Research Articles Base: Business Research

Service Improvement

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TOWARD CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT       Most business start-up commonly use the idea of research and development before establishing their business they must study basic consideration to be able to come up with the best forecast of how their business are likely to operate. Even the highly established business organizations still continue to take a research and development in order to develop a better product and services and improve their customer service system. There are various considerations to make a business likely to succeed and research and development is the key factor while doing so. It is primarily important that before you invest all your time and money in your business it is highly recommended that you already know what your future customers need or what product and services they are likely to buy, and through this you have taken your first step toward growth.       Ask yourself a few questions before establishing or expanding a business; is your product and services really needed? How the customers can benefit about your product? Who will be your target market? What is its advantage to the competition? There are usually errors that business people may think that the business they are going to put up will benefit everyone but that’s not true, usually most products only cater to targeted market, example if you are going to put up a sports shop most likely yours customers would be sports enthusiast, if you are going to put up a restaurant like fast-food most probably health conscious people is not your market. In a car wash service it is quite obvious that your customers are people who own a car. Knowing your customers you can then begin to understand how wide your market will be. You must conduct a research and development in a most scientific findings and conclusions in your locations to be able to identify your customers.       Most highly successful company like Seven Eleven 7/11 Mini Grocery Store usually conduct a thorough inspection on their prospective location. Usually they inspect the accessibility of the location, understand the tax law of the country, count the numbers of probable competition or even count the numbers of passersby in order to conduct a viable study of the location. If they found out that most conditions apply positively then this will be the time they are going to put up their stores. In an obvious location and heavy traffic foot areas research is minimal because it is almost sure they will succeed.          In a deeper study some companies will conduct an interview from major location before putting up the business, what they usually do is to conduct an interview using a sets of questions that is important. Usually most business may ask what is the best product that comes to their mind, how are they going to take a new product? What the community need? The answers are usually reliable and can be use for new business venture and future expansion. The answers itself is the determinant to improve customer service. In a foreign community research and development are more critical and significant that they also need major consideration about religion, culture, traditions, labor law and tax law to come up with the best business with the most improved customer service. This is important to create a good impression and trust in the eyes of the public that considerations are never neglected beforehand.       Sometimes putting up a business and its success happens by accident just like in the case of Forrest Gump who has always been successful without a plan but often we can get better result if we plan the changes and improve our products and services that we are going to give the best offer to our customers and that’s the way it should be. If the business already exists for a time and they believe that they are weak they can also pick or identify their weakness and improve them. For example a massage parlor offered a good service but the competition also offered a discount or extended hour, free use of facilities etc. what will you do? Can you offer something better? In a hotel and restaurant service, can you offer free coffee? Or probably a group discount? What can you offer that benefit the customer without compromising your image is probably the best offer not to mention that customers almost always need the most approachable and helpful staff. People who communicate well and dressed well, good manner and well behave customer service staff who can give the best information is best picked and remembered by most clients. They present a good image of the company.       Lastly research what the community needs just like in most parts of Africa who lacked potable drinking water and water for their daily use. They also need electricity and medicine, faster computer and good communication system. These needs are all realized by water pump and solar panel companies that they established their business in those locations to give them what services they need. Microsoft and Nokia also offer the newest and the fastest technology to improve their services. The result is that people thank them for their products and services that they badly need because they have accomplished more in the eyes of the customers. All business no matter how big or small they must realize all this things to be able to achieve a good customer satisfaction that will conclude guaranteed success to the company. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Service Improvement

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TOWARD CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT Most business start-up commonly use the idea of research and developme...

