The concept of data warehousing is a relatively new one that deserves some attention by both the IT personnel and academicians. Most of the large scale retailers have adopted this new technology and have indicated that they do benefit from the systems. By definition, a data warehouse is “A centrally managed and easily accessible copy of information that is collected from the various systems used in the transactions of the company” (Sanders, 2016). The data collected is often aggregated, catalogued, and organized, as well as structured in order to facilitate queries based on population, and also research and analysis. In the modern corporate world, the data warehouses have been used in supporting the transactional data by interacting and retrieving the individual records. Even though data warehouses are used primarily for the population-based analytics, other uses are also possible; including those at the transactional level (Sanders, 2016).

The context of this action research is the retail organization, specifically Wal-Mart Inc. and its application of the data warehouse. Wal-Mart is said to be among those with the largest data warehouses (Harris, 2013), with other world’s largest retailers and tech companies like Apple and eBay. Wal-Mart has been described as being omnipresent in United States, being the biggest retailer globally, as well as the biggest company in the world in various other aspects. It is the second biggest private company globally with sales about $312 billion, and is just behind ExxonMobil (Ohlinger, 2006).Being such a large company and with such vast operations; the success of Wal-Mart is evidently not possible without the help of IT.

The company is also well known for its supply chain mastery. Behind this prowess of the supply chain is the concept of data warehousing. As the largest retailer, the company has leveraged its transactional data collected by the point-of-sales systems in order to obtain an unprecedented insight into information relating to the consumers purchasing behaviour, as well as the logistics that guide its approximately 25,000 suppliers (Sanders, 2016).

In April of 2014, the company acknowledged a management problem. This is after it had lost sales worth $3 billion because of the merchandise which was out of stock (Rosenblum, 2014).There were factors that the management attributed to this problem, but the fact remains that the huge size of the company and the huge amount of stock it handles on a daily basis could have overwhelmed the company. With the daily sales data reporting data warehouse, the company could perform better in its inventory management efforts and such situations could be averted. Another challenge that the organization faces is the huge data and the IT infrastructure needed for analysing the data, and the challenges that occur when the sales data is being analysed for a longer period of time.

Making some changes to the company’s IT infrastructure will allow the company to better manage the inventory by means of improving the conveyance of the information across the organization. The information derived at the point-of-sale (POS) systems will feed the data into the data warehouses, but a link will be created to connect this with the inventory management systems. This will allow the sales data at the POS and the data warehouse to reflect at the inventory systems as inventory in and inventory out.

Methodology

A definition of action research quoted in O’Brien (2001)from Gilmore, Krantz, & Ramirez (1986)is as follows:

Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of the researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process.(Gilmore, Krantz, & Ramirez, 1986, p. 161)

With this definition, it is apparent that an action research entails a research into a problem primarily with the aim of answering some questions or solving a particular problem. The action research has some aspects that differentiate it from other types of research. Among these aspects include the focus on involving other people and converting them into researchers too. In action research, the first thing to do is to diagnose or identify and then define the problem. This often gives the research process a sense of direction.

After identifying and defining the problem, the second thing is to plan for the action. Planning is vital for a research process and it is among the most important things to do before conducting the research. Even Action planning has to consider all the alternatives and the choice among the alternative made. After this, the action chosen is taken, and the events or sequence of activities of the course of action are actualized. Evaluation is then done and lastly the lessons learnt from the action research are identified(O'Brien, 2001).

Figure1. Detailed action research Model. Adapted from O’Brien, R. (2001). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. Retrieved from http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

This action research will focus on learning various things to be done with data warehousing as it is applied to Wal-Mart Inc., the world’s largest retailer and obviously the world’s largest data warehouse. The specific focus will be on the daily sales reporting using the data warehousing. A sales data warehouse, as will be seen herein, entails the extraction of sales data from the various systems that record and store sales data, and these include the point-of-sale systems that are a part of the company’s IT infrastructure. The data warehouse tool used herein extracts the sales data from the various source systems and undertakes to cleanse it and transform it, as well as match it according to the requirements of the company or the users of the data.

Since action research also involves engaging or involving people (Ferrance, 2000), the workers of the company who interact with the data warehousing systems and other systems will indeed be a core part of the research, and an interaction with them will help the researcher in observing the various things that are needed for this research. The researcher will visit the company in its various stores in various regions to establish how the data warehouse is applied and how it helps the operations of the company. Keeping in mind that the data warehousing is not a product but a solution, the researcher will adopt a holistic approach to the research.

