Vital Components of Turner Field Stadium - Term Paper Example

Business Designing Research Report: Case Analysis-The Atlanta Braves Registration: Module Leader: Workshop Due ExecutiveSummary The questionnaires developed will provide the necessary information for recommendations on stakeholder interests and their involvement with respect to the Turner Field stadium and the resident team, the Braves. Fans and corporate sponsors constitute a very important segment of stakeholders within the stadium, and as result this project research shall intend to carry their views and perceptions. Growing commercialization within the sports industry has necessitated certain changes with the stadium to accommodate the growth in tastes. The matter to be investigated in this research will be of great value to sports managers and policy makers. In examining different aspects that play a significant role in determining the choice to relocate to a new stadium, or the option to renovate the existing stadium, there are greater possibilities of gaining a fresh understanding of how such decisions can positively affect both the teams in question, performance-wise, and the surrounding community. This research will provide an opportunity to establish the growing consumer interests and the need to make changes within the stadium, so as to continue providing maximum customer experience for the fans and maximum results to the corporate sponsors. The researchers shall relay the information to the executive team so that they may implement issues arising from this report to detriment of the stadium. 1. Introduction Tastes and preferences change with time, and developments that occurred ten years ago might become completely and slightly out of taste with current demand. However, Turner Field stadium is still largely considered to be a state of the art for the purpose of baseball, though it constructed ten years ago. Changes in fans tastes coupled with increased and high customer spending prior to match have a necessitated a relook into the stadium so that necessary changes be conducted to capture their changing taste as well as tap into their spending outside the stadium. Further, there are other stakeholders such as corporate sponsors, employees, partners amongst others who are vital to the growth of the outfit, and the varying interests from a diverse range of stakeholders’ needs to be carefully planned for and collected and thereafter an inference drawn. In addition, the report should address the key concerns of the executive team of the Turner Field Stadium which include; whether the stadium and its auxiliary features satisfy its key stakeholders, and the most important features valued by the key stakeholders. This report shall attempt to investigate the most important features that satisfy the Turner Field’s stakeholders and the most valued features of the stadium. 2. Statement of the Research The purpose of this study is to establish the most important features and the most valued features with respect to the interests of the Stadium’s key stakeholders which include the fans, corporate partners, employees amongst others. This report shall analyze and evaluate the features that are primal to the interest of fans, specifically, and secondly, the report shall evaluate the needs of the stadiums stakeholders. In marketing theory, customer satisfaction becomes the most important feature, and marketing experts have continually acknowledged it as basic function of marketers. A satisfied customer is a precursor to customer loyalty and all those other advantages that results from customer loyalty, and the fans typically form the huge segment of customers. This report looks into the potential of linking customer satisfaction to changes in the demands of customers to Turner Field stadium. This study will prove an important piece in illuminating the changes in the industry and vital components within the stadium that are desired by the customers. The research program design as commissioned by the executive team of the Stadium shall be developed within the realms of the Stadium. The main aim of this project is to: Understand the factors which influence the stakeholders’ key interests in the stadium. 3. Previous Research and Literature Review There are a wide variety of material both academic and professional materials on designing project research, however, there are very limited design research program on this particular topic. Baseball stadia cover nearly the entire breadth of the United States and beyond, in fact in the last decade thirty are home based. Gwinner & Swanson (2003), through the use of stakeholder power analysis explores the important factors that endear key stakeholders to an entity. Edensor (2014) explores the importance of building a stadium that produces atmospheres during a match, through incorporating cultures, commercialization and management of moods. To match stakeholder expectations within the confines of the stadia, these factors could prove vital. According to (Zierold, 2010) every construction within the sports industry should be conducted to match present interests. Opining that nothing lasts forever, changes and renovations must be continually conducted so that stakeholders derive maximum experiences from watching their teams in action, whereas other stakeholders also benefit from increased attendance. Consequently, stakeholders have varying levels of influence to control decisions that will have impacts n business decisions and carry different levels of potential, contribution and importance to attaining a specific goal. The power to influence an institution arises from the control decisions, albeit with positive and negative impacts. Stakeholder influence can be understood to the level which they are able to persuade and force others into making decisions, and moving through a specified course of action. Influence may arise from the type of stakeholder’s organisation, or even their role with respect to other stakeholder, for instance corporate sponsors with the Turner Field Stadium. Other forms of influence may ooze informally through personal connection between the executive team and a fan from an influential background. Potential to be affected by decisions from the executive team, and these are the fans and others such as employees. These groups of stakeholders have high potential but little power within the organisation, but their role helps others to tick. Therefore, to design a research program to capture the issues mentioned above it is imperative to understand the research program. Unlike stakeholder’s interest, designing research designing is a pretty endeavor. (Patton, 2005) emphasizes that when designing a program of research, cognizance should be taken when considering whether a research is either qualitative or quantitative. For a qualitative research these factors should be considered; a working design that specify participants and possible variable, working hypothesis, data collection method, and data analysis and interpretation (Marshall & Rossman, 2010). On the other hand, (Creswell & Plano, 2007), assert that a quantitative research should describe participants, hypothesis, plans for data collection, interpreting data and procedures to address variances. An important component of research design is planning, and this involves activities that are carried out before the actual research is conducted, and involves a systematic provision of guidelines on how to conduct the project. Struwig, Struwig & Stead (2001) posit for an effective project design, the following tasks should be carried out at the planning stage. 