The Impact of Employee Participation in Management Decision-Making - Capco UK - Research Paper Example

Analysis of the impact of employee participation in management decision-making on Worker Productivity: A Case Study of Capco UK Subject Date Table of Contents SECTION 1……………………………………………………………...……………………3 1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………..……………………3 1.1 Rationale of the Study……………………………………………………………………..4 1.2 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………...……..4 1.2.1 Employee Participation in Management Decision-making………………......………….5 1.2.2 The Relationship between Participative Decision-making and Worker Productivity……………………………………………………………………………………6 1.2.2.1 Increase in Sales Volume and Profitability……………………………………………6 1.2.2.2 Performance Stability…………………………………………………………….……7 1.2.2.3 Efficiency in Operations…………………………………………………………….…7 1.2.2.4 Financial Strength……………………………………………………………………..8 1.2.3 Strategies Companies use to Encourage Worker involvement in Management Decision-Making…………………………………………………………………….…………………..8 1.2.4 The Significance of Employee Involvement in Management Decision-making ……...11 1.3 Purpose…………………………….....…………………………………………………..14 1.4 General Objective………………………….……………………………………………..14 1.5 Specific Objective………………………………………………………………………..14 1.6 Research Questions…………………………………………..…………………………..15 1.7 Scope……………………………………………………………………………………..15 SECTION 2…………………………………………………………….......………………..17 2.1 Research Methodology…………………………………………………….……………..17 2.2 Research Strategy…………………………………………………….…………………..17 2.3 Sampling Strategy………………………………………………………………………..18 2.4 Data collection and Analysis……………………………………………..………………18 2.5 Validity and Reliability of Data………………………………………………….………20 2.6 Access…………………………………………………………………...………………..22 2.7 Gantt chart………………………………………………………………………………..22 2.8 References………………………………………………………………….…………….24 SECTION 1 1.0 Introduction Management decision-making process constitutes an integral function of organisational executives. Contemporary organisations are characterised by complexity and dynamisms, which require accurate and effective decision-making endeavours to guarantee their continued existence. The effectiveness of decisions is determined by the willingness of the management to integrate the views of organisational stakeholders into final decisions. Realization of the necessity of employee participation in management decision-making has revolutionalised most organisations, particularly in aspects of strategic leadership. According to Schien’s theory, employee involvement in decision-making is critical for all organisations intending to adapt learning cultures. Ali, Coskun, Gulsen and Zbigniew (2011) argue that employee participation in management decision-making is conducted both formally and informally. Formal participation involves following official protocols and documenting decisions while informal involvement occurs through unofficial channels such as during lunch breaks and dinners. The primary focus of employee participation in management decision-making is to enhance the extent of knowledge sharing in organisations. Employee participation prevails in organisations using bottom-up approach to management as opposed to top-down management approach. Additionally, democratic organisations encourage involvement of employees in making final decisions while autocratic organisations discourage participations. James (2012) attempted to investigate the relationship between employee participation in decision-making and knowledge sharing; result from the study revealed that consulting employees in making organisational decisions increases opportunities for sharing their expertise with the organisational publics. Knowledge sharing has been established as one of the vital antecedents for increased creativity. Worker participation has the potential for enhancing the organisation’s competitive advantage in areas such as increased productivity, revenue, and performance, and reduced turnover rate and absenteeism. 1.1 Rationale of the Study James (2012) asserts that decision-making is an integral function in any organisation. Comprehensive analysis of all actions that can add value to the function of decision-making is critical in ensuring organisational growth and sustainability. Assessing the impact of employee participation in management decision-making is vital since it will disclose the necessity of democracy in organisations as pertains to employee retention and loyalty. This research is justified based on its potential benefits, particularly providing executives with valid information concerning the effect of participatory decisions on productivity and employees. Lack of proper understanding of the benefits of democratic approaches to management decision-making may cause managers to ignore this concept, leading to demotivation, conflicts, and decreased productivity in organisations. This research, therefore, is vital because it will enable executives identify and implement best approaches for ensuring participatory leaderships in their organisations. 1.2 Literature Review The literature review discusses and analyses various secondary literature relevant in achieving the research objectives. The information in the literature review is used to create a logical framework for the research. The gaps in knowledge that the researcher identifies are discussed at the end of the literature review chapter. The primary purpose of the literature review is recognising that other researchers have already investigated the area of interest; therefore, literature review situates the ongoing study within the context of literature and provides the background for the current researcher. The researcher will focus on aspects of employee participation in management decision-making, the relationship between participative decision-making and worker productivity, strategies companies use to encourage worker involvement in management decision-making, and the significance of employee involvement in management decision-making. 