The history of action research dates as back as the 1940s where it was first used by a scholar by the name Kurt Lewin. He was a social scientist. Even though action research started in other areas as well, the works of this social scientist are considered to be the starting point. The action research essentially became very popular in the United States, but this popularity declined due to the changes in the culture, politics, and economics. The concept then emerged again in Britain in the 1970s, and one of the major influences of this emergence was the work of Lawrence Stenhouse (McNiff, 2010). In essence, the action research was essentially developed by the academics in higher education.

A historical background provided by Hadley (2003) states that the action research first appeared about 60 years ago, also attributing the work of Kurt Lewin in 1946. In his work, Lewin (1946) proposed that action research could be used to solve some problems that appear in groups that do rely on successful communication and positive social interaction so as to achieve their goals.

The action research will be an appropriate methodology for this research as it will help determine the deficiencies and gaps in the daily sales data reporting warehouse, and suggest solutions to these deficiencies. It will involve the various stakeholders who will benefit from the solution, and these will be the customers, suppliers, and the employees among others.

Reporting on Daily Sales Using Data Warehousing

Literature Review

The use of data warehouses has significantly increased in the recent decades. In recent times, data warehousing is playing a vital role in the businesses and other organizations in supporting the decision-making process (Singh, 2013). An effective infrastructure for the business intelligence leveraging the power of a data warehouse often delivers value, by aiding the organizations to enhance customer experience. A data warehouse is often the primary repository for the historical data of an organization. In other words, it is the corporate memory for an organization (Singh, 2013). The organizations require data for decision making, and this data will help in supporting the managers to take the right decisions and also helps in storing such data for further analysis.

The collection and management, as well as analysis of data have continued to increase its importance in organizations often in response to various factors. For example, institutions like higher education face regulations from the governments need for student success, etc. are the factors that push for the implementation and use of data warehouses (Lang & Pirani, 2014). In the context of the large scale retailers, there is the need for greater measurement and assessment, as well as accountability. There is also the need to build on the user experience and also to monitor the progress of the short-term goals and the long term strategies. According to Nguyen (2011) the data warehouse is at the heart of business intelligence, an essential way for any effective application. The data warehouse tends to give a consolidated view of the organizational data and also optimizes the reporting and analysis.

Data Warehousing

A data warehouse can be defined as a database that is designed to enable the business intelligence practices. In other words, the data warehouse is a database designed to help the business users to gain an understanding, and also enhance the organizational performance("Introduction to Data Warehousing Concepts," 2016). The data warehouses can be used for querying and analysing the data, a shift from the traditional databases for storing the transactional data. Moreover, a data warehouse will contain all the historical data derived from all the transactions together with other sources. The figure below shows a simple model of data warehouse architecture.

Figure 1: Data warehouse architecture . Adapted from Introduction to Data Warehousing Concepts. (2016). Retrieved from https://docs.oracle.com/database/121/DWHSG/concept.htm#DWHSG001

According to Chaudhuri and Dayal (2009), data warehousing is the collection of technologies for decision support, and that are aimed at allowing the decision makers or the users of the information to make better decisions faster. Cardon (2016)differentiates a data warehouse from a database, and ends up using the type of database called the OLTP. The online transactional processing databases do not lend themselves to analysis. However, the data analysis is the key use of the data warehouse. In other words, other than storing the data, a data warehouse also does the complex analysis of the transactional data. The databases handle the transactions while the data warehouses handle the analytics.

Reporting on Daily Sales using Data Warehousing

The sales data reporting data warehouse is simply for the purpose of analysing the sales data and generating sales reports on a daily basis. This information will be highly useful to the company’s sales management team. The data in a data warehouse is often modelled in a multi-dimensional way to facilitate complex analysis and visualization. For example, data warehouse with sales will have various dimensions that might include the time of sale, the district of sale, the product sold, and also the salesperson involved ("Data Warehousing," 2006).Typically, the dimensions are hierarchical. For example, the time of sale could be in a day-week-month quarter-annual hierarchy, while that of the products may be in a product-category-industry hierarchy. On the other hand, the OLAP operations include slice, dice, and roll up, and drill down(Chaudhuri & Dayal, 2009).

Figure 2: Sales data warehouse . Adapted from Data Warehousing. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.tutorialspoint.com/dwh/dwh_quick_guide.htm

The concept of daily sales reporting data warehouse is simply the concept of sales data warehouse integrated with the online transactional processing. The daily sales reporting is a system where the sales transactional data is collected, stored, retrieved, analysed and reports generated on a daily basis. The data warehouse is known to provide a foundation for the various types of sales forecast analysis and reporting (Nasir, Shahzad, & Pasha, 2006).

