Research Topics: Sample Dissertation Essay Topics

Sample Research Paper on CitiFinancial and NTIC Announce Expansion of Partnership

This paper discusses in detail the research proposal that examines the perception of the administrators in CitiFinancial regarding branch expansion. Basically, the researcher attempts to identify the impact and factors related to branch expansion. It attempts to discover the feasible plan in order to have a successful branch expansion.  This includes discussion of its history, the current status of CitiFinancial in terms of branch expansion, and its impact to the overall progress of the organisation. Specifically, this proposed research explores the perceptions of the respondents and their view regarding branch expansion. Founded in 1912 as Commercial Credit, the company was bought by Sandy Weill in 1986. Citifinancial is consumer lending subsidiary of financial services giant Citigroup Inc. Thus, CitiFinancial offers bill consolidation, debt refinancing, home equity, home improvement and other personal loans through approximately 3,000 offices in the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan. In addition, the CitiFinancial group reaches customers through retail partnerships. The banking industry faces a lot of incurring issues and challenges when it comes to certain business branch expansions as it can be due to diverse banking processes within bank sector industry as for Citifinancial it is imperative to involve the aspects of branch assimilation, assumptions as well as implications of the such desire to adopt to the process of total branch expansion to various regions globally. Thus, the research investigation will identify descriptively the branch expansion factors as well as positive outcomes of the expansion in determining strong and weak points of the expansion process in the banking sector industry and determine the value levels of branch networking paradigms and context of Citifinancial respectively. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions will be explored in the study: <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">What are the supplies needed for the project? (e.g. labour force, building materials, supplies after expansions such as office personnel, office materials, etc.) </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">How much will 25 branches expansions cost? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Which locations are potential places for CitiFinancial to operate? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">How much people does CitiFinancial need for a single expansion project? </li> a. the number of people for the project management of the expansion? b. the required number of staff once the expansion has been completed? <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Is using integrated supply chain described OSD Comptroller iCenter effective for the project? </li> The research questions will be explored qualitatively by conducting interviews with the engineering management of CitiGroup Inc. in Hong Kong. Thus, the questions provided below are to be answered also for more depth of research meaning and relevance.  1. What are the value of branches and core competence?, and How it is realized in Citifinancial for possible success of their branch expansion? 2. How imperative is Citifinancial’s roles and responsibilities models in realizing better branch networks? Explain the value and importance of Citifinancial’s goal statements of the matter. 3. Determine and Discuss briefly Citifinancial’s focus for strategy, Is it moving towards a better and a positive branch expansion network? How and in what way? 4. What are the branch expansion challenges that Citifinancial may face upon the realization of such branch expansion plans? 5. Is Citifinancial well prepared to exert full effort in expanding its branches? Any evidence or support for the latter? STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH The research will have a strategic importance in identifying barriers and problems that CitiFinancial may face during its expansion. Further, the research will make the expansion easier for the company. Expansion projects are difficult because there are many issues to consider. There is the budget, the time-frame, the supplier and the resources (human, space, equipment, etc). CitiBank is planning to expand with an additional 25 branches for CitiFinancial in Hong Kong – an exercise that requires much preparation and background research. This study will assess the process by identifying the key variables that would affect the successful completion of the expansion. By estimating the budget necessary, the timeframe necessary and staffing required, this study will be able to predict the success of the expansion in Hong Kong. Furthermore, identifying the advantages that an integrated supply chain approach can contribute to the project would help in its development. Research Goals This study will try to achieve the following research goals: -          To be able to acquire useful research evidences and information and the finding out of certain possibilities for CitiFinancial to increase more of their branches internationally and expand their networks within the banking sector industry not just in the US but other countries as well -          To interview and survey head and staffs of Citigroup for the possible branch expansion -          To study the data collected from literatures and the respondents and look for relationships that are important in the study’s issue Research Plan and Methodology             The first month will be dedicated on the knowing more about the problem of the research. This will be followed an in-depth literature search on the internet and local libraries. Literature search will continue for as long as four months. The three among those four months will also be dedicated in knowing more about the research design and methods chosen for the study. The following months will be dedicated in data collection. A letter of permission to conduct research will be submitted to the management of Citifinancial as appropriate. Several branches of Citifinancial globally will then be chosen for interviews and surveys. Data analysis will soon follow. The data will be analyzed both qualitatively and or quantitatively. Quantitative testing is for the data collected from Citifinancial, basically to find out the statistical prevalence of branching and expansion issues and prevalence of such applied measures. Multi-method is the chosen means of conducting this research so that data collection can be flexible and the topic will be better explained and elaborated. Overview of the Dissertation The dissertation will be composed of five chapters.             The first chapter will introduce the problems of the study, aims and objectives, as well as the methodology used.             Then, the second chapter will deal with providing the details of precise review of literature pointing and reflecting towards branch expansion processes and other relevant data and information for the completion of the study. Here, financial banking industry will be explored as well as the different issues and challenges that CitiFinancial face and apply.             The third chapter will present the data collected from the interviews and surveys amicably. Each data will be followed by discussions guided by references from related literatures.             Thus, the fourth chapter will present and discuss the data collected from the selected sectors within the CitiFinancial team. This will include the presentation of qualitative and quantitative data acquired and discussions on each of them.             Lastly, Chapter 5 will present the conclusion of the study as well as its recommendations. Expected Results              The research study anticipates discovering such realization and actualization of  branch network expansion of CitiFinancial that will involve its corporate and management ways as to how they can be successful in a lot of ways as there involves management team participation and the determining of branch expansion techniques and methods that the bank can use in their branching expansion. The study also integrates to know and realize imperative and critical points to be reflected in the research analysis and discussion of research findings and be able to meet the guidelines and procedures recommended by the people involved in the branch expansion study of CitiFinancial. chapter two Review of Related literature Traditional supply chains can be problematic. According to Sabath (1995): “…each step back in the supply chain, volatility of demand increases and forecast accuracy decreases”.  