1.2.1 Employee Participation in Management Decision-making Research carried out by Sandberg and Bolander (2013) led to the conclusion that making decisions in modern organisations is not done in isolation, but there is a network of influences that affect all decisions made within the enterprises. The researchers, however, did not reveal the exact members of organisations who have the sole responsibility of making management decisions. Some members of organisations are more influential and significant in making decisions affecting all the stakeholders. These members may constitute either internal or external stakeholders. Conventionally, organisational members with more power than others have influence when it comes to management decision-making. Evans and Lindsay (2007) argue that organisational structures constitute the fundamental determinants of decisions a given organisation makes. Some organisational structures allow managers to incorporate subordinates in decision-making while other structures provide for seeking external consultant services from experts and superiors. Employee participation in management decision-making has gained popularity especially in the 21st century. Witt, Andrews, and Michele (2010) define worker participation as the context where the subordinate staff is involved in airing their views during decision-making processes. Sandberg and Bolander (2013) investigated areas of employee involvement and concluded that collective bargaining, employee teams, representative participation, and direct participation are the basic aspects of employee participation. For example, if a company wants to rebrand its products, all workers can be interviewed to give suggestions concerning the company’s rebranding process. Steven, Damien, Dmitry, Jasleena, Olga and Sevag (2013) asserts that employees in democratic organisations are allowed to provide feedback concerning the effectiveness of current strategies to the top management. 1.2.2 The Relationship between Participative Decision-making and Worker Productivity Regular evaluation of companies’ achievements enables executives to establish the credibility of decisions they make. Anthony, Brenda and Verena (2006) posit that involving employees in management decision-making is both advantageous and disadvantageous; however, companies seek to ensure participatory leadership due to its perceived contribution to increased productivity. The primary factors that are considered in determining the relationship between worker participation and productivity include increase in sales volume, profit growth, performance stability, efficiency in operations, and financial strength. 1.2.2.1 Increase in Sales Volume and Profitability The fundamental aim of organisations is increasing the number of units sold. Increasing sales volume is a function of the marketing department. The marketing department liaises with Research & Development, finance, budgeting, and public relationship departments when developing marketing programs (Azhdar & Mohammad, 2009). The process of decision-making among these departments is multifaceted and complex. All employees ought to participate in determining possible courses of action. When employees participate in making decisions concerning the roles they have to execute, they tend to make decisions that they are sure they can be able to achieve. Firms affirm that that employee involvement is a wise option if employees achieve the pre-determined sales volume (Christopher & Brenda, 2004). Increased sales volume is in most cases associated with increase in profitability except in cases where the company faces extreme uncertainties. 1.2.2.2 Performance Stability Performance stability is evidenced by the consistency of employees when executing their duties. Christopher, Joseph and Thomas (2009) argue that performance stability is critical in organisational prosperity because it helps organisations predict future demands and put in place counteractive mechanisms to deal with uncertainties. Participative leadership gives workers morale to maintain their productivity, and improve it when they can. According to Ejaz, Khalid and Riaz (2011) performance stability enables companies to identify the most suitable strategies for growth; strategies are in most cases proposed by workers in their respective departments. An effective strategy is a good indication of capable employee teams; this encourages the executives to continue involving employees in management decision-making. Christopher, Joseph, and Thomas (2009) posit that performance instability may be caused by decision imposition, which reduces worker morale; hence, it is critical for employees to consider involving workers in the process of decision-making, especially for matters affecting workers. 