Forecast reporting and analysis often provide the company with visibility of its sales pipeline by means of integrating the sales information, the financial, and customer sources. This integration offers a complete picture of the sales performance. The sales forecasts that are business intelligence-enabled tend to allow the sales managers to effectively monitor the individual opportunities and to act accordingly. The managers also get more accurate forecasts of the present and future revenues. Most importantly, the management gets to learn and understand the drivers distinguishing the hit and flop deals (Nasir, Shahzad, & Pasha, 2006).

Proposal

The main aim of this action research is intended to allow the researcher gain an insight into the daily sales reporting data warehousing and its effect on the large retailer, Walmart. This means the researcher will conduct research on the organization to analyse how it uses the sales data warehouse and the benefits it derived from this usage. It is also intended that the researcher, holding on the collaborative doctrine of an action research, will include various people in the research. This will include the organization’s employees, executives, and also the sales management teams. It is expected that the company handles large amounts of data, and this means that there is a need to have the best analytics in place for it to efficiently analyse the data and derive value from it. The action research on daily sales reporting using data warehousing will have 4 iterations to accomplish the goal of the project. The diagram below gives the visual representation of the various iterations.

Figure 3: Visual representation (Source: Web Images. Visual Representation of Action Research. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?q=action+research&biw=1366&bih=657&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJn_nXgZfQAhXEK48KHQVoCqIQ_AUIBygC

Iteration 1: Research Preparation

The first iteration will focus on the preparation done in anticipation of the field work to be undertaken by the researcher. The preparation will entailgaining an understanding on the research objectives and outlining all the research requirements.

Iteration 2: identifying and notifying the research participants

Once an action research is collaborative, the researcher will be expected to identify the various participants in the research, and also to notify them on their participation. Since this participation is voluntary, it is expected some will decline, and the researcher will obtain feedback from those willing and unwilling. This will allow the researcher have a clear understanding on who is there to work with.

Iteration 3: Data Collection

This iteration involves the researcher conducting the actual research and collecting the data needed. The research data needed is narrowed down to the sales data warehouse and its usage in the company.

Iteration 4: Data Analysis and Reporting

The last iteration entails the analysis of the data collected and generation and presentation of the research report.

Iteration 1: Research Preparation

Planning

In the first phase, I intend to outlive a comprehensive plan on how the objectives of the iteration are to be achieved. The prime goal of the first iteration is to get ready for research. I will plan on how I will get all things ready as such that when the research begins, everything will be going on well without hindrances.

Firstly, I will need to determine the resources needed for research preparation, and also to get them ready. In normal circumstances, determining resources for a research means assessing what kind of research it is, and also its scope. To determine this, I will have to meet with my advisor with whom I will discuss various things about the undertaking. The meeting is scheduled on 20th October 2016 and will take place between 11 am to 1 pm. During the meeting, we will discuss my project, and get advice on what I need to have for the project.

Secondly, I will plan on how I will meet with a research expert by the name Kurt, also on 20th October 2016 from 3-5pm, who will also give me advice on what I need to do to get ready for the research. He and my advisor will also help me get acceptance at Walmart, the company where I will conduct research, and I will pay the company a visit on 21st October 2016 and spend about four hours getting to learn the environment. By the end of this iteration, the expected outcome is getting ready for research and outlining the various experiences I had to observe and that shaped my success throughout. Lessons will also be derived and expressed from the iteration.

Action

The iteration is all about the researcher getting ready to conduct the research. Since the plan has been developed in the planning phase, the second phase will be doing those things that have been highlighted in the plan. Among the key actions I took part in, was to meet the advisor to discuss my research. I required obtaining an appointment with the advisor at the scheduled time and place.

The theme was about what my project entails. I proposed that I will handle the concept of daily sales data warehouse in the case of Wal-Mart. I had to explain why I had to choose Wal-Mart and the reason would be that the company is a huge one and that makes so many transactions in a day. The data it handles is also big, and the company happens to be among those that use IT extensively. After my expression, the advisor advised me on the resources I needed, and offered to help me gain for the acceptance at the company.

I also met Kurt who, apart from advising me on how to best undertake a research, offered me with various resources to use, in learning how to prepare for a research. I learned that it entails four main things: selecting a research topic, defining research question, determining information requirements, and selecting appropriate research tools(Ryan & Case, 2012).

The outcome of meeting these two people on 20thOctober and 21st October was that I learned how to prepare for a research undertaking, and by 23rd of October 2016, I had everything ready. I was set, and had obtained permission to-do the research at Wal-Mart. On my visit to the company, I happened to meet the HR manager and talked about by upcoming project and all I needed.