Assignment

Q1.             To further improve the quality of the service of a car wash business, a proper research techniques must be applied to gain material and important feedbacks from the costumer on the service offered by the business. The first research technique that can be used is the use of questionnaires, surveys and checklist. The advantage of this method is that is can be completely anonymous and confidential. This method is also easy and inexpensive to administer since you just have to ask a costumer to fill up a form or a checklist. Survey and questionnaire method is also straightforward to compute, collate and to analyze. Survey method can also be administered to many people in just a short time while getting a lot of data regarding the topic and subject of the research. A disadvantage of this method is that surveys might not get careful and detailed feedback. The client is also limited by the questions and the structure of the questionnaire thus conforming and modifying his/her answers to the structure of the survey form therefore the method will not get the full and holistic story or suggestion.             Another form of research technique is the interview. The advantages of this method are that it can get the whole range and depth of information, it develops client relationship and it can be flexible with the client who is being interviewed. The disadvantages of the interview meanwhile are that it takes too much time to accomplish; the data gathered tend to be quantitative and therefore difficult to analyze and interpret.             The third method that can be used is the use of the focus groups where it explores the topic in question through a group discussion. This method can be effective since it can quickly get responses from the clients, it can be efficient in getting as much concrete and in depth information in just a short time. The shortcomings of this method is that it can be hard to analyze responses, it is time consuming, a good facilitator is needed and the inherent problem of scheduling 5-6 individuals together.             Another method that can be used by the car wash company is the case study method. This method fully depicts the experience of the client, his, reactions, feelings and suggestions for improvement. It is also advantageous since it totally focuses on an individual costumer and his suggestions in improving the quality of work of the establishment. The weakness of this method is that since it totally studies the reaction and the suggestion of a client it tends to ignore the other thoughts and ideas of the other costumers that may have opposite opinions and views. This method is usually time consuming in collecting data and organizing results.             The last research method that can be employed is simple observation. This is done by observing, monitoring and noting the different loopholes and potentials problems that will be encountered by a future costumer. This method is beneficial since this is a first hand method of assessing the performance of the company. This method is also inexpensive to use and data and other information are easy handled. The disadvantages of this method are that it is vastly subjective and totally depends on the person that applied the method. This method also only takes into account the viewpoint of one person. The point of view of one is generally not the whole point of view of the costumers.             For me, the research method that I will use considering that it is only a car wash company is the survey, questionnaire and checklist method since its advantages outweighs the disadvantages it carry. Surveys are effective in eliciting suggestions and responses from clients while it is inexpensive to produce and to do such method. This method is also the fastest in terms of gathering, analyzing, collating and interpreting data. The data can therefore be understood easily and passed on to the management of the car wash company so that it can use the suggestions and comments of its clients.   Q2.             Both hotels managers stated that their year to date profits exceeded its target and their costumer satisfaction research shows that the costumer satisfaction of both hotels is exceeding its expectation. While these factors are similar in both hotels the customer characteristics between a five star hotel and a local backpacker hostel are poles apart. Both hotels cater to a two vastly opposite customer base. The five star hotel caters to the affluent, wealthy and well-to-do individuals while the local backpacker hostel accommodates night travelers, truckers and drivers who have less money when compared to the clients who enter the five star hotel.             