Sample Manufacturing is an Important Sector in the Business and Without Manufacturing

Introduction

Manufacturing is an important sector in the business and without manufacturing there are no products that could be used by the consumers to make lives easier. Big companies from industrialized nations are the ones responsible for the massive scale of manufacturing in their own countries; an example is the Ford Motors in the United States. However, with the rapid embracement of huge companies in the concept of globalization, more and more companies are looking for possible locations for manufacturing. In addition, with the new technologies in the market boundaries is no longer an issue in the business. An organisation may have its headquarters in the West but can open a factory in the East.

Statement of the Problem

Research Aims and Objectives

Hypothesis

Significance of the Study

Related Literature

Methodology

Research Design

The research design described in this document is based on both quantitative and qualitative research method. The qualitative method permits a flexible and iterative approach, while the quantitative research method permits specification of dependent and independent variables and allows for longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of the research subject (Saunders, Lewis and Thorn hill, 2001). During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.

Actually, research requires an organised data gathering in order to pinpoint the research philosophies and theories that will be included in the research, the methodology of the research and the instruments of data interpretation. In this study, the Research Process “Onion” will be utilised so that the findings of the study can be thoroughly established. The inner part of the onion describes the methodology portion whereas the outer part discusses the strategies that can be utilised in interpreting the results of the findings.

The descriptive research method uses surveys and interviews. Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena.

Feasibility of the Proposed Study

The study would make use of the interview and survey questionnaire method to be able to lessen the expenses of the research. The primary source of data will come from a survey and interviews conducted by the researcher among randomly selected employees of 10 manufacturing companies, five for each sector.

The biggest obstacle that needs to be resolved is the gatekeeper which is the HR managers, with whom the researcher will send the letter asking for the list of manufacturing employees in their company or organisation. In case this would happen, there are 2 companies in reserve that the researcher can tap to replace the lost number of respondents

The research described in this document is partly based on flexible research methods. This permits iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.

Secondary sources of data will come from published articles from information technology management journals, theses and related studies on information systems.

Schematic Drawing of the Research Design

The schematic drawing of the research design is adapted from the Input-Process-Output (IPO) Model. The research design is viewed as a series of boxes connected by inputs and outputs. According to Armstrong (2001), the input is the information that goes in while the process is the causes of the changes and the output is the result. Figure 1 illustrates the basic IPO model:

Figure 2

Input – Process – Output Model

The model will serve as a guide for a clearer understanding of the multi-method research design. For the purpose of this research, the variables of the basic model are substituted by the research variables of this study. This is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3

3.4 Data Collection Methods and Instruments

For this paper, the researcher will use the survey to gather information. Questionnaires will be of a non-threatening nature and can be completed within 30 minutes. The respondents will grade each statement in the survey questionnaire using the Liker scale with a five-response scale. The respondents are given five response choices whose equivalent weights are as follows:

Range Interpretation

4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Agree

3.50 – 4.49 Agree

2.50 – 3.49 Uncertain

1.50 – 2.49 Disagree

0.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree

The results will then be analysed and presented in tables. However, with the use of Liker Scale, the researcher is also aware of its disadvantages and will elaborate them for clarification. The disadvantages are: the subjects may or may not give an accurate assessment of their beliefs, feelings, attitudes or behaviours. The data is legitimate only to the extent that subjects are completely honest; subjects may answer according to what they feel the correct response should be, not how the subject really feels; a subject may give a higher score out of compassion, or a lower score out of anger; and scale construction is time consuming and takes a great deal of decision making.

There would also be an interview for the managers of manufacturing department of a certain company.

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thorn hill (2001), the use of the interview is to help the researcher gather valid and reliable data which are relevant to the research questions. The use of structured interviews will be use in this research since it is more appropriate; however, it does not permit one to deviate from the list of questions such as to ask follow up questions regarding a response of the interviewee which in-depth interviews more than allow to be done. The researcher has sent request letters to the selected interviewees to set up the most convenient time for the interviews to be conducted.

