Self-Assessment of the Investigation - Essay Example

Self-Assessment Table of Contents A Brief Outline of the Investigation 3 Assessment Objective and Modification of Investigation 4 Commentary Planningand Developing Stages 5 Planning Brief 5 Plan 5 Developing 6 Assessment of the Primary and Secondary Sources 6 Primary Sources 6 Secondary Sources 7 An Assessment of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Report 7 Strengths 7 Weaknesses 8 Recommendations 8 Assessment of New Skills and Knowledge Gained 9 References 10 A Brief Outline of the Investigation Whatever I learn from my past research mistakes, I want to implement those in my next research and improve my quality to express more vividly. My ways to research in any topic is first gaining the knowledge from primary as well as secondary sources and then drafting strategies to conduct the research and start the project. I followed the ethical parts and also the principles of the topic when doing a specific project. With these approaches, I can duly understand any project related issue and likewise adopt problem-solving methods to enhance the quality of such project. I would like to mention that I accessed numerous data for smooth completion of my project. Throughout the history of Marks & Spencer plc, which is also acknowledged as M&S, it could be ascertained that it is a multinational retailer company that specialises in dealing with multiple products and services. The company expanded its business to WuHan, which is regarded as one of the financial, economical and trading hubs and busiest cities in China. With the advent of globalisation, M&S decided to extend its business to WuHan. The company realised that WuHan is the best choice, as this is deemed to be a populous place and an attractive business as well as economic hub of China. In order to develop business in the markets of WuHan, the company needs to conduct a detailed research about the cultural diversity prevailing in such place. To recognise the cultural issues that are affecting the growth of M&S, we conducted the research by using qualitative method, as this provides extensive support to reach into a final conclusion. For analysing the information collected by primary and secondary sources, we used qualitative method, as this method utilises its optimum limits to extract the facts pertaining to the research study. Assessment Objective and Modification of Investigation To conduct this research in a proper and effective manner, I have prepared certain pre-strategies to make better use of all gathered information in favour of my study. I have formulated certain goals such as determination of sources that are deemed to be important for this research, place wherein the survey would be conducted and retrieve information to extract the facts of the project among others. To complete this research in an effective way, initially I have to check the background of the company i.e. M&S and by evaluating its history, I became familiar with its strengths as well as weaknesses. I gathered various data related with the project by using secondary sources and analysed the same to collect necessary information for the project. I have explored the issues that largely affected the working environment of M&S. I did not evaluate or criticised those technically or systematically, but for conducting more research, I had to obtain information related to employees’ problems in M&S. I congregated SWOT analysis to know the weaknesses and opportunities and strengths as well as threats of the company i.e. M&S to explore its business strategy in a new place. I also gathered certain external information about the place WuHan to acquire a brief idea about the obstacles, advantages and possibilities to welcome new company like M&S. By coordinating the collected information, the chances and difficulties of M&S to conduct its business in WuHan have become clearer. To minimise the issues created by the cultural diversity of WuHan for M&S, different kinds of management strategy are required to be adopted and executed. The management strategy should be chosen in the context of its efficiency to solve such difficulties. Commentary Planning and Developing Stages In previous project, the “Developing Part” has not been saved, so I made another attempt to rectify previous error by adding the “Developing Part” in my current project. Planning Brief To conduct the study, I have created certain objectives but I have to rearrange these, as it is difficult to gather knowledge about the prevailing cultural diversity, which is impeding M&S to create a stable work environment for its employees and minimise employee turnover in WuHan, China. In planning part, I used numerous techniques such as maintaining timetable, drafting questionnaire to obtain proper information, analysing each part and coordinate them with related topics to find out the actual results of the research. Plan To prepare this project, I have taken much time for conducting a detailed research, as I have found several difficulties when researching and also numerous drawbacks when coordinating them to get a perfect result for the project. Most of the information I have gathered from accessing internet. It is quite simple to gather information from internet but while arranging them sequentially, I faced lots of problem. Reliability and sustainability of information are duly considered to be imperative factors while using