Competency

Develop research strategy skills for business analysis.

Scenario

You are a manager at a small grocery store chain. In your role it is your responsibility to oversee all aspects of the day to day functioning of your store. This includes the customer experience, sales, management of employees, inventory, etc. Over the previous six months, you have identified a slow decline in sales. The home office has taken notice as well and is applying pressure to turn things around. You have been in this position for 3 years and plan to apply for a general manager position when one becomes available. However, if you are unable to increase your sales numbers, this will not be possible.

In order to identify the cause in the decline, you will have to assess all aspects of your operation. Many factors can contribute to declining sales, such as customer service, price points, or even location. However, you are aware that a major competitor has recently began an online pick-up and delivery service to provide added convenience for their customers, and you believe this may be a contributing factor for the drop in your sales figures. You have mentioned this to the general manager and have gotten a lukewarm response. In order to stay competitive, you have decided to explore whether the lack of an online service component is affecting your in-store sales and what research strategies you will employ to make the determination.

Instructions

You have decided to formalize your concerns to management in the form of an internal memo. The memo will concisely identify the problem and include a review of the literature that analyzes pros and cons of adding an online pick-up and delivery service at your store. Taking the information, you have gleaned from the literature search, you will then identify the research strategies you will employ to determine whether adding the online services for your customers would increase sales.

In Microsoft Word create the internal memo and include the following:

• Brief introduction that provides context for your inquiry including a persuasive argument for moving forward with your research.
• Statement of the business problem that includes a dependent and independent variable.
• A review of the literature that includes at least four references to published resources that includes both primary and secondary data (articles, annual reports, company websites, industry surveys)
• An analysis of the research strategy you will use to determine whether you will move forward with adding online services (survey, focus group, observation, content analysis, case studies etc.)
• A conclusion that explains the importance of moving forward with your research.

Grading Rubric

F

F

C

B

A

0

1

2

3

4

Did not Submit

No Pass

Competence

Proficiency

Mastery

Not Submitted

Is not formatted as a memo.

Heading is missing and the introduction, body, and conclusion are not spaced, aligned, or indented consistently or according to any recognizable format.

Memo heading is not correctly aligned and is missing one or two elements.

Memo is not formatted for readability or compliance with standard formatting conventions.

Memo contains an aligned heading with three of the following: recipient’s name, sender’s name, date, and topic.

Memo is inconsistently block or modified block formatted.

Correctly formatted Memo contains an aligned heading with recipient’s name, sender’s name, date, and topic.

Memo is block or modified block formatted.

Not Submitted

Introduction does not provide context, prepare readers for the memo, or present a clear argument.

Introduction achieves only one of the three goals or achieves two but insufficiently; significantly more detail is needed for the introduction to be complete and reader-focused.

Introduction achieves two of the three goals of providing context, preparing the reader, or making a clear argument or the memo demonstrates an attempt to achieve all three goals but is only minimally or superficially successful.

Introduction provides context for the research and prepares the reader for the rest of the memo while making a clear argument in favor of moving forward with the research.

Not Submitted

Problem statement is misstated or not presented as a relevant problem.

Variables are misidentified.

The section contains two or more grammar and/or syntax errors.

Problem statement is implied but not stated clearly. Variables are incorrectly identified.

At least one noticeable grammar error is present.

Includes a problem statement that could be clearer or more concise.

Dependent or independent variable is identified, but not both.

At least one noticeable grammar error is present.

Includes a clear and concise Problem Statement that identifies the dependent and independent variables relevant to the situation.

Section is error-free.

Not Submitted

Incomplete Literature Review presents at least three references, refers to their contents but doesn’t provide a summary, and attempts to explain their relevance to the current situation and proposed research but is lacking needed information, statistics, or examples.

Sources are all secondary. This section is not well organized and contains three or more grammatical or mechanical error.

Literature Review presents at least three references, summarizes their contents though not completely, and explains their relevance to the current situation and proposed research but minimally.

Sources are a combination of primary and secondary but combination is not balanced – too many secondary sources.

This section is mostly well organized and contains two or three grammatical or mechanical errors.

Thorough Literature Review presents at least three references, summarizes their contents, and explains their relevance to the current situation and proposed research.

Sources are a combination of primary and secondary.

This section is mostly well organized and contains one grammatical or mechanical error.

Thorough Literature Review presents at least four references, summarizes their contents, and explains their relevance to the current situation and proposed research.

Sources are a combination of primary and secondary.

This section is well organized and free of grammatical and mechanical errors.

Not Submitted

The chosen research strategy is defined briefly but is not analyzed for compelling features or for relevance to the present situation and proposed research project.

Common or inappropriate language is used and most or all sentences follow the same structure. Grammar and syntax errors interfere with meaning.

The analysis of the chosen research strategy defines a recognized research strategy and briefly explains at least two features of that strategy, while attempting to connect the strategy to the present situation and proposed research project.

Common language is used and most or all sentences follow the same structure.

The analysis of the chosen research strategy defines a recognized research strategy and explains two to three compelling features of that strategy, while connecting the strategy to the present situation and proposed research project using appropriate and accurate language and variety of sentence structures.

The analysis of the chosen research strategy defines a recognized research strategy and thoroughly explains at least three compelling features of that strategy, while clearly connecting the strategy to the present situation and proposed research project using sophisticated language and variety of sentence structures.

Not Submitted

Conclusion is not concise or presents new information; it fails to restate the purpose and main points of the memo.

Three or more grammar or syntax errors present in this section.

Conclusion is not concise but presents no new information; rather, it restates the purpose and main points of the memo.

Two or three grammar or syntax errors present in this section.

Conclusion is concise and presents no new information; rather, it restates the purpose and main points of the memo.

One or two grammar or syntax errors present in this section.

Conclusion is concise and presents no new information; rather, it restates the purpose and main points of the memo.

No grammar or syntax errors present in this section.