Socio-Cultural Factors in Organizations That Influence the Outcomes of Management Dilemma - Research Proposal Example

Socio-cultural Factors in Organizations that Influence the Outcomes of Management Dilemma [Client’s Name] [Affiliation] Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… 3 Problem Statement ……………………………………………………………. .4 Purpose Statement …………………………………………………………….. 4 Conceptual Framework ………………………………………………………... 5 Research Questions …………………………………………………………… 5 Define the Case ……………………………………………………………….. 6 Significance/Contribution …………………………………………………….. 6 Literature Review …………………………………………………………….. 7 Methodological Approach ……………………………………………………. 8 Measurement Plan ……………………………………………………………. 9 Data Analysis Plan ……………………………………………………………. 9 Coding Scheme ………………………………………………………………. 10 Credibility and Bias ………………………………………………………….. 10 Ethical Considerations ……………………………………………………… 11 References ………………………………………………………………….. 11 Abstract Organizations need to be objective in their decisions in order to meet and fulfill strategic goals and objectives. However, human resource functions prove to be a challenge for organizations since a certain degree of subjectivity in the decision making process must be included in order to get the best results. In the attempt to understand the acceptable degrees involved in the decision making process in organizations as well as how human resource affect management dilemma, this paper will conduct qualitative and quantitative researches on the subject. Component Description Topic Introduction / Background Modern day organizations are no longer too focused on the financial aspect of its operations in order to determine its success. A big part of the scorecard used by most of today’s business organizations rest largely on their capability to increase the worth of the organization, the perspectives of the external clients towards the organization, and the ability of the organization to provide more opportunities for growth and development among its internal stakeholders – its employees. As Salas et al (2004) puts it, the success of the organization relies heavily on the ability of the individuals comprising the organization to work together and achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. More often than not, the objective goals of organizations are in conflict with the interests of the individuals comprising the organization. In such situations, the decision-making process becomes complicated as various opinions and interests must be satisfied. Neglecting the concerns of the human resource can have strong negative impacts on the long-term performance of the organization. On the other hand, ignoring the objective and strategic goals of the organization may cause heavy damage to the organization in the long run as well, particularly on the growth and stability of the organization. These scenarios are just a simplistic presentation of the complex situations that could occur in the organization in the light of having human factors (or subjectivities) in the decision making process. It is clear that human elements affect decision making process but how much or at what degree will these human elements affect the decision-making process in organizations? Problem / Opportunity Statement In this context, it is essential to understand the extent with which the failure to address management dilemma affect the performance of the employees. Consequently, understanding the effects on employees of management decisions that do not give priority to them will lead to understanding the possibility of the employees not performing productively in their work. Another important thing that this problem will explore is the extent of the negative effects the failure of management dilemma has on the organization as a whole. More importantly, this research will show that absolute objectiveness in the decision-making process of the organization does not always occur in the light of subjective issues; that subjectivity in its entirety is not a bad thing in the decision-making process but rather something that needs to be done under controlled or heavily regulated conditions. Purpose Statement Understanding the causes of management dilemma and the effects of the decisions made to all the stakeholders involved allows the organization a better understanding of the possible outcomes of their decisions. Conceptual / Theoretical Framework The framework above details the elements that this paper wants to understand. In management issues that affect the employees, decisions need to go through various social and cultural elements. The presence of these elements in the decision-making process often leads to management dilemma. The presence of these elements which influence the factors considered in the management dilemma in turn changes the decision-making process of the organization. Research Questions In order to understand the interplay of these elements, this paper aims to answer the following questions: (a) In what manner do the socio-cultural factors affect the decision-making process in a management dilemma? (b) What are the scope and the extent of the contributions made by these socio-cultural factors to the decision-making process? (c) can the management choose to be absolutely objective amidst the subjective elements in the presence of socio-cultural factors affecting the decision-making process? Define the Case As was discussed, absolute objectivity in the decision making process of organizations is very difficult to achieve. This is because of the presence of the subjective factors that, when excluded in the calculation, could potentially harm the productivity and performance of the organization as a whole. But how much can these factors affect the performance and productivity of an organization? Are there strong theoretical basis that would support this contention? Do real-life situations in organizations support or validate these theories? In order to understand the effects of socio-economic factors in decisions concerning management dilemma, this paper aims to conduct a cross-sectional research on the socio-cultural elements that influence the outcomes of the decision-making process during a management dilemma. In order to do this, the research will use qualitative and quantitative data for analysis and evaluation. Significance / Potential Contributions The results of this paper will provide organizations a better perspective in their decision-making process involving the human resource. With a strong theoretical background on the possible causes of management dilemma combined with substantial statistical evidence drawn from a diverse set of respondents holding management positions, managers will be able to see through the complexities offered by the various levels of subjectivities involved in making decisions taking into consideration the welfare of the human resource. Literature Review / Current Understanding of the Phenomena Any decisions made by an organization have to reflect all aspects of its structure. A comprehensive, thorough, and deliberate decision that is based on facts of any given situation almost always yield to the desired results (Child, 1975). This is one of the many reasons why organizations require objectivity in their decision-making process. However, an organization is not only composed of financial metrics or of strategic decisions. An organization is composed of individuals that work together to help the organization achieve its goals and objectives. In some situations, any decisions made by the organization depend on how the individuals comprising the organization react. More often than not, organizations need to weigh the objectivity of their decisions and the welfare of the employees that will be affected by such decision. This means that organizations must take into account the subjectivity of the situation under consideration in order to come up with the best course of action. Organizations typically encounter difficult situations that require them to consider serious steps towards resolving these issues. Most of the time, the issues encountered by