Validity of Instrument

For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the survey will be conducted to five respondents. After the questions were answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, too much simpler terms.

The researcher will exclude the five respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument. The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions. Moreover, the interview shall be using a structured interview. It shall consist of a list of specific questions and the interviewer does not deviate from the list or inject any extra remarks into the interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. Otherwise, the interviewer attempts to be objective and tries not to influence the interviewer’s statements. The interviewer does not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. The structured interview is mostly a “question and answer” session.

General Characteristics of the Study Population

The subjects of this study are the employees of manufacturing companies in Hong Kong. The researcher will send a letter to the Human Resources Department asking for a list of all employees in manufacturing department and the purpose of such a request. The letter also discussed in detail the value of the research being conducted and assured the department that all information given will remain confidential with no sensitive data regarding company insider information on technology and design would be asked from the respondents.

The sample size for the survey is expected to be 100. The respondents would be employees in the manufacturing department. A total of 10 employees would be taken from each company to participate in the survey. Simple random sampling would be conducted to select the actual respondents from the company. This method involves the selection of the sample at random from the sampling frame through the use of random number tables ( 2001). Numbers will be assigned for each employee in the master list. These numbers will be written on pieces of paper and drawn from a box until the sample size is reached. Then the researcher will draw 100 more for the reserve respondents.

The number of participants in the interview is 4 out of the likely participants from the 10 companies. Numbers will be assigned for each IT manager in the master list. These numbers will be written on pieces of paper and drawn from a box. Those who will be picked will be sent a letter asking their permission to participate in the in-depth interview.

The Location of Setting in which the Study is to take place. Geographic Dimensions of the Study Population

The study will take place in Hong Kong, particularly 10 manufacturing organisations.

Data Analysis

In order to correctly interpret the data in such a way that its result will reflect what the study originally intends to show then the researcher must employ the correct and accurate way of data analysis. The method of data analysis then chosen for this study is through grouping the answers by category, then allowing them to be tabulated and analyzed through percentages. Tables may be used to present these findings in order to show the raw data tabulations and the percentage of people per category has chosen to answer the same.

Thus, simple statistics can be done and applied, and it will be easier to determine the characteristic and status of procurement process of manufacturing industries in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, to interpret the data gathered, the researcher will use the following statistical formulae (1994):

1. Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.

% = ——– x 100 ; n – number of responses

N – total number of respondents

2. Weighted Mean

f1x1 + f2x2 + f3x3 + f4x4 + f5x5

x= ——————————————— ;

where: f – weight given to each response

x – number of responses

at – total number of responses

The researcher will be assisted by the SPAS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study.

Scope and Limitation of Research Design

For this proposal, the author will employ a combination of qualitative and methods. The qualitative methodology that was employed in this research is appropriate since it seeks to interpret or illuminate the actions and/or subjective experiences of the business employees in manufacturing industry regarding their experiences in procurement strategies. This kind of research can utilize the qualitative method.

For the particular study, the participants will be various business employees from different manufacturing industries. Basically, how the participants will be selected is only a matter of random.

Before the study will be conducted, an approval to perform the study will be obtained from the ethics committee. The researchers will employ an interview method of data collection in two forms: (1) a questionnaire which will be sent by mail or email (2) a narrative interview through the telephone.

Every participant in the study will be interviewed in the same manner and the data will all be collected in the same way. The timing of when the interviews will take place will also be within one timeframe – e.g. within a span of two weeks. The reason for this is because discrepancies in time could significantly affect the data collected.

Data analysis employed in the study will be carried out in steps. Every data form (audiotape-recorded or written and transcribed) will be carefully read in order to have an idea of the whole results concept. The text will then be read again and divided into meaningful units as the researcher see fit. The data gathered from the study will show the current statues and effectiveness of procurement strategies as part of business development of manufacturing industries in Hong Kong. These are all ideas which employees in manufacturing industry think of in the current status of procurement.

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