qualitative method in any research. For this kind of problem in certain sections, I have taken excessive time to complete a single part of the project, however in certain sections, I have done very well and finished in time. Developing In this part, my trainer guided me and suggested me about which method is best for conducting the research and made me understand in a better way about how project quality could be enhanced. It would not be easy to make this project without the help of my trainer. I used MS-Excel software to analyse the data collected by questionnaire because this particular software supported in making an appropriate understanding about the overall research findings. By using distinct sorts of graphs, charts and other techniques, the responses received from the employees working in M&S were interpreted to obtain effective results. On the other hand, several variables including age, employees’ response towards cultural diversity, employees’ presence along with absence and employee turnover resulted through WuHan’s cultural diversity were presented by the depiction of attractive charts and diagrams. Apart from these, gender discriminations, wage problems and biasness of the recruiter were also depicted by graphs. This process was time consuming and I have found lots of difficulties but the final outcome was good and I am quite happy to accomplish this particular section as I expected. Assessment of the Primary and Secondary Sources Primary Sources Primary sources are like direct approaching the customers or the people about a topic with the help of questionnaire and interview. The question was kept generalized and focus was intended towards the establishment of a platform to seek answers for further questions (Concordia University Texas Library, 2010). I faced several difficulties during this phase, as people in the form of the respondents are not interested to answer the questions properly or hiding real facts from us. Thus, to extract the real information from them, I had to make deliberate efforts and give more time to complete this task and get the desired results Secondary Sources Secondary sources are regarded as another type of resources from where we can get information relating to the study by using company’s websites, books, other research theories and journals among others (Yin, 2011). Here, I also faced lots of problem, as the company’s websites are constantly updating their information day after day. Thus, selecting particular data without comparing other information was quite risky for the project. Considering the other research paper related with the similar topic, lack of reliability and accuracy certainly created problems while preparing the project. So I had to collect and use the recent data for this project to minimise the differences in the provided information. An Assessment of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Report Strengths In the essay, the objectives of the project have been clearly defined and as I want to make understand all the readers or others about the same, I have used simple language and briefly elaborated the needs of the project. As I have worked very hard for this project, every point was discussed vividly. I have made headings to point out the facts and by creating sub-headings, I discussed every point thoroughly as per the requirement of the project. Weaknesses Every research has weaknesses due to changing scenario of the existing environment and information regarding the specific project or topic. Secondary resources at certain times lack in measuring the depth of the information, which can create biasness and increase the chances of doing mistakes. As the secondary data might not be generalised to other consequence, thus lack of reliability may create problems in the project. Using the qualitative method, the project loses its credibility. So it would have been more perfect, if the secondary sources update about new things constantly (Pahl & Richter, 2009). Recommendations I would have recommended quantitative method along with the use of qualitative approach, if I have more time to conduct the research and sufficient money. In a mixed research approach, measuring accuracy of data after analysing the same will be more reliable for the project. As I have faced several difficulties and made lots of mistakes, I realised that from the next time, I have to be more conscious about the methods and results and try to enhance my capabilities and skills to complete projects in an effective way. Assessment of New Skills and Knowledge Gained After conducting this research, I found that my knowledge and skills for accomplishing projects have improved by a considerable extent. I have gained professional knowledge by conducting the project, which will help my inner quality to grow. More importantly, my language ability has gained more efficiency. This project has increased my evaluation ability, which will help me to develop my capability while conducting any project. The questionnaire part certainly improved my analysing ability and also helped me to think critically on the project or research findings. References Concordia University Texas Library, 2010. Primary and Secondary Sources. Concordia Library. Pahl, N. & Richter, A., 2009. SWOT Analysis - Idea, Methodology and a Practical Approach. BoD – Books on Demand. Yin, R. K., 2011. Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. Guilford Press. Read More