Running Head: WEEK 2 COMPILATION
1
Week 2 Business Research Compilation
Group 2
Liberty University
WEEK 2 COMPILATION 2
Introduction
The utilization of correct and corresponding business research methods is paramount to
collecting verifiable, valuable, and usable data. However, in most cases it is the form or type of
presentation of that collected data that will mitigate the success or failure of the insights and
findings for the researchers. Life circumstances can and will offer many second and even third
chances, however, someone will only ever have one chance to make a first impression! Thus, it is
imperative as researchers to present the insights and findings of their research in the proper
forum, whether it is oral or written, while also including the appropriate presentation criteria.
This paper will examine three questions from the course textbook (chapter 19) on presenting
insights and findings via written reports (19.3, 19.4, 19.6) and two questions from the course
textbook (chapter 20) on presenting insights and findings via oral presentations (20.7, 20.8).
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Week 2 Business Research Compilation
When discussing which report goes with which situation main factors will include what
the report is about and who is seeing the report. Depending on the report it may need to contain
graphs to conduct comparisons or show progress.
Question 19.3
What type of report would you suggest be written in each of the following cases?
a. The president of the company has asked for a study of the company’s pension plan
and its comparison to the plans of other firms in the industry.
This report would have to be formal due to the possible length and that it
may be used to change the company’s existing pension plan. In addition, due to
the fact that the president is the one who requested the report it should be well
detailed and informative. The form would fall under a management report and
display the critical information needed to conduct the comparison. Tables should
also be used to show the best pension plans in the industry from best to worst
while indicating where the position of our company. Additionally, the conclusion
of the report should compare the major differences between our company’s
pension plan and any plan that may be better than ours. Recommendations should
be included as to what can be added or deleted to improve our company's plan as
compared to competitive plans with other companies in our industry (Cooper &
Schindler, 2014, p. 504).
b. You have been asked to write up a marketing experiment, which you recently
completed, for submission to the Journal of Marketing Research.
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A long report would be the most applicable for this situation. It would
contain both a technical and management report; this decision is based on the
expertise of the readers in their field. A sampling design may also be useful in this
report to show the target audience used in the marketing experiment. The use of a
questionnaire would show the effectiveness of the marketing strategy (Cooper &
Schindler, 2014, p. 508).
c. Your division manager has asked you to prepare a forecast of promotional budget
needs for the division for the next 12 months.
This situation would warrant a short report, in that the statistical data
presented should be straight forward and concise. A detailed finding page would
be useful to show the research done in the division and their budgetary
requirements. A graph should be used to show the change in dollar amounts by
month and may help in the future budget plans. The use of an executive summary
reflects would show all findings and give a complete picture of why the budget
reflects the determined amount. (Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 512)
d. The National Institute of Health has given you a grant to study the relationship
between advertising of prescription drugs and subsequent sales of those drugs.
Once again the use a short report would give clear details of the sales of
this drug. Of critical importance would be the data collection portion of this
report. The National Institute of health should be aware of the pertinent timeframe
of when the advertisements went public and one the drugs began being purchased.
Other findings would include whether the drug is being sold in more rural or
urban area. Charts can be used to show the months in which sales are higher so
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audiences can be targeted at key times of the year. Followed up with a
recommendation to save cost of advertisement on months when the demand for
the drug is lower.
Written reports used for presentations often create certain challenges for presenting
statistical data. Most reports will include a limited amount of statistics within the text; this is
because larger amounts of statistical data are most often presented and better comprehended in
the form of tables, charts, or graphs. The following question will examine some graphic forms.
Question 19.4
There are a number of graphic presentation forms. Which would you recommend to show each
of the following? Why?
a. A comparison of changes in average annual per capita income for the United States
and Japan from 1995 to 2010.
In this particular case, the reporter should consider a few components when
selecting the line-graph representation of the data. First, the data is a comparison of
changes over a period of time. According to Cooper and Schindler (2014), a comparison
of changes over time (1995 to 2010) are easily demonstrated using a line-graph (p. 531).
The second consideration is a difference of the sample count-- the United States
representing a much larger population size and higher comparable wage-values. Using a
semi-logarithmic line-graph would allow for an accurate portrayal of the information by
“preserving the percentage of relationships across the graph,” thus correcting a skewed
visual of the data, due to the gross difference of the variables (p. 531).
b. The percentage composition of average family expenditure patterns, by the major
types of expenditures, for families whose heads are under age 35 compared with
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families whose heads are 55 or older.
The reporter is attempting to represent a comparison of values among two distinct
groups with multiple variables that make of the whole of all variables within each group.
Various possible methods can be used in presenting this data: a side-by-side stacked or
multivariable bar chart (p. 532) or a pie chart (p. 535). Both charts would represent the
data appropriately. However, the reporter should use the side-by-side stacked bar chart
because it can represent both groups in a single unified chart area while comparing the
multiple variables of each whole in an and easy-to-read format (p. 532).
c. A comparison of the changes in charitable giving between December 31, 2006, and
December 31, 2010.