organizations, regardless of the degree of difficulty, are resolved easily because of the required objectivity of the problem-solving process. However, issues that involve the human resource are often complicated and sometimes need to be handled efficiently. Decisions that are in conflict with the views and perspectives of or has negative effects on the human resource typically causes stress to the decision-making process (Salas, Stagl & Burke, 2004). Moreover, managements experiencing such complications go through a decision-making process where they need to choose between two choices of equal weights. This situation in the decision-making process is commonly referred to as management dilemma. Methodological Approach & Research Design The paper has employed a combination of the Survey and Questionnaire approaches to be able to draw responses from the respondents. Both open-ended and close ended questions were used in the paper, close-ended questions were used on the questionnaires and open-ended questions served as the guide for the interview questions. These questions are drafted in such a manner that it opens an avenue for a discussion guide between author and the respondents especially in expounding the opinion they held on how the independent factors of this research (in-group/out-group, organizational behaviour, cultural diversity, and economic status) affect the dependent variable (decision outcomes in management dilemma). Also, the questionnaires aimed to get a general idea of the effectiveness of the management strategies employed by the respondents to effectively manage their organization. On the side note, the paper will also interview a set of representatives from the sample size to substantiate what will be written in the questionnaire. The results of the questionnaires and the interview will be correlated at the end of the paper. A randomly selected sample population composed of 325 middle and top managers will be invited to answer a survey questionnaire composed of 5 sets of 10 questions each. The selection process for the sample size will be done by block sectioning of public data and information on top and middle managers in the locale of the researcher coming from the local branch of the SEC. The list of managers will be further trimmed to those whose contact numbers and email addresses appear in the public document obtained from the SEC. Nonresponse bias will be assessed by comparing responses to a simple ‘yes/no’ question from each contact (late responders) and by comparing demographic information (nonresponders).  Sources of Information & Measurement Plan Qualitative data pertains to the review of related literature pertaining to the topic. The literature to be reviewed will be selected to include only peer-reviewed journal articles, management books, and other relevant articles that will come from both online and printed sources. The literature will be composed mainly of articles, books, and theories and principles on cultural diversity, people management, organizational management, effective leadership, management strategies, and organizational behaviour. The main goals of the qualitative data and information are to substantiate the research with all the published facts and findings from various authors. A minimum of 25 sources will be chosen, reviewed, and evaluated for relevance on the given topic. These data sets will then be used as the framework of the research which will determine the null and alternative hypothesis of the problem statement. Data Collection Plan The quantitative data and information that will be used from this study is a combination of descriptive and correlational statistics. The quantitative data that will be obtained in the survey will be subjected to descriptive analysis where measures of central tendencies will be evaluated and interpreted. Quantitative data that will be subjected to measures of central tendencies will include the demographic characteristics of the respondents as well as other relevant indicators (like the size of the organization where the respondents belong to and the number of years in their current position). Correlational statistics will be used in relating the degree of presence of the independent variables and how they affect the independent variable. In particular, the research will use one tailed analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the student’s t-test to measure the degree of correlation between the dependent and independent data and information. Data Analysis Plan & Coding Scheme The variety of data that will be considered in this research requires three types of data coding in order to objectively analyze them. The respondents will be coded using the typology approach introduced by Lofland & Lofland (1995) where data are categorized by similarities of themes, patterns, and other obvious demographic indicators. Qualitative data and information obtained in the review of the related literature pertaining to the socio-cultural elements affecting management decisions will be coded using a combination of Strauss’ Constant Comparison/Grounded Theory (Strauss, 1990) and Analytic Induction proposed by Znanieckie, Becker & Katz (Goetz & LeCompte, 1981). The quantitative data obtained from the survey questionnaires will be subjected to a quasi-statistic coding in order to categorize the data based on their similarities and at the same time eliminate potential outliers in the data sets Credibility, Generalizability, and Bias One of the major challenges that will be faced by this study is the issue of eliminating the bias or subjectivity in the research. The data involved in the research contains both quantitative and qualitative data and information and the research relies heavily on the data coding for objective interpretation. However, if the coding system that will be used is not comprehensive enough to bar biases and hasty generalizations, then the credibility of the result will suffer greatly. Ethical Considerations The identity of the respondents shall be kept from the public as well as other pertinent information they do not wish to disclose in the research. The researcher will provide disclaimers and consent forms to the respondents along with the questionnaire which will inform them of the ethical boundaries of the research as well as their legal rights to privacy. References Child, J.1975 "Managerial and organizational factors associated with company performance--part II: A contingency analysis." Journal of Management Studies, 12: 12-27 Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Concepts and coding. In A. Coffey & P. Atkinson, Making sense of qualitative data (pp. 26-53). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Goetz, J. & LeCompte, M. (1981). Ethnographic research and the problem of data reduction. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 12, 51-70. Hyman, E. (1980). The uses, validity, and reliability of perceived environmental quality indicators. Social Indicators Research. 9(1); 85 -110. Lazaro, R & Umphred, D. (2007). Improving Cultural Diversity Awareness of Physical Therapy Educators. Journal of Cultural Diversity. 14(3). 1-18 Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis, 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Morse, J. M., & Field, P. A. (Eds.). (1995). Qualitative research methods for the health professionals (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Mowday, R.T., And Sutton, R.I. 1993. Organizational behavior: Linking individuals and groups to organizational contexts. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 195-229. Salas, E., Stagl, K.C., and Burke, C.S. 2004. 25 years of team effectiveness in organizations: research themes and emerging needs. In C.L. Cooper and Ivan T. Robertson (Eds.),International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 19, 47-91 Strauss A, Corbin J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage . Appendices (as needed)(some examples below) Data Collection Instrument (e.g., interview protocol, observation matrix, field note model) Informed Consent Form IRB Application Read More