Because the two hotels cater to two different costumer base, these costumers also have a different and unlike service needs and expectations. The affluent costumer would had different sets of needs when compare to the needs of a drive in costumer that would be staying in a backpacker hotel. The first aspect would be the quality of the hotel. The costumer of the five star hotel would want that all bedrooms will have an en suite bathroom with a bath and thermostatically controlled shower, meals cooked and presented to an excellent standard using high quality ingredients, restaurant offering a good range of hot and cold skillfully prepared food, excellent air-conditioning system, exceptional home entertainment system, card keys and locks, expensive and rare wines, clean, comfortable, well appointed and highly decorated rooms and suites with furnishings of excellent quality and  the use hot and cold water. The second aspect would be the staff of the hotel. The five star hotel costumers would want impeccably dressed staff that provides attentive and unobtrusive service when they are needed, brilliant and prompt room service and other services needed by the client like a spa center or a gym.             For the regular costumer of the backpacker hotel, he/she simply wants clean and comfortable room with a simple bathroom, unsoiled bed sheets and pillows, comfortable ventilation and lighting, a plain TV and a phone and a free breakfast meal.   FIVE STAR HOTEL BENCHMARKS/STANDARDS   The staff must be attentive, friendly and provide a good level of service The rooms must be always be well cleaned and spotless Unlimited supply of hot or cold water Unlimited supply of toiletries Free cable and phone Dust free furniture Carpeted floors Prompt serving of food and drinks to guest On time delivery of food in rooms Valet parking Excellent restaurant facilities Presence of fitness centers   BACKPACKER HOTEL BENCHMARKS/STANDARDS   Clean bed sheets Unsoiled pillows Well ventilated rooms Fresh set of towels and toiletries TV Comfortable bed Door locks Bathroom and toilet Regular air conditioning system                 To met the expectations of the costumers the two hotels must implement actions to fully met the specific standards or benchmarks.   FIVE STAR HOTEL             The staff of the hotel must undergo training and courses that would enhance their ability to fully interact with the clients. They must be undergo training so that their manners and conducts when facing and answering the clients of the hotel.             To further improve this aspect, a regular cleaning crew must be employed to totally clean and disinfect the rooms or suites to ensure that no dirt or dust will settle in the furniture of a room. The cleaning crew must also diligently replace used bed sheets, pillows and towels that were used by the client. It also the duty of the cleaning crew to provide toiletries for every room and to check that the hot and cold waters always available.             To properly ensure that prompt and delivery of food in rooms and in the restaurant is possible, waiters and hotel staffs must be polite when asking and taking down orders. The kitchen must also be organized to ensure maximum efficiency in making and delivering the food ordered.   BACKPACKER HOTEL             A staff must always ensure that the bed sheets, pillows and the towels that is going to used by the client is clean and dirt free. A regular cleaning schedule for the rooms must also be implemented to guarantee cleanliness and orderliness. The toiletries must always be checked and that the toilet and faucets are properly working. There must be a constant check of the appliances inside the room if they are working or not.                                         SIMPLE COSTUMER SERVICE SURVEY               The goal of this survey is to assess the services offered by the hotel. It will try measure the costumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with regards to the different services and amenities offered by the hotel and its staff. All information and data that will be written in this survey form will remain confidential.    Please answer all the questions truthfully. Encircle the letter/letters that best reflect your answers SA – strongly agree A – agree D – disagree SD – strongly disagree   STAFF: The staff, concierge, bellboys and bartenders of the hotel are well dressed SA A D SD The staff are helpful when asked for questions and instructions SA A D SD The staff delivers prompt and punctual service SA A D SD The staff are always smiling and accommodating SA A D SD The staff can speak understandable English SA A D SD       SERVICE: The room service is prompt and punctual SA A D SD The food are hot and of excellent quality SA A D SD The restaurant has a fast delivery of orders SA A D SD There is always clean and fresh  pillows, bed sheets and towels SA A D SD Toiletries are always present in the bathroom SA A D SD Dust free furniture and furnishings SA A D SD The TV and other appliances in the room are always functioning SA A D SD The hotel offers excellent gym and fitness equipments SA A D SD The hotel offers outstanding valet service SA A D SD The hotel restaurant service is first rate offering good wine and drinks SA A D SD                     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Assignment

Q1. To further improve the quality of the service of a car wash business, a proper research techniques must be applied to gain ...

