Learning from Research: Insights for Management Services Practitioners

1. WHAT CAN A MANAGEMENT SERVICES PRACTITIONER LEARN AND USE FROM THE WORLD OF RESEARCH? Presenter: Dr F du Plessis SAIMAS WORKSHOP 2016 Operations Management

2. Introduction • Objective of this workshop • Why do we do research? • Characteristics of research • What lies at the heart of research? • Steps to follow during research • Types of research • The Honeycomb of research methodology Operations Management 2

3. Introduction • Research Philosophy • Research Strategy • Research Design Types • Data collection methods • Defining Research • Defining Business Research • Review of literature • Abstract Operations Management 3

4. Introduction • Case study • Tips on how to not structure questions in a questionnaire • Tips on how to not prepare an interview schedule • Tips on how to prepare an interview schedule • Survey Monkey • References Operations Management 4

5. Objective of this workshop The objective of this workshop is for you as a Management Services Practitioner to get an idea of what you can use from the field of research to assist you to do your investigations scientifically and in a structured way Operations Management 5

6. Why do we do research? • To find solutions to specific problems • To expand existing knowledge in order to improve quality of life • To earn an income (contract research) • (Marais, Lourens & Munro, 2006:9-10) Operations Management 6

7. Characteristics of research • Research originates with a question and a problem • Research requires clear articulation of a goal • Research follows a specific plan or procedure • Research usually divides the principal problem into more manageable sub-problems • Research is guided by a specific research problem or question • Research accepts certain assumptions • Research requires the collection and interpretation of data in an attempt to solve the problem that initiated the research • (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001:5) Operations Management 7

8. What lies at the hart of research? • The following questions are what it is all about: • What do you want to do? • Why do you want to do it? • How are you going to do it? • Who are you going to use to do it? • Where are you going to do it? • What does your time schedule look like? • How much is it going to cost? • What contribution will the project make? • (Marais, Lourens & Munro, 2006:12) Operations Management 8

9. Steps to follow during research • Find an appropriate question that needs to be researched – topic • Review the literature on the topic • Design a proper method to examine the problem systematically • Collect your data – data could be quantitative, qualitative or a combination of the two • The results from the data collection should be used to answer the research question – substantiate your answers from the literature • (Marais, Lourens & Munro, 2006:10-11) Operations Management 9

10. Types of research • Basic or fundamental research – experimental or theoretical research aimed at acquiring new knowledge or offering new interpretations • Applied research – undertaken to acquire new knowledge and is aimed at achieving practical and applicable objectives • This is the kind of investigation that would typically fall in the field of Management Services • (Marais, Lourens & Munro, 2006:10) Operations Management 10

11. The Honeycomb of Research Methodology Operations Management 11

12. Research philosophy • Philosophy/Epistemology: • Pragmatism - emphasis on common sense, practice and the scientific method (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010:6) • Concern with applications –‘what works’-and solutions to problems (Patton (2009) as quoted by Creswell, 2013:28). • This would be the philosophy that would appeal to the Management Services Practitioner Operations Management 12

13. Research strategy • Strategy relates to the different relationships between the researcher and the world of study • Qualitative – insider (qual) • Quantitative – outsider (quan) • Mixed Methods (combining qualitative and quantitative methods) • Participatory – the researcher as participant and sometimes even agent of change • (Mouton, 2015, Slides in Doctoral Supervision Course, African Doctoral Academy) Operations Management 13

14. Research strategy • Strategy relates to the different relationships between the researcher and the world of study • Qualitative – insider (qual) is used to answer questions about the complex nature of phenomena often with the purpose of describing and understanding of the phenomena from the participants’ point of view • Quantitative – outsider (quan) is used to answer questions about relationships among measured variables with the purpose of explaining, predicting and controlling phenomena • (Mouton, 2015, Slides in Doctoral Supervision Course, African Doctoral Academy) (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005:94) Operations Management 14

15. Research strategy • Strategy relates to the different relationships between the researcher and the world of study • Mixed Methods (combining qualitative and quantitative methods) • Participatory – the researcher as participant and sometimes even agent of change • The Management Services Practitioner would typically use all of the strategies but not necessarily all in one investigation Operations Management 15

16. Research design types • Case Study Research • Provide an in-depth description of a small number (< 50) cases • Typical application are case studies of companies or organisations, communities or even regions that are studied as cases. • Sources of data - participant observation, semi-structured interviewing (individual and focus-group), use of documentary and other existing sources • (Mouton, 2013:149-150) Operations Management 16

17. Research design types • Surveys • Usually quantitative, aims to provide broad overview of a representative sample of a large population • Typical application – organisational surveys, needs assessment surveys • Sources of data – Structured questionnaires, structured telephone interview schedules, structured mail questionnaires and structured electronic questionnaires • (Mouton, 2013:152-153) Operations Management 17

18. Research design types • Surveys • Strengths – Potential to generalise to large population and the using of existing tried and tested surveys • Limitations – lack of depth and insider perspective • Surveys/questionnaires for example can be used in a Management Services investigation to gather information on which new services the customers of an organisation want to see implemented by the organisation • (Mouton, 2013:152-153) Operations Management 18

19. Research design types • Evaluation Research [implementation (process) evaluation] • Aims to answer the question of whether an intervention (programme, process, policy or strategy) has been properly implemented • Typical applications – programme monitoring, performance measurement • Sources of data – all available modes of observation such as questionnaires, tests, focus group interviews, individual interviews, analysis of existing documentary sources such as annual reports, field records etc. • Secondary data • Analysing existing documents such as annual reports, meeting decisions etc. • (Mouton, 2013:158-159) Operations Management 19

20. Research design types • Evaluation Research • Strengths – form of applied research aimed at assessing whether interventions have been well conceptualised and properly implemented • Limitations – Access and coverage of implementation sites (gatekeepers) and timing of the study (if implementation has already commenced) • This kind of design type can be used by the Management Services Practitioner to get information on services that were implemented by the organisation. The investigator would evaluate if the services were properly implemented • (Mouton, 2013:158-159) Operations Management 20

21. Data collection methods • Questionnaires – Pen-and-paper or computerised e.g. Survey Monkey • e.g. Work engagement scale or SERVQUAL/PERFQUAL • Interviews – Individual or focus-group interviews • Observations • Secondary Data (Reading) Operations Management 21

22. Defining research • Research is about answering questions so that our knowledge is advanced – we should know more after research was done • Research have specific methods and methodology • Methodology is the approach and strategy to conduct research • Methods refer to the different ways by which data can be collected and analysed • (Wilson, 2013:3) Operations Management 22

23. Defining research • A process of enquiry and investigation – having a predetermined set of questions and then aiming to answer these questions through gathering information and analysing the information • It is systematic and methodical – the research must be well organised and go through stages • It increases knowledge • “Research can be defined as a step-by-step process that involves the collecting, recording, analyzing and interpreting of information.” • (Wilson, 2013:2-3) Operations Management 23

24. Defining Business Research • “The systematic and objective process of collecting, recording, analyzing and interpreting data for aid in solving managerial problems.”(Wilson, 2013:3) • Examples of Business Research could be how to retain staff, what kind of incentives will work in your organisation, what is causing absenteeism and how can it be reduced. • According to Wilson (2013:4) research is the key to decision-making and in Business Research opportunities and threats can be identified Operations Management 24

25. Review of literature When a Management Services Practitioner starts his/her investigation, they have to read as wide as possible to get a good idea of what were done previously in the field of study. Ensure that you read official documents such as previous investigations done in the field. Read peer reviewed articles that can tell you more about what people outside your organisation and even outside your country have done in the field e.g. Google Scholar https://scholar.google.co.za/ Be careful for Wikipedia because the information obtained is difficult to verify Operations Management 25

26. Abstract Operations Management 26

27. Where does this fit into the abstract? • What do you want to do? • Why do you want to do it? • How are you going to do it? • Who are you going to use to do it? • Where are you going to do it? • What does your time schedule look like? • How much is it going to cost? • What contribution will the project make? • ( Operations Management 27

28. CASE STUDY Operations Management 28 28

29. Case study You are working for Organisation ABC. This organisation has got a head office in the midtown of Tshwane and four other offices in Mamelodi, Centurion, Soshanguve and Daspoort respectively. The manager at head office noticed a sharp rise in absenteeism during the last two months. He does not know what is causing the rising absenteeism among his staff and also does not know if it is only happening in his office. The manager contact you to come and conduct an investigation in the organisation (consisting of the head office, Daspoort office, Mamelodi office, Centurion office and the Soshanguve office). Divide into smaller groups of between 5 -7 people and apply what you have learned so far in the workshop to solve this manager’s concern. Operations Management 29 29

30. TO DO IN YOUR GROUP Populate the abstract template Operations Management 30 30

31. Abstract BACKGROUND RATIONALE OF STUDY RESEARCH PURPOSE/PROBLEM RESEARCH QUESTION RESEARCH OBJECTIVES SUB-QUESTIONS Operations Management 31 31

32. Abstract • RESEARCH METHODS AND TECHNIQUES • Research design • Population • Data gathering • STATISTICAL METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS • VALIDITY, RELIABILITY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS • ETHICAL ASPECTS OF STUDY • TIME SCHEDULE • BUDGET Operations Management 32 32

33. Background Describe the background to this study For this you have to review scholarly literature Examples of scholarly work: Work Absenteeism.pdf Sickness Absenteeism.pdf Absenteeism and MBO.pdf Operations Management 33 33

34. Background • Describe the background to this study • For this you have to review work done in your own or other similar organisations: • Reports from the five offices of this organisation • Statistics from the five offices – if available • Previous studies done in the organisation • Previous studies done in similar organisations (use your network) Operations Management 34 34

35. Rationale Based on the background you have to decide if there is a compelling reason to carry on with this study Operations Management 35 35

36. Research problem/purpose Based on the background (literature review) state the problem to be investigated in one sentence Example: 55% of first year students in Universities of Technology drop out in their first year of study. Furthermore, only% of students finish their studies in the minimum allocated time. Operations Management 36 36

37. Research question Based on the research problem state the question that you want answered at the end of your research What prevent students at Universities of Technology to graduate in the allocated time? Operations Management 37 37

38. Objectives • Based on the research question and the literature knowledge that you have, the objectives (also called constructs) must be identified • Example: • To determine the student’s perspective of the difficulties preventing them to finish their studies in the allocated time • To determine the perception of the university on difficulties experienced by enrolled students Operations Management 38 38

39. Sub questions – if necessary What are the challenges experienced by the students that prevent them to finish their studies in the allocated time? What are the perceptions from the university management why students do not finish their studies in the allocated time? Operations Management 39 39

40. Data collection and analysis that can be used to investigate the problem • Quantitative data analysis • Questionnaires for the students selected • Descriptive statistics (summary statistics) used to summarize, organize, and reduce large numbers of observations can be used (McMillan & Schumacher (2010:149) Operations Management 40 40

41. Data collection and analysis (Qualitative) • Interviews with the managers (Top management, middle management and Heads of departments) • Purpose of the interviews conducted is to find out what happened, why it happened and what it meant (Rubin & Rubin, 2005:6). • Interviews must continue until saturation is reached – that means that no new information is coming out of the interviews anymore • You need to have an interview schedule with open-ended questions – you cannot just “wing” it! Operations Management 41 41

42. Data collection and analysis (Qualitative) • From the interview information you will pick up recurring information. It is called themes • Atlas.ti, (that can be used for data analysis) could be used to help you code and manage the overwhelming information gathered during interviews or focus groups • Structural coding - themes will develop that will support what you found in the literature review or a new theme can emerge that you did not find in your perusal of the theory • (Saldaňa, 2009) Operations Management 42 42

43. ATLAS.ti http://atlasti.com/free-trial-version/ ATLAS.ti is a powerful workbench for the qualitative analysis of large bodies of textual, graphical, audio, and video data. It offers a variety of tools for accomplishing the tasks associated with any systematic approach to unstructured data, i. e., data that cannot be meaningfully analyzed by formal, statistical approaches. In the course of such a qualitative analysis, ATLAS.ti helps you to explore the complex phenomena hidden in your data. For coping with the inherent complexity of the tasks and the data, ATLAS.ti offers a powerful and intuitive environment that keeps you focused on the analyzed materials. It offers tools to manage, extract, compare, explore, and reassemble meaningful pieces from large amounts of data in creative, flexible, yet systematic ways. Operations Management 43 43

44. Methods that can be used by Management Services Practitioners The following methods can be used by Management Services practitioners to scientifically select the areas, offices, provinces and people that will form part of their investigations and from which information will be gathered Operations Management 44

45. Methods of selection of cases • Sampling – use on the students in the example • Sampling is done when not everyone in the population can be tested and you have to choose a subset (sample) of that population • Population – is a group of potential participants to whom you want to generalise the results of your study • Sample – is a subset of your chosen population • Good sampling techniques maximise the degree to which the selected group (sample) will represent the population • Census (when the whole population is going to be selected to be observed, to be asked questions via questionnaires or interviews) Operations Management 45

46. Methods of selection of cases • Sampling - Probability Sampling strategies where the selection of participants is determined by chance • Simple Random Sampling – every member of the population has an equal and independent chance to be drawn • Systematic Sampling – it reduces the chances of certain participants to be selected. It is therefore less unbiased than random sampling e.g. every occupant of every 10th office is interviewed • Stratified Sampling – where the strata are like different layers representing different characteristics e.g. male and female absenteeism patterns • (Salkind, 2009:90-95) Operations Management 46

47. Methods of selection of cases • Sampling – Non-probability Sampling strategies where the probability of selecting a single individual is not known • Convenience Sampling – you give all the workers in the five offices in the case study a questionnaire to fill in. The audience (workers in these offices) is a captive audience. • Quota Sampling – it allows you to select people with the characteristics that you want (male/female) but then you do not select your subset from the two categories randomly. If you need 50 females you just select the first fifty females (which is not random at all) • (Salkind, 2009:96-98) Operations Management 47

48. Tips on how not to structure questions in a questionnaire Do you still cheat in tests that you did not prepare for adequately? Are you scared to write tests and exams and to do assignments? Have you ever visited SDS to help you with your problem? Are you male or female ? Male/female What is your race? Operations Management 48

49. Tips on how not to prepare an interview schedule Operations Management 49

50. Tips on how not to prepare an interview schedule Question 1 Do you have problems with students not graduating within the minimum allotted time? Tell me all about it. Question 2 Do you have problems with students not graduating within the minimum allotted time? Question 3 What do you do about it? Operations Management 50