Week 1 Discussion
Discussion
The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this week based on the course competencies covered.
For this assignment, choose one of the following questions and post your initial response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned.
To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use outside sources. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.
Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week .
Question One: Conducting Business Research
It is important to conduct business research in order to objectively make decisions. Assume you are a supervisor for a manufacturing company, which is experiencing lower sales this year compared to the same period last year.
What research would you conduct to determine why sales are lower?
What data would you collect and analyze?
Which employees would you contact?
Which outside consultants, if any, would you contact?
Question Two: Measuring Employee Morale
Cindy’s boss has been assigned the task of measuring employee morale in the company where they work. Cindy’s boss is too busy to create this report; therefore, Cindy’s boss has directed Cindy to complete it.
Cindy developed a survey, had employees complete it, reviewed the findings, and presented her final findings in a report. Later, Cindy showed the report to her immediate boss. Her immediate boss was not pleased with the report because it illustrated negative morale. Cindy’s immediate boss directed Cindy to remove the negative aspects of the report and put a positive spin on employee morale in the company.
Should Cindy revise the report or submit the completed report directly to her boss’s boss?What are the ethical considerations in not submitting what the actual results show?
In general, is doing what the boss wants more important than what the actual facts say?
Does Cindy have an obligation to the rest of the employees to not alter the actual results?
Justify your answers using examples and reasoning. Comment on the postings of at least two peers and state whether you agree or disagree with their views.
Rubrics
SUO Discussion Rubric (40 Points) – Version 1.2
Week 2 In business research, it is not uncommon to need to conduct research that involves the opinions of the customers of the organization (or, for those working in government and not-for-profit fields, the opinions of those being served by the organization). Measurement scales are typically created to determine the attitude, knowledge, and behavior of a customer, who becomes the research subject. In this week, you will learn about the conceptual basics of measurement scales, with particular attention being paid to rating and ranking scales.
A questionnaire is one of the most common methods of collecting data while doing business research. However, there are many considerations that need to be kept in mind during the preparation of this type of research instrument. This week, you will also learn about some of the questionnaire options and guidelines a researcher needs to keep in mind while creating questionnaire items. This will include a set of steps through which a researcher may go in the development of a business research questionnaire, including providing instructions to the subject of the business research and presenting questionnaire items in the proper sequence.
Your Learning Objectives for the Week:
Demonstrate the usefulness of descriptive statistics and probability concepts for business decision-making, using information literacy.