The reason in because it relies on at least three discrete inventory buffers to smooth the flow of goods through production and provide a reliable response to volatile consumer demand (Sabath, 1995). Traditional approaches also react very slowly with the demand trends and also treat all items very much the same. This is not the case in the integrated approach (Sabath, 1995). An integrated supply chain is linked organizationally and coordinated with information flows, from raw materials to on-time delivery of finished products to customers (Sabath, 1995). Partnering-oriented business relationships are established between, and among, all supply chain members to facilitate coordination of supply chain activities (Sabath, 1995). Sabath (1995) explained that integrated, coordinated supply chain “superorganizations” are extremely responsive and can react quickly to support a partner company’s rapid growth.              According to OSD Comptroller iCenter (2006), the advantages of supply chain management include: quicker customer response and fulfillment rates; greater productivity and lower costs; reduced inventory throughout the chain; improved forecasting precision; fewer suppliers and shorter planning cycles; improved quality and products that are more technologically advanced; enhanced inter-operational communications and cooperation; shortened repair times and enhanced equipment readiness; and more reliable financial information. This study will aim to identify if these characteristics are achieved by CitiFinancial in their expansion in Hong Kong. (CitiFinancial, 2007).                 Basically, the aim of building a presence is not just for profit motive but also to offer convenient services to customers among all segments and walks in life. According to CitiGroup Inc., 25 branches will be targeted to open by the end of 2007. This paper presents a briefing on the expansion and argues the reason why such an action is needed. It presents the problem to be solved, the main hypothesis, and the methods and procedures by which they can be solved during the pursuit of the project.  The following variables will be explored in the study: Ø      Location Ø      Cost Ø      Safety The expansion of CitiFinancial is a major breakthrough for CitiGroup in Hong Kong. The key locations where it expanded will offer more versatility to the company’s services. However, there are still several problems that the company should explore first to ensure the positive impact of the expansion project. For instance, because it concerns expansion, there is a need to identify who will lead the engineering department, who will manage the supply chain, etc. The 25 additional expansions that CitiFinancial plan also require sufficient survey of potential areas where the new infrastructures would be developed. Specifically, this study will focus on the supply chain side of the project. The problem with the expansion is identifying the right supplies to use for the project, generally the overall management of supplies needed to be used for building infrastructures. Hong Kong‘s banking industry has been an increasingly competitive business environment. With concerns over rising bad debts and shrinking interest margins, many commercial banks have introduced new product initiatives, ranging from credit cards, investment management and insurance to e-banking. These have all been major sources of revenue for banks in adjusting to the new economic setting. For organisations that move into new product areas, there is also likely to be greater uncertainty surrounding customer preferences (Von Hippel, 1988) and a corresponding need for customer accounting information. For example, Davila (2000, p. 387) found that medical equipment manufacturers who moved into new markets had a greater need for customer information, and noted that, “management control systems in new product development are viewed as sources of information that are used to close the gap between the information required to perform a task and the amount of information already possessed.”. The need for customer accounting information in banks is also likely to increase as market competition increases. Market competition places pressure on revenue streams and forces banks to consider new product development initiatives and a corresponding need for information concerning customer preferences. Cobb et al. (1995) studied the management accounting system (MAS) in a division of a multinational bank from 1989 to 1993, and found that the introduction of new products, among other factors such as new competitors, place pressure on firms to initiate changes in the management accounting system. The management accounting practices that were adopted included new cost allocation methodology, value for money exercises, new cost reports, competitive benchmarking and more participative budgeting processes, all of which increased the levels of discussion and produced greater communication between managers and management accountants. When a bank begins to serve new customers, their needs and requirements are less well understood and uncertainty is high. In this case, information about customers obtained from a customer accounting system is expected to be beneficial in tailoring products to customer needs as well as helping the bank to allocate resources to support the promotion and sale of such products. Community banks faced with the need for a major expansion wrestle with a common dilemma: whether to increase their investment downtown or build a new facility in high-growth corridors. In towns across America, banks have traditionally played a highly visible role in downtown commerce. For many, the headquarters office is recognized as a downtown landmark, an enduring symbol of the bank itself. So, despite the possible advantages of relocating, bank executives also recognize the need to maintain a strong downtown presence. The question then becomes what is the best strategic facility to not only meet current customer needs, but also to support future growth? One option may be to build a new branch in the path of retail development and relocate some of the bank’s operations to the new facility, freeing up needed space at the downtown main office. That may solve the immediate space problem, but splitting operations between two locations may not be an optimal solution. Another option is to convert the main office to a branch, and build a new headquarters in an outlying area to keep pace with residential and shopping patterns. The downtown location can continue to serve key commercial accounts, since banks want their executives to be highly visible and accessible to this important customer base. Maintaining a downtown main office may also be seen as a priority in towns that serve as county seats and are home to state and county government offices. In many cases, the best solution is to expand and renovate the main office. A remodel/addition project often presents greater challenges than building an entirely new facility, requiring a carefully integrated approach to design, engineering and construction. Many downtown banks are landlocked, with limited space for building additions, drive-up facilities or expanded parking. Aging facilities may pose limitations from a design or structural standpoint. And, keeping the bank operational and secure during the phasing of construction is critical. A design vision is as important as structural considerations. More than just alleviating space problems, how will the facility design create or maintain a strong identity for the bank? Will the finished project provide a unified look? Having employees or the community compliment the bank on its “new addition” is not as flattering as receiving rave reviews about the “new bank.” The interior design must not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also must enhance customer service and convenience, and provide a productive, efficient work environment for employees. Expansion plans must also take into account a bank’s need to upgrade its technology infrastructure or provide additional space for marketing activities, such as interactive kiosks or video displays. There is no single formula for an effective expansion and