Qualitative - Research PlanValue:40%Due date:13-Apr-2018Return date:08-May-2018Length:2500...

Question

Qualitative - Research PlanValue:40%Due date:13-Apr-2018Return date:08-May-2018Length:2500 wordsSubmission method optionsAlternative submission method
Task

Using a business problem that is of concern in your workplace or in an organisation that you are familiar with, perform the following tasks:

1. Briefly provide some background information to the organisation.
2. Identify a general business problem or opportunity where a research study could assist decision making.
3. As part of the preliminary information gathering process conduct a brief literature review on the problem area. In writing your review, note that with a literature review the researcher critically analyses what has been written and relates it to the specific problem he or she is addressing. In other words, literature reviews are not about passively accepting and communicating the views of other writers. Employ at least five reference articles in your review.
4. Define the specific research question(s) for the general problem.
5. Identify a qualitative research method (in-depth interviews, focus groups, etc) that could be used to address the identified problem. Justify with reasons, your choice of method.
6. Using the qualitative method discussed in the previous task, develop a qualitative research plan detailing how you would conduct the research that addresses the research question(s).

The research plan should address, at least, the following:

What type of issues/questions should be explored? If using focus group, prepare the moderator's guide; if using in-depth interviews, prepare the interview guide.

How many groups, interviews or case studies would you recommend?

How will you select the sample of research participants?

Location - i.e. where should the interviews /groups be conducted?

How would you propose the data be analysed?

What are the ethical implications of your research, and how will they be addressed?

Online submission via Turnitin is required for this assignment. Details will be provided by your subject lecturer.

Rationale

This assignment is designed to address how the researcher would plan a qualitative research methodology to investigate a business problem. The capacity to know how to identify, collect preliminary information on and develop a research plan for a business problem is critical for business success. This task will help you develop the following learning outcomes: identify a business reserach opportunity; synthesise literature; apply appropriate methods; plan and design a research project; justify the use of qualitative research techniques and discuss ethical issues in business research.

Marking criteria

Marking criterion	Weighting	Exemplary (75+)	Proficient (50 - 74%)	Incomplete (	Mark
Background, organisation information and broad business problem	5	Detailed information provided in a succinct form on the organisational context. The business problem is well linked to the organisational context, with a detailed outline of the dimensions of the problem and its significance for the goals of the organisation	Detailed information is provided in a succinct form on the organisational context.The business problem and its significance to organisational goals is explained. Some gaps in the scope and depth of description.	Poor background on the organisational context is provided, and/or the business problem is poorly specified
Literature review on business problem and specific research questions	10	The literature review is comprehensive, relevant and demonstrates the ability to synthesise information and to critically reflect on existing research. The research questions are clearly connected to the business problem and to the synthesis of the literature	A thorough attempt is made to synthesise existing research relating to the business problem, to critically reflect on this research, and to frame the research questions based on the business problem and existing research. Gaps in the depth and scope of the literature review	Limited evidence of reading and/or poor synthesis of information and/or critical reflection on reading. The research questions identified are poorly linked to the business problem and/or to existing research
Description and justification for the choice of qualitative research method and qualitative research plan	15	Demonstrates ability to recognise appropriate research methods and to select a research method/s that is suited to the research questions identified. The research plan is detailed and there are no gaps in the facility of the plan to investigate the research questions	Demonstrated ability to select an appropriate research method/s for the research questions identified. However, gaps are evident in the justification of the choice of research method/s and/or in the facility of the research plan to examine the research questions identified	Poor justification of the research method/s selected. The research plan will not enable satisfactory examination of the research questions identified.
Written expression and presentation	5	Quality of written expression and presentation conforms fully to academic standards relating to clarity of expression, syntax, grammar, and punctuation. No gaps in referencing technique using the APA 6 referencing system	Some gaps evident in the quality of written expression and presentation. Further work needed in report writing technique, including correct referencing	Poor ability in report writing, with several gaps in the quality of written expression and presentation. Several referencing errors
Creativity and originality of ideas	5	The report demonstrates a high level of original thinking and creativity in the formulation of the conceptual framework for the study, the research questions, the methods used and the research plan	The report satisfactorily addresses the task and there is some evidence of original and creative thinking. However, for the most part, the report applies existing conceptual frames and associated methods	Little or no evidence of original and creative thinking
	40

Presentation

A written report is required as part of the requirements of the assignment.

A natural format for a response is to use the tasks listed under assignment task as section headings (appropriately reduced and modified) for the written report.

The report should follow all the standard academic requirements for presentation including an appropriate list of cited references.

Requirements

You need to appropriately reference all the articles you employ in developing your report. Please use the APA style, information can be found at the CSU Referencing website at http://student.csu.edu.au/study/referencing-at-csu.

In preparing the assignment the following conditions must be followed.
1. No actual research involving the collection of primary data from human participants should be performed, i.e., interviews, observation, focus groups, surveys, ..etc.
2. Identities of the organisation and its employees should not be disclosed in the assignment. This means removing any information in the assignment which could potentially identify the organisation and its employees.
3. The assignment should not contain any private and/or commercial-in-confidence information which is not available publicly.

This assignment must be submitted through Turnitin.

It is recommended that your name, student ID and page number are included in the header or footer of every page of the assignment.
Further details about submission in Turnitin are provided in On-line submission.

