Using Research Methods In Business Decision Making

Answer :

Introduction 

In this study, the learning experiences of the students in the UK College of Business and Computing (UKCBC) will be analyzed and the data will be accordingly collected. The researcher is acting here as the lead student representative of the college. In this study, the researcher has attempted to gather data from the students using questionnaires based on their study experience in the college and the help and support they are receiving during their course of study. The data collected from the students will be analyzed and interpreted using various kind of analytical tool and accordingly the results will be presented. 

Task 1: Planning of the survey 

a. Plan for collection of data

The data for this assignment will be collected with the use of various strategies and methods. The assignment will be mainly based upon the collected data, which will be harnessed using primary as well as secondary data. 

The primary data collection strategy will involve the follow up of certain plans and methods for the proper collection and analysis of the data.  For the collection of primary data, the questionnaires will be formed on a previous basis. Answers regarding the experience of studying in the respective college will be collected from the students (Asquith and Weiss, 2016). The questions that will be asked to the students will be regarding the things like their age, their gender, their course of study, their satisfaction level regarding the quality of teaching and these answers will be procured in the forms of rating from 1 to 5.

In addition, the satisfaction of students regarding the facilities provided in the campus will also be collected with the help of these questionnaires. Further, questions regarding the help provided by the feedback in developing their overall learning scopes will be interrogated (Brinkmann, 2014). The support and the help received by them from the college regarding their course of study will also be asked from them. The resources received by the students that helped in the overall process of completing their study in the college will also be analyzed by asking them various kind of question with the help of the questionnaires. At the final part, the overall experience help but the students related to their course of study in the college will also be asked from them with the help of various questions in the questionnaires. The information regarding the overall study experiences of the students and their satisfaction level regarding the course study will be collected with the help of the questionnaires (Carmichael, 2011). 

Survey is one of the potential, tools for collecting various kind of information. A survey is that tool which is featured with the response of many people or a certain community of people regarding the choice and preference of a particular subject, aspect or fact in a certain region. The successful collection of the data information may help the students and the college in many ways as well (Chen et al. 2012). The surveys will help in recognizing the choice and preferences of students and also the viability of the courses of study they are been offered, the questions will help in knowing the places where the students are facing any kind of problems, the issues related  to the style of teaching or the alignment of the course etc. Through these studies, the matter of the course or the thing that are taught in the course can be improvements and many important amendments can be brought in the overall content of the course or the style of teaching prevalent in the college. 

The whole survey procedure here will be done on an offline basis, as online survey is not possible in this case. Many of the students may not be properly aware of the online surveys and many of them may not feel the urge to reply properly to each question (Collings et al. 2016). Thus, the questionnaires will be distributed among the students so that they can properly answer to them and their queries regarding the information to be provided can be also properly entertained. The students can answer to these questions any time they want but it should be before the commencement of the whole process of analysis the collected data. 

On the other hand, primary data will also be used in this assignment for collecting other kind of data. The detailed information regarding each student and the role played by the institution and its various policies and strategies can be well acquired with the help of secondary data. These secondary data will be collected from the website of the college, articles, journals and reports written by the students or the professors or any other person related to the university (Fan et al. 2015). 

b. Presentation of the survey methodology and the sampling techniques 

The whole survey will be conducted with the use of use of various statistical tools. The data will be collected from the students with the help of questionnaires and later the data will be analyzed with the help of analytical tools such as mean, median, mode, correlation, regression, arithmetic mean, median, mode etc. In this study, sampling will be used which is an effective for properly understanding and considering the accumulated data. For the convenience of the study in this assignment, random sampling will be used for the collection of data. The use of random sampling can be well justified as it helps to collect unambiguous and unbiased data. Further, the data collected on a random basis can be said to be more relevant and correct and serve the purpose of the analysis (Fang and Wang, 2012). 

A questionnaire containing 9 to 10 questions will be distributed among the students. The size of the sample for the interrogation purpose has been set to a maximum of 50 students. These 50 students will be asked various kind of questions and then the data will be used for direct analysis. The questions have been designed in such a way so that they can provide with all kind of detail, which will help in easing the whole analysis procedure (Galliers and Leidner, 2014). 

c. Designing the questionnaire

Q1. Please select your age range

• 25-35
• 36-45
• 45 and above

Q2. What is your gender?