remodeling program. But all successful projects should have the common goal of better meeting customer needs and maximizing the bank’s opportunities for future growth. Few banking executives would consider launching a major new product or service initiative without first conducting an in-depth marketing analysis to determine customer needs. Strategic planning is just as important when it comes to building or relocating bank facilities. A comprehensive Facilities Planning Study should be the foundation for any building initiative to help bank management make the right decision about where facilities should be located to best serve the customer base, and how much space will be needed to meet current and future needs. No two banks are exactly alike. Therefore, every planning study is different. But a sound strategic plan should include the following steps: -          Analyze the local market from an economic and demographic standpoint in order to assess growth opportunities -          Review the bank’s financial history as well as any other significant trends that can be used as a base for projecting future activity. -          Recommend a long-term facility strategy that prioritizes branch and main office alternatives from a geographic, staffing, competitive and affordability standpoint. Local Market Profile The performance of the financial services market is generally tied very closely to the strength or weakness of the local economy, including changes in population, income, home construction and the local job market. A Facilities Planning Study, therefore, should begin with an examination of the local market economy. Local competitive activity is another key consideration. Facility design can be an important factor in helping a financial institution differentiate itself in terms of service delivery and branding. Bank Operations Customer growth, staffing trends and account activity are important criteria for assessing future needs. Management growth strategies will also have a direct bearing on future facility requirements. Does the bank want to retain its current positioning in the market or expand its customer base through geographic expansion? Staffing Space needs generally can be calculated based on a ratio of square footage per employee, but total space requirements under one roof will vary according to the specific needs of each institution. Future staffing levels can be impacted by a number of factors, such as technology changes and local market conditions, so specific guidelines will vary for different banks. Location Selection  Location selection is one of the most critical factors in the decision-making process, and one that should be determined through a comprehensive and logical approach. Key criteria include: -          Serving customers – How will the needs of current customers best be served from a facility standpoint, taking into account current customer residences and their community and shopping patterns? -          Positioning for future operations – What will be an effective location 5, 10 or even 15 years from now, considering economic and demographic trends? -          Preserving and, if possible, enhancing the value of the real estate investment – What location represents the best investment for the bank’s dollar? Regardless of specific circumstances, a strategic planning study can be an invaluable tool to help bank management ensure that their facilities will successfully meet customer needs and maximize the organization’s opportunities for future growth. New Direction Needed With the dynamics of the future so unclear, it only makes it more apparent that banks will need: -          Greater focus on what differentiates them from the competition, less attention — and spending — on commodity-like functions -          Heightened responsiveness to ongoing changes in the marketplace, more empowered customers and increasingly complex demands from regulators and stakeholders -          Variable cost structures that allow banks to accommodate fluctuations in market demand and product preferences while improving financial position through lower cost structures -          Improved resilience to counteract increased internal and external uncertainty and marketplace volatility — whether protecting your business from shocks such as natural disasters, privacy and security threats and geopolitical events or addressing everyday challenges like business expansion and credit risk <ul type="disc" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Banks are cobbling together an integrated view of the customer; however, channels are still predominately product-centric and management control remains within business units. With interdependent processes across competencies and business units, banks are struggling with overwhelming operational complexity. Connections between different areas of the enterprise tend to be static, inflexible and sometimes manual. Without adequate integration, the cost associated with the resulting organizational complexity can sometimes rise to the point where it offsets any benefits gained from shared processes. Moving into the future, banks will get relief. Technology advances will ease the friction of enterprise reconfiguration, and financial institutions will become more comfortable operating across product lines. As collaborative capabilities expand, companies will be able to push the concept of shared processes past their initial competency-based structures to a much more granular business composition. </li> </ul> To a large extent, technology advances are the key enablers that are making it possible for firms to operate in an on demand fashion. As IT becomes more open, integrated, virtualized and autonomic, it provides new ways of collaborating, eases business integration and reconfiguration and helps firms better manage the rising complexity of managing IT itself. To achieve this state of flexibility, a bank’s IT infrastructure needs to be: -          Based on open standards — to simplify systems integration and adapt to technology changes rapidly -          Integrated — to facilitate transaction and process integration across the enterprise; allow real-time connectivity among partners, suppliers and customers; enable active data mining and decision support -          Virtualized — so that distributed computing resources are shared and managed as a single, virtual data center to increase the utilization of existing assets and lower IT costs -          Autonomic — with systems that can be managed remotely, have embedded privacy protection and security features and are capable of self-optimization, self-diagnosis and self-healing About CitiFinancial CitiFinancial provides community-based lending through more than 1900 branches in the United States and distributes a wide variety of consumer loan products and services including real estate, personal loans and loans to finance consumer goods. CitiFinancial is part of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the preeminent global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup’s trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com U.S.: CitiFinancial and NTIC Announce Expansion of Partnership  New York and Chicago — CitiFinancial and the National Training and Information Center (NTIC) today announced the expansion of their partnership, designed to promote stable home ownership in communities around the country. Nearly a year after striking a groundbreaking agreement, CitiFinancial and NTIC have broadened their commitment to not only meet the lending needs of individuals and communities but to promote financial education, a fundamental building block to financial stability in neighborhoods across the country. CitiFinancial and NTIC and its network of grassroots organizations in Chicago, Central Illinois, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Des Moines, Indianapolis and Syracuse are pleased to announce that a specialized program will be developed to promote financial literacy for individuals. CitiFinancial will provide its financial education curriculum, as well as 0,000 over two years to support the program. NTIC and its local community groups and CitiFinancial will work together to blend their resources for the common goal of developing individuals’ personal finance skills, enabling them to make sound financial decisions. “CitiFinancial is pleased its relationship with NTIC and its community-based organizations continues to