QNT 561: Descriptive Statistics and Interpretation

STUDENT

Techy-Tech Inc. is a global computer software company with approximately eight thousand employees in its North Carolina facility. Techy-Tech is a firm that is plagued with a decrease in productivity due to low morale and team motivation. To solve this problem, Team B has suggested opening a coffee bar that is free for employees in hopes of improving the work environment by increasing motivation and morale, thus ultimately improving productivity by reducing stress.

Company surveys have identified that many employees have expressed that they were experiencing higher stress levels than compared to past surveys. The company has decided since they cannot control stress levels by reducing market demand, perhaps improving the work environment could help reduce stress levels. Research has shown that a stress-filled employee makes the wrong decisions and has negative relationships with co-workers. Reduced productivity, mistakes, low quality of work, and absenteeism are all signs of a stressed employee (Halkos & Bousinakis, 2010). The company will research the question, will adding a free coffee bar improve employee productivity?

Descriptive Statistics

Prior to the implementation of the free coffee bar, Techy-Tech, Inc. measured monthly production rates of surveyed employees from January-December 2001. The descriptive statistics are listed below of production before the coffee bar. Comment by Matthew Radio: Good.

Comment by Matthew Radio: Please see comments at end of paper. A label is needed.

As mentioned, the Techy-tech has seen a decrease in production, which the bar graph above shows a downward trend line in terms of production. At the beginning of 2012, Techy-Tech opened a free coffee bar in hopes that this would decrease stress and lead to an increase in employee production. Below are the descriptive statistics for Tech-Tech after the implementation of the coffee bar: Comment by Matthew Radio: Now that we are in week 5,can you plot an actual regression line? Comment by Matthew Radio: Has anything else changed that would cause an increase in production? That should be noted.

After the implementation of the free coffee bar, the production of surveyed employees that used the coffee bar at Techy-Tech increased from January 2012 to December 2012. The bar graph above shows a trend line that production at the company is improving over the previous year. Comment by Matthew Radio: OK. Some options for next week’s Inferential Statistics paper… Do a hypothesis test for the difference of two means (the mean for the 12 months before and after the coffee bar). What other tests could be performed?

Descriptive Statistics Interpretation

Techy-Tech, Inc. measured production levels from 2011 and compared the production levels to 2012 after the implementation of a free coffee bar. The mean production levels in 2011 were 16,079 units produced compared to 20,735 units produced after the implementation of a free coffee bar. The 2011 production had a minimum production at 10,080 units and maximum units produced were 18,700. When 2011 production was compared to 2012, the 2012 mininum production rate was 16,300 units produced, and a maximum of 25,000 units produced. Techy-Tech was 95% confident that in 2011, the company would produce between 14,640 to 17,527. However, in 2012, the company was 95% confident that they would produce between 19,160 to 22,309.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Team B conducted a survey to compare a productivity measure from before and after the coffee bar was established with the same measure. The team analysis determined that Techy-Teach employee productivity increased due to decreasing workplace stress. The survey concluded that those who use the coffee bar end up producing units from the previous year. By having a coffee bar in the workplace helped Techy-Tech employees decompress and work performance increase.

References

Halkos, G., & Bousinakis, D. (2010). The Effects of Stress and Satisfaction on Productivity. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 59(5), 415-431.

Appendix A

Production Results in 2011 and 2012

Production before Coffee

Production after Coffee

Production Before Coffee Bar

Months

Productivity

Production After Coffee Bar

Months

Productivity

BoxPlot

Production Before Coffee Bar

BoxPlot

Production After Coffee Bar