• Male
• Female

Q3. What course do you study?

• HND Business management
• HND Travel and Tourism      Management
• HND Health and Social care      Management
• AAT Professional Diploma in      Accounting

Q4. On a scale of 1-5, please answer the following questions

1= Least satisfaction, 5+ Highest Satisfaction

• How satisfied are you with      the quality of teaching?

• 1   
• 2   
• 3   
• 4   
• 5

• How satisfied are you with      the facilities provided in the campus?

• 1   
• 2   
• 3   
• 4   
• 5  

Q5. Do you agree that student’s feedback and assessment is provided in a timely manner?

• Yes    
• No    
• Not Sure    
• No Comment

Q6. Does the feedback and assessment provided help your learning development?

• Yes    
• No    
• Not Sure    
• No Comment

Q7. Do you always receive support and guidance for your course work?

• Always    
• Not Always    
• Not at all    
• No Comment

Q8. Do you have sufficient learning resources for your course of study?

• Yes    
• No    
• Not sure

Q9. How good is your student life experience so far with the college?

• Extremely Good
• Very Good
• Good
• Not good
• No comment

Task 2: Summarizing and analyzing the collected data 

a. Summary of the data collected from surveys

From the above analysis made, it can be interpreted that, most of the members of the students’ community of UK College of Business and Computing (UKCBC) are satisfied with the type of services provided by the management of the university. It is noted that most of the students comprises of the age group of 25-35 (74%) and most of them are males. From the above results, it is noted that most of the students are enrolled in HND Business Management course and the least number of students are noted in the Accounts department (Hodgson and Harris, 2016). 

On the other hand, it is noted that, the students submit the feedbacks and the assessment provided by the university in a timely manner. In addition to that, it is evident from the analysis that, the course materials and the assessment feedback provided to the students help them to learn and develop knowledge in regards to their subjects. However, it is noted that, few of the students are not happy with the facilities provided by the university. In this regards, the management needed to look after the grievances of these students and formulate an action plan in order to eliminate the same (Lillyman and Bennett, 2014). 

b. Determining the Central tendency and its analysis:

Analysis: In analyzing the above table, it can be stated that the mean responses of Q1 have been 1.4.Therefore it can be stated here that the maximum number of respondents have favored option 1 as their choice. Moreover, it can be stated from here that the median and the mode value have been the same. Here it has been that the mean, median and mode have been the same. Therefore, it can be stated from here that the most of the respondents are in the age group of 25-35. It has been evident from here that the most of the respondents have been male. The most numbers of respondents are male. Form question number 3 it has been evident that average number of people have opted for HND Travel and Tourism management. The maximum number of people has been HND business management (Patrick et al. 2016). 

As per question 4 the average number of people have opted for the fourth option which is neutrality where they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the quality of teaching. As per question number 5 the most number of people have been satisfied. Moreover, it can be further stated here that most number of people has been confident about the student feedbacks are evaluated in a timely manner. It has also been evident that the college provides fare scope of learning development. It has been evident that maximum number of people stated that they have received adequate amount of guidance for course work. In this analysis, it has been further evident that on an average that student life has been very good (Peppard and Ward, 2016). 

c. Analyzing the data through measures of Dispersion:

Analysis: It has been evident that there has been great amount of deviation in the responses in question 1. Therefore, the responses have not been biased. Moreover, it can be stated here that the disparity between people have based on the gender have been comparative less. It has been evident that there has been a great deal of deviation in the satisfaction levels of the students (Petković, 2015). Question no 5,6,7,8,9,10 have shown a great deal of variations in the responses from the students.

d. Coefficient of Correlation:

Analysis: The question 1 and question 2 are highly correlated. Moreover it can be further stated here that the correlation between is positively correlated but is comparatively less correlated than the first one.  Moreover, it has been evident from the above table that the correlation among the questions is positive (Woodall et al. 2014). Therefore, advancement in one section leads to advancement in others. However, the magnitudes of the relationship have been varied.

Task 3: Presenting and reporting the information that have been found and collected 

a. Trend analysis:

1. 