strengthen and expand,” said Harry Goff, President and CEO, CitiFinancial. “Our dialogue began more than three years ago and, since then, we have made significant progress towards raising the lending standards in the industry and promoting home ownership. We’re excited to embark on this new phase of our relationship because CitiFinancial believes that financial literacy can lead to home ownership which is instrumental to neighborhood stability.” “NTIC is pleased that CitiFinancial is committed to increasing homeownership in our neighborhoods,” said Inez Killingsworth, an NTIC board member. “Over the past year, CitiFinancial has demonstrated their willingness to combat predatory lending. They are sending a clear message to other financial institutions that it is good business to invest in our communities.” CitiFinancial and NTIC will continue to work together to: <ul type="disc" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Review the progress of CitiFinancial’s Real Estate Lending Initiatives and encourage the adoption of similar practices by other lenders; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Focus on a multi-stage foreclosure review process for borrowers in NTIC and local-affiliate cities; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Develop and promote affordable mortgage product solutions for customers, especially in the communities served by NTIC and its affiliates; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Implement a review and repair process for loans submitted by borrowers from cities served by NTIC and its affiliates. </li> </ul> CitiFinancial continues to make enhancements to its industry-leading changes to its lending and sales practices. Most recently, CitiFinancial introduced a new mortgage product that provides a near-prime rate loan to qualified applicants through its branch network. This is in addition to the elimination of single premium credit insurance for real estate secured loans; a reduction of the maximum number of points charged on real estate secured loans originated via CitiFinancial’s branch network to three from five; the implementation of “Customer First” a redesign of credit insurance sales practices across its branch network; and a complete revamping of its broker-based operations. CitiFinancial Opens 200 Branches in North America in 2006  Baltimore, MD – CitiFinancial today announced that it opened its 200th branch of 2006 on December 22, located at 9251 Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City, Maryland. The branch is one of three new CitiFinancial offices opened in Maryland in 2006 as part of the company’s North American expansion plan. CitiFinancial now has more than 2,000 branches in the United States. “Opening 200 branches in one year is a significant accomplishment,” said Harry D. Goff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CitiFinancial. “By expanding our distribution into more markets, we’re able to serve more consumers in more communities than ever before, continuing to lead the industry as the premier community-based lender.”  With the addition of Ellicott City, CitiFinancial now has 36 branches in Maryland and more than 300 in the Northeast. By early 2007, CitiFinancial expects its total North American branches to reach more than 2,500. “We are also thrilled to open a branch so close to our downtown Baltimore headquarters,” Mr. Goff continued. “Our 1,000 Baltimore-area employees are already active in this area, volunteering their time to serve many local organizations. I am confident the new Ellicott City branch team will help us make a difference in our community.” “I am proud to help the consumers in the Ellicott City area reach their financial goals and dreams,” said Althea Moore, manager of the new Ellicott City branch. “My branch team and I are committed to helping our customers take control of their financial futures.” CitiFinancial, a financial services company specializing in personal and home equity loans, has been in business in the United States since 1912, with more than 3.5 million customers and more than billion in receivables. In addition to its core products, CitiFinancial also offers affiliate products including auto loans, insurance, and Citi credit cards.  CONTINUING OPERATIONS  Consumer volumes and net interest margins. U.S. consumer loans grew 7%, reflecting loan growth in consumer lending and retail distribution of 17% and 7%, respectively, which was partially offset by a decline in cards average receivables. Commercial business core loans increased 20%. The benefit of higher loan volumes in U.S. consumer was partially offset by a flatter yield curve and a competitive pricing environment. In the international consumer franchise, cards average loans grew 15% and branch expansion drove a 7% increase in consumer finance loans outside of Japan. International retail banking deposits increased 5% and investment products sales and AUMs grew 28% and 19%, respectively. Net interest margins in international consumer expanded due to pricing actions and marketing initiatives. Continued momentum in capital markets driven businesses. In capital markets and banking, continued franchise momentum resulted in a 39% increase in equity markets revenues and a #1 rank in global equity and equity-linked underwriting for 2005. Increased merger and acquisition activity drove record advisory revenues, up 25%, and reflected a #2 rank in completed global M&A for 2005. An expanding customer base in transaction services contributed to growth in liability balances and assets under custody of 12% and 9%, respectively. Smith Barney continued to focus on advisory-based relationships, which was reflected in 19% growth in fee-based and net interest revenues. Expanding distribution. During the fourth quarter and the full year, continued investment spending led to significant expansion of our physical branch distribution network. Citibank international branch openings or acquisitions for the full year included 68 in Mexico, 36 in the Philippines, 16 in Brazil, and 15 in Russia. CitiFinancial international branch openings included 78 in Mexico, 73 in India, 28 in Korea, and 23 in both Brazil and Poland. CHAPTER THREE Methodology – the approach The study generally aims to identify the supply issues in the expansion of CitiFinancial. The following are the specific aims of the study: To be able to: 1.      identify the supply chain needs of CitiFinancial in their expansion of 25 more branches in Hong Kong. 2.      determine problems in terms of costs and time duration. 3.      identify the obstacles in terms of land in expansion in Hong Kong. 4.      identify problems in human resource in the expansion of CitiFinancial in Hong Kong. 5.      identify key safety issues that the engineering department should handle. 6.      identify if integrated supply chain approach would help to make the expansion faster and less costly. To recommend key strategies for expanding in Hong Kong, the study will explore the problems presented by means of qualitative research. Data Collection Interviews will be conducted to the management of CitiFinancial, specifically the department that handles the expansion project. Questions will be asked regarding plans of purchase (e.g. supplies, equipments), how many people to be hired, the planning cycles for the expansion, and the forecasting plan and how precise it is. The interviews will be conducted personally. A tape recorder will be used during the interviews so that the recorded responses will be transcribed later for analysis and documentation. Questions for the interviewee : (1)               What are the major challenges for CitiFinancial’s branch expansion? (2)               What happened in the old state? (3)               How to determine the branch expansion network and its process? (4)               How to implement the branch expansion measures? (5)               What’s happened in the new state? (6)               Any improvement after branch expansion realization? (7)               How to monitor or control the process? (8)               Any feedback from the staffs after the expansion? (9)               What’s the main duty that affected the process? Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Sample Research Paper on CitiFinancial and NTIC Announce Expansion of Partnership

This paper discusses in detail the research proposal that examines the perception of the administrators in CitiFinancial regarding branch e...

