Dear MBA candidates, As agreed please find attached the Mid Term Exam, you should: 1. Answer ALL questions, Part1 & Part2 2. Use your text book, extra text book, the internet, and other references. 4. It is NOT ACCEPTED to just copy and paste from any source, your interpretation and write-up is a 5. Reply with your file .xls, of your answer to ME ONLY
[email protected] .
Again we are studying to learn, and we are now leveraging our learning capacity and measuring our knowledg So please focus on your time and answers to learn while filling the exam. Wish you all the best of luck. Kind Regards,
Dr. Ashraf Elsafty Adjunct Professor, Strategist Strategic Management & Research Methods. ESLSCA, MIU, Riti/MsM cairo outreach.
Dear MBA candidates,
As agreed please find attached the Mid Term Exam, you should: 1. Answer ALL questions, Part1 & Part2 2. Use your text book, extra text book, the internet, and other references. 3. DON'T discuss or share, by any means of communication, with any other class students (even for those who are 4. It is NOT ACCEPTED to just copy and paste from any source, your interpretation and write-up is a MUST to g 5. Reply with your file .xls, of your answer to ME ONLY
[email protected] . 6. MUST include your first name and family name WITHIN the file name (ex.: DrAshrafElsafty-E-RM-43E-MidT 7.JUST fill in the shaded blocks. For part2 DON'T use T or F, Answer, ONLY using A or B or C or D or E 8. Email directly to ME ONLY no later than agreed deadline day and time 31st March 2014, 9 pm, otherw Again we are studying to learn, and we are now leveraging our learning capacity and measuring our knowledge level. So please focus on your time and answers to learn while filling the exam. Wish you all the best of luck. Kind Regards,
Dr. Ashraf Elsafty Adjunct Professor, Strategist Strategic Management & Research Methods. ESLSCA, MIU, Riti/MsM cairo outreach.
udents (even for those who are married couples, brothers, or relatives, MUST answer separately). n and write-up is a MUST to get the grade.
AshrafElsafty-E-RM-43E-MidTerm-FirstNameLastName). g A or B or C or D or E March 2014, 9 pm, otherwise will not be accepted.
uring our knowledge level.
Dr. Ashraf Elsafty Research Methods ESLSCA 43E Mid term Exam Part ONE Q 1
2
Part 1: When is Applied research, as distinct from Basic research, useful? (2 lines)
Critique the following research done in a service industry as to the extent to which it meets “the hallmarks of scientific investigation”. (1 paragraph)
The Friendly Telephone Company: Customer complaints were mounting, and letters of complaint regarding the problems they experienced with the residential telephone lines were constantly pouring in at the Friendly Telephone Company. The company wanted to pinpoint the specific problems and take corrective action. Researchers were called in, and they spoke to a number of customers, noting down the nature of the specific problems they faced. Since the problem had to be attended to very quickly, they developed a theoretical base, collected relevant detailed information from a sample of 100 customers, and analyzed the data. The results are expected to be fairly accurate with at least an 85% chance of success in problem solving. The researchers will make recommendations to the company based on the results of data analysis.
3
How would you describe the research process? (1 paragraph/4-5 statements)
4
Why is it important to gather information on the background of the organization? (1 paragraph)
5
How would you go about doing a literature survey in the area of business ethics? (3 lines)
6
What is the purpose of the literature survey? (2 statements)
7
Why is appropriate citation important? What are the consequences of not giving credit to the source from which materials are extracted? (3 statements)
8
“The problem definition stage is perhaps more critical in the research process than the problem solution stage”. Discuss this statement. (3 lines)
9
Offer a clearly focused problem statement in the broad area of corporate culture. (1 statement)
10 Below is the gist of an article from Business Week. After reading it, (a) identify the broad problem area, (b) define the problem, and (c) explain how you would proceed further. (a; 2 lines, b; 1 statement, c; 3 statements)
While Chrysler’s minivans, pickups, and sports utilities take a big share of the truck market, its cars trail behind those of GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota. Quality problems include, among other things, water leaks and defective parts.
11 What is the problem statement in the following situation? (1 statement) Employee Loyalty: Companies benefit through employee loyalty. Crude downsizing in organizations during the recession crushed the loyalty of millions. The economic benefits of loyalty embrace lower recruitment and training costs, higher productivity of workers, customer satisfaction, and boost the morale of fresh recruits. In order that these benefits may not be lost, some companies, while downsizing, try various gimmicks. Flex leave, for instance, is one. This helps employees receive 20% of their salary, plus employerprovided benefits while they take a 6-12 month sabbatical, with a call option on their services. Others try alternatives like more communication, hand-holding, and the like.
