SOE11148 MBA Management Research

Assessment Details

There are two team-based elements of assessment for this module.

Secondary Data Analysis

In teams you will analyse a secondary database, produce and interpret the results and make recommendations to the organisation that has hired your team. This assessment is 1,000 words and is 20% of your overall module mark. All of the relevant files are on Moodle in folders entitled ‘Qualitative Data’ and ‘Quantitative Data’.

Qualitative Data Base Analysis[1]

Bournemouth is a resort town on the south coast of England (https://www.bournemouth.co.uk/). It was significantly adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and the number of tourists remains low. Your team has been hired by Bournemouth City council to re-analyse data that had been collected as part of an Economic and Social Research (ESRC)-funded project in 2014.  Your brief is to focus the analysis around the use of wellbeing, health and ‘feelgood’ strategies in hospitality organisations in the key areas of marketing, operations and managing staff.  Using either thematic analysis or discourse analysis, produce a summary of your analysis and make recommendations to the council on how they can stimulate their hospitality organisations with the aim of revitalising the tourism sector in Bournemouth.

The qualitative databases are in two formats: 1. A word document reflecting the content of a workshop and 2. An excel document reflecting the content of semi-structured interviews. The interview schedule has been uploaded with the data files. You can conduct your analysis in word or excel.

Quantitative Data Base Analysis[2]

Your team has been hired by the Green Supply Chain organisation (https://www.greensupplychain.org/Green_Supply_Chain.org/Welcome.html) to re-analyse data that had been collected as part of an ESRC-funded project in 2014. Your brief is to focus the analysis on whether there is a relationship between an organisation’s performance (eg profitability, market share) and its environmental performance. Analyse the database using basic descriptive statistics – e.g., frequencies, cross-tabulations and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. Produce a summary of your analysis and make recommendations to the Green Supply Chain organisation on how they can enhance any organisational-environmental performance found. If no statistically significant results are found, provide recommendations on how to make this important relationship significant.

The quantitative data is in an Excel spreadsheet. The survey has been uploaded with the data file. The variables that you will analyse are on pages 6-9 on the survey. You can conduct your analysis in Excel or SPSS (SPSS is a statistical software and should only be used if a member of your team has previous experience with this software).

The reports should be structured as follows:

1. Introduction (100 words) [10%]
2. Summary of analysis (600 words) [60%]
3. Recommendations and Limitations of the relevant methodology (ie qualitative or quantitative) (300 words) [20%]
4. References (4-5 academic references) [5%]
5. Peer evaluation [5%]

Case Study Analysis

This assessment is 3,000 words and is 80% of your overall module mark. 10% of the mark is peer assessment of your contribution to the Case Study Team’s Analysis.

The business school model is rapidly changing as employers move away from seeking employers with theoretical knowledge toward those with practical knowledge and hands-on experience. This is where case study learning comes in. The case method is an excellent way for you to learn new cognitive skills, as well as improve your analytical and evaluation skills. In working through case studies, you become actively engaged in the process of abstracting basic principles from complex examples. You will also enhance your problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities. They also gain the opportunity to learn through the diverse ideas and perspectives of your team members and enhance your team-working skills.

We have carefully selected 5 case studies published by INSEAD (https://www.insead.edu/news/2014-best-case-studies).  They reflect a range of specialisms in business and management (e.g., CSR; HRM, Marketing, Strategy). Your team must select a case study by Week 3. All of the cases will be available on Moodle under the folder, ‘Case Studies’.

Menu of Case Studies:

1. EcoVadis: A Sustainability Rating Company Goes Global

Specialisms: CSR & Sustainability

2. Outfit7 (A): Human Resource Management and Culture at a Start-up

Specialisms: Entrepreneurship & HRM

3. Google in Russia: Leveraging Digital Analytics and Intelligence for Sustainable Growth

Specialism: Marketing

4. Successes and Failures of Amazon’s Growth Strategies: Causes and Consequences

Specialism: Strategy

5. Lenovo: The Next Level in Leadership

Specialism: Leadership and HRM

The team Case Study Analysis reports must be organised into 6 sections, plus your peer evaluation.

1)    Title Page and Table of Contents

2)    Executive Summary (not incorporated in the word count)

3)    Introduction[3][4] (approximately 500 words) [10%].  This section should include the following:

1.     Historical Development of the case study company and its evolution. Please organise the discussion as a temporal sequence of events.

2.     A brief overview of the selected company in terms of size and location; analysis of the industry in which it operates and its main competitors. Consider future trends/trajectories in the selected industry.

• One aim and one objective to support the aim. A brief justification of why this aim and objectives is appropriate. It is also useful to clarify the focus of the assignment.
• Key Analysis (approximately 2000 words) [65%]. This section should include the following:
• A critique of the case study in relation to the literature and references it draws upon and/or its methodological approach (500 words).
• Revise the case study to achieve your aims and objectives by critically reviewing the relevant academic sources (1500 words).

You need to include a minimum of 6 peer reviewed academic journal articles. The use of Edinburgh Napier’s online library resource to access journal articles from Emerald, Ingenta, ABI Inform databases etc.

When writing this section, compare and contrast the literature using the APA 6^th  citation style and ensure there is continuity and a logical link between the references and themes introduced.(Detailed references of your cited authors would then appear in the ‘References’ section at the end of your assignment).

• New Recommendations & Conclusion (approximately 500 words) [10%]. This section should include the following:
• Based on your industry research and critical methodological and literature reviews, provide alternative recommendations to those given in the case study. A brief justification of why there are alternative recommendations are appropriate is also useful to clarify the recommendations.
• The Conclusion should synthesise the case study assignment.
• Academic References [5%]
• Peer Evaluation [10%]

To complete this assessment, review the SOE11148 MBA Management Research document.