Proctor and Gamble Final Project

Week 1

This week you will begin by selecting a company that you are interested in researching. Find a company in a business journal and decide on a research project that would suit the company's needs. Submit this company and research topic to your instructor and wait for it to be approved before beginning to assemble your report.

Begin your report by completing the following sections:

· Title Page (APA formatted) (1 page)

· Introduction to the research project (Including company industry and background and what the 'topic' of the research will be. Also include commentary on any ethical considerations that you expect to encounter) (1 - 2 pages)

· Problem Statement (or what is your research trying to prove or disprove?) (1 - 2 pages)

· Research Objectives (or what you hope the results of the research will do for the company) (1 - 2 pages)

· References (Begin your Reference page, but add to it as needed throughout the life of the project) (1 page)

Your first submission for the research project will be 5 - 8 pages total. You must receive approval for your topic prior to this submission.

Your answer:

Introduction

Procter & Gamble is a multinational company that deals with selling consumer goods all over the world. The business was created by an association between James Procter and William Gamble in 1837. The company is a leader in the market having eighty-four billion dollars in profits. The company’s headquarters is in Ohio in the United States. The company is at the top in the industry due to its unique products that exceed customers’ expectations. Some of its competitors include Johnson &Johnson, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark Corporation. It has diversified its production from beauty products to baby staffs, household and many other areas that ensure that its products reach as many consumers as possible (Charan, 2010). 

The company operates in different segments in terms of its products. The beauty division specializes in the manufacture of makeup, deodorant, skin care, salon products, prestige products, personal cleaning, and others. The grooming department is concerned with shave care merchandises and appliances. It has a healthcare segment that sells personal healthcare products as well as oral care. It operates the fabric and home care division that deals with selling laundry additives, batteries, and others. The baby, female, and family care segment deals with baby wipes, toilet papers, paper towels among others. The company has some brands that are very marketable including Pampers, Ace, Duracell, Ariel, Always and Gillette (Lauby, 2012).

The topic of research is the motivation of employees. This issue is important for companies since productivity is also affected by the way employees, are treated in a business. Many companies ignore the problem and find that productivity is reduced since employees are human beings and require appreciating and inspiring while working for a company. While conducting the research, there is a possibility of lack of information due to employees being unable to disclose the company’s information due to the requirements of the code of ethics. Employees are required to keep the company’s confidential information by not revealing it to strangers, and my task is likely to face an ethical issue.

Problem Statement

The research seeks to find out whether there is a correlation between motivated employees and increased productivity in P&G. Motivating employees is a very critical issue for every business. Motivations take many forms including high compensations, allowances, off and leave vacations and tours, promotions, and many other ways. These motivation methods serves as ways that ensure that workers feel that their efforts are appreciated and therefore they tend to increase their efforts. The research will try to prove if employees’ motivation is a factor that needs to be considered by companies while operating. Further, it will seek answers from employees if they are satisfied with the current motivation strategies and the areas they may want to be changed.

Many companies do not appreciate the efforts of their workers and the employees tend to under work since their morale is affected negatively. The research will seek to discover what employees consider best as a motivating factor. Various employees desire different things as well as motivations and therefore it is critical to establishing what P& G employees prefer. After the discovery, the element can be implemented to ensure that the productivity of workers is maximized. Motivated employees are happy in the workplace, and they contribute their ideas, opinions and feeling in the company that makes the company more lively and productive. The research will try to establish what makes the employees of P & G more productive and happy and whether they are motivated in their workplace (Doyle, 2014). .

The study will also try to establish whether motivating employees is a cost or benefit to the company. Increased compensations and allowances result in a more monetary cost for a business. Further, vacations and tours take away a company’s resources and time that could have been used in production. The study will seek to discover whether it is worth to offer employees all this privileges. Does the company benefit from motivating its employees in the long term? The answer to the question can go far in ensuring that the actions of the company make sense in the business. If the company’s expense is enormous such that it adversely affects profits, then the motivators need to be regulated.

The research will seek to prove that employee motivation has a positive impact on productivity. It will ask questions regarding previous productions before the implementation of motivations of employees and the current production when employees are motivated. The present production ought to be greater than before the motivators were implemented. The research also tries to disapprove that motivating employees bring loss to the company. This study can be done by measuring the profits of the company before and after the motivation project began. The investigation can prove that after employees become motivated the labor costs increased and also the profits of the company increase tremendously

A motivation of workers is a topic that will have an impact on businesses that think that doing this is an unnecessary expense. It will prove that employee motivation is important in ensuring that the productivity increases. It will ensure that companies see the importance of motivations. Motivations are likely to maximize the productivity of workers by making them work to their very best. Therefore, the above topic is relevant to P&G and other companies that have employees in its premises.

Employee motivation unites employees such that they feel included in activities of the enterprise. Employee motivation enables employees to go an extra mile in contributing their energies in production, their ideas and opinions in activities of the firm. This topic will ensure that it gathers enough evidence to proof that all companies should motivate its employees (Messmer, 2011).