Marketing Research of Internet Bookstore

Marketing Research of Internet Bookstore   Introduction               In the coming decade, the performance of computer chips will improve thirty fold, and communication and storage capacity will experience even bigger improvements.  The number of businesses and consumers connected to the Internet will easily surpass one billion.  The application of technology, however, will not drive the new generation of e-business. Instead, it will be powered by the transformational possibilities created when traditional companies successfully incorporate e-business practices (2001).   In the last 50 years, people seem to be connected to the Internet for good reasons in conducting business online which claims to be the new method of marketing.  However, many marketers jumped in with less knowledge on how to do business in the right way.  Therefore, anyone who is interested in doing business on the internet should take time to learn about what they will be getting into.  The inexorable worldwide spread of the Internet and unprecedented rates of adoption of computer and telecommunication technologies by firms in North America, Western Europe, and selected parts of Asia continue to erode the relevance of traditional strategic weapons such as geographic location and favorable physical resources. The Internet now allows firms located anywhere in the world to project their influence in distant markets without creating a physical presence. Likewise, computer and telecommunication technologies are making the possession of heretofore advantageous physical resources increasingly irrelevant.   Generic Strategies and E-Business   Academicians have long been interested in the concept of strategy types (1986). Previous research on strategy types includes studies offering new typologies based on empirical analyses (1980; 1978: 1988; 1980), replication studies (1995;  1993;  1986), and studies adding new variables (1983; 1988;  1988). The most widely used strategy types are those developed by  and    <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%"> Cost Leadership Strategy </li>   Cost leadership is believed to be a viable strategic choice in Internet commerce as in off-line businesses.  Lower price has been a key selling point of e-business firms like expedia.com and CDnow in America and Yes24 (an Internet bookseller) in Korea.  The cost leadership strategy may be particularly appealing to online buyers who are price sensitive.  In one study conducted in Korea, 71 percent of 500 first-time online shoppers indicated that price was their most important consideration (2000).   The Internet eliminates many traditional time and spatial barriers.  Early movers’ strategies are easily imitated and entry barriers are much lower than in conventional businesses.  As a result, lower costs can be an effective defensive measure against competitors, since firms can be profitable even in the face of fierce competition if their costs are low enough.  And, the low prices offered by market leaders (based on their lower costs) can serve as an effective entry barrier against new entrants.  The Internet also allows firms to adjust their prices quickly so that Internet firms can enjoy a higher level of pricing flexibility and more efficient price competition ( 1998).   The Internet also helps consumers overcome bounded rationality in terms of price scanning. The long held Cyert and March’s (1963) satisfying argument may be less applicable in an Internet environment since the speed and expansiveness of information search made possible by the Internet enable consumers to quickly gather a wealth of data on price comparisons.  Price comparison sites drastically reduce search costs, so consumers may approach near-optimal price comparison ( 1997).   Another characteristic of e-businesses is the law of increasing returns (1996).  For a firm to enjoy increasing returns, it must secure a critical mass of consumers as soon as possible.  Competitive pricing often offers the quickest and easiest way for a firm to secure the largest number of consumers.     <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%"> Differentiation Strategy </li>   A successful differentiation strategy can be built on many factors, including design, brand image, reputation, technology, product features, networks, and differentiated customer service, and true differentiation should be hard for competitors to imitate.  Many of these differentiating elements are applicable to an Internet business.   (1997) found that customers of internet bookstores in Korea saw brand as more important than price as their buying criteria.  He also reported that more people used these Web sites to search for information and to find certain books than to compare prices.   (2000) found that price might be ignored as long as the product-customer fit is enhanced.  They also found that buyers became less sensitive to price when they were given more information about how a particular product might meet their needs.   A key aspect of Internet marketing is not just offering differentiated products and services, but also differentiating the channel ( 1988;1991).  According to one recent study by Netsmart America, brand is becoming more and more important, with 65 percent of the respondents to the firm’s survey indicating that brand is the most important determinant of Website visits (8/3/2000).  The survey also found that price was an important factor in purchasing decisions for relatively low price items such as books, entertainment, and toys, whereas brand was a more important consideration when purchasing computers, automobiles, furniture, banking, and security investments.   Lower switching costs on the Internet also encourage differentiation. In traditional businesses, consumers often tolerate mediocre products and services due to high switching costs.  In the e-business environment, however, consumers can get access to information previously impossible to obtain or to compare.  As a result, consumers can more easily switch to firms that offer additional value through differentiated features (2000).   In the e-business environment, in addition to the traditional factors such as brand image, product features, and customer service, speed of delivery, convenience, and the security of transactions are important elements of any differentiation strategy.  Although popular sites like Amazon.com do not always offer the lowest prices, people are attracted to these sites because of their brand reputation and credibility (1999).  This suggests that many e-business consumers are more concerned about security or delivery than price.   <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Focus Strategy </li> Firms pursuing a focus strategy target specific groups of buyers or product lines. Within their more limited competitive scope, they emphasize either low costs or differentiated products and services.  Many Internet companies are new entrants.  These new entrants may choose to compete against large, established firms by focusing on a particular niche.  Concentrated management of a niche market should not only increase their chances of success, but should also serve as an entry barrier.  In addition, the lower levels of investment required by many online businesses means that they enjoy lower break-even points.  Thus, targeting even small market segments can be viable, and consumers may be easily connected with producers that focus on niche markets due to the Internet’s search advantages.   Furthermore, the Internet allows firms to customize their offerings to meet the specific wants and needs of their customers ( 1998).  Customers are identified every time they visit a Website, and a great deal of information about each customer can be accumulated over time.  Based on this information, firms can offer customized products or services for a particular customer.   Types of Strategies and Their Performance Implications   It is still uncertain whether the new e-business environment represents a totally different, discontinuous change from the old business environment or whether the old and new environments will share many features and competitive imperatives. Therefore, several assumptions have been made about the application of conventional generic strategies in the e-business environment.   One critical assumption underlying this study is that electronic technologies create a platform to support existing business practices and at this point have not advanced to the point of precipitating a paradigm shift.  Although the Internet provides an efficient means to order products, it is not entirely a new way of doing business.   For example, the catalog retailers with toll-free numbers and automated fulfillment centers have been around for decades.  The Internet only changes the front end of the process (2001).  (2000) argue that, just as in off-line commerce, e-business firms should attract customers in the pre-sales phase, make purchasing happen in the on-line sales phase, and provide customer service and problem resolution in the after-sales phase.  Finally, one of the most obvious advantages of e-business seems to be lower cost due to the absence of physical locations.  However,  (2001) found that pure on-line firms were not realizing real estate-related cost savings over their retailing competitors (brick and mortars and clicks and bricks).   As a result, an assumption has been made that firms still view customers in terms of shared characteristics (i.e., market segmentation is possible), that different sets of customers have different needs and desires (i.e., opportunities for product differentiation exist), and that products and services exhibit different demand elasticities (i.e., firms may compete on price). And, as suggested in the previous section, it is assumed that each of Porter’s generic strategies can be applied to explain the behavior of Internet business firms.   Conclusion              (2000) found that hospitals, facing a complex environment, with higher strategic complexity outperformed those with lower strategic complexity. In their study, higher strategic complexity means that a firm pursues “competitive advantage through a wider range of strategic activities (i.e., both cost leader and differentiator type activities), representing a more complex strategy ( 2000:). (2001) argues that some e-business firms have successfully employed a combination of two generic strategies. For example, Amazon.com is very competent at all activities involving differentiation elements branding, innovation, and channel management as well as lowering costs. It is hard to classify Amazon.com into either strategy-type. The major contribution of this paper is to provide early, preliminary data suggesting that the important existing strategy concept of generic strategies is relevant to and can be applied to a new business environment. Considering the predominance of case studies in the e-business field, we hope this study can provide a useful platform for further rigorous, empirical studies that draw on large samples of e-business firms. The lack of performance measures and data may have prevented systematic empirical studies of e-business thus far, so another contribution of this study is its adaptation of existing subjective measures (1988) and use of an objective measure for assessing the performance of e-business firms. We also found our online questionnaire to be a useful way of gathering survey data, superior to conventional mail surveys in terms of time, costs, and convenience. This paper also offers some tentative implications for management practice. First, the results provide support for the viability and success of hybrid strategies for e-business firms. The study also suggests that the choice of strategy depends on firm type (pure play vs. clicks and bricks). Possible synergies and potential conflicts between online and off-line operations, as suggested by this study, should be important considerations as incumbent firms develop their Internet strategies.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Marketing Research of Internet Bookstore

Marketing Research of Internet Bookstore Introduction In the coming decade, the performance of computer chips will im...