12 How would you define the problem in the following case? (3 lines) Accounting Gets Radical: The GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) do an unacceptable job of accounting for the principal activities of the Information Age companies. Today, investors are in the dark because the accounting is irrelevant. The basic purpose of accounting is to provide useful information to help investors make rational investment, credit, and similar decisions, but today’s most important assets and activities – intellectual capital and knowledge work – are totally ignored. Professor Robert A. Howell wants to reform the accounting system with the goal of making clear the measurement of how companies produce cash and create value.
13 Because literature survey is a time-consuming exercise, a good, in-depth interview should suffice to develop a theoretical framework. Discuss this statement. (in one paragraph or two).
14 Good models are complex. What’s more, a good model should include both moderating and mediating variables. Discuss this statement. (one or two paragraphs).
15 Academic researchers usually develop more complex and elaborate models than applied researchers. Discuss this statement. (yes or no, with reasoning).
16 In an applied research context you do not need to explain the relationships between the variables in your conceptual model. Discuss this statement. (one paragraph of reasoning).
17 For the following case titled Sleepless Nights at Holiday Inn (published in Business Week and adapted here): a. Identify the problem, b. Develop a theoretical framework, c. Develop at least four hypotheses.
Sleepless Nights at Holiday Inn: Just a few years ago, Tom Oliver, the Chief Executive of Holiday Hospitality Corp., was struggling to differentiate among the variety of facilities offered to clients under the Holiday flagship – the Holiday Inn Select designed for business travelers, the Holiday Inn Express used by penny pinchers, and the Crowne Plaza Hotels, the luxurious hotels meant for the big spenders. Oliver felt that revenues could be quadrupled if only clients could differentiate among these. Keen on developing a viable strategy for Holiday Hospitality which suffered from brand confusion, Tom Oliver conducted a customer survey of those who had used each type of facility, and found the following. The consumers didn’t have a clue as to the differences among the three different types. Many complained that the buildings were old and not properly maintained, and the quality ratings of service and other factors were also poor. Furthermore, when word spread that one of the contemplated strategies of Oliver was a name change to differentiate the three facilities, irate franchises balked. Their mixed messages did not help consumers to understand the differences either. Oliver thought that he first needed to understand how the different classifications would be important to the several classes of clients, and then he could market the heck out of them and greatly enhance the revenues. Simultaneously, he recognized that unless the franchise owners fully cooperated with him in all his plans, mere face lifting and improvement of customer service would not bring added revenues.
18 Exercise 4.1 (From your text book) State the dependent variable and why. 19 Exercise 4.2 State the dependent variable. 20 Exercise 4.3 Fill in the below table : Variable type Good supervision training production of the workers 21 Exercise 4.5 Fill in the below table :
Variable type off-the-job classroom training productivity employees over 60 years
Answer 1-Basic is to generate a body of knowl- edge by trying to comprehend how certain problems that occur in organizations can be solved. This is called basic research. 2-Applied research done with the intention of applying the results of the findings to solve specific problems currently being experienced in the organization is called applied research. Research done chiefly to enhance the understanding of certain problems that commonly occur in organizational settings, and seek methods of solving them, is called basic or fundamental research.The findings of such research contribute to the building of knowledge in the various functional areas of business. Such knowledge generated is usually later applied in organizational settings for problem solving.
Purposiveness: this research has an aim or purpose to increase customer satisfaction for Friendly Telephone Company service . rigor : can't be considered as a rigorous research as the theoretical frame work base done in only customer survey and this may cause the following : (1) the conclusions would be incorrectly drawn because they are based on the responses of just a few customers whose opinions may not be representative of other customers (2) The manner of framing and addressing the questions could have introduced bias or incorrectness in the responses (3) There might be many other important influences on customer satisfaction that this small sample of respondents did not or could not verbalize during the survey . Testability: Also, this research lacks of testability as it does not conduct any previous research done in the area of customer satisfaction and it doesn't develop certain hypotheses on how customer satisfaction can be enhanced , hence , there is no tests can be applied to create statics on how the applied hypotheses success . Replicability: As the theoretical framework was poor this leads to non-replicable research. Precision and confidence: precision refers to the closeness of the findings to reality based on a sample , the research have chosen a sample of 100 customers and the result accuracy is 85% and this gives a level of confidence of 85% and the error 15% Objectivity: The conclusions drawn through the interpretation of the results of data analysis should be objective; that is, they should be based on the facts of the findings derived from actual data, and not on our own subjective or emotional values and the recommendation will be made based on the results of data analysis and this makes the research has objectivity but the results should be tested first to be able to judge the objectivity
Research process can be described as the following : (1) the identification of the broad problem area (2) preliminary information gathering, especially through unstructured and structured interviews and literature survey (3) problem definition. (4 )relates to evolving a theoretical framework, ( 5) deals with deriving testable hypotheses (6) research design . a research design is set up to decide on, among other issues, how to collect further data, analyze and interpret them, and (7) finally, to provide an answer to the problem. The process of drawing from logical analysis an
It is important for the researcher or the research team especially if on outside agency conducts the research to be well acquainted with the background of the company or organization studied. It will help you to gain a deep understanding of the issue so that you can address it properly. It can help you to formulate/reformulate your topic (or, to put it another way, it can help you decide whether to broaden or narrow your topic). Background sources might include references that you can use to find additional sources for your project.
Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher and to be done in the area of business ethics the researcher should identify the source of data through offering detailed information regarding citations, quotations, references and so on. literature survey is one way of summarizing secondary data and is an important step in the research process for defining the research problem, to find out the various problems that occur in an organization and provide an assessment of the organization and provide good advice. appropriate citation importan to protect the rights of the person who originated the idea and to enable reader to identify and find the used sources . The credit of not giving the source is the accusation of plagiarism and rejection of the research . Because the problem definition stage is that the focus for further research , correct problem identification is extremely critical for finding solutions to vexing issues while wrong problem defination will not help in problem solving . Corporate culture is the total sum of the values, customs, traditions and meanings that make a company unique. Corporate culture is often called "the character of an organization" since it embodies the vision of the company’s founders. The values of a corporate culture influence the ethical standards within a corporation, as well as managerial behavior. hence the problem statment can be offered as the following : to what extend thevalues, customs, traditions and meanings affect the Corporate culture
a. The broad problem : The broad problem is that the Quality problems cause Chrysler cars are lagging in market share. b. Problem statement: To what extend quality of Chrysler cars affect its market share ? c. I will conduct a research to study the effect of quality on market share .
Problem statement. to what extend downsizing in organizations during the recession problems cause crushed the loyalty of millions and losing the economic benefits of loyal employees
Problem Definition: the GAAP for investors provides useful information to help them to make rational investment, credit, and similar decisions and the GAAP should be modified to include assets and activities – intellectual capital and knowledge work – , thus Professor Robert A. Howell wants to reform the accounting system with the goal of making clear the measurement of how companies produce cash and create value
interviewing individuals at different levels in the system should generally suffice to get a grasp of the establishment and understand the culture of the organization. Once the interviews are conducted, the next step for the researcher is to tabulate the various types of information that have been gathered during the interviews and determine if there are discernible patterns in the responses. When the tabulation reveals that such variables have surfaced quite frequently, it gives the researcher some good ideas about how to proceed in the next step of surveying the literature to see how others have perceived such factors in other work settings and defined the problem, before arriving at solutions. Because literature survey is one way of summarizing secondary data and is an important step in the research process for defining the research problem. The researcher could start the literature survey even as the information from the unstructured and structured interviews is being gathered. Reviewing the literature on the topic area at this time helps the researcher to focus further interviews more meaningfully on certain aspects found to be important in the published studies, even if these had not surfaced during the earlier questioning. The theoretical framework is a conceptual model of how one theorizes or makes logical sense of the relationships among the several factors that have been identified as important to the problem ,the theoretical framework discusses the interrelationships among the variables that are deemed to be integral to the dynamics of the situation being investigated.
Complex models include a complex variables while good models shall consider economy "Parsimony" , economy in research models is prefered and its achieved when we can build into our research framework a lesser number of variables that would explain the variance far more efficiently than a complex set of variables that would only marginally add to the variance explained. Parsimony can be introduced with a good understanding of the problem and the important factors that influence it. Such a good conceptual theoretical model can be realized through unstructured and structured interviews with the concerned people, and a thorough literature review of the previous research work in the particular problem area. moderating and mediating variables have a strong effect in the quality of the research , a good
to answer this question I have first to identify both , Acadimic research : • Also called Scholarship • Questions tend to be more conceptual • Seeks to add to the larger "body of knowledge" • Tends to be theoretically focused • Findings are usually made public • Results usually spur questions and ideas for future research • Evaluated through peer review by academic discipline standards • Shared through scholarly journals, academic conference presentations and other publications (e.g., books) Applied research : • Also called Professional Research • Problems tend to be more practical • Seeks to find solutions to immediate problems and issues • Tends to be organizationally focused • Findings are usually kept private • Results are usually used internally to make decisions and establish strategy • Evaluated by client-organization and/or industry standards • Shared primarily through internal reports with those who need the results; may also be shared more broadly through professional conferences and trade/industry publications (e.g., case studies, articles, etc.) Thus the statmen t is true , usually academic researchers choose a topic and studying all variables that may affect that topic while the applied research using the results and variables of academic
In an applied research context shall explain the relationships between the variables in your conceptual model , that’s called the theoritical framework , developing such a conceptual framework helps us to postulate or hypothesize and test certain relationships and thus to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the situation.From the theoretical framework, then, testable hypotheses can be developed to examine whether the theory formulated is valid or not. The hypothesized relationships can thereafter be tested through appropriate statistical analyses. By being
Problem Statement: Differentiation , building renewal , customer satisfaction and letters addressed would enhance revenue in hotel industry .
Theoretical Framework : " Based on the survay only " Diffrentiation through optimize market segmentation: Find your most-profitable customers versus profiling them in a broad category. Understanding guest behavior in terms of booking windows, channel preference and spend propensity, among others, are all factors to take into account ,after that you will be able to differentiate Building renewal could take a place through proactively manage assets to minimize both downtime and guest satisfaction issues, closely track energy and efficiency costs against occupancy and seasonality to maximize cost savings. Provide tools to front desk, maintenance and housekeeping staff to allow them to communicate statuses of rooms so that issues such as emergency repairs are conveyed accordingly The customer is always right is not just a catchy phrase, but also, one of the most fundamental rules of the hotel business. If your guests are satisfied, it will pay positive dividends. On the other hand, if you upset a guest, that will come back to haunt you with negative posts on hotel review sites and the loss of a paying customer. In the hotel industry or any service-oriented industry, it is particularly important that your employees project a friendly and outgoing attitude toward the customer. If you make your employees happy by paying them fairly and recognizing them for their achievements, there is no doubt that they will want to be good ambassadors for your hotel. When your employees go above-and-beyond their official duties to help out a guest that creates tremendous goodwill and can lead to repeat visits and recommendations. In the hotel industry or any service-oriented industry, it is particularly important that your employees project a friendly and outgoing attitude toward the customer. If you make your employees happy by paying them fairly and recognizing them for their achievements, there is no doubt that they will want to be good ambassadors for your hotel. When your employees go above-and-beyond their Hypotheses: Diffrentiation would be important to the several classes of clients and will positively enhance the revenues buildings renewal would positivly enhance the revenues . Enhancing customer service will positively enhance the revenues mixed messages negatively affect the revenues the franchise owners fully cooperated with him in all his plans will positively enhance the revenues The dependent variable is the performance of bank employees in that branch
The dependent variable is product desirability
Variable Name independent variable independent variable dependent variable
Variable Name independent variable dependent variable moderating variable
Dr. Ashraf Elsafty Research Methods ESLSCA 43E Mid term Exam Part TWO Q
Answer, ONLY us
DON'T DELETE OR H 1
Part 2: To be answered at the shaded cells only. Business research can be described as a systematic and organized effort to investigate a specific problem, encountered in the work setting that needs a solution. A. true B. false
A
2
Research done with the intention of applying the results of the findings to solve specific problems currently being experienced in an organization is called basic research. A. true B. false
B
3
Research done primarily to make a contribution to existing knowledge is called basic, fundamental, or pure research. A. true B. false
A
4
Applied research is not scientific in nature. A. true B. false
B
5
Ethics in business research refers to a code of conduct or expected societal norm of behavior while conducting research. A. true B. false
A
6
Ethical conduct applies to the researchers who undertake the research, but not to the respondents who provide them with the necessary data.
B
A. true B. false
7
The main distinction between applied and basic business research is that the former is specifically aimed at solving a currently experienced problem, whereas the latter has the broader objective of generating knowledge and understanding of phenomena and problems that occur in various organizational settings. A. true B. false
A
8
Both basic and applied research has to be carried out in a scientific manner.
A
A. true B. false
9
The first step in research is to know where the problem areas exist in the organization, and to identify as clearly and specifically as possible the problems that need to be studied and resolved. A. true B. false
A
10
Identifying the critical issues, gathering relevant information, analyzing the data in ways that would help decision making, and implementing the right course of action, are all facilitated by understanding business research.
A
A. true B. false 11
Knowledge gained by the findings of basic research cannot be applied by organizations to solve their own problems. A. true B. false
B
12
‘Rigor’ related to scientific investigation refers, amongst others, to: a. The probability that our estimations are correct. b. The idea that a simple model that explains a certain phenomenon has preference over a complex model. c. The fact that findings are generalizable. d. The fact that a study has a good theoretical base.