Research Objectives

The lessons of the research are likely to inspire the company more to continue motivating its employees in better ways that are innovative and creative enough to ensure that employee’s morale is maintained. The research is also intended to educate the company further on what employees prefer most as the best motivating factor. Additionally, the results of the study are likely to prove beyond reasonable doubt that motivation is necessary and important to a company not only to employees but the company as a whole.

The research will benefit the company as it will acknowledge its efforts in making employees happier in the workplace. Motivated workers are less likely to change their jobs frequently since they are satisfied somehow by their current state. Therefore, the company saves a lot of resources since the employment of staff is an expensive procedure that requires skilled personnel, time and money to fund the process. The motivation of employees can be cheaper than the recruitment process and, therefore, the research seeks to instill the concept in the company (Podmoroff, 2015).

The study attempts to show the company that its effort of employee motivation is a paramount procedure that has a positive impact because of how it has resulted in high productivity per worker. It will also seek to ensure that employees are satisfied ion their jobs by suggesting to the management how employees feel about their working environment.

By the research, the company will appreciate the importance of motivating its employees since it will realize that it will benefit much more from the initiative. Further, the research will establish whether there is a relationship between the motivation of workers and productivity and profits of the company. By realizing this, a company will put more efforts to ensure that its employees remain aggravated and active. The research will also establish whether the methods of motivation used are ethically acceptable by the laws of a country. Motivation practices should follow the labor laws and requirements.

References Charan, L. (2010). The Game Changer: How Every Leader Can Drive Everyday Innovation. London: Profile Books. Doyle, S. (2014). The manager's pocket guide to motivating employees. Amherst: HRD Press. Lauby, S. J. (2012). Motivating employees, . Alexandria: ASTD Press. Messmer, M. (2011). Motivating employees for dummies. New York: Hungry Minds. Podmoroff, D. (2015). 365 ways to motivate and reward your employees every day-- with little or no money. Ocala: Atlantic Pub. Group.

Week 2

Prepare 3 - 4 additional pages to your research project proposal, including the reference page to the material you were approved for last week from your company selection. Create these pages:

· Research Design

· Determine which research method you will use and defend your position with pros and cons about using it. Explain the pros and cons of the ethical considerations you identified last week.

· Design your references in APA format on the last sheet of your Word file. Select at least 4 scholarly, peer-reviewed articles for this assignment.

answer:

The case study reveals a turning point that can be achieved by a company. The company was at that point faced with a business decision that was critical. In fact, the company was supposed to choose a strategy that would have enabled it stay focused. The article used is a clear demonstration of the trade-off that many companies are experiencing under varying technological environment. The sectors that are involved with the technology are the ones that are leading in terms of changes in the competitive environment. The prevalence of these changes is currently very high. Profitability that results from innovation is mostly reduced by the competition and an increasing rate of development. Some decades back, companies engaging in innovative practices held large and loyal customer base as a result of making latest products. In the case, the company was in a dilemma of whether to outsource some of its R& D to the India. The major issues that were raised included potential losses of intellectual property and the best breed. Azim Premji was one of the companies that were leading in technology in India. The analysis he conducted were based on the internal dynamics and the methods that were used to support collaboration. Additionally, there was more emphasis that was put on the protection of the IP (Nohria, 2005).

The methods of research and development that were proposed were basic, applied, and experimental. The basic R& D is usually undertaken to help in acquiring a new knowledge of a phenomena that is underlying and facts that are observable. The other that was majorly used in the company was applied research. The applied research can also be termed as an original investigation that is performed for knowledge acquisition. The goals of conducting this form of research and development are aimed towards solving certain practical objectives. Finally, the company was using the experimental development a form of R& D that entails conducting systematic work improves on the improvement of the services or processes that have already been produced (Brockhoff, 2008).

The business project can be successful when applying various methods of research. First, applied research can be of great significance to the success of a business project. In fact, this method is aimed at ensuring that the business owners are capable of acquiring new knowledge. Applied methods will also ensure that the products made will be of benefits to the society. Additionally, the applied method is purposefully aimed at ensuring that a problem is identified and solved. Another method that can be successful in a business project when used is experimental development. The experimental development will be of great importance because the venture will be focusing on producing new products. The experimental development will also ensure that the business has grown to levels where it is solving problems in the society. Further, the approach will also be used to improve on the commodities that already exist.

The outcomes that are expected to be derived from that application of the approach are many. The application of these research methods will contribute to increased productivity. The increase in productivity is a clear indication that there will be an increase in the customer base. Another outcome that is expected is the continued growth of the market. This growth indicates that the company or business will gain economies of scale thus reducing the cost of production. Additionally, the company is expected to benefit from the research and development methods applied because of the increased customer loyalty. The increase of this loyalty may result from the fact that the new products being manufactured are structured in a way that they address the specific needs of the customers (Anderson, 2012).

References Anderson, N. (2012). Practical process research and development. Amsterdam: Academic Press. Brockhoff, K. (2008). Internationalization of research and development. Berlin: Springer. Nohria, N. (2005). Feed R&D--or Farm It Out? Harvard: Harvard Business Review.