Soumi · Accepted Answer

Running Head: QUALITATIVE - RESEARCH PLAN	1
QUALITATIVE - RESEARCH PLAN 		12
QUALITATIVE - RESEARCH PLAN
[TOPIC: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF USING E-COMMERCE STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING SALES OF THE BUSINESS ORGANISATION: A CASE STUDY OF MYER, AUSTRALIA]
Table of Contents
Introduction	3
1. Background Information to the Organisation	3
2. Business Problem	3
3. Literature Review	4
4. Specific Research Questions	5
5. Qualitative Research Method	6
6. Qualitative Research Plan	7
Conclusion	8
References	9
Appendix: Timeframe	11
Introduction
	E-commerce has developed to be a very useful platform for the enhancement of a business organisation in terms of their competitive advantages, market position, sales and profitability. Currently, a number of organisations are using this method not only to promote their business, but also to retain the customers. The customers are also quite interested in this form of commerce, where they have to benefits of not visiting the stores in person to make their purchases and yet have a wider choice of products. Therefore, the need for shifting focus towards this arena has become even more important now, so that the customers can also be lured to make purchases from then organisation, repeatedly. Therefore, the proposed research is a detailed study of the issues of not implementing e-commerce strategies into the business operations of the company that have laid a negative impact upon the sales performance of the organisation.
1. Background Information to the Organisation
	Myer is a retail chain of departmental stores in Australia that deals in the vast range of goods for the daily use, especially clothing products for men, women and children. It also deals in the make-up products, beauty products, accessories, furniture, toys, home appliances and household objects, along with offering a wide range of confectionary as well as stationery items (Myer, 2017). Hence, their range of products is quite diverse, which has helped them garner an enormous spectrum of popularity within the Australian market. They are famous for their offers on the range of high-end products; however, with the advent of competitiveness in the Australian retail market, the company has started facing tough rivalry from their major competing form— David Jones. 
Nevertheless, the business of Myer had been steady all the while due to their range of products being more varied and their lucrative offers. However, a recent setback into their revenues has been noted, which has put the company on a vulnerable position in the market (ABC News, 2017). Their revenues have been found to have dropped recently, which is an area of major concern because as per the opinions of Chen, Pan and Ouyang (2014), in the growing competitive market, a fall of revenue leads to deterioration of the market position of the company. Therefore, this company has been chosen for analysing the key reasons behind their falling revenues.
2. Business Problem
	The key business problem is that the company has faced a major downfall in their profit percentage for the fiscal year 2016-2017 (ABC News, 2017). This departmental store of Australia had predicted a large amount of sales that had assumed they would incur for that fiscal year; however, in comparison to that they only received a 20% of it, which was only $11.9mn (ABC News, 2017). This is an issue because this has brought their market position down considerably, which has forced them to undertake an impairment change (Reuters, 2018). This is currently, a major area of concern because they have analysed that the major reason for the same is the lack of attention of the organisation towards their online sites and business (News.com.au, 2017). 
In the present era of high competitiveness, as mentioned by Chen, Pan and Ouyang (2014), a lack of focus towards the online platform and e-commerce strategies for a business are major loopholes in the business activities of any renowned business firms. It is so because, most of the firms and customers are presently, highly inclined towards the attainment of an online platform that is more user-friendly, convenient as well as timesaving for the customers, along with companies themselves (Awa, Ojiabo & Emecheta, 2015). In this case, the format of business problems will be lack of attention of Myer towards their online sites and business.
Research Aim:
Viewing this significant area of operation for a business organisation, a study has been proposed here, which aims to focus on the importance of this strategy to enhance sales for business firms. The study will be conducted in the specific context of the renowned high-end departmental store of Australia, Myer.
3. Literature Review
	E-commerce has become an extremely popular tool for enhancing the business all over the world. The strategies encompassed within this format of business are innovative and convenient for the use of the customers. Apart from that; as supported by Aleksandrovna, Fedorovich and Viktorovna (2016), the business organisations are also significantly being benefitted from these strategies. Papers on retail sector of Australia have indicated this scenario, most of them stating that the benefits of e-commerce have majorly been their enhanced brand recognition and the increment in their sales. Therefore, the use of e-commerce strategies has increased remarkably in the recent times, especially in the cases of the retail organisations.
	As mentioned by Kozlenkova, Palmatier, Fang, Xiao and Huang (2017), some of the most effective e-commerce strategies are the use of social networking sites for marketing the products of the company, targeting the contemporary young customers, who use the internet quite commonly; and opting for mobile marketing. These strategies not only benefit the organisation by increasing their sales, but also help them to strengthen their relationship with their customers. Other than these, the choice of updating the official websites of the company regularly is one of the most basic e-commerce strategy. 
However, as argued by Gregory, Ngo and Karavdic (2017), these require quite a lot of amount of knowledge about the area of e-commerce strategies to be used in the business. This implies that if the marketing management of the organisation is not well accustomed to the aspects and strategies of implementing e-commerce, then they can have a major failure in this field.

Qualitative - Research PlanValue:40%Due date:13-Apr-2018Return date:08-May-2018Length:2500 wordsSubmission method optionsAlternative submission method Task Using a business problem that is of concern...

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