1.2.2.3 Efficiency in Operations Evelina and Julia (2008) define organisational efficiency as the ration between the input to keep the organisation afloat and the output from the company. The level of organisational efficiency is vital in gauging employee participation in decision-making. The ration of inputs to outputs improves when there is operational efficiency in the organisation. Gill and Krieger (2000) believes that efficiency in production is largely determined by the level of employee morale. Employee morale comprises of attitudes, emotions, and level of satisfaction that employees develops as they deal with the organisation. Positive employee morale is necessary because it translates into increased productivity. 1.2.2.4 Financial Strength Financial strength of an organisation is measured by an organisation’s financial competence, which is measured by comparing assets and liabilities. James (2012) argues that financial strength is the prime indicator of worker participation in management decision-making. Organisations characterised stability indicates sound team strategies and policies that encourage democratic leadership. 1.2.3 Strategies Companies use to Encourage Worker involvement in Management Decision-Making The merits associated with worker participation in management decision-making have encouraged most organisations to adopt the participative philosophy. Richard (2009) argues that the magnitude of employee participation in decision-making is characterised by mixed viewpoints in most organisations. Different management stakeholders hold varied opinions concerning the extent of worker involvement in decision-making. Critics of participatory approaches to management believe that unions ought to collaborate with the management as equals, while others accept restricted or bounded participation (Steven, Damien, Dmitry, Jasleena, Olga & Sevag, 2013). This implies that worker participation in organisational issues should be controlled to a given extent. Thus, there are high chances of executives imposing decisions on the workers because they do not have the required expertise to contribute towards certain aspects of the organisation. Regardless of this, several strategies exist that companies use to encourage employee participation in management decision-making. Thompson and Kahnweiler (2012) identified the rational model as one the approaches organisations use in making management decisions. The rational model involves organizations seeking reasonable or acceptable solutions to problems as opposed to optimal solutions. This implies that some problems do need the use of creativity in arriving at desired solutions. Solutions arrived at using the rational models are usually limited to the symptoms of the problems and existing alternatives. Judgement is fundamentally applied in the rational model instead of definite prescriptive models. James (2012) describes the prescriptive model as involving the company’s executives making management decisions and imposing them to their subordinates irrespective of their consequences. Witt, Andrews, and Michele (2010) asserts that three-quarters of decisions in organisations are made by bounded rationality due to limitation of amount of knowledge that employees have. Employees, therefore, are excluded from participating in making decisions characterised by multifaceted problems. Richard (2009) argues that the rational model of management decision-making is effective because it considers the human factors that could be embedded in the problem. Thompson and Kahnweiler (2012) posit that industrial democracy provides an avenue for worker participation in management decision-making. Industrial democracy implies the practice of representing subordinate staff in the management board. It is through industrial democracy that employees are able to air their grievances and interests to the top management. According to Steven, Damien, Dmitry, Jasleena, Olga and Sevag (2013), the fundamental principle behind industrial democracy constitutes selected representatives presenting the views of staff members to the management and advising the executives to direct investment schemes towards benefiting employees. The management, through the principles of industrial democracy, acquires company ownership by owning shares. The company gives them loan advances, entices them to buy equity shares, and provide financial assistance; these actions by the management gives workers opportunities for participate in making management decisions (James, 2012). Workers are encouraged to join various labour unions, which affords them further chances for participating in decision-making. Participation through collective bargaining involves employees and employers entering into mutual agreements by formulating and adhering to rules and pre-determined standards. Collective bargaining is a classic approach that guarantees worker participation in decision-making; however, its extent should be regulated to prevent each party from taking advantage of the other. Swailes (2013) identifies democracy as another strategy for encouraging employee participation in management decision-making. Democratic organisations allow all members of the organisation to participate in making organisational decisions. As a result, executives receive more cooperation from the employees than in autocratic organisations. The basic features of democratic organisations include encouraging members to express their views through groups (Olaf & Thomas, 2013). Companies encourage expression of ideas and feelings from employees because they feel that such a climate leads to greater creativity and commitment. Democracy also encourages joint decision-making as well as shared goal setting and always seeking for better methods of doing the work. Kilpatrick (2013) believes that democratic organisations are better organised, decentralised, and characterised by positive interpersonal relationships. Where there is democracy, delegation of authority is guaranteed, thus avoiding work standstills especially when executives are absent. Suzanne (2008) cites job enrichment as the most widespread strategy for enhancing participative decision-making. The author describes job enrichment as an expansion of a worker’s job content and providing additional motivation and rewards to the existing job profile. Job enrichment enables employees to acquire and utilise the knowledge and wisdom they posses, and using their judgement in running the organisation. According to Olaf and Thomas (2013), worker participation in decision-making occurs through quality circles. A quality circle comprises of six to twelve employees who possess expertise in particular areas of operation. Quality circles conduct meetings regularly with the aim of pointing out, analysing, and providing solutions to problems prevalent in their area of work. All employees have chances of participating in making management decisions because membership to quality is open to anyone with a prowess in the area of concern (Ejaz, Khalid & Riaz, 2011). The role of quality circles is to contribute to management decision-making through analysing current problems and suggesting possible solutions for consideration by the management. Elele and Fields (2010) investigated the impact of bottom-up approach of management in selected institutions. The authors defined a bottom-up approach as way of leadership that focuses on encouraging employee consultation and participation across all stages of management decision-making. Bottom-up approach is usually applied in organisations with flat structures. The approach also works best when companies empowers their employees to participate in advancing their careers. Somech (2005) argues that bottom-up approach requires workers to explore development and learning opportunities that increase their eligibility for promotion, mobility, and employment in their organisations. Kilpatrick (2013) recognise that bottom-up approach to management ensures employee motivation because of the close association with the company’s executives. Involving workers in solving company’s problems makes them feel a sense of belonging to the company. James (2012) asserts that the creativity levels of the company enhanced by bottom-up approach are increased through employee empowerment. 1.2.4 The Significance of Employee Involvement in Management Decision-making Employees constitute the building blocks of organisations. The probability of achieving organisational goals is contingent upon the summed efforts of individual employees. Collective motivation of employees adds up to organizational growth. James (2012) argues that worker involvement empowers employees, saving the company time and finances in addition to increasing productivity and reducing outsourcing. The significance of employee participation in management decision-making cannot be overlooked especially in the modern complex and dynamic business arena. Employee involvement in decision-making enables workers to gain a professional stake and a sense of ownership in their companies. The feelings of responsibility that workers develop lead to growth of productivity due to accuracy and efficient execution of duties by employees (Swailes, 2013). Participative leadership also enables workers to be more effective because they adopt the spirit of working under minimum supervision. This creates time for organisational executives to attend to other responsibilities, leading to reduced micromanagement that causes constrained productivity. On-the-job training that characterise democratic organisations is beneficial to the employees since it enables them to gain and expand their skills through increased responsibility. Wickramasinghe, D. and Wickramasinghe, V. (2012) noted that there are higher chances of employees respecting their seniors when they are allowed to participate in management decision-making. According to Ejaz, Khalid and Riaz (2011), positive relationship between employees and their executives is critical in creating streamlined organisations characterised by minimised conflicts and favourable workplace relationships. Swailes (2013) posit that the relationship between workers and bosses is enhanced when organisations use participatory approaches in making decisions instead of imposing solutions on low-level workers. Imposition of decisions makes workers feel inferior and renders them machinery used by the organisation in meeting its ends. This leads to strained relationships and agony in organisations, which may reduce worker morale and productivity. Proponents of worker participation argue that this approach of making decisions strengthens the relationship between stakeholders of an organisation, leading to increased deference of employees towards bosses. Subordinates heighten their deference to their seniors because they allow them chances of tabling their views when making decisions affecting them (Christopher, Joseph & Thomas, 2009). Literature has given little attention to the possibility of workers who do not understand the rationale for their involvement disrespecting their seniors. This is because, as James (2012) argues, worker participation may increase, maintain or reduce the respect that subordinates have for their executives. Employee participation enhances worker satisfaction in organisations. Kilpatrick (2013) carried out a survey in four institutions to identify factors affecting employee satisfaction in organisations; findings from the research revealed that 65% of the respondents believed in employee participation as the critical contributor towards job satisfaction. The role of satisfaction is to build strong mutual relationships between the subordinates and the management. Employees are believed to be satisfied when they are allowed to participate in making decisions concerning their compensation (Wickramasinghe, D. & Wickramasinghe,V., 2012). When employees participate in determining their pay, their organisations compensate them according to their expectations. This enhances their satisfaction and enables them to concentrate on organisational responsibilities, which guarantees quality and quantity productivity. Several researchers have investigated the aspect of employee involvement in management decision-making; however, have not specified organisational members who should participate in decision-making. Additionally, most of the available literature has failed to focus on the exact strategies that organisations should use to encourage employee participation in management decision-making. Another major gap in the literature constitutes failure to recognise the possibility of subordinates failing to understand the real meaning of participative approaches developing disrespect for their seniors. This research will focus on bridging these gaps and producing a complete data concerning the concept of employee participation in management decision-making. 1.3 Purpose Human resources are the most vital part of organisations because they determine the organisational success. Executives, however, ignore the contribution of employees in decision-making endeavours. Employee participation in management decision-making has become a critical subject of discussion in most organisations. Organisational executives are interested in finding the extent to which involving employees in management decision-making can benefit the organisation as a whole. Proponents of worker participation have connected cases of failures in critical decision-making processes to lack of participatory approaches in organisations. It is, therefore, necessary to carry out a research with the aim of analyzing how participation in decision-making impact organisations. The fundamental purpose of this research study constitutes establishing the effect of worker participation in processes of management decision-making. The researcher will provide recommendations concerning proper approaches of encouraging employee participation in decision-making and the associated benefits. The researcher shall deliver to the company and other interested parties a recommendation of the best approaches to promote participation and the benefits of employees in managerial decision. 1.4 General Objective To analyse the impact of employee participation in management decision-making in Capco UK 1.5 Specific Objective 1. To find out if Capco UK provides for employee participation in management decision-making 2. To assess how employee participation in decision-making process affects worker performance in Capco UK 3. To investigate the strategies that Capco UK uses to ensure employee participation in managerial decision-making 4. To establish the significance of worker involvement in decision-making approaches to Capco UK 1.6 Research Questions 1. Does Capco UK provides for participation allows for employee participation in management decision-making? 2. Does employee participation in decision-making processes affect worker performance in Capco UK? 3. What strategies does Capco UK uses to ensure employee participation in managerial decision-making? 4. What is the significance of worker involvement in management decision-making processes to Capco UK? 1.7 Scope The scope of this research is limited to analysing the impact of employee participation in management decision-making. The company selected for conducting this research is Capco UK. All other factors affecting employees in Capco UK will be held constant. The chosen sample constitutes randomly selected employees, line managers, directors, and the president of the company. The researcher will limit the study to Capco UK in determining the extent of worker involvement and the willingness of the management to provide for participatory leadership. The researcher will also pay attention to highlighting the strategies Capco implements in their attempts to encourage employee participation. Additionally, the research study will focus on the significance of worker participation in management decision-making to Capco Ltd UK. Capco UK provides the best partner for this study, and will provide the sample population for the research study. Capco deals with a ceiling and partition systems and components. The company focuses on two major product lines, which are ceiling and drywall systems. Capco hires people from diverse backgrounds and post them in the company’s branches across the UK. The company engages in consistent decision-making processes meant for implementing plans such as workers’ promotion and demotion, salary adjustments, financial incentives, the amount of stock to hold, quantity discounts, and number of working hours per day. The researcher selected Capco for this study because it was given a Better Business Bureau (BBB Accredited) in the year 2011. The company was accredited because the council cited strong management and commitment towards satisfying customer needs and enhancing employee development. Capco, therefore, is the best company for basing studies pertaining to the impact