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Business Decision-Making Paper

University of Phoenix

Due Date

Dr. Larry

1. Use and reuse this paper each week. Review weekly feedback and make corrections for next week. Use this document in Weeks 2, 3, and 4.

2. Keep the content focused on your paper’s purpose. Writing in general or explaining how to find an average is unnecessary.

3. Weeks 2, and 3 are written in draft quality. The final paper will be graded in Week 4.

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4. Week 5 will use the Week 4 document in part to create the Week 5 presentation.

Business Decision-Making Paper

Week 2

Replace this text with your introduction.

Name and Description of the Company

Select a company where you work or with which you are very familiar. Use a pseudonym in place of the real company’s name.

Opportunity at that Company

The opportunity needs to be able to gather and analyze data to help you understand the issues better. The opportunity may be a persistent problem. This should not be a complex or major issue.

Why the Business Opportunity is Essential

What may happen if the opportunity is not improved?

The paper should be complete and in draft quality.

Week 3

Research Variables

Identify one or two variables that could be used for data collection. Three examples.

1. Is there a difference in average productivity (DV) based on the production shift (IV)? The productivity and production shift are the two variables.

2. Is there a correlation in profit (DV) based on product sales (IV)? The profit and product sales are the two variables.

3. Is there a relationship between employee satisfaction (DV) based on the production shift (IV)? Employee satisfaction and production shift are the two variables.

Collecting a Suitable Sample

Collecting data is not required, but this sampling design could be used.

Use a random sampling method listed in our textbook, Lind LO8-1. Discuss in detail how the sampling plan would be set up and run for your project. If Stratified or Cluster Random Sampling is used, you will need to discuss a second method for collecting data, such as Simple or Systematic Random Sampling,

Use Raosoft (2004) to estimate the sample size. Replace the population size of 20,000 with your population size. For instance, if the population was 500, the sample size, n = 218.

Valid and Reliable Data

Discuss how the data collection process is validated before data is collected for the project.

Surveys are checked before use by one or more means. Data from a databased is checked before downloading the sample. Measurements are done with a calibrated or trusted device. Before sample is collected, you must ensure the data collection process is sound. That is what this is about.

A good source is an online textbook Price et al. (2015). You may use Google to search for “sample validation and reliability.”

The paper should be complete and in draft quality.

Week 4

Descriptive Statistics: Numerical Measures

Use numerical measures that might be best for summarizing the data (if you had collected a sample). Recall the Wk3 Measuring Salespeople Performance Template. Lind LO1-3.

Descriptive Statistics: Graphical Measures

Use graphical measures that might be best for summarizing this data, if you were to collect a sample. Recall the Wk 2 Graphical Techniques Instructions 365. Lind LO2-2, -4, LO4-4, -6.

The Week 4 paper will be graded, including the APA and writing mechanics.

Conclusion

The closing paragraph summarizes the key points from the Week 2-4 supporting paragraphs.

References

American Society for Quality. (2020).  What is the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle? https://asq.org/quality-resources/pdca-cycle

Lind, D., Marchal, W., & Wathen, S.A. (2021). Statistical techniques in business and economics (18th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Price, P.C., Jhangiani, R. & Chiang, I.A. (2015).  Reliability and validity of measurement. https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/chapter/reliability-and-validity-of-measurement/

Raosoft (2004). Sample size calculator. Retrieved from http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html

SurveyMonkey. (2020).  Types of survey questions. https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/survey-question-types/