Business Project Management

THE PROJECT: RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT OF CONGESTION CHARGING ON LOCAL BUSINESSES     Mind Map     Explanation of the Mind Map The figure above shows the interaction of a business entity with its internal and external environment.  Since a strategy can be triggered by competition, industry standards, government policy and employee motivation, these four aspects of a business is crucial to its success.  In effect, using analogy, this constitutes the basic framework of a business decision-making analysis.  Specially, this framework will identify the advantages and disadvantages of congestion charging for business within the area and also nearby firms.  For customers, a business may be adversely affected when low-income consumers may be distracted with the charge at peak times in which it is the regular schedule for shopping or dining for businesses within the charging area.  It will lead to loose in sales and therefore policymakers must be able to explain to this to the businesses within the charging area.    The same analogy is applicable to competitors between businesses that are competing in the same market.  The location advantages (e.g. the presence or absence of congestion charging within the area) can increase the profitability of those outside it or in nearby areas and lower the profits of those within it.  In effect, business industry is not severely affected rather only those in minority.  For business operations, logistics companies or even those with business establishments that delivers the products may produce additional cost due to congestion charging.  Lastly, increase in taxes and economic recession may deepen the problems of business within the area if congestion charging is implemented.  The mind map shows that business are affected and can affect the environment in which it operates and thus can also affected by advantages and disadvantages of congestion charging.           Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)   1.0.0.0. Research Project: Impact of Congestion Charging on Local Businesses   1.1.0.0. Customer Survey 1.1.1.0. Data Collection 1.1.1.1. Prepare questionnaires 1.1.1.2. Conduct interviews and distribute questionnaires 1.1.1.3. Record and organize data 1.1.2.0. Data Analysis 1.1.2.1. Apply statistical treatment to quantitative and qualitative data 1.1.2.2. Search applicable theories 1.1.2.3. Report findings                            1.1.3.0. Data Presentation 1.1.3.1. Justify reliability and consistency with past               researches 1.1.3.2. Definition of implications 1.1.3.3. Summarize, secure copy and file                                                        1.2.0.0. Business Operations Survey   1.2.1.0. Data Collection                 1.2.1.1. Prepare questionnaires                 1.2.1.2. Conduct interviews and distribute questionnaires     1.2.1.3. Record and organize data 1.1.2.0. Data Analysis 1.1.2.1. Apply statistical treatment to quantitative and qualitative data 1.1.2.2. Search applicable theories 1.1.2.3. Report findings 1.1.3.0. Data Presentation  1.1.3.1. Justify reliability and consistency with past               researches  1.1.3.2. Definition of implications  1.1.3.3. Summarize, secure copy and file   1.3.0.0. Business Sector Evaluation 1.3.2.0. Research on secondary data                1.3.2.1. Evaluate past researches                1.3.3.2. Study established theories and principles within    the British environment 1.3.3.3. Study established theories and principles within    a global perspective 1.3.3.0. Conduct forums with experts and academicians 1.3.4.0. Integrate to other Aspects 1.3.4.1. Formulate over-all business impact evaluation         mentioning the effects on key industries                                           1.3.4.2. Re-check findings on consistency and reliability                                           1.3.4.3. Make reports and summaries   1.4.0.0. General Environment Scanning                1.4.1.0. Define current PESTEL situation in the area                1.4.2.0. Conduct research if PESTEL knowledge is insufficient    1.4.3.0. Conduct short interviews with experts, politicians, lawyers                                      and other pertinent people about the future of PESTEL                            1.4.4.0. Collate data                            1.4.5.0. Analyze data                            1.4.6.0. Search relevant theories and principles                            1.4.7.0. Report findings, summarize, secure copy and file                                                                       Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)   1.0.0. Research Project: Impact of Congestion Charging on Local Businesses 1.1.0. Customer Aspect 1.1.1. Effects on Business Patronage and Buying Behavior 1.1.2. Effects on Charged Zone Outlet Visitations 1.1.3. Effects on Purchasing Power             1.2.0. Operations Aspect                         1.2.1. Effects on Functional Areas like Distribution and Marketing                         1.2.2. Effects on Cost and Differentiation Strategies                         1.2.3. Effects on Short- and Long-Term Profitability/ Strategy                         1.2.4. Effects on Business Risks             1.3.0. Business Sector Aspect                         1.3.1. Effects on Capital Requirements                         1.3.2. Effects on Switching Costs                         1.3.3. Effects on Retaliation of Outside-the-Zone Competitors                         1.3.4. Effects on Bargaining Power of Suppliers and Customers             1.4.0. General Environment Aspect                         1.4.1. Effects on Demographics                         1.4.2. Effects on Local Economy                         1.4.3. Effects on Local Politics and Legislation                         1.4.4. Effects on Socio-cultural Aspects                         1.4.5. Effects on the Level of Local Technology     Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)   1.0.0. Project Manager   1.1.0.   