Observation

I observed that the objectives of the action research needed to be made clearer. With the definition of the topic/problem under investigation, I could clearly state the goals and objectives of the action research to include the determination of the effectiveness of the daily sales reporting data warehouse, and the contrast between the various concepts surrounding this topic. Making the goals clear made the rest of the iteration simple because I already knew what I needed and what to do at each stage and each activity I undertook.

It was possible for me to define the scope of the action research. I did this not only to my advisor, but also to Kurt and the HR manager who were quite curious about what I wanted to study and the things I needed from the company. The research preparation made the scope clearer as the core actions and resources were defined alongside the research goals and analysis. The scope of the research is a large retailer and the practices revolving around the data sales: the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and presentation/reporting of the sales data on a daily basis.

Lastly, I also established the elements of the research where I got ready to undertake the research. This was the main aim of the iteration that is, getting ready to undertake the research. About the company, I learned that literature pertaining to big data, data warehouses, and data analytics was indeed real. Indeed, the combination of these elements is considered to be a game changer(Marr, 2015). This is because the retail industry, with its very many transactions a day, needs advanced mechanisms of handling the huge amounts of data.

Reflection

There was a lot to learn from this experience, and the first thing is that preparation for any endeavour requires one to be fully equipped with knowledge of the undertaking, and also consulting widely. The success of this iteration relied heavily on the advice from the advisor and the research expert who gave me direction and guidance. The various things went well in the iteration. Among these things include, giving the action research a direction and milestones. I was able to know exactly what to do and how to sequence the various actions throughout the action research. Secondly, the researcher got ready for the action research meaning the researcher is now ready to undertake the iterations that follow.

I was able to define the direction of the action research, but there does not seem to be adequate consultations both from other people and the source materials. More literature on research preparation would have offered more help on this one. The company was not willing to let go of any sensitive data. This was expected though, but the research was not intended to infringe on any sensitive data. All that was needed was an overview that could help develop a framework.

There were various limitations and restrictions in this iteration, and among these was the time factor. Little time was allocated for the entire iteration especially the action phase. Among the risks included failure to gather adequate data for the research preparation. The research preparations should, as such, be allocated more time, as this will allow the researcher adequate time to prepare and overcome the key limitation of the time factor.

Iteration 2: Identifying and Notifying the Research Participants

In this section, once the action research plan has been collaborative, it is important for the researcher to identify the various participants in the research and in the process, let them know about the research objectives and their participation. Additionally, since the participation will be based on voluntary basis, it is important to note that quite a number of them will decline and as such, the researcher will be forced to collect the relevant data from the respondents who are willing and those who are unwilling may also be included in this research to estimate the subjectivity and the clarity on how different attitudes may play on establishing the validity of the research data.

Plan

The planning phase will revolve around deciding on how to go about the notification of the research respondents and the course of action that will be taken in case most of them decline participating in the research. In this case, the plan is to ensure that the research respondents participate in the research on a voluntary basis and some of the ethical standards of research are established. In this case, the plan will also encompass deciding on the number of research participants, the sequence of activities that will be followed in notifying the research respondents about their participation. In fact, the best alternative incase the expected number of respondents fail to comply with the research requirements will also be determined.

The iteration activities will commence on October 13th 2016 and will end on October 21, 2016. A review of the company reports in regards to employees in regards to those who involve themselves with reporting of daily sales will be conducted on October 14th. The first group of respondents will be notified on October 15th, and the activities of research will be discussed with them. Signing of the research consent form by the research respondents will also be decided on the same day. I will also notify the respondents of the importance of participating in this research On October 14th and explain some of the benefits of reporting of daily sales using data warehousing as one of the primary research concept on November 1 2016 in an effort to understand the concept of reporting of daily sales using data warehousing

Action

This stage involves the actual performance of the notification process and all the activities that were established in the plan phase. In this phase, On October 14th as from 9:00 AM to 4:45 PM, I reviewed some of the company records in order to gain insight on the department of the company that comprehends the concept of reporting daily sales using data warehousing. Additionally, on 15th October 2016, I reviewed relevant literature from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm to help me to comprehend the concept of reporting on daily sales using data warehousing and in the process, make the research respondents to gain insights into the topic of research. In so doing, this gave the researcher where to start from when notifying the research respondents. The objectives that I will take into consideration when notifying respondents will be as follows:

· Establish those respondents who comprehends the concept of reporting on daily sales using data warehousing

· Define and explain what reporting on daily sales using data warehousing entails to the research respondents.

· Collect firsthand data on the research respondents that will be willing to participate in the research in order to determine possible alternatives.

The course of action was also established in this phase and the activities that will be undertaken revolve around:

· Review the respondent’s track record as far as reporting of data sales using data warehousing is concerned.

· Collect data on the respondents who understand the concept of reporting of daily sales using data warehousing.

· Conduct a field research on the respondents understanding of the topic of research

· Compile data on the respondents who will be participating in the research

· Analyze and identify some of the reasons why some respondents declined participating in this research.

On Nov 1, 2016, I compiled every information that I had gathered from the activities and objectives of this iteration phase as from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.

Observe

From the planning and action phase of this second iteration, there are a number of things that can be learned most especially given the fact that research respondents are one of the most important elements of an action research. In other words, it can be said that since the research findings and discussion depends highly on the validity and reliability of the research respondents, it is important to note that both the planning and action phase of this iteration are crucial. The research respondents were notified in this phase which implies that the rest of the iteration stages depend on it since other activities will be modeled based on the successful recruitment of the research respondents. Apparently, the action phase of this research had to modify the plan slightly to encompass the awareness of the concept of reporting or daily sales using data warehousing and the activities that had to be undertaken first. In the determination of the research respondents who understands the topic of research, the departmental records as far as reporting of daily sales using data warehousing were viewed. However, this phase can be acknowledged to be a little focused since it revolved around the notification of the research respondents.

Reflect

By reflecting on this iteration phase, I noted that the research respondents are one of the determining factors in the success of the organization most especially given the fact that choosing of the wrong respondents will make the action and the reasons for data collection in this action research to fail. Additionally, while the iteration phase can be said to be a success, it can be accepted that the plan that was involved in notifying the respondents was challenging because most of them had different working schedules hence making more emphasis to revolve around the action phase of this iteration phase while limiting the activities in the planning phase. I also utilized literature reviews very well most especially given the fact that I was dealing with a relatively new concept. In this case, I learned that an action research is a very collaborative type of research since whenever I incurred challenges; I looked for help from my peers for directions and guidance.

However, in the course of research, I experienced minimal challenges most especially when it came to creating awareness about the concept of research since different respondents had different level of comprehending the research topic. Additionally, I also experienced challenges of comprehending diagrammatic representations of the research concept in the literatures that I reviewed and making the researchers to comprehend the importance of this report as far as reporting of daily sales using data warehousing is concerned.

Iteration 3: Data Collection

This iteration revolves around the researcher’s responsibility and role in conducting the actual research data that is required. Additionally, the data that is needed will be narrowed down to that that relates with reporting of sales using data warehousing.

Plan

The third iteration will focus on the actual collection of data and in the process; the consequent analysis of the data will also be included. This iteration phase will commence on Nov 2 2016 at 8:30 am and end on the following day at 5:00 pm on Nov 3, 2016. The planning phase of this iteration stage will take into account some of the following activities:

· On November 2, 2016 as from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, I will begin by determining the type of data that will be collected as far as reporting of daily sales using data warehousing is concerned.

· Immediately after completing the first objective, as from 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM, I will continue by determining the methods, tools and instruments that will be employed in the collection of daily sales data and the techniques employed in data analysis.

· As from 2: 00 PM to around 3: 13 PM, the time when the data collection process will take place will also be taken into consideration and the scheduling of how data collection activities will take place.

· Immediately after 4: 00 PM to around 4:30 PM, the place where the data collection process regarding the reporting of the daily sales using data warehousing will take place.

· I will take approximately 30 minutes as from 4:30 Pm to 5:00 PM in establishing the budgeting in terms of expenses and costs that the data collection process and analyze will incur

In this iteration phase, the plans were to collect any relevant data both primary and secondary in regards to reporting of daily sales using data warehousing. In this case, secondary data will be collected from the available literature as from 7:00 PM on Nov 2,2016 while the primary data will be obtained from the field research the following day on Nov 3, 2016 as from 8:00 AM until 5:30 PM on some of the employees whose company operations revolves around reporting of daily sales. Moreover, the data was then required to be analyzed in an effort to obtain explanations to the concept of data warehousing and its applicability tom reporting of daily sales and in the process, to ensure that the researcher gets a clue on data warehousing.

Action

This phase involves the actualization of the plan that is postulated earlier. The Actual data collection process commenced on November 2 at 8:00 am and ended on November 3 at 6:00 PM. In this case, on November 2 2016 at 8:30 AM I reviewed literature revolving around data warehousing and its applicability to reporting of daily sales in an effort of determining the type of data that will be collected. Additionally, the main aim here in this case was to gather any relevant data related to data warehousing and the primary focus in realizing this objective was on the definition, explanations and applicability of data warehousing in Reporting of daily sales. Moreover, as from 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM, I continued by determining the methods, tools and instruments that will be employed in the collection of daily sales data and the techniques employed in data analysis. As from 2: 00 PM to around 3: 13 PM of Nov 2, 2016 I established the time when the data collection process will take place and in fact, the scheduling of how data collection activities will take place was also carried out.