Figure 1: Figure representing the age group of the students

(Source: self developed)

Figure 2: Figure representing the age group of the students

(Source: self developed)

Figure 3: Figure representing the age group of the students

(Source: self developed)

2. 

Figure 4: Figure representing the gender of the students

(Source: self developed)

Figure 5: Figure representing the gender of the students

(Source: self developed)

Figure 6: Figure representing the gender of the students

(Source: self developed)

3.

Figure 7: Figure representing the course of study 

(Source: self developed)

Figure 8: Figure representing the course of study 

(Source: self developed)

Figure 9: Figure representing the course of study 

(Source: self developed)

4.

Figure 10: Figure representing the quality in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 11: Figure representing the quality in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 12: Figure representing the quality in the university

(Source: self developed)

5.

Figure 13: Figure representing the facilities provided on campus

(Source: self developed)

Figure 14: Figure representing the facilities provided on campus

(Source: self developed)

Figure 15: Figure representing the facilities provided on campus

(Source: self developed)

6.

Figure 16: Figure representing the receipt of feedback and assessment in a timely manner

(Source: self developed)

Figure 17: Figure representing the receipt of feedback and assessment in a timely manner

(Source: self developed)

Figure 18: Figure representing the receipt of feedback and assessment in a timely manner

(Source: self developed)

7.

Figure 19: Figure representing the learning scope of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 20: Figure representing the learning scope of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 21: Figure representing the learning scope of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

8.

Figure 22: Figure representing the support and guidance from course work

(Source: self developed)

Figure 23: Figure representing the support and guidance from course work

(Source: self developed)

Figure 24: Figure representing the support and guidance from course work

(Source: self developed)

9.

Figure 25: Figure representing the resources available in regards to the course study

(Source: self developed)

Figure 26: Figure representing the resources available in regards to the course study

(Source: self developed)

Figure 27: Figure representing the resources available in regards to the course study

(Source: self developed)

10.

Figure 28: Figure representing the experience of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 29: Figure representing the experience of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

Figure 30: Figure representing the experience of students in the university

(Source: self developed)

c. Formal business Report:

To

The Director

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), London

Subject: UKCBC Students experience

Madam/Sir,

As per the responses that have been gathered from the students with the help of questionnaires formed, it can be said that maximum of the students in your college studies Business management. Out of those students, maximum of the students are just merely satisfied with the teaching quality in the college. In addition, the maximum of the students are satisfied with the facilities available in the campus. The feedback of the students is also entertained within the time, which is reflected from the study conducted. They also say that that the feedback also helps in the development of their learning skills. They also say that they get proper guidance for carrying out with their extensive study. Further, the required learning resources for carrying out with the study procedure are also available at their vicinity (Ye, 2014). While maximum students have expressed the feeling that their study experience in the college is very good but not extremely good.

It can be well said that you should take up proper steps and measures in order to make their study experience the best. They should get all the facilities, guidance and resources so that they can carry out with their study in a proper manner. 

Task 4: Software generated information to undertake proper consideration of decisions 

a. Significance of information processing tool at decision making and strategic levels at organization

In the present context of globalization and the advancement in the information, technology had resulted in a positive outcome. In this regard it can be stated that the advancement in technology have helped in collecting data and processing it. It has been evident here that this has resulted in preparing the indicative content. Based on the indicative content software development have resulted in accurate portrayal of results and in analyzing them in a better manner (Woodall et al. 2014). This has resulted in increasing the accuracy of the entire research and the research process. The development has significantly reduced the biased error in the entire process.

b. Preparation of a project plan for determining a critical path 

C. Decision making based on financial tool:

1. Calculation of Net Present      value (NPV)

In regards to the above calculation, it is noted that the net present value of the project plan comes to 7708.83, i.e., positive. This indicates that the project plan is viable and the management of the organization may go ahead with the software-generated information to make the business decision. 

2. Calculation of Internal Rate      of Return (IRR)

Conclusion

In concluding the research, it has been evident that the planning of the survey have been done in an appropriate manner in order to derive the result from the university students in united kingdom. This has been done in order to evaluate the condition prevailing in the universities. This would have helped in increasing the efficiency of the university systems in United Kingdom.  Moreover, it can be stated here that the most advanced analysis and evaluation methods have been used for the purpose. It has also been evident that the students have been satisfied with the present system.