Customer Survey Division 1.1.1.   One (1) Senior Transport Analyst 1.1.2.   One (1) Junior Transport Analyst 1.1.3.   Three (3) Junior Research Assistants                                                   1.2.0. Operations Survey Division            1.2.1. One (1) Senior Business Economist 1.2.2. One (1) Junior Transport Analyst 1.2.3. One (1) Junior Business Economist 1.2.4. Three (3) Junior Research Assistants                                     1.3.0. Business Sector Evaluation Division                         1.3.1. One (1) Senior Business Economist 1.3.2. One (1) Senior Transport Analyst               1.4.0. General Environment Scanning Division                         1.4.1. One (1) Senior Transport Analyst 1.4.2. One (1) Junior Business Analyst                         1.5.0. Administrative Staffs (e.g. secretary and clerk)                         1.6.0. Outsourced Personnel                                                 Activities Duration Resources Customer Survey     Prepare questionnaires 20 days Customer division, (1) secretary/ clerk Conduct interviews and distribute questionnaires 180 days Customer division, (3) secretary/ clerk Record and organize data 10 days Customer division, (1) secretary/ clerk Apply statistical treatment to quantitative and qualitative data 10 days Customer division Search applicable theories 20 days Customer division Report findings 10 days Customer division Justify reliability and consistency with past researches 20 days Customer division Definition of implications 10 days Customer division Summarize, secure copy and file 5 days Customer division, (1) secretary/ clerk   285 days   Business Operations Survey     Prepare questionnaires 20 days Operations Division, (1) secretary/ clerk Conduct interviews and distribute questionnaires 90 days Operations Division, (3) secretary/ clerk Record and organize data 10 days Operations Division, (1) secretary/ clerk Apply statistical treatment to quantitative and qualitative data 10 days Operations Division Search applicable theories 20 days Operations Division Report findings 10 days Operations Division Justify reliability and consistency with past researches 20 days Operations Division Definition of implications 10 days Operations Division Summarize, secure copy and file 5 days 195 days Operations Division, (1) secretary/ clerk       Business Sector Evaluation     Evaluate past researches 20 days Sector division, (1) secretary/ clerk Study established theories and principles within the British environment 20 days Sector division Study established theories and principles within  a global perspective 20 days Sector division Conduct forums with experts and academicians 60 days Sector division, other divisions, Outsourced personnel, (5) secretary/ clerk Formulate over-all business impact evaluation mentioning the effects on key industries 30 days Sector division, other divisions, (2) secretary/ clerk Re-check findings on consistency and reliability 10 days Sector division, division heads Make reports and summaries 10 days Sector division   170 days   General Environment Scanning     Define current PESTEL situation in the area 5 days Environment division Conduct research if PESTEL knowledge is insufficient 10 days Environment division Conduct short interviews with experts, politicians, lawyers and other pertinent people about the future of PESTEL   Collate data 30 days         5 days Environment division, (2) secretary/ clerk, outsourced personnel       Environment division, (1) secretary/ clerk Analyze data 10 days Environment division Search relevant theories and principles 10 days Environment division Report findings, summarize, secure copy and file 5 days Environment division, (1) secretary/ clerk   75 days       Business Report Notes to Customer Survey There are seven (7) city-districts within the metropolitan county of West Midlands.  This part of West Midland region is suitable for survey because this part is populated and whose business activities are abound.  The seven districts and there population are Wolverhampton (239,258), Dudley (305,600), Walsall (253,500), Sandwell (286,300), Birmingham (1,000.200), Solihull (200,900) and Coventry (304,600).  Five hundred (500) houses will be surveyed from these districts except Birmingham which will have one thousand five hundred (1,500) houses due to its relatively bigger population.  The customer division including the head will go out for survey although the head (e.g. senior employee) will interview houses of more prominent people.  Further, each can interview at least five (5) houses per day which gives a total of twenty five (25) houses per day for the whole division.  As a result, it will take twenty (20) days for the division to finish each district survey while Birmingham will take sixty (60) days.   Preparations of questionnaires will require review of related questionnaire framework (5 days), scanning a particular district (5 days) and establishing the questionnaire itself (10 days).  In doing the succeeding activities, the division will be not go to the next task if the preceding tasks are not completed and verified.  Necessary software, books, journals and online library are considered overheads because the company has these sources already.  