Sample disserertation on alternative techniques to respond to student difficulties

CHAPTER 1: APPLICATION PROBLEM 5. It is evident that from the three listed uses of research results, the second application, that is, to generate decision making that leads to action, applies to the example research result above. Survey of the respondents (teachers) revealed that they found the strategy module lacking on such topics as a rationale for the strategy, a clear specification of the type of student who would benefit from the strategy, and alternative techniques to respond to student difficulties. The curriculum developer, then, should come to the decision to revise and improve on the strategy module in order to be more useful to the intended users, who are the teachers. The decision should then be followed by an action to revise the module as suggested by the respondents, so that the objective to help adult basic education teachers teach a reading strategy could be realized. CHAPTER 2: APPLICATION PROBLEM 1. Classify each as a type of research design: experimental, non-experimental, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method.       A pilot investigation of the validity of the Back Stroke Test to identify problem swimmers ~ QUANTITATIVE       A comparison of the effect of two reading programs on fourth-grade classes in Kalamazoo ~ NON-EXPERIMENTAL       An investigation of the structure of attitudes of college students ~ QUALITATIVE       The effect of extrinsic rewards on the motivation of randomly assigned children to play groups ~ EXPERIMENTAL       A survey of principals’ general attitudes toward collective bargaining as well as interviews with a small number of principals ~ NON-EXPERIMENTAL       A study of the relative effectiveness of different counseling techniques used by counselors over the past five years ~ MIXED METHOD       An investigation of the difference in attendance between students in two high schools with different leadership styles ~ NON-EXPERIMENTAL       A posttest-only study of the effect of humorously written review sentences on comprehension for two groups of children ~ EXPERIMENTAL       A study of the meaning of merit pay to teachers ~ QUALITATIVE CHAPTER 6: APPLICATION PROBLEM 1. List potential threats to internal and external validity for case 1. The potential threats to the internal validity of case 1 are: (1) HISTORY – History threats can occur in this research setting as the students may be affected by something that happens during the duration of the tennis class; (2) PRETESTING – Since the researchers conducted a pretest, the items in the test could be enough to change the performance of the class; (3) ATTRITION – or mortality can affect the internal validity of the research because since this is a normal PE class, students, at one time or another, may drop out from the class and therefore become lost in the research; (4) TREATMENT REPLICATION – is a threat to the internal validity of the research to the extent that the reported number of students in a class is not the same as the number of independent replications of the research in other classes; and (5) SUBJECT EFFECTS – may lead to the students changing their performance level because they were informed that the class they will enroll in is different in composition from the other tennis classes offered during the term, and would want to present themselves in the most positive manner. The potential threat to the external validity, on the other hand, is the ECOLOGICAL aspect of external validity. The performance of the students may become affected by the time of the day that the tennis class is offered, as there are morning, noon and afternoon classes. The pretest sensitization could also become a source of threat to the external validity of the study. Also, the effects caused by the presence of the researchers in the class, particularly the Hawthorne effect, may challenge the external validity of the study in that the students may react in certain ways because of their knowledge of aspects of the research. VARIOUS METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION       SURVEY – Questionnaires for surveys are typically open-ended or closed ended. The latter is easier and quicker to answer, that is why it is more employed in research than the former. Being the most common data collection method, it has advantages as well as disadvantages. An advantage is that it is relatively easy to conduct and provides quantitative data otherwise absent in other data collection methods. Research usually has time constraints, and using questionnaires in the conduct of surveys allow the researcher to leave the forms to respondents while conducting other aspects of the study, allowing for multi-tasking. Face-to-face surveys are also the norm. This is done especially when the questions that the researcher has prepared are open-ended, which means that follow-up questions are possible. Although this eats up more time than the previously mentioned method, the researcher has the advantage of being more involved in the data collection process and thus, can provide more input in the analysis and evaluation sections of the research.       OBSERVATION – This involves the actual participation of the author of the research in the data collection process. It has the advantage of not relying on users’ perceptions. Direct observation has its disadvantage, though in that not every goal the researcher would want to study can be directly observed. It is also rather clumsy; it can interfere with activities; and it is costly in terms of time, money, and personnel, unlike in survey where the cost of doing such is relatively small. Through this, the primary data of the research could be gathered. Although there is no interaction with the respondents unlike in the surveys, this method allows the respondents to act naturally and then the researcher just draws conclusions from the way they behave during the time of observation. Observation may be interpretive or ethnographic, and may come in the form of a participant observer or case studies.       FOCUS GROUPS – Focus groups are used to understand the perceptions and feelings of users. They do not supply a consensus but are more suited for surveying a variety of points of view. One advantage of focus groups is that you can easily ask follow-up questions and obtain much more detailed information. The downside, on the other hand, focus groups is that they can be costly in terms of money, time, and labor. This method is a major qualitative method which could explicitly uses group interaction to generate data and insights that would be unlikely to emerge without the interaction found in a group. The technique inherently allows observation of group dynamics, discussion, and firsthand insights into the respondents’ behaviors, attitudes, language, etc.       DOCUMENTS – Historical data, literature review, meta-analysis, diaries, content analysis and secondary data (data mining) are some of the types of documents which could be used to gather secondary data for the research. These methods identify trends in leisure research and practice. Participants keep diaries and journals researcher conducts content analysis of studies, reports and diaries. Knowledge from these secondary sources often proves important to the conduct of the research in that it provides insight to the researcher and could guide the direction that the research is going to take. A major advantage of this method is that the documents are usually easy to acquire, and in a number of accessible media. There is often a wealth of information already available on the topic of the research. On the negative side, it is not conclusive. The data gathered from this method needs to be coupled with actual data or the primary data garnered by the researcher in order for the study to be reliable and valid. ISSUES OF RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY             The related research issues of reliability and validity ask researchers to consider whether they are studying, what they think they are studying and whether the measures that the research is using are consistent. Researchers are often challenged by the difficulty of producing a reliable and valid research output, as researchers can go to great lengths and make every attempt to ensure accuracy in their studies, and still deal with the inherent difficulties of measuring particular events or behaviors and proving that such measures are acceptable and legitimate. The dangers of generalizing from research that is inconsistent, invalid, unreliable, and incomplete could prove to produce more problems for the researcher, as he or she is faced with ethical issues as well. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Sample disserertation on alternative techniques to respond to student difficulties

CHAPTER 1: APPLICATION PROBLEM 5. It is evident that from the three listed uses of research results, the second application, that is, to...