Week 3

Construct 3 additional pages for your course project:

Decide which measurement scale will work the best for your project and the criteria needed for effective evaluation using this scale, including accounting for errors. Select at least two measurement errors that may be a concern using the chosen scale and construct how the project will account for them. Create these pages:

· Background Material

· Limitations

Your answer:

Procter & Gamble is a company that has been performing excellently in the industry that it operates. It has managed to be a leader in the market regarding producing consumer goods. The reason behind its success story is based on its unique market strategies and tactics and other competitive advantages that it possesses. One of the reasons that could be associated with its high productivity, innovation and creativity is the motivation of its employees. I aim to carry out a study on the effect of motivating employees on the level of productivity. This research is to be conducted on employees of this top company Procter & Gamble.

The measurement scale to be used is the interval scale. This scale is appropriate in the research due to its ability to rank variables in the order of their weights. The distances between the variables on a seven-point scale, for instance, would reflect of increase in the degree of the variable being measured. For example, a ten-point scale can be used to test the level of pain for patients. They could be asked to rate their pain on the scale and the higher their position on the scale then the greater the pain. An interval scale is relevant to this research as it will measure the extent at which each employee is motivated and satisfied with their current jobs and then make conclusions about productivity. Using a seven-point scale from dissatisfied to satisfy; I will test whether employees are satisfied with their jobs which in most cases are a direct result of motivation. Giving such a scale to employees it is easy for them to point where they feel they fit the most and thereby give the data that is required (Berka, 2012). .

Those that point at seven on the scale is the most satisfied and motivated in their current positions. Those that point to the lower levels on the scale is less motivated. They are, therefore, less happy in the work environment compared to those up the scale. The first probability is most of the employees point at level five to seven, meaning that they are happy and motivated with their jobs. My conclusion would be that the high productivity seen in P&G is as a result of the company’s efforts in employee motivation. The other probability is most of the employees point at low levels, that is, four and below, then the high productivity could be linked to other factors apart from the motivation of its workers. An interval scale is the best in this study as can compare the level of motivation based on whether a person is at the top, middle or the lowest point on the scale.

The criteria that could be used in efficient evaluation using interval scale are the use of random distribution of the questionnaires to the sample. This approach is used since the target group is uniform, and similar information is being gathered. The collected information will be evaluated on whether it has fulfilled the standards. For example, if an employee ticks two options in a question then it will be rejected since one cannot point out what he/she meant to say. The use of a point scale is vital in effective evaluation since the data obtained is used in making inferences required (Hockings, 2006).

The background materials needed for the study is questionnaires. These questionnaires should have questions that are clear such the audience understands. Questions should ask if employees are happy and motivated to do their current jobs. They are expected to tick choices that they feel they suit. These questions will assist in gathering information relevant to the study. Questionnaires should be enough for the sample of the employees that will be researched on since a representative sample will ensure that the findings will represent the whole of the population. I will also require assistance from experts that have more knowledge and experience dealing with such research more than I do to assist in data collection and making the right conclusion on the study. These people will help in data recording and analysis. I will also require computers that have systems that could record and analyze such kinds of information. These background materials are paramount to the study since they provide the resources that are vital to data collection and analysis

An interval scale has the limitation of not having a natural zero point meaning that it is unable to do and subtraction, addition multiplication or division with such kind of data. This limitation means that even comparison of data to say who has greater value or the difference between people in the scale is hard. In my research, it is hard to point out by how much each of the scales is different from the other since the variables such as satisfied or dissatisfied are not quantifiable.

The other limitation of the interval scale is that the research group can tick the options just to finish since the scale is long and confusing. The ranks such as satisfied, slightly happy, highly satisfied can be confusing; as the examined group would not give a thought of the choices. This error occurs when filling the gaps as they may consider that they are busy to be thinking about such things. These factors can cause the data to be distorted and not to show the intended results. Another error could occur when making conclusions about the findings. Wrong judgments could be done due to having incorrect information. It could be that employees just guessed choices and, therefore, the conclusion made would automatically be misleading (Jackson, 2008).

My research will start by acknowledging the participation of all employees in the research and explaining what the research means for the company and me as a whole. This step would diminish the errors of giving false information as well as the lack of participation. The errors that are brought by confusing options can be explained to the employees such as they know for sure what is required of them to answer. Employees are to be encouraged to feel free to ask anything they feel that they do not understand and, therefore, reduce the probability of collecting wron1g information. The information obtained from the scale will be helpful in spite of its inability of being quantifiable. Since motivation is qualitative, using the scale will still be useful since all data relevant to the study will be collected.

Week 4

The purpose of this assignment is to practice building effective measurement questions. You will build these types of questions in Module 05 that will become part of your final course project, so this is a good time to find out how it is done. Also, you will use the questions you are building in this assignment for this week's Course Project to practice creating tables in Excel for your final course project.

Select a company and research it using at least one of Rasmussen's online databases (available through the Resources tab), such as Hoover's, Mergent Online, Business Source Complete via EBSCO, or Business via ProQuest. Build a set of at least 40 effective measurement questions keeping in mind the content, participants and the outcome. Determine an effective sampling size based on the company information you retrieved from the online databases; this assignment should cover 1-3 pages.

excel portion: