Assignment 2 – Information for prioritising service delivery decisions Task: To be performed in groups of 3 or 4 persons max Marks: 35% of unit total Deadline: Week 9 – Sunday midnight Word limit:...

Assignment 2 – Information for prioritising service delivery decisions

Task: To be performed in groups of 3 or 4 persons max

Marks: 35% of unit total

Deadline: Week 9 – Sunday midnight

Word limit: XXXXXXXXXXexcluding the reference list)

NB. This assignment is a group task – it is rare for managers to work in isolation and learning outcomes for this unit include developing your skills and capacity to work effectively with others. The assignment will help develop your ability to work in a group, as well as skills in desk research (library and Internet search), collating presenting and interpreting information, as well as the essential skill of accurate referencing.

As in Assignment 1 writing concisely is an important skill to develop – so please do not exceed the word limit – anything >10% over the word count will be ignored.

Assignment description

Generally managers do not perform the actual primary data collection, or market research. However, they do frequently commission and oversee business research projects, as well as interpret data and to make informed decisions on the basis of research findings.

This assignment requires you to consider research and decision making associated with a satisfaction survey of shoppers at an Australian shopping mall - using the importance performance / gap analysis approach covered in the unit. This is a very relevant topic since quantitative satisfaction evaluation is conducted by many organisations.

NB – Apart from observations at a shopping mall, please do not actually conduct any primary data collection for this assignment, rather just consider the research design and process involved in gap analysis satisfaction research from the manager’s perspective.

Purpose

This assignment asks you to perform the same tasks undertaken by business managers in relation to satisfaction and service decision making. Business managers select research suppliers and brief the agencies on exactly what they expect from the research. Accordingly the assignment requires you to set clear research objectives; consider the strategic role of the research and explain the type of information expected, and how it inform decision making. The business manager must also monitor the research process to try to ensure that the project is performed in an effective manner and that the data produced are reliable. Part of the assignment therefore also requires you to outline the key considerations at each stage in the research process.

Assignment tasks

In this assignment be sure to cover the following under these same headings:

Objective(s) of the research

Initially you must outline the business objective(s) of your research, as well as the specific research objectives of the importance performance / gap analysis approach.

Information required to fulfill the research objectives

· In this section you should consider the information required, desired presentation format, as well as clearly illustrate what will be done with it / how it will fulfill the research objectives.

· To do this effectively you should provide your own examples of expected research output and clearly describe how it can be interpreted to assist the company decision making process. (i.e., provide estimates of data and produce your own examples of the anticipated output)

Key considerations for the data collection stages in the research process

This serves as a checklist for the manager to monitor / supervise the agency that conducts the research in order to reduce the potential for unreliable data. Such aspects might include:

· Correct data collection approach / methodology

· Questionnaire design

· Customer target and sample

· Contact strategy & response rates

· Training and supervision of the data collection team (if appropriate)

· Data processing (coding, input and analysis)

How to structure your writing

· Cover page – Please include a cover page containing the title; student name(s) and ID number (s); date & total word count (excluding title and reference list).

· Introduction – Write about 150 words outlining the structure of the report and the significance of customer satisfaction research decision making

· Objective(s) of the research – Write about 200 words outlining the business objective(s) of the research (an attitude survey of customers) as well as the specific research objectives.

· Information required to fulfill the research objectives – Write about 900 words describing how the information collected will achieve the research objectives. Provide examples of anticipated output; how it might be interpreted and how it assists decision making.

· Considerations in the research process – Write about 900 words outlining the key pitfalls and what the manager should be concerned about during the research process.

· Conclusion - Write about 150 words on the importance of the research approach and the manager’s role in the research process.

· References – Finally insert your references list using a recognized referencing format such as APA or Harvard – (For example, the ‘Harvard quick guide’ provides a useful summary http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/harvard_quick_guide.pdf).

· Reflections on the group task – Include a final section comprising approximately 200 words. In this you should reflect upon how was the group task was managed describing any ground-rules that were set, what worked well, where improvements might be made when managing future group projects.

· For this assignment it is anticipated that you will use a minimum of ten different references that include relevant journal articles.

· Please write in a professional manner with a clear structure and appropriate headings, properly spell checked and proof read.

· Word limit – There is a considerable amount to cover, so it is important that you clearly introduce the focus of your assignment and then write clearly and concisely within the specified word limit. At the end of each section please state the number of words you have used and at the start please also indicate the total number of words, which should not exceed 2700 words. NB the reference list does not count toward the word limit.

Submission & mark allocation

The assignment must be submitted via Blackboard. Your tutor will use the following guidelines to grade your work out of 100:

* NB appropriate reading, accurate referencing and author citation are prerequisite for Distinction and Higher Distinction grades.