1500 words business assignment

Assignment 2 – Information for prioritising service delivery decisions

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

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

Assignment description

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

This assignment requires you to consider research and decision making associated with a CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY FOR AN AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDER - using the importance performance / gap analysis approach covered in the unit. This is a very relevant topic since quantitative satisfaction evaluation is conducted by many organisations.

NB – Apart from observations you may have made while travelling, please do not actually conduct any primary data collection for this assignment, rather just consider the research design and process involved in gap analysis satisfaction research from the manager’s perspective.

Purpose

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

Assignment tasks

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

Objective(s) of the research

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

Information required to fulfill the research objectives

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

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

:

How to structure your writing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Submission & mark allocation

Introduction – outlining the structure of the report and the significance of customer satisfaction to decision making	15
Objectives of the research – business objectives and specific research objectives	20
Information required to fulfill the research objectives & anticipated format	30
Conclusion – appropriate overview of the topic	10
Report structure / presentation – Following the instructions set out in ‘How to structure your writing’; clarity of expression; accuracy of grammar and spelling (please use your spell-checker, set to UK English)	15
Referencing – use of relevant resources; accurate use of author/date referencing conventions.	10
Total	100

Mark range	Grade	Grade awarded
85-100%	High Distinction (HD)*
75-84%	Distinction (D) *
65-74%	Credit (C)
50-64%	Pass (P)
0-49%	Fail (N)

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