Customer Relationship Management

Statement Analysis: Customer Relationship Management   Introduction             Along with the changing business environment, customers or clients also changes and they become more knowledgeable, observant, and demanding.  In turn, the management of different organization try to shift their focus on their target market to sustain their competitive advantage. Such changes mean that the companies have to completely transform their traditional aims and purposes from being process-focused to customer-centered or customer-oriented. Restructuring and rethinking the organization on one hand, entails the consideration of various factors which include technology, process, environment, and the human resources aspects ( 2002).  Thus, to be able to bring excellent customer services embedded in the operation of the company, the management must be able to employ fine-tuned customer management approach.  One of the most important management approach that can be used to ensure good customer relationship is the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) by the intensive process and approach which can result in having or sustaining competitive advantage (2000). The context of Customer relationship management is said to be essential to this generation considering that most of the products and services available in the market have certain similarities. Primarily, the goal of this paper is to analyse the statement of (2006) which states that “Successful strategic CRM will be a complex set of activities that together form the basis for a sustainable and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage”, pp 33.   Customer relationship Management  According to  (2006), “Successful strategic CRM will be a complex set of activities that together form the basis for a sustainable and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage”. The statement means that if a company would be able to use strategic customer relationship management successfully, they can be able to sustain their competitive advantage and they can have business strategies which is unique and distinctive from their competitors.  Perhaps, business strategies is the most important key to successfully have sustainable competitive advantage and the integration of these strategies with the context of customer relationship management can enable an industry to establish unique, distinctive and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage. In order to do so, company management must realize that, either directly or indirectly, the attainment of its objectives contributes to the much to the target market’s general experience within the industry. The successful integration of the process, technology and people is considered to be the important aspects for successful implementation of the customer relationship management approach (, 2003).  The CRM strategy, as based on the statement provided above, the company may set activities which starts with the purposeful and intensive alignment of the processes implemented by the entire management of specific company. These set of activities may include the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling process, which are all catered to provide and satisfy the needs of the target market or the customers (2002; 2003). Hence, customer management relationship, can also be considered as a form customer service management, which adheres more than the attainment of customer satisfaction but the retention of the customers and making them loyal that no other rival companies can outgrow. Aside from this, other set of activities that may lead to a sustainable competitive advantage through the help of the customer relationship management approach is the balance between improved and development company processes and renewed objectives. In this regard, the company should ensure that customers should also feel that the industries and businesses they support or patronize give due value and importance, as well as vitality to their customer relationship operations ( 2005). In addition, such context should also consider the important of the change management process as a set of activities that geared towards attaining hard-to-imitate competitive advantage. As mentioned in the given statement above, an industry that employed Customer relationship management as part of their business operations was noted to have sustainable competitive advantage than industries that do not adhere to value their customer relationship. It can be said that customer relationship management is concentrated to the use of information technology which can also be considered as a complex set of activity to aid the company to stay abreast of its client’s needs and concerns and sustain their competitive advantage. The statement of (2006) can also be perceived that customer relationship management also enable the company to appropriately respond in time to the calls of their customers. The statement makes the company realized that customer relationship management is a business approach and process which encompasses various business strategies other than the implementation and application of information technology.  The strategy on the customer relationship management also encompasses all other activities of the business processes in which an organization utilizes so as to identify, select, gather, enhance or improve and retain their target market and ensure good rapport and relationship with them, which is also important to sustain competitive advantage. It can be said that during this time, the customer relationship management is noted as a combination of set of activities business processes, technological solutions and advanced analysis, which makes different industries understand clients from a multifaceted context which in return enable them to have hard-to-imitate competitive advantage. Through the understanding of this statement, companies are able to establish in-depth and more profitable customer relations management approach ( 2004).   Sample Companies that used CRM             To be able to establish hard-to-imitate and sustainable competitive advantage, different companies are able to apply customer relationship management as part of their business strategies.  One of the industries that use customer relationship management is the Irish Life and Permanent, which provides broad range of investment products, life insurance and assurances and pension for different individuals and groups or commercial entities to over a million customers across Ireland.  The company is considered as the market leader in the Ireland market, and because of this their aim is to merge with TSB Bank to be able to become the largest provider of financial services within the nation (2004). In these two separate industries, there are three customer relationship managements which has been utilized which makes it difficult to determine. Both of these industries attempted to use a single customer relationship management approach to be able to present a united post-merger image and give their sales power the information that it needed to sell joint products. To be able to maximize their sales revenues as well as enhance their customer satisfaction, these companies have use, a software platform which enables them to sustain seamless, quality sales as well as quality through multiple lines of business portfolios, product lines, as well as communication channels. With their combined profile, each of the customer’s business data and history from these merged companies can make it easier to determine and in addition the Irish Life and Permanent are also given the chance to identify determine prospects for a more sustained competitive advantage and more advanced business growth.             With the problems of handling large customer data, the use of customer relationship management approach has been able to solve the issue by using the HP server, which is responsible to become the database server. In this regard, a combined single view of customer information and data are being noted In addition, the customer relationship management also enables the company to have an intensive image of the different financial products and services that they offer. It can be said that the use of the customer relationship management approach at Irish Life and Permanent’s Information technology department under a great deal of pressure and stress to be able to urgently get the solution implemented and in production. Nonetheless, after overcoming such customer relationship management initial challenges, the use of the customer relationship management system has been able to make Irish and Life Permanent have the opportunity to  sell its items and products with their TSB clients via the customer information analysis; which also include the automatic generation of recommendations as well as the negotiation of financial models which depends on the client’s distinctive profiles and presentation of such solutions in different eye-catching and attention-catching graphical and text-based styles. In this regard, the customer relationship management system had also enabled Irish Life and Permanent to present personal finance to their respective clients using a highly professional, holistic, and tailored manner. By and large, it can be said that the customer relationship management applied in this company had been able to enhance their competitive advantage and also improved the customer satisfaction and enables the industry to become the best provider of personal financial services in the entire Ireland (2004).             Another company that uses the customer relationship management and to establish competitive advantage is FAW-Volkswagen. The company has been established and founded in 1991 and was regarded for its production of contemporary cars all over China.  In addition, this company is also known to be the sole car manufacturing industry in China which was able to manufacture and distribute a medium and luxury class sedan for their target market. FAW-Volkswagen was also considered to be among different industries which have been able to use the context of customer relationship management approach. The FAW-Volkswagen has decided to utilize and apply a customer relationship management approach because of the major business challenges which include slow reaction times, unresponsive customer service, lack of real-time information, deficiency of the incorporation of data and processes and the perceived shortage of IT personnel in the company (2001).             