D
13
‘Confidence’, as a characteristic of scientific investigation, refers to: a. The probability that our estimations are correct. b. The idea that a simple model that explains a certain phenomenon has preference over a complex model. c. The fact that findings are generalizable.
A
d. The fact that an investigation has a clear theoretical foundation. 14
An inductive investigation starts with an observation of empirical data.
A
A. true B. false 15
A deductive investigation is based on theoretically logical reasoning.
A
A. true B. false 16
It is not always possible to meet all the hallmarks of science in full. Comparability, consistency, and wide generalizability are often difficult to obtain in research. A. true B. false
A
17
Which of the following is a hierarchical listing of the hypothetico-deductive research method? a. Identify a broad problem area - Define the problem statement - Develop hypotheses - Determine measures - Data collection - Data analysis Interpretation of data b. Identify a broad problem area - Define the problem statement Determine measures - Data collection - Develop hypotheses - Data analysis Interpretation of data c. Define the problem statement - Identify a broad problem area Determine measures - Develop hypotheses - Data collection - Data analysis Interpretation of data d. Identify a broad problem area - Develop hypotheses - Determine measures - Data collection - Data analysis - Interpretation of data
A
18
A literature survey helps the development of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for testing. A. true B. false
A
19
Which of the following answers is not an objective of preliminary research?
D
a. One does not run the risk of “reinventing the wheel”. b. Important variables that are likely to influence the problem situation are not left out of the study. c. The problem statement can be made with precision and clarity.
d. To determine whether a variable is an independent variable, a dependent variable, a mediating variable, or a moderating variable.
20
A frequent problem in terms of feasibility is that the problem statement is too broad in scope. A. true B. false
A
21
From an academic perspective research is relevant if: a. Nothing is known about a topic. b. Much is known about the topic, but the knowledge is scattered and not integrated. c. Much research on the topic is available, but the results are (partly) contradictory. d. Established relationships do not hold in certain situations.. e. All of the above.
D
22
A hypothesis is unrelated to the theoretical framework. A. true B. false
B
23
The ________________ is the variable of primary interest to the researcher.
D
a. b. c. d.
Independent variable. Intervening variable. Moderating variable. Dependent variable.
24
A marketing manager believes that sales promotion has a positive effect on sales. Although he believes that this relationship holds true generally for all consumers he also believes that it is nevertheless contingent on the price consciousness of consumers. What would be the dependent variable here? a. Profits. b. Sales promotion. c. Pice consciousness. d. Sales.
D
25
Job satisfaction is: a. An independent variable. b. A dependent variable. c. A moderating variable.
D
d. This is not clear based on the above information. 26
A theoretical framework contains all possible variables that have an effect on the dependent variable. A. true B. false
B
27
A conceptual model describes how the concepts in your model are related to each other. A. true B. false
A
28
A theory attempts to explain relationships between the variables in your model: an explanation should be provided for all the important relationships that are theorized to exist among the variables.
A
A. true B. false 29
Theory is needed in basic research but not in applied research A. true B. false
B
30
Another term for independent variable is predictor variable. A. true B. false
A
31
A theoretical framework represents your beliefs on how certain phenomena (or variables or concepts) are related to each other, and an explanation on why you believe that these variables are associated to each other. A. true B. false
A
32
In what way do the concepts causality and correlation relate to each other?
C
a. Causality is a necessary and sufficient condition for correlation. b. Causality is a necessary but not sufficient condition for correlation. c. Correlation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality. d. Correlation is a necessary and sufficient condition for causality.
33
Dictionary definitions provide a useful basis for the operationalization or measurement of your concepts in the data collection stage of the research process. A. true B. false
B
34
What cannot be seen as purpose of a causal study?
D
a. Understanding the dependent variable. b. Predicting the dependent variable. c. Making sure that all relevant variables are included in the study. d. Explaining variance in the dependent variable. 35
If a bank manager wants to analyze the relationship between interest rates and bank deposit patterns of clients, a ‘field study’ is the most suitable method of investigation. A. true B. false
A
36
A marketing manager aims to investigate the relationship between customer satisfaction and store loyalty among Syrian consumers. For this purpose, data will have to be collected from Syrian stores and the ‘unit of analysis’ is the country. A. true B. false
B
Wish you all the best of success. Dr. Ashraf Elsafty
Answer, ONLY using A or B or C or D or E DON'T DELETE OR HIDE ANY OF THE ROWS
