Reference no: EM132376946 , Length: word count:1500

BBS301 - Applying Mixed Methods Research to Business

Consultancy Project

The Brief

Founded in 2010, CFOODSTORE has grown from a single market stall to a national, multi- channel seafood retailer. CFOODSTORE sells high-quality seafood across 115 stores in Singapore and through an e-commerce platform. In light of recent changes to consumer preferences, CFOODSTORE has made a deliberate decision to move to ‘ethically sourced' seafood. They have begun to implement processes to improve working conditions in their offshore operations and ensure a living wage, in order to meet the needs of the more ‘ethical consumer'.

Some investors are questioning the viability of this strategy. Investors are questioning whether the moves to ‘ethically sourced' seafood will have a negative impact on their investment, and whether consumers are that discerning when it comes to buying their seafood.

The company has hired you as a consultant to conduct some research and deliver a series of recommendations. They wish to find out more about this target market of ‘ethical consumers'. To justify the intended business strategy, they want to know if people who say they are concerned about the ethics of consumption, actually turn these concerns into purchasing decisions about seafood. They also want to find out more about the viability of, and strategies for, increasing this target market.

You will need to present substantial evidence using primary and secondary research to back up your claims and recommendations, as the results from your research may influence the direction of CFOODSTORE in the future.

Project Phases and Assessment

You are to complete a research project in response to the brief above. This research project will be self-guided, meaning that the steps you are to undertake to carry out the project have mostly been decided for you.

The consultancy project is made up of six phases. You will be placed in small groups in the first class, and you will work with this group on the project throughout the trimester.

It is essential to read the information included in this handbook carefully.

• Phase 1: Problem discovery and definition (group work to inform the systematic review)
• Phase 2: Review the literature (Systematic Literature Review - individual assessment)
• Phase 3: Planning the research design (Part 1 - group assessment)
• Phase 4: Data gathering (group work)
• Phase 5: Data processing and analysis (group work)
• Phase 6: Drawing conclusions and preparing report (Part 2 - group assessment)

Phase 1: Problem discovery and definition (group work)
For this phase, you will work with your group to define CFOODSTORE's management dilemma and the scope and direction of your research.

For this phase, you will need to:

Complete a preliminary exploration of the broad topic of the project, as defined by the consultancy project brief, familiarising yourself with terms and concepts.

Draft a working title, a research aim, research objectives and research questions, based on the project brief and your preliminary exploration of the topic. This will be facilitated in class and will inform the direction of the systemic literature review.

Phase 2: Review the literature (individual assessment)
For this phase, you will complete a systematic literature review as an exploratory research technique. The systematic literature review is your first assignment and will be submitted individually.

Systematic literature review 1500 words (30%) Individual submission

The main purpose of the literature review is to determine what has already been written about your topic. Reviewing the literature is an important part of the research process. If we are to research a topic systematically, we need to build upon what others have already learned. We need to know the current state of knowledge, critically engage with the literature and identify gaps in knowledge in order shed light on the management dilemma being faced by the client.

You will use this assignment to help you to design your research project and to analyse and interpret your data later in the trimester. If you are unsure of what you should be focusing on regarding the research agenda, you should read through the information in the previous sections again. You have been given a consultancy brief, and you should use this to direct your engagement with the literature.

A systematic literature review is a particular style of a literature review. The systematic review process, as the name suggests, is methodical in nature, with the reviewer following a prescribed set of steps to search the literature and identify relevant material for review.
These steps are made explicit in the write-up of the review. Due to limitations regarding time and scope, for this assessment, the systematic review process has been simplified.

Learning activities designed to address the purpose and importance of the literature review should be referred to when completing this section of the project. A marking guide for the systematic review is also available on LMS and in this document.

It is crucial that your search process is systematic and replicable and that your review includes all the elements specified in these instructions.

The steps that you need to complete are outlined below.

1. Read an example systematic review
Read the following publication for an example of a systematic literature review. Pay particular attention to how the sections which outline the approach followed (pp. 135-7) and the themes found in the literature (pp. 140-4) are written. Remember that your systematic review will be a simplified and much shortened version of a complete review such as this.

Riebe, L. Girardi, A. and Whitsed, C. (2017). "Teaching Teamwork in Australian University Business Disciplines: Evidence from a Systematic Literature Review." Issues in Educational Research. 27(1): 134-150.

2. Review learning materials relating to literature reviews
Read, watch and complete any readings, videos or learning activities that have been provided to help you to complete your systematic literature review.

3. Generate search terms
Develop a list of search terms (including different combinations of words) to use when completing your systematic search for literature. Make sure to keep a record of the searches you complete once you begin looking for literature to include. Remember that this process needs to be systematic and replicable.

4. Begin searching for articles
Begin to search for literature using your search terms and the following inclusion and exclusion criteria below. Download all articles which seem relevant and store these in a folder on your computer (refer to the flowchart on page 137 of the Riebe et al. (2017) article for an example of the literature selection process).

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

a) Limit your search to the database ProQuest.
b) Limit your search to articles published between 2017 and 2019. If you cannot find relevant literature within this timeframe, you should expand your search backwards by one year at a time.
c) Articles must be empirical, peer-reviewed and written in English.

5. Screen articles

Scan the articles titles and abstracts and discard those articles you deem irrelevant or unsuitable for your review.

6. Read and assess articles for suitability

Read the remaining articles and exclude any additional articles that you find to be irrelevant or unsuitable for your review. Your final review should include at least ten articles in total.