This car manufacturing company has been able to put their products on sale tall throughout the regional dealers. Nonetheless, FAW-Volkswagen has encountered failure in acquiring the direct customer feedback it needed to make sue that they will be able to attain excellent customer service and quality products and obtain market intelligence all over China.  Within six month-period, the management of the company has been able to decide to use and implement the context of mySAP Customer Relationship Managementto be able to sustain their competitive advantage and to enhance their customer service and acquire more vital data and information about its client base, to know whether their products adhere to their needs.  The car industry perceived that mySAP CRM can help them in reinforcing their good relationship with the clients and customers as well as integrate the entire function of customer service. The main goal of the implementation of the customer relationship management in the company is generally concentrated on three main factors, which include the sales, service, and marketing strategies to have sustained competitive advantage. Through the customer relationship management system, the company’s consumers have been able to access and avail the FAW-Volkswagen through different communication channels such as telephone, fax, e-mail and with their website, they have reached even international clients. The customer relationship management system is tightly integrated, and combined with set of activities of the company to enable the industry to share communication and information with their target market, service representatives and the entire company ( 2001). According to the management of FAW-Volkswagen, the customer relationship management has enabled them to make real-time information on products, and also their dealers and suppliers which also make their company more accessible for the clients.  As a result, the customer relationship management system had been an important strategy in enabling customer service representatives to have the information of their latest product and cars and they are able to attend to customer concerns anytime and anywhere (2000). Customer relationship management system range from the simplest contact-management systems that gives attention on assisting individual salespeople to most complex enterprise-wide and cross-enterprise systems. The main role of Customer relationship management system for the company is to connect the suppliers and the customers. Customer relationship management system also ensures that customers have a consistent experience across multiple sales channels.             An effective implementation of a CRM system meets the needs of the customer, the salesperson and the company by means of utilizing system elements in several, different ways. Such elements and its implementation mirror the success or failure of the marketing design of any organisation as the management-centred functions of CRM system ( 2001). According to  and (2000), CRM is concentrated on the use of information technology so as to aid the organization to stay abreast of its customers’ needs and concerns. Customer Relationship Management also helps the organization to respond in time and appropriately to their customers’ concerns. Another company that uses the concept of customer relationship management system is the Interamerican Group, which is a leading Greek insurance industry. Throughout the years, the industry has been capable of sustaining their competitive position in the life insurance field in Greece. Moreover, the industry is also known to be one of the leaders in property and casualty insurance aspects.. Since 2001, the company has become part of a Dutch Holding industry which is commonly known as Eureko BV, in which approximately owns 98.07% of the insurance company’s share capital in the marketplace ( 2002).             In spite of the progressive growth of the insurance company, competition within the Greek automobile insurance market remains active and strict. For the past ten years, the statistics of the industry have shown alarming results. For instance, a 35% increase on the number of claims has been observed. A 317% increase was observed in the average cost of claims whereas only 226% increase was derived from the average premium (2002).  Though these results were not as bad as in the Anti-American case, still the results alone were enough for the company to be alarmed.         The use of the customer relationship management system in this company had been able to make them achieve their organizational objective based on revenue growth in order to develop competitive market share without leaving profitability behind (2001). The customer relationship management application within this company has also enable the company to identify customer segments and related exceptions leading to having sustained competitive advantage. In addition, the customer relationship management integration also helped Anti-American Group to create underwriting rules through enhanced understanding and comprehension of the pricing policy as well as its implications to the business. According to the management of the company, the use of customer relationship management approach has also allowed them to pave the way for an effective response to the trends in the marketplace, leading them to s sustain competitive advantage but perhaps the most essential thing is that the use of customer relationship management has taught them w how to understand and serve their various rate groups better and efficient and how they can sustain good customer relationship to their target clients ( 2002).   Conclusion             Based on the analysis and the given samples of companies that used customer relationship management, it can be said that the statement being analyzed is through and correct since the use of customer relationship management enables different companies to use all their resources to gain complex set of activities that would enable them to have sustainable and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage.             Hence, it can be argued that, if a an organisation would want to implement CRM as part of their systems or strategies, the management of such company must be able to make a comprehensive and intensive planning and an efficient execution to achieve their organizational objective.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Customer Relationship Management

Statement Analysis: Customer Relationship Management Introduction Along with the changing business environment, custome...

Project Management of Metro Rail in Malaysia

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION   Introduction As project management moves into the 21st century, people involve in the various projects, face the challenges of operating in project environments characterized by high levels of uncertainty, cross-cultural teams, and global competition. To be able to ensure that projects meet these challenges and to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project, the management involves needs to develop a clear understanding of the factors that contribute to the success and effectiveness of the specific project. Accordingly, projects should change an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, utilising a limited effort (, 1994). It can be said that project means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications (1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors (, 1997). Projects come in simple or complex. The objectives that constitute the specified goal may be in terms of time, costs, or technical results. Several techniques have been created in order to execute this type of management with ease. But before any further execution of the plans, it is important to initially draw the boundaries that the project will affect so as to determine the concerns and limitations of the projected goals and outcomes of the project. Primarily, the main goal of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that affect the success of the implementation of the metro rail projects.   Background of the Study             The art of planning for the future has always been a human trait as humans are thinking individuals.  In essence a project can simply be captured on paper with a few simple elements: a start date, an end date, the tasks that have to be carried out and when they should be finished, and some idea of the resources (people, machines etc) that will be needed during the course of the project.  When the plan is one which involves different things happening at various times, some of which are interconnected on each other, plus resources needed at varying times and in different quantities and perhaps working at different rates, the paper plan could start to cover a vast area and reading it will require extra effort.  This is where modern project management comes into scene in the world of construction and design.  But it must be considered that project management is not only about planning but also about human attributes which plays the most important role, like leadership and motivation. A project may be defined as an activity involving the conversion of material or data resources over a constrained time frame. The need to focus on ways of improving performance and utilization of resources has increased the demand for and the use of project-based approaches. According to  (1994), projects should transform an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, using a limited effort. In a more pragmatic terms, a project means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications ( 1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors (, 1997).             Managing projects put the manager into a difficult position because of the weight of responsibility associated with the task. Based on existing studies, the rate of project failure is high (, 1997).  (1997) enumerated the reasons on why projects fail. (1997) stated that reasons include: poor understanding and identification of the client/customer/end-user needs; inadequate specification of project requirements and project constraints; consequently, setting unrealistic project goals altogether; organizational behavior factors including structure, functions, performance, and associated behavior of groups and individuals; bounded rationality in the process of project planning and project implementation, i.e. the lack of appreciation of dynamics and change; poor monitoring and control during the project implementation phase; and measurement and assessment of project progress against the plan Comparative research on the relative effectiveness of different project approaches has resulted to relevant concepts that deal with the suitability of a number of structures of facilitating a project. The found out that the traditional functional organization is insufficient when the project is complex and calls for a considerable coordination and added development effort ( 1989). For this reason the approach only advised when the projects are limited and involves minor changes in existing products or services. On the contrary, project teams approach was realized to be effective in the completion of development projects ( 1981,  1987). However, the cost of the said approach is considered as a drawback in its extensive application. As such, project teams are most of the time recommended only for complex breakthrough projects with urgent deadlines and promising results that will benefit the business organization (1991). In the study conducted by  (1988) regarding training and development practices, the authors found out that program content and participant needs are crucial aspects during the analysis and selection of training and development as the results indicated stable and increased management training and development for the participating organizations. Such emphasizes the presence of a growing commitment to management training and development particularly in the public sector. However, they claimed that the application of important training and development principles, such as valid needs assessments and systematic evaluation is sorely lacking ( 1995).   Project Management Models             Project management is such a multifaceted responsibility that it requires people in this area to possess innumerable competencies ranging from personal skills, management proficiencies, technical expertise, and others.  With this, the project management competency model concocted and grouped thirteen discrete competencies that a project management requires: leadership, customer relations, project planning, performance measurement, communicating, organizational effectiveness, team building, staff development, perspective, negotiating, risk management, problem solving, and decision making. This model was developed from the observable behaviors of successful, professional project managers in a variety of application areas.  It provides a consistent, coherent structure for assessing the capabilities of current and prospective project managers.  It was created by the  in the United States in 2003. The development of the Changing Outcomes project, on the other hand, was conceptualized using the project management methodology. The said methodology recognizes the interactive and cyclic orientation of production and business project development (, 1997). The model illustrates the stages of development which include designing, developing and evaluating so as to meet the expected outcome (2001). Research Objectives             The development of metro rail projects must be able to consider different aspects before implementing it. In this regard, the main goal of this paper is to conduct an investigation on the factors that will affect its successful implementation in Malaysia. In particular, this study aims to achieve the following objectives: 1.      To determine the factors for a successful implementation for a Metro projects and the strategies used for the successful completion. 2.      To identify the key benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail). 3.       To know the factors that causes overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects. 4.      To determine the potential risks which cause the project failure and the kind of failures will expect and how to overcome from those risks 5.      To know the invented issues relating to Metro.             Research Questions             As mentioned, this study aims on identifying the factors that affects the successful implementation of Metro rail Projects in Malaysia. Specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following queries: 1.      What makes for a successful implementation for a Metro projects and what are the strategies used for the successful completion? 2.      What are the key benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail)? 3.       What factors that causes overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects? 4.      What are the potential risks which cause the project failure and what kind of failures will expect and how to overcome from those risks? 5.      What are the invented issues relating to Metro?   Significance of the Study             The boom of tourism industry, especially in most Asian countries, has paved the way for different nations to develop new initiatives to meet the demands of the tourists. Countries like Malaysia are trying to enhance their public transportation system to ensure that Malaysian citizen will have a better transportation services and to enhance their tourism industry. One of the projects in line is the Metro Rail projects.  In doing specific projects, there are aspects that should be considered in order to ensure its success.  It was noted that there are a number of literatures that discussed how the use of project management approach has been developed to adhere to the needs of the given project. Considering the existence of many project management models in the world, it is essential that several studies stress this context of investigating the factors that affects the success of implementing a metro rail project. By and large, the purpose of this research study is to investigate the factors that will influence the success of the given project. In addition, this study will also include the discussion of relevant literature. The outcome of this study will be helpful for the metro rail projects implementation in various parts of the world especially those who are still in the beginning stage. In addition, this research study is significant in terms of helping engineering students, project managers, and the tourism industries to know the importance of the perception of the project manager regarding the changes that would be initiated in a specific country. The findings of the study will be able to benefit various industries who will handle different projects throughout the world. This means that the results of the study will be beneficial to the business, public and private environment since the research will be able to support the previous claims that having a effective project management and help countries to have a comprehensive project management approach in the future. This also suggests that the findings of the research will allow the government institutions and other authorities integrate effective diversification plan for the development of their tourism industry as well as their transportation system.   Scope and Limitation This research will be conducted to be able to analyse and investigate the factors that affect the successful implementation of Metro Rail projects in Malaysia.  This study will cover the topics on the benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail) as well as the factors that cause overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects and other relevant issues. The discussion of this study will mainly focus on the analysis of the perception of the project managers regarding the topic. The data that will be gathered for this research will be derived from primary and secondary resources. The primary source of information for this research will be derived from self-administered survey questionnaires, prepared by the researcher, which will be provided to the respondents of the study. The participants for this research will be selected from the project manager of Malaysia.  On one hand, the secondary sources of data will come from published articles from project management journals, theses, and related studies on metro rail projects. For this research, the research we assumed that time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which may hinder long-term outcome objectives. As this study will be utilizing a small sample of participants, the results may not effectively represent the general population. In this study, the self-administered semi-structured questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected. The data will then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the difference would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would suggest that the hypothesis is null, that is, the level of effectiveness of training programs significantly affects the general efficiency of the organisation.   Chapter 2 Review of Relevant Literature   Introduction             Perhaps, the core mission of every projects is to deliver a good management system that would maintain the organization’s capability, strength and competitiveness.  In line with this, more and more firms and organizations are trying to utilize different aspects of project management.  Project management emerged as an answer to some of the management problems from today’s complex systems and the increasingly complex efforts to solve those systems problems.  The notion of project management is periodically rediscovered whenever a member of top management, contemplating a big job in deep trouble, hence project management is the investiture in a single person of the responsibility for success of failure of a project (1981).  Further, project management should only be utilized if it is really needed, and can provide solutions to pressing management problems. A project is defined as a complex system involving the coordination of a number of separate department entities throughout the organization, and which must be completed within prescribed schedule and cost constraints. If an organization’s job or problem does not meet these criteria, it probably does not need project management, and for these types of tasks, project management will probably hinder rather than help. Project management comprises different aspects and this includes, project planning, risk management, project organization and responsibilities, monitoring and control.  Thus, the major focus of this paper is to discuss one of the aspects of project management which is the risk management.   The Use of Project Management Techniques in Real Life Situation             Project management is important especially when the business or an organization finds it hard to adjust with the changes brought by different external factors.  In this manner, the management team should incorporate project management methods or techniques in order to attain the core objective of the imposed project or program.  Project