On November 3, 2016 as from 8:00 AM, the actual data collection process on the field research was conducted and it revolved around administering questionnaires to respondents who are involved with reporting of daily sales. In so doing, this data was meant to establish some of the areas that need improvement in regards to the daily sales reporting and in the process, identify how data warehousing will benefit the overall process of reporting. In the course of the data collection process as from 12:30 PM to 2:00 during lunchtime break, interviews and observations that were made though interaction with the research respondents were carried out. In fact, to emphasize on the importance of this study, the internet was also searched for more data in regards to reporting of daily sales and the applicability of data warehousing as from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM.

The data analysis process in this iteration phase revolved around simply reviewing the responses from the questionnaires and the points that will be taken from the literature review and the observations and this took place On Nov 3,2016 as from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Additionally, the answers to the following questions will also be crucial in the analysis process:

· How an data warehousing be applied in reporting of daily sales

· What is the importance of data warehousing in reporting of daily sales

· What is data warehousing?

· What does reporting of daily sales entail?

Observation

In this iteration phase, it is important to note that the concept of data warehousing is a very extensive topic and I the process, it is not an easy task when it comes to breaking it down. In this case, sine this research can be said to generally focus on data warehousing which makes it elementary in nature as well since it basically sought the applicability and the importance of data warehousing in reporting of daily sales. Moreover, it can be noted that the action plan of this iteration went according to plan sine there was no major modifications. Furthermore, since this research involved exploration of a new research concept, it is important to acknowledge that the review of relevant literature and other previous research in this area an be assumed to be simply for verification of the data obtained from the research respondents and from the action, plan, this can be said to be adhered to in this action research. Above all, it is also important to observe that the required data was available and the right answers were obtained from the above mentioned questions in the action phase. In other words, the applicability of data warehousing, its importance to reporting of daily sales and what entails reporting of daily sales were realized from the action phase.

Reflect

From then observation phase, it is important to note that this iteration phase is one of the core elements of this action research since it forms the baseline towards realization of the research objectives and besides, it encompassed the actual actions of the action research. Additionally, some Action research plans tend to incur some modifications because of risks and uncertainties encountered in the planning phase. However, the Action plan of this iteration phase was able to lay down the way forward in regards to future activities .However, the future is always uncertain. For instance, in this Action research, there were uncertainties in regards to the number of respondents that will accept the notification in regards to their participation In fact; there was also uncertainties in regards to the kind of responses that will be obtained from this research. In this action research the response rate can be said to be overwhelming since 97% accepted the invitation and gave Reponses that were deemed accurate whereas 2% were not willing to participate and 1% were not sure whether to accept or reject the invitation to participate in this Action research.

Definition, applicability and configuration of the data warehousing to suit the demands and the needs of the users is very fundamental in the development of reporting of daily sales using data warehousing. In this case, definition of the concept is crucial in enabling the learners to comprehend the research concept very well and in the process make the whole process of research easy to follow. Reflecting on this research, I also learned that reviewing of literatures is important in confirming the validity of the research data obtained from the research respondents.

Figure 1: Action Research System Model (Source: web images, Action Research System Model: https://www.google.com/search?q=action+research&biw=1366&bih=657&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJn_nXgZfQAhXEK48KHQVoCqIQ_AUIBygC)

Iteration 4: Data Analysis and Reporting

The last iteration entails the analysis of the data collected and generation and presentation of the research report.

Plan

This iteration was to present data analysis in detail, present the findings, recommend further research action, and draft the report. In this case, the Iteration will take a total of two days as from November 4th as from 8: 30 AM to November 5th at 5:00 PM. In essence, the planning phase in this iteration was basically meant to establish how the whole research will be conducted. In other words, on Nov 4, 2016 as from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM I will start by analyzing the data that I had collected from the interviews and questionnaires I administered using SPSS software version 13. Immediately as from 11:00 AM to 1 PM, I will conduct content analysis on the literatures that I reviewed in an effort to present the research findings in detail. The primary plan of this action research was basically to present data analysis in detail and compiles the research findings in the process in a report format and makes recommendations for future research. Additionally, at around 3:00 PM, the data analysis process will end and it was clear that the data that will be analyzed in this research will be based on the responses of the research respondents and reviewed literatures. Apparently, the data will basically revolve around the concept of data warehousing and its applicability to reporting of daily sales. The following day, On November 5th as from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM, I will compile the research findings in a report format using a report format for presentation purposes. In this case, I will start by writing a brief introduction to the research topic, the methodology I used, followed by the literature review and a brief proposal presenting the four Iteration phases of the Action Research. The report format will conclude by writing a summary of learning and an overall conclusion about the research project.

Action

The Action Phase in this research is the actual presentation of the data that is refined, analyzed and presented from the previous research iteration. Additionally, the main aim of the previous research iteration was to establish the applicability of data warehousing to reporting of daily sales and in the process establish its importance. On Nov 4, 2016 as from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM I started by analyzing the data that I had collected from the interviews and questionnaires I administered using SPSS software version 13. Immediately as from 11:00 AM to 1 PM, I conducted content analysis on the literatures that I reviewed in an effort to present the research findings in detail. In this phase the data that was deemed definable in this research as far as the research topic is concerned entails the following:

· From the content analysis, I discovered that data warehousing refers to the structuring of the organization data in such a way that all the information in regards to the company sales can be recorded and found in one place.

· I also discovered that reporting of daily sales can be made easier if all data in regards to the sales that were made in a day were arranged together based on their costs and revenues accrual to the company.

At around 3:00 PM, the data analysis process culminated and it was clear that the data that will be analyzed in this research will be based on the responses of the research respondents and reviewed literatures. The following day starting from November 5th as from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM, I compiled the research findings on a word document using a report format for presentation purposes. In this case, I started by writing a brief introduction to the research topic, the methodology that was used in research, followed by the literature review and a brief proposal presenting the four Iteration phases of the Action Research. After finishing making the report, further action for future research works was also identified and this occurred because this action research did not take into consideration the services that are attached or linked to data warehousing which raised the question if there is a specific way in which data warehousing can be categorized to ensure that each daily sale is dealt with separately. In fact, according to literature reviews, it can be argued that there tends to be an overall generalization in regards to data warehousing because each and every company has its own needs and demands in regards to reporting of daily sales.

Observe

This phase entails evaluating and analyzing the previous phases of research and a few things were noted in this iteration phase. One thing that was noted is the fact that the iteration phase was analyzing the whole research coupled with the presentation of the research findings while at the same time make recommendations for future research works. Second, the objectives of the action research were realized since the responses that were obtained from the research questions, research respondents and the reviewed literatures were a true reflection of what was mentioned in the research objectives. In fact, a good observation will also be important for the iterations that will be conducted immediately after this research and as a result, potential challenges and some areas of improvement will be identified and in the process, the next area of improvement will perhaps form a key element of the next iteration phase. However, given the fact that this fourth iteration will be the last iteration that will be undertaken, it does not mean that making observations about the research will not be important since the future research actions will be undertaken based on the observations made in this research.

Reflect

A closer reflection in this research work implies that the overall research activity was a success and besides, the entire objectives of this research were realized. Additionally, in an Action research, there is always a great chance of learning and discovering research gaps coupled with areas of improvement and in the process, it makes the research work a continuous process. In this research, some of the gaps that were identified revolve around the fact that the entire iteration process was based on the general exploration of data warehousing and its applicability on reporting of daily sales.

Upon the conclusion of this research, it can be said that there was a lot top reflect upon in this iteration phase since the effectiveness of the analysis process depended heavily on how effective the data analysis instruments are in respect to the research topic. In other words, Content analysis process and SPSS version 13 was crucial to the outcome of the research findings and discussions. In the course of content analysis, I also discovered that since action research also involves engaging or involving people, the workers of the company who interact with the data warehousing systems and other systems will indeed be a core part of the research, and an interaction with them helped me in observing the various things that ended up to be of importance when conducting data analysis and compilation of the research findings.

Figure 2: Action Research Procedure (Source: web images, Action Research Procedure. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?q=action+research&biw=1366&bih=657&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJn_nXgZfQAhXEK48KHQVoCqIQ_AUIBygC)

Summary of Learning

Since Action research has been existing for years since 1940s, it can be argued that a resulted research work has ever been conducted previously since this research was a service type action research. Based on the analysis of the iteration stages, it is important to note that there are a number of research works that can be learned. One area that can be learned about this entire research process revolves around the nature of Action research .Another important learning area is the research topic. In this case, some of the elements that I learned about the nature of action research revolve around the following characteristics:

· Action research looks tom the future in the sense that it is closely associated with the planning processes.

· Action research is a participatory kind of research in the sense that it encourages collaboration between the researcher and the research respondents: there is a close form of interdependencies between the client system and the entire research process.

· Action research focuses on the development of a system capacity in the sense that, it aims at improving the capability of organizations systems, for instance, in this research; it aimed at improving reporting of daily sales.

· Action Research is basically theory that is generated through research and is grounded in action. Apparently, the identified theory acts a s a guideline on what the researcher should take into consideration when conducting the actual research.

· Action research is situational in the sense that the relationship between events, things is the function of the situations at hand.

The collection and management, as well as analysis of data have continued to increase its importance in organizations often in response to various factors. For example, institutions like higher education face regulations from the governments need for student success, etc. are the factors that push for the implementation and use of data warehouses. Additionally, a data warehouse can be defined as a database that is designed to enable the business intelligence practices. In other words, the data warehouse is a database designed to help the business users to gain an understanding, and also enhance the organizational performance. In this case, this research was very important in analysing and explaining the concepts that are related to reporting of daily sales using data warehousing.

Conclusion

The sales data reporting data warehouse is simply for the purpose of analysing the sales data and generating sales reports on a daily basis. This information will be highly useful to the company’s sales management team. Additionally, the data in a data warehouse is often modelled in a multi-dimensional way to facilitate complex analysis and visualization. For example, data warehouse with sales will have various dimensions that might include the time of sale, the district of sale, the product sold, and also the salesperson involved. Moreover, the research in this case was based on reporting on daily sales on data warehousing. In this case, because of the collaborative nature of Action Research, it is the most essential research technique that can be employed in this research since it will ensure that the research participates in the research itself while at the same time reporting on the data findings. In fact, because action research is made up of only four iteration steps, it can be easily integrated in the daily activities of both the researcher and the research respondents.

This action research was made up of four iterations and activities in each iteration phase moved the researcher towards the research objective. The first iteration revolved around the research preparation, the second iteration revolved around identifying and notifying the research participants, the third iteration revolved around data Collection whereas the last iteration revolved around data analysis and reporting. Through the four iteration phases, the main objective of the research was realized since the application of data warehousing in reporting of daily sales was examined and some of the ways in which an organization can benefit from data warehousing process. As a result, it was important to acknowledge that action research revolves around one primary step which is to offer a solution to the existing challenger while at the same time developing the research process at hand.

References

Ferrance, E. (2000). Action research. Retrieved from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf

Gilmore, T., Krantz, J., & Ramirez, R. (1986). Action based modes of inquiry and the host-researcher relationship. Consultation: An international journal, 5(3), 160-176.

Hadley, G. (2003). Action research in action. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/40518900/Action_Research_in_Action.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1473217242&Signature=wWiD%2FOtee7isGfoPk%2F0s5I4jhFk%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DAction_Research_in_Action.pdf

Harris, D. (2013, March 27). Why Apple, eBay, and Walmart have some of the biggest data warehouses you’ve ever seen. Retrieved from https://gigaom.com/2013/03/27/why-apple-ebay-and-walmart-have-some-of-the-biggest-data-warehouses-youve-ever-seen/

McNiff, J. (2010). Action research for professional development: Concise advice for new action researchers (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu/pdf/booklets/24_AR.pdf

Ohlinger, P. (2006, June 19). Wal-Mart’s datawarehouse. Retrieved from http://derbaum.com/tu/WalMarts%20DWH.pdf

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Sanders, D. (2016). Wal-Mart and the birth of the data warehouse. Retrieved from Healthcatalyst.com: https://www.healthcatalyst.com/wal-mart-birth-of-data-warehouse/

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Lang, L., & Pirani, J. A. (2014, April 23). BI Reporting, Data Warehouse Systems, and Beyond. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2014/4/erb1403-pdf.pdf

Nasir, J. A., Shahzad, M. K., & Pasha, M. A. (2006). Data Warehouse Design for Sales Performance Analysis. Information Technology Journal, 5(5), 964-969. doi:10.3923/itj.2006.964.969

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Marr, B. (2015, Nov 10). Big Data: A Game Changer In The Retail Sector. Retrieved from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/11/10/big-data-a-game-changer-in-the-retail-sector/#ef4400678aad

Ryan, K., & Case, B. (2012). Research Preparation Things to do Before Starting Library Research Projects. Retrieved from California State University: http://web.calstatela.edu/library/guides/rprep.htm

Reflect

Observe

Act

Plan

Research Preparation

Reflect

Observe

Act

Plan

Identifying and notifying participants

Reflect

Observe

Act

Plan

Data collection

Reflect

Observe

Act

Plan

Data analysis and reporting