method links the performance drivers to bottom-line results
The Balanced Scorecard can simplify the strategy for senior management, and conveys the strategy to employees in the company. An organization allows for stretch goals to be set for the measures when it measures its strategic objectives. By evaluating the links between performance drivers and the company’s resulting profitability, feedback can be acquired as to the success of the strategy, and the strategy can be improved and streamlined over time.
Question 2: What is the factor analysis method?
Answer 2:
Factor analysis is a method by which a problem is divided into its elementary components and each one is analyzed. The basic procedure is as follows:
Decide which layout to select by listing all the necessary or important factors that are important or significant
Assess the relative significance of each of these factors to each other
Rate the alternative plans against one factor at a time
Compare the total value of the various plans by extending the weighed, rated values
The planner should create, list, and briefly define the overall objectives after conferring with individuals who will approve the layout. These overall objectives are broken down into factors or considerations (for example, ease of future expansion, flexibility of layout, effectiveness of flow of materials, material handling, storage, and supporting-service integration, space utilization, and quality of product).
The factor analysis method makes orderly evaluations out of subjective views. This method is good for projects about which the opinion level is high compared to measurable economic considerations. Psychologically, this procedure permits a favorable, organized way to involve individuals who make the layout work and others who must approve the outflow of capital. It is a vehicle that allows planners to coordinate their relative sense of values with that of management’s and operation’s thoughts before the planners make their recommendations on a specific plan.
Question 3: What is executive succession and why is it so important?
Answer 3:
With the oldest baby boomers nearing retirement, major U.S. firms are now preparing a new generation of managers to take over. It is a delicate and essential task, as employers selectively pick future leaders without causing bitterness among those who are not selected. Managers must invest in their successors (i.e., training, leadership experience, and mentorship), developing the type of employees that competitors would like to acquire. Management must provide advancement opportunities despite a sluggish job market that has reduced promotion opportunities.
Employees developed for future leadership roles are generally in their 30s or 40s and have a proven record at the company for 10 to 15 years, unless their experience is gained elsewhere. Employees are selected based on their behavior as well as their performance. Some employers believe that behavior traits, such as natural leadership and an ability to work with others, can be crucial.
Succession planning can also create rancor between employees selected for future leadership programs and those who are not. There is a risk that managers will put too much emphasis on future leaders at the expense of other employees. To eliminate these issues, many organizations have a two-tiered system—a short-term succession planning for openings that may come around now or in a few years and grooming employees that will be available years later.
For succession planning to be successful, organizations must determine what their potential leaders want in their career. Companies’ survival depends upon succession planning, as failing to plan can create a leadership gap that shakes client confidence.
Question 4: What is TQM and how does it relate to a corporation’s strategy?
Answer 4:
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a controlled approach for satisfying customers, both internal and external, and suppliers. This is accomplished through integration of the business environment, continuous improvement, and advancements with development, improvement, and maintenance phases while altering the organizational culture.
Executing a TQM program leads to change in organizational culture. Employees feel empowered and are encouraged to use their capabilities. A TQM method necessitates methodical changes in management practice. This includes redesigning work, redefining managerial roles, redesigning organizational structures, learning new skills by employees, and reorienting organizational objectives.
There are several TQM tools:
Hierarchical groups (levels) of language data. This is similar to thoughts and ideas sorted together in columns or categories used to identify missing information (for example, problems, causes, ideas, solutions, and customer requirements) and to categorize ideas together so that themes can be recognized
Language levels (relationships between “what” details), such as an organizational chart. These levels are used to review data from an Affinity Diagram to classify or group language data, to review language levels, and to find missing categories of information
Relationship levels between two groups of factors. This is used to envision and simplify the complex relationships between two groups or factors
Hierarchal relationships between “whats” and “hows.” This is used to ascertain the relationship between what must be achieved and how to accomplish it. The structure is always top-to-bottom
Graphical schedule for each task, action, or activity necessary to achieve a target or purpose. This is used to create an effective schedule for tasks, action items, or activities
Potential product or service failures with hierarchal relationships. This is used to investigate the hierarchical relationships between potential product or service failures
Degree of drive or influence of a cause has on an effect. This is used to establish the cause and effect relationships between numerous issues, so as to identify obvious patterns within them
Problems or barriers to a preset outcome and the corrective actions to be taken if the problems or barriers take place. This helps to develop solutions for future changes—specifically, a contingency plan
Relationships between a quality characteristic (effect) and the factors that contribute to it (causes). This is used to find possible factors (causes) for a crucial effect
Question 5: What is strategic planning?
Answer 5: Senior management uses strategic planning to prepare for economic, demographic, competitive, technological, and regulatory changes that affect the way their organization operates. It is a process of cooperative and informed decision making that assists management and leadership teams position their organization for lasting competitive success. It also helps these teams to intelligently implement changes to their processes, systems, and structure.
Strategic planning is not just about content; it is about the process of research, development, documentation, and implementation. Strategic development is a course of action that must be constantly refined in any organization. Most strategic plans must be updated every three to five years.
High-performing organizations constantly improve their planning process. The plan is continually executed at the tactical level throughout the organization. This process can be exasperating for managers and leaders who generally want a strategic plan with a beginning, middle, and a conclusion, like most business projects. Managers like these consider the written plan itself as the finale of the process, but the opposite is true. The real work begins when the final plan is documented and accepted. Unlike other business processes, a strategic development process is never finished.
Question 6: What is a matrix structure?
Answer 6:
On occasion, a company plans its operations according to the projects it must complete. In these instances, employees usually collaborate together in a team to accomplish their project’s goals. An employee working on a project might have two managers; typically, the manager of the department in which he or she works and the project leader or manager with whom he or she is working at the moment. A project may cover some or all of the company’s functional areas.
An example is in the aerospace industry, which specializes in manufacturing and developing airplanes and spacecraft. A government might require an aircraft similar to a space shuttle to be designed and built. Another government department might ask for a spacecraft to go to Jupiter. These vessels would certainly be very different. Can a company align itself to accomplish both projects? They can if they set up two project groups: the Jupiter team and the shuttle team, both of which would use staff and other resources from different departments in the company. These project teams disband when the projects are completed.
Question 7: What are the different types of validity, and what do they measure?
Answer 7: The different types of validity are content, face, criterion-related, concurrent, predictive, construct, convergent, and discriminate. Content validity ascertains whether the concept is adequately measured. Face validity ensures that the experts validate that the instrument used for validity measures what its name suggests. Criterion-related validity ensures that there is enough difference that a criterion variable can be predicted. Concurrent validity ensures that there is enough difference that a criterion variable can be predicted concurrently. Predictive validity looks to see whether the individual differences are such that a future criterion can be predicted. Construct validity guarantees that the instrument analyzes the concept as theorized. Convergent validity assures that the two instruments use correlate positively. Discriminate validity ensures that variables that are not to be correlated are not correlated. Question 8: What are “goodness of measures,” “reliability of measures,” “stability of measures,” and “internal consistency of measures?”
Answer 8: “Goodness of measures” ensures that the measures used accurately measure variables or concepts. “Reliability of measures” helps assess the goodness of measures and ensures that the measures are without bias and are consistent. “Stability of measures” guarantees that the ability of a measure remains the same over time. “Internal consistency of measures” assures that when several measures are used, they all independently measure the same concept.
Question 9: What are some techniques to eliminate bias in interpreting results?
Answer 9: One way is to ensure your data-gathering techniques were not prone to bias. For example, if you collected data by interviewing people, then you want to ensure that you did not conduct these interviews when the people were busy or under stress. Quantitative data is objective in nature. It is the subjective interpretation of the data that can skew the analysis of results. A researcher must remain objective and not be emotionally tied to the data or the results. Furthermore, information gathered should be treated confidentially and ethically. The treatment of the current data will set the tone for future data analysis and the cooperation of the entities involved.
Question 10: What are the advantages and disadvantages to using software to analyze your data?
Answer 10: Various commercial programs can help with the analysis of data. The data must be edited, coded and categorized before it can be analyzed. If you use any of these programs, then you must ensure that the data is formatted the way the program will accept. Note that after the data is analyzed, sometimes the researcher may want to change the hypothesis to better fit the results. It is very important not to do this. It would be acceptable, however, to formulate subsequent hypotheses to further test and draw new results and conclusions.
Levels of Measurement and Survey Questions
When creating a survey, the marketing researcher needs to keep in mind the level of measurement for each question since the appropriate type of analysis is dependent on whether the level of measurement is nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. To illustrate this, several sample questions are provided for each level of measurement, along with the measure of central tendency (MCT) and measure of variability (MV) that would be appropriate for each level.
Nominal/MCT: Mode/MV: Frequency Distribution:
What is your gender? M/F
Are you married? Y/N
Are there school-aged children living in your household? Y/N
Do you plan to purchase an e-book reader during the holiday season (Nov. 15–Jan. 15)? Y/N
If so, will the e-book reader be purchased for yourself? Y/N
Will the e-book reader be purchased for someone in your household? Y/N
Will you shop for the e-book reader online or in a store? O/S
Ordinal/MCT: Median/MV: Cumulative Percentage Distribution:
Rank the 5 brands of e-book readers as to brand preference, from your first to fifth choice.
Rank the 5 attributes of an e-book reader according to which you feel is most important, from your first to fifth choice (size, weight, memory, battery time, and price).
Interval/MCT: Mean/MV: Standard Deviation/Range:
On a scale of 1–5, indicate how each attribute rates according to importance.
Ratio/MCT: Mean/MV: Standard Deviation/Range:
How much do you plan on spending on your purchase of an e-book reader? (Provide choices)
How many days per week do you anticipate using the e-book reader?
Effective analysis of Qualitive Data
Qualitative research frequently produces narrative data from recorded interviews, collected texts, or other sources. There are many ways of analyzing these data—some of which are very specific to the type of research conducted. Some very general considerations will be described here.
First, it is important for the researcher to understand the data that he or she has collected. The researcher must read texts or listen to recorded information several times to understand the information. One of the benefits of understanding the data is that the researcher can determine the quality of the data as a whole and parts of it can be discarded if deemed irrelevant by a critical appraisal of its quality.
Secondly, the researcher should focus on his or her analysis. The two primary ways of doing this are as follows:
Look at the data by question, topic, time period, or event.
Look at the data by case, individual, or group.
Thirdly, code or index the data that you have collected. This can be done through the identification of themes or patterns and by simply determining some coherent categories where the data fits. This is the responsibility of the primary researcher because he or she has expertise in the topic area of the original research question. The data can also be further organized by identifying connections between the categories.
Finally, interpret the results of the data analysis. This step is made less difficult by ensuring that the other steps were completed thoroughly. Bringing meaning to qualitative data is challenging and requires the expertise of the researcher in the topic area of the study. As with any effort to write academic papers, it is helpful to make a list of the themes that emerge from the data analysis, and then work to find the meaning of those themes. Additionally, it can help in the interpretation of the results to look for connections between the identified themes and what is already known about the topic of the research study. It is also very helpful, while interpreting the study data, to return to the original question that prompted the research. Determining what the data say about the original research intent can help provide a meaningful report of the study.[supanova_question]