4. Recommended Research Design This project shall rely on qualitative in data collection and analysis and interpretation, and design shall incorporate a descriptive to match research questions to answers provided from the participants. The project shall randomly sample the fans out of a population of 50,000 fans who troupe to the stadium and corporate sponsors out of a population of ten. 4.1. Sampling Unit and Sampling Methodology The population to be sampled will be 50, 000 fans who attend game at the stadium regularly, and 10 corporate sponsors, out of this, a sample of 500 fans and 4 corporate sponsors will be drawn for the purpose of the research project. Representatives of the corporate sponsors shall be deemed to be the participants selected for the purpose of this study. 4.2. Research Data The questions for the purpose of this project shall be carried out in a questionnaire which will be developed separately for the two groups of participants. The questionnaire for the purpose of this project shall be a structured one, and the questionnaires shall be developed so that they be easy, yet self completed types (Bryman & Bell, 2003). The questions that shall be in the questionnaire shall be developed for the sole purpose of matching the objective of this research report. Questions to the fans: 1. Are you satisfied with of level of services at stadium? 2. What should be added to improve your experience within the stadium? 3. What do you feel about extra services at the stadium? Question to the Corporate Sponsors 1. Are you satisfied with the current displays in the stadium? 2. What should be improved within the stadium? 3. What do you suggest should be enhanced to enhance fans appeal to the stadium? 4.3. Research Analysis There are a number of tools that can be employed so as to give meaning to data collected, and these techniques range from ones to be used for qualitative research to others that can be used in quantitative research (Bryman & Bell, 2003). Basic statistical tools such as mean, mode and median, otherwise known as measures of central frequency offer glimpses in understanding data collected. Given that this research project shall be a qualitative one, narrative data analysis shall be used in drawing inferences, and for this process, the analysis process shall involve a five step process listed below: 1. Analysis of data is linked to a thorough understanding of one’s data, and shall entail a continued reading of the collected data. In addition, during this step, quality of the data is analysed extensively. 2. The purpose of the data is reviewed and evaluated with respect to objectives of the research. This is intricately linked to the questions identified earlier 3. This step is the stage in which meaning is derived from the data collected from the respondents; hence data is categories into different portions. 4. Summary of information that pertains to a particular theme, which captures the similarities and differences in the respondents answers. 5. Interpretation using themes and connections to explain the project’s findings, hence this is what is known as the stage when data is interpreted. 5. Validity and Reliability Golafshani (2003), describes reliability in qualitative research the degree to which results become consistent over a time period, and whether they provide accurate representation of the population under research. If the results from a research can be produced under the same methods of study, then the instrument used for research can be deemed as reliable. In quantitative research t-test and z-test are normally used in establishing the reliability of data. Errors in statistics reduce the accuracy and consistency of data and the instrument that is to be used in research. The project shall employ varying tools to determine the reliability of the instrument used for data collection. On the other hand, validity refers to the level to which research truly measures which it was properly intended to determine and the truthful of the data. Creswell & Miller (2000), Posit that it is the subjective opinion of the research that determines the validity of the instrument. 6. Conclusion It is imperative to understand and have a clear grasps of the needs and requirements from an institution’s key stakeholders. However, these needs and requirements changes with time, such that needs that existed ten years ago can be different from present and future needs. Business and organisation units should change with the change in taste and preferences of their key stakeholder base. The best way to be a leg ahead of the key stakeholders is to continually seek information that are relevant, and undertaking research over the years is the best method to collect information. The key stakeholders selected from the purpose of this research have been selected in two groups; fans and corporate sponsors. A sample of ten percent and 45 percent are chosen specifically from the population of fans and corporate sponsors respectively. Though a specific research on this topic is far between, close materials can be used to draw the inference and correlated with this project research. The project shall employ a narrative analysis technique through a five step process which shall culminate in the presentation of the findings which shall be done either through a graph, chart or even a table. The instrument employed for data collection and the data collected shall be checked for their reliability and validity and whether they match the objectives of this research project. 7. Recommendations This project shall rely on a small sample of respondents from the first group, the fans due to a low budget. However, the sample size needs to be expanded to cover at least 30% of the respondents, that is, from the 500 participants to roughly a number that shall be 4500. The project needs to cover other important stakeholders such as employees’, ticketing partners amongst others so as to provide a complete a comprehensive report to the executive team. In the future a comprehensive quantitative studied can also be conducted on behalf of the executive team to properly quantify the needs and requirements of the stadium’s key stakeholders. The fate of the administration at the stadium in gradually identifying the key needs of its stakeholder base is important in putting together the necessary procedures in customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and hence increased turnover. The resident baseball team obviously benefits from the stadium, and hence they should form a key component in the study and their views should be used in the study. The economy of the local community, in particular, stands to benefit from additional revenue from the improved infrastructure, and cultural interest in games that accompanies national sports. 8. Reference List Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2003), Business research methods. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry.Theory into Practice. 39, 124-30. Creswell, J. W., & Plano, C. V. L. 2007. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications. Edensor, T. 2014. Producing atmospheres at the match: Fan cultures, commercialisation and mood management in English football. Emotion, Space and Society. Golafshani, N. 2003. Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The qualitative report, 8,4, 597-607. Gwinner, K., & Swanson, S. R. 2003. A model of fan identification: antecedents and sponsorship outcomes. Journal of Services Marketing, 17, 3, 275-294. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. 2010. Designing qualitative research. Sage. Patton, M. Q. 2005. Qualitative research. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struwig, M., Struwig, F. W., & Stead, G. B. 2001. Planning, Reporting & Designing Research. Pearson South Africa. Zierold, M. 2010. The Digital Stadium–Fan Cultures’ Remembering Sports Arenas on the Internet Read More