of employee participation in management decision-making. SECTION 2 2.1 Research Methodology This section highlights the methods of research that the researcher will use for data collection. The main components of this section include research strategy, sampling strategy, data collection and analysis, validity and reliability, and the time-line for the study. The methods of study will be beneficial because it will describe the instruments the researcher will use to collect data and the procedures for analysing data. 2.2 Research Strategy The researcher intends to utilise a qualitative methodology in this study. This research design will involve analysing the impact of employee participation in management decision-making in Capco Corporation. Applying quantitative methodology in this study will be influenced by the empiricist paradigm; this paradigm implies that the primary interest of the researcher will constitute exploring the link between participatory leadership and organisational performance based on empirical observations (Jha, 2008). It will be advantageous for the researcher to use quantitative methodology because it enhances generalisations; this implies that the researcher will be able to draw conclusions concerning the selected population based on the sample population. Sahu (2013) argues that quantitative methodology ensure reliability, objectivity, and simplification of analysis. The researcher will opt to apply the correlational research design to determine the extent to which the variables under study are interrelated. The correlational design will be used to investigate the link between employee involvement in decision-making and performance of workers in Capco UK. Creswell (2003) asserts that the correlational design depicts the trends demonstrated in a given set of data. Additionally, correlational designs are crucial in analysing, measuring and describing the strength and nature of the association between variables. The application of this design in the research study is suitable because it will guarantee proper investigation of the association between participative leadership and worker performance. 2.3 Sampling Strategy A sample refers to a section of the population under study that the researcher will study. The researcher will make conclusions about the characteristics of the sample, and these conclusions will be generalised to the whole population. Random sampling will be used to select the potential research participants. Random sampling is a probability technique that will give all items of the study equal chances of being selected (Ardilly& Tillé, 2006). Random sampling is also advantageous because it avoids biases that characterise ineffective selection of research participants. The researcher will visit the head office and administer questionnaires to the selected members of the top management and low-level workers. The researcher will ask for permission to access the company premises and perform random selection of employees to participate in responding to the questionnaires. 2.4 Data collection and Analysis The researcher will use both self-administered and researcher-administered questionnaires. The reason for considering self-administered questionnaires is that they increase the potential for accessing a large number of respondents in a variety of branches (Bulmer, De & Fielding, 2004). The only challenge that the researcher will encounter with this type of questionnaires is reduced chances of meeting the required number of respondents and increased costs of producing and distributing questionnaires. Self-administered questionnaires will be filled under the supervision of the researcher. This is vital because researcher supervision will prevent uncooperative respondents from failing to return the filled questionnaires. The researcher will administer researcher-administered questionnaires personally. These questionnaires will enable the researcher to verify questions, completion of the questionnaire, high response rate, and greater managed control of the research environment. The questionnaire will be divided into two sections: the first section will address basic information concerning the respondent and the second section will address the main questions of this study. The questionnaire will consist of both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The close-ended questions will be crucial in finding out the respondents’ personal details such as gender, age, duration of stay in the organisation, and position in the company. These questions will also aim at verifying facts identified in the available literature. The researcher will use open-ended questions to find information that require self-expression by the respondents in addition to generating new knowledge in the subject area. Data will be qualitatively analysed because the researcher will use a qualitative design. The first step in qualitative data analysis will involve data reduction. Data reduction involves selecting, conceptualising, and converting data collected from the research participants (Steinberg, Lam, Joffe, Olshansky, Ott, 2011). The researcher will analyse data collected with the aim of identifying similarities and inconsistencies in data. Coding will follow data reduction to ensure quick retrieval of data sets. The researcher will use qualitative abstraction to analyse data collected using open-ended questions. This is because open-ended questions will not be coded; the responses to these questions will be analysed using descriptive statements to explain reasons for the data collected. The researcher intends to analyse data using correlation, regression, and ANOVA tests. Correlation analysis will examine the relationship between variables, which are employee participation in management decision-making and worker productivity. Urdan (2010) posit that regression analysis will basically estimate the relationship between variables through generating a regression equation. According to Freedman, Pisani and Purves (2007), most researchers prefer using regression analysis because it shows the extent to which the variations in the endogenous variable are affected by the exogenous variable. The primary use of ANOVA will constitute analysing variance between variables. These variables are employee involvement and productivity in the selected company. Analysed data will be displayed using tables, graphs, and flowcharts. This step will offer a detailed data assembly that will be used in making conclusions. Data presentation is necessary because it leads to simplification and summarization of data to make it understandable to all stakeholders, including those without knowledge of data interpretation (Salaberry & Comajoan, 2013). The final step of data analysis will involve drawing conclusions from the data collected. This step will involve the researcher identifying implications of findings and evaluation of these implications. The most important part of the conclusion will constitute data verification, where the researcher will counter check the data to verify the drawn conclusions. Qualitative methodology, however, is criticised due to possible biasness that may arise during collecting, analysing, and reporting data. Biases arise in qualitative methodology because it lacks parameters that other researchers can use or verify (OConnor, 2013). The researcher, however, will aim at avoiding possible biases during the process of data collection. This will be achieved through reporting all information as collected from the participants and avoiding asking leading questions during data collection. 2.5 Validity and Reliability of Data Proper evaluation of research methodologies is critical since it helps determined reliability and validity. Reliability of data measures the extent to which data is consistent and without biasness (OLeary, 2013). Ensuring reliability requires questionnaires to have clear instructions, simple language, and relevant pieces of information to guide the respondents. This study will use Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. This coefficient indicates the extent of positive correlation of items in a set. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient is computed using average interconnections among the items; the closer the measure is to 1, the higher the internal consistency (Sahu, 2013). Reliability index of 0.7 will be considered acceptable, 0.8 good, 0.9 excellent, while 0.5 will reveal poor correlation. Reliability indices below 0.5 are unacceptable. The formula for calculating Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient is: Alpha=Kc/{v+(K-1)c}, where: K=number of items v=average variance of each component c=average of all covariances between the components. A high coefficient implies that items correlate highly among themselves, that is, there is consistency among the items used in measuring the concept of interest. Validity is the accuracy and meaningfulness of inferences that are based on the research findings. Validity constitutes the degree to which results obtained from analysis of data actually represent the phenomenon under study. The researcher will ensure validity of data by striving to eliminate the presence of systematic errors in the data collected. Assessing construct validity will require the researcher to have a clear theoretical framework regarding the concept being measured. The researcher will also include a variety of items in the questionnaire and interview question to maintain validity of the data. 2.6 Access The researcher intends to use both self-administered and researcher-administered questionnaires. This implies that the researcher will visit the premises of the company under study to distribute the questionnaires and guide the respondents through filling in them. The researcher will seek permission from the Capco’s management team to enable him access the premises of the organisation. The researcher will contact the potential respondents through phone calls. One of the worries characterising research participants is the fear that their responses may be displayed for public view. The researcher will eliminated this fear by giving them a vivid introduction and seeking the help of the company executives to convince employees that the results will be kept confidential. 2.7 Gantt chart The role of the Gantt chart is monitoring the progress of the project over time. the chart displays project stages, procedures followed, and time for each step. The researcher intends to complete the project within 20 days. The Gantt chart for this project is presented below. Task No. of days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Preparation and submission of research proposal Preparation of outline structure for dissertation Preparing and administering of questionnaires Desk research Receiving questionnaires Data analysis Preparation of progress report Proof reading and editing Submission of dissertation 2.8 References Ali, T., Coskun, O., Gulsen, A., & Zbigniew, P. 2011. Empirical study of public sector employee loyalty and satisfaction. 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