The conduct of interviews require field work which can result to transportation, hotel and allowance costs.  Communication cost can also transpire from the transaction of the headquarters and field employees.  Performance monitoring will be performed by the project manager which can include quantity and quality of work for the day with the assistance of the senior specialist.      Notes to Business Operations Survey On the other hand, business survey will include those businesses which likely to be within the charging area.  It is assumed that one hundred (100) businesses are within this area except for Birmingham which has three hundred (300) and the division can finish two (2) businesses in one day.  Their business size is those in medium to small capital because it can be argued that big companies have low sensitivity to charging effects.  The senior employee will not interview except for difficult situations where the business owner does not want to show business data.  As a result, the division can finish the six districts in sixty (60) days while Birmingham can be finished in thirty (30) days.  It can be assumed that the division can gather financial information relating to logistics and marketing that can be affects when customers tend to be less due to charging zone effects to business operations.  The duration and nature of activities is the same as the customer survey except for the conduct of interviews because there are relatively less sample required for this particular survey.  Nevertheless, the division will incur the same costs.     Notes to Business Sector Evaluation The business sector evaluation team is only composed of two senior employees experienced in various aspects of business operations and transportation industry.  They are also considered as the experts in their fields and have higher degrees which make them in-depth to the relevant theories and principles that can be applied in the current research.  Their findings will be the backbone of analysis for all surveys and scanning that have done.  They will focus on the implications of surveys and scanning to the overall assessment on business industry with emphasis to key sectors of each district.  Their task is to regularly collaborate with the heads of other divisions that are currently doing their surveys and scanning to have an idea on what to research on secondary data.  After having established background, it is time for in-depth interviews including forum to experts and other academicians regarding the research.  This task is one of the crucial tasks of the team which will affect the overall credibility of the findings because respected and known people will evaluate the on-going and actual results of research.  The selection and notification will take 10 days while actual communication/ forum to a group of experts will take several weeks until the surveys and scanning are finished.  Business sector evaluation output will conclude the research project because it tackles business issues in the locality in a very general manner unlike business operations which is more in-depth.   Secondary researches will be conducted within and outside the headquarters.  This will involve some transportation and allowance costs.  Further, selection and preparation for a list of experts will connote representation costs which can include meetings in a restaurant and home visits with gifts to the expert among others.  As the senior analysts will communicate to known personalities, they should be equipped with proper attire to set the mood and professional environment which can require other costs.  Conducting actual forums can occur before or after the necessary surveys and scanning while the overall assessment can only occur after surveys and scanning findings/ implications are determined.  At that point, all divisions are required to meet and integrate their findings.  When this is finished, the project is also finished.           Notes to General Environment Scanning The general environment team is consisted of two people.  The allocation of authority to a senior transport analyst and subordination of a junior business analyst is a technique to focus the research on transport-related areas.  The general environment may be too ambiguous and ever-changing that business economists may aggravate the difficulty due to their holistic approach.  Their primary task is to interview people expert in the PESTEL environment concretize their knowledge through these interviews.  It will take few months to finish their task.  Compared to two surveys above, PESTEL will undertake less time due to focused interviews necessary to complete the information.  Perhaps, after PESTEL analysis is done, the team can help other teams to expedite the activities under their department.  This act will maximize the full-time positions of these employees with regards to the research project.   The entire task will be carried in the headquarters except for the interviews.  As a result, transportation expense will be incurred.  As both employees are living within the metropolitan county of West Midlands, they are familiar with current issues although forecasts would be inquired to the experts especially the politicians.  As a result, representation costs and other costs incurred like the business evaluation team will ensue.                 Appendix                  (See Project Management attachment)     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Business Project Management

THE PROJECT: RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT OF CONGESTION CHARGING ON LOCAL BUSINESSES Mind Map Explanation...