7. Prepare a summary table

Take extensive notes and prepare a summary table of the articles you have decided to include. See Table 1 on page 138 of Riebe et al. (2017) as an example. In addition to the categories included by Riebe et al. (2017), include columns for results/findings, argument and any other information you think will be useful. Information in the summary table should be paraphrased wherever possible, with any direct quotes indicated with quotation marks and page numbers.

Note that this step will take time, so make sure to get started as soon as possible. If done well, a good summary table and notes will be invaluable when you are writing up your review, and later in the teaching period when you are analysing your data and writing the final report.

8. Write your systematic review

You are now ready to write up your systematic literature review. Use your summary table to help you to write up a critical analysis of the articles you have chosen.

Your literature review must contain the following:

Introduction: A succinct introduction which includes your project aim, objectives and research questions and outlines the purpose and focus of the review.

Description of search process: A clear description of the search process used to conduct your systematic review. Your search process should be clear and replicable. If appropriate, use diagrams to illustrate your search process.

Critical analysis of the literature: This section should be organised by themes (see Riebe et al. 2017 to see how this should be written). This should make up most of your word count. Do not discuss each article individually (this is not an annotated bibliography) but rather synthesise the literature by comparing and contrasting the different articles, critically assessing their content, interpreting meaning and implications and drawing conclusions. A literature review is more than just description.

Implications and Conclusion: A succinct conclusion which identifies gaps in the literature.

A reference list: Include full bibliographic detail of the articles you have included in your review. This is not included in your word count.

A summary table: This is not included in your word count.

See Appendix F Marking Guide for Systematic Literature Review for the marking criteria for the systematic literature review.

Resources to assist you in completing your systematic literature review
Blumberg, B., Cooper, D. and Schindler, P. (2014). "Literature Review." In Business Research Methods. 4th ed. 88-119. London: McGraw-Hill Education.

Creswell, J. (2014). "Review of Literature." In Research Design. 4th ed. 25-50. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2015). "Reviewing the Literature." In Management and Business Research. 5th ed. 13-44. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2015). "Writing up the Literature Review." In Management and Business Research. 5th ed. 305-308.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Meriam Library (2010). Evaluating Information - Applying the CRAAP Test. Chico: California State University.

Phase 3: Planning the research design (group assessment)
With the support of your instructor, you will work with your group to design your mixed methods research project and produce a methodology and research tools to use to collect data. This phase is your second assignment and Part 1 of the group assessment.

Part 1: Methodology and research tools
Group submission
1500 words plus research tools
There are two main elements to complete and submit for this assessment:

a) Methodology (1500 words)
b) Research tools and associated documentation (no word limit)
To complete this assessment, you will need to reflect on what you found out through your literature reviews to re-define your project aim, objectives and research questions to design an achievable project, involving the collection of data through appropriate qualitative (e.g. focus groups) and quantitative data (e.g. survey) collection tools.

In this phase, it is important to consider the limitations and scope of your project. What is achievable regarding data collection in terms of these limitations (e.g. time and what has been specified above)? How will you transcribe, enter and organise your data in preparation for analysis? How long will this take?

Your project must:

• Be mixed methods in design
• Collect and use both qualitative and quantitative data
• Use a convenience sample of friends and family (n=10 min for each group member, not exceeding a total sample of 50 for the whole group if collecting quantitative data).

Your methodology should:

• Include your project aim, objectives and research questions
• Describe and justify your mixed methods research design, identifying the type of design and describe the mixing, timing and weighting of the study
• Show an understanding of and care for research ethics
• Describe your method, including a description and justification of sampling design and the tools you will use to collect data
• Describe and justify how you will organise and analyse your data
• Provide a discussion of the known and possible limitations
• Be fully referenced. This is important. You should be drawing on the academic literature when describing and justifying your research design

You must also submit:

• The tools you will use to collect data (e.g. a focus group schedule and a short survey)
• Consent and information documentation for data collection See Appendix G for the marking criteria for this assessment.

Phase 4: Data gathering (group work)
You are to work with your group to collect data using the tool(s) you developed in the previous phase. You are to do this in your own time, drawing on a convenience sample of friends and family as participants (with their permission).

Phase 5: Data processing and analysis (group work)
In your groups, you will collate and organise (transcribe, enter, edit, code, etc.) and analyse the data you have collected. You can use MS Excel to analyse your quantitative data. You are not required to use any statistical software to perform high level statistical tests for this assessment.

Phase 6: Drawing conclusions and preparing report (group assessment)
For this last phase of the research project, you will work with your group to deliver an oral presentation on your findings and your finished project. Presentations should be 15 minutes long. This is Part 2 of the Group Assessment and the final assignment for the unit.

Part 2A: Presentation

15- minute oral presentation, plus a one-page executive summary, an A4 handout and a reference list. Record and upload presentation as unlisted YouTube channel (provide link with your submission of the summary)
In-class, Session 6/7

There are four elements to complete and submit for this assessment:

a) 15-minute presentation
b) A one-page executive summary
c) An A4 handout
d) Upload recorded presentation onto unlisted YouTube Channel by the end of the session. You will not be required to edit this video.

Your presentation must:
• Be presented in professional English business language
• Have accompanying visual aids such as PowerPoint slides
• Include an introduction and an outline of the presentation
• Report on your results and analysis
• Discuss your analysis, with clear reference to the literature
• Include recommendations for the client
• Be fully referenced

The written component consists of three parts:

• An executive summary of one-page (including the link to your YoubTube Channel)
• A hand-out (double-sided, A4) that includes a summary of relevant literature, main presentation points and recommendations
• A list of references

Attachment:- Applying Mixed Methods Research to Business.rar