This scenario is looking to represent the changes of financial data that are grouped
over the course of 4 years. The most appropriate graphical representation will be a bar
chart because the data is time-based, as delineated on the horizontal axis, and represents a
time-series based growth of charitable income, represented on the vertical axis (p. 535).
The time-series can be broken down into yearly or monthly sample points provided the
data already holds this information.
Question 19.6
Choose any case containing data from the text website and prepare a findings page, similar to the
one in Exhibit 19 – 3!
The findings section is "generally the longest section of the report. The objective is to
explain the data rather than draw interpretations or conclusions. When quantitative data can be
presented, this should be done as simply as possible with charts, graphs, and tables (Cooper &
Schindler, 2014, p. 511). See Findings Chart on the following page;
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Case: Akron Children's Hospital, Part A
Findings: 1. In Northeastern Ohio the healthcare market is very competitive
concerning the care of children who are seriously ill.
2. Akron Children's Hospital has faced many challenges from its
competition because of limited knowledge in comprehending how
parents and the surrounding area decided what facility to admit their
children need acute care (more than three days in the hospital).
Question: Suppose you just received information stating a sickness in Northeastern
Ohio has affected many children who are requiring hospitalization for up
to a week. How can Akron's Children Hospital attract its fair share of these
children at its facility? What communication can be presented to parents?
oLocation easy for parents to get to
oWarm and caring staff
oHighly talented and friendly skilled medical professionals
oA myriad of success stories for children previously admitted
oAn emotional connection with parents in our neighborhoods
Bringing Research to Life
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Every presentation has its purpose, thus it is imperative that business researchers present
their findings and sites via the proper medium while using the most effective presentation
criteria.
Question 20.7
What was the purpose of Henry & Associates presentation to MindWriter?
Every presentation does have a specific purpose. Therefore it is important to determine
the purpose of the presentation in order to make it most effective. Presentations can be
informative, instructional, arousing, persuasive, or decision making (Whatley, 2014). The
purpose of Henry & Associates’ presentation was to provide valuable information for the group
to use in making critical decisions. An informative presentation is “brief and to the point. It sticks
to the facts and avoids complicated information” (Whaley, 2014, n.p.). The presentation was a
web-based briefing on the MindWriter project. The informative briefing “clarified some critical
issues” and “helped focus on some probable solutions” for the group (Cooper & Schindler, 2014,
p. 539). The other purpose was to bring everyone together.
Question 20.8
a. Perform an audience analysis?
An audience analysis is important because it allows for a speaker to
understand the audience so that they can anticipate the audience’s response to the
presentation. When a speaker understands the audience and can anticipate the
audience’s response then the speaker will be more effective in communicating
their presentation with the desired response (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). “The
more you know and understand about your audience and their psychological
needs, the better you can prepare your speech and your enhanced confidence will
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reduce your own speaker anxiety” (DeCaro, Adams & Jefferis, n.d., p. 5-2).
Henry & Associates were able to perform an audience analysis by conducting a
poll regarding the group’s opinions about the purpose and then displaying these
results during the presentation. This poll allowed the presenters to know what was
important to the majority of the audience.
b. Engage the audience?
Engaging an audience is important because it keeps the audience from
checking out during a presentation. There are many ways in which a presenter can
engage an audience. When presenting “research presenters should observe the 10
minute rule by varying their content by intercepting straight talk with graphs,
videos, demonstrations, questions and other means that allow the brain to seek
new stimuli” (Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 546). Henry & Associates were able
to engage the audience by using a Q&A tool to obtain pre-report ideas for action.
They were also able to engage by posting the results of the poll to show where the
priorities for the entire group fell. They also engaged the audience by including
simplified charts and graphs into the presentation. The charts and graphs allowed
the speakers to use the 10 minute rule and break up the portions of straight talk by
distracting the audience with the charts and graphs. At the end of the presentation
Henry & Associates engaged the audience by asking participants to complete a
brief 3 minute survey at the end of the web presentation. This allowed the
audience to feel important and engaged for their opinions via their participation in
the survey.
Conclusion
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Bringing research to life will usually be accomplished through the presentation medium.
According to Cooper and Schindler; "A presentation of research findings can have an inordinate
effect on the reader's or listener's perceptions of a study's quality. Recognition of this fact should
prompt a researcher to make a special effort to communicate skillfully and carefully" (p. 536).
For research to ultimately be successful it must be presented in a way that has the greatest impact
on its subjects. Whether written, oral, or visual a presentation must come to life by significantly
attracting the attention of the people it is intended to impact. The appropriate combination of
text, pictures, diagrams, charts, tables, and graphs is paramount to what the presentation is
intended to accomplish. Business researchers showed make their research findings and insights
as interesting and valuable as possible, especially for those who use the research in the critical
decision-making process.
References
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Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business research methods (12th ed.). New York, NY:
Mc Graw-Hill.
DeCaro, P., Adams, T. and Jefferis, B. (n.d.). Audience analysis. Retrieved from
http://www.publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/aud%20analy%20web%201.pdf
Whatley, R. (2014). Types of presentations. Retrieved from
http://www.cypressmedia.net/articles/article/25/types_of_presentations
