Managing Research and Information - Essay Example

Managing Research and Information work 2) Introduction This is a research proposal and managing information in the improvement of the spa. The project is headed by the manager of the spa who had an overall control in the IT system of the organization. The company has been operating for almost 3 years. Upon checking on the past records, the number of customers as well as their sales remains the same as compared from the start of operation. The managers task would be to improved the performance of the business and evaluate the current business situation. From here the manager should present a project proposal to convince the administration that the organization needs improvement. One of the main objectives of the project is to be able to show the administration the possible changes to be done. In order to improve the return of investment of the business and become more competitive the company should be shifted from the technology to managing information. At present the company's database has 100 treatments and 10,000 customers. It is also the objective of this project to triple the numbers of customers by adding or improving the services and products. Is the service of the company thru its customer good enough What other additional services will the manager add in order to attract customer Who and how many staff will be involve How the improvement will generate profit to the company What will be the equipments and other apparatus needed Is it cost effective or practical to add How long the project will last Who will conduct the research These are some of questions that can be considered during the research. The increase in revenue as well as an increase in number of the customers is the main objective of the research. How to make this possible will depend on the proper adaptation of the research and methodology. Research and Methodology Proper methodology is important in making the research and planning a success. Since the customer is the main concern of the organization, the change or improvement will be base on the research that will be carrying out by the staff with the help of the customers. The best way to know the sentiments of the customer of the spa over the company is by conducting research and surveys with questionnaire to be able to assess the improvement needed. Since the company are not quite sure as to what will be improve, the best research approach would be a combination of Quantitative and Qualitative approach. Qualitative studies are generally exploring the companies' weaknesses and it involves small sample size. This approach is recommended for our study since we want to help our clients understand the reasoning behind why they should patronize the spa. The study will explore the new ideas for our products and services. By using the qualitative study the company will be able to probe questions to both distinguish the driving purchase behaviour and to understand why the factors are important. Quantitative will be use to interpret the numeric result of the survey done by the company to a group of customer. The statistical result will show the needed improvement to be carried out by the company. The advantages of using the quantitative approach is that the data we obtain from quantitative research has the advantage of being amenable to highly sophisticated statistical analyses and modelling procedures that can uncover interesting and important relationships that are not visible to the naked eye.However quantitative approach maybe more prone to biases and limitations in the knowledge base of the researchers. By restricting not only the questions we ask but also the alternative responses (such as using numbers in responses) we are less likely to gain new insights from the research participants that we work with. The sample to be used in the study would be relatively small to represent a large population. The method of research can be conducted using the telephone, internet or in one on one interview. The most reliable method would be the one on one interview and thru the internet, wherein the customer on its own will be the one answering the questionnaire. Staff conducting the survey thru telephone can alter the research by wrong in-put, although it is the fastest way to reach the customer. The reliability of the result would depend on the scoring or grading done by the customer in the questionnaire. The extent of the reliability would depend on the result done thru repetitive questioning in the group of customers. The accuracy of the research will depend on how the research will be carried out and how the responses will be interpreted. The success of the study or the validity of the study will depend on the study's success at measuring what the researchers set out to measure. Surveys and research done in this matter does not include the name or the details of the person who are participating in the survey to protect their identity. The participants in this study are group base on their gender. The responses of the female participants will be tabulated separately from the male responses to have a clearer view on the results of survey. The questionnaire includes 15 questions answered by rating the question having 1 as equivalent to excellent and 5 to be answered for those who are uncertain. The participants will be group base on their gender. A questionnaire will then be given to those who will answer it personally, one can also access the questionnaire thru the internet or a telephone call will be done by one of the staff to conduct the survey. It is not time pressured to give proper time for the participant to answer the questionnaire properly. To eliminate biases, the participants will answer the questionnaire all by themselves. The answers will be tabulated in a separate questionnaire to evaluate the response of the participants. The quantitative and the qualitative result will then be interpreted and a report will be created to be presented to the owners of the spa for their evaluation. The objective of this study should be reflected in the questionnaire to be able to have an initial assumption of the success of the evaluation. Follow-up questionnaire can be provided to further evaluate the needed improvement. Questionnaire Design A questionnaire was design by the owners to evaluate the services of the spa provided to the customer. The questionnaire includes rating for booking and ordering, assessment of the spa's internet website and the evaluation for the product and services of the spa. It also includes some details about the participant. The questionnaire itself was designed to as extensive as possible within the present research focus and give the participants the ability to answer freely. This, while making the task of analysis and deciding on avenues for further research a larger one, will facilitate more accurate data to confirm or refute the hypotheses put forward in this proposal. In the questionnaire the first thing that should be considered will be the group that will be undertaking the survey. The design of the questionnaire is too general and can be seen in most of the survey form. Questionnaire can have a distinctive question that only this spa company may have; of course the question should have in connection with the needed improvements. Maybe the owners just needed the general responses of the customer that's why they make the questions too general. The questionnaire may include analysis of the customer. Focus on the target market, what group should the survey will be focusing. Prices of the services offered and treatment are reasonable enough and competitive to others Does other spa have the treatment or services that we don't have You can learn a lot from the customer if only the company can provide a good set of questionnaire. The questionnaire done by the owners may have a significant effect for the improvement of the spa. From here they can base the improvement needed. It is best to identify the target markets before continuing with the questionnaire. Target markets consist of knowing the customer first. The customer is the most important market for the business. Know deeper about the existing customer of the spa. The questionnaire can include the following questions: where they find the idea about the spa What they like about the spa And what they don't like The present customer can lead to future customers too. It is not enough to just do the grading for the product or services. Feedback of the customer would make a big difference in the company's improvement. Analysis The questionnaire done may have the following result: In the selection of product offered the majority may rate it to be fair or poor. This assumption is due to the fact that the spa business is gaining a success to those who accept changes in their organization. There are spa who are more technological developed and there are some who uses state of the art apparatus. In the number 2 question in the friendliness of service the result maybe from fair to poor also. If the customer or sales of the spa is not increasing there maybe some of the customer who are not satisfy with the service rendered by the staff. An additional staff maybe needed since it was stated that the company has only one staff accommodating the customer. In question 3 the speed of service, in connection with question 2 the company is understaffed resulting in poor services. Knowledge of staff about products available, there are cases wherein the staffs have a little knowledge on the products that it sells. Hence it will result in a poor rating. About the internet question, the question do you use the internet should come first. Not all uses the internet and is therefore not all accessible to see the website of the spa. The rate for this question would range from again fair to poor. How user friendly is the internet site, the result would range from good to fair. The internet site was designed properly for the customer to have an immediate access to the needed services. Question about the products would have a good to fair result. Recommending it to their friend may not be evident since they are not having the expected services. Overall service will also have a poor result because of the poor services the company is extending. As shown in these result the organization really need to have an improvement. Staff should have proper education about the services they are offering. To convince the customer to comeback or to extend their stay will start from the staff services rendered. Proper orientation of the staff will result in a better set of employee. Welcoming change and improvement is important for the company to gain success in the aim of increasing the sales and number of customer. Additional staff would be of great help. Although the company will be adding to its expenses the salary of the new staff, the services that the staff can render will be appreciated and will help to speed up the services. It is best to have proper education, cooperation and understanding in this business. The owners maybe convinced that the spa really needs improvement as shown in the result of the survey. Reference: Ways of approaching research: Quantitative design, 1999, http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/grizzly/432/rra2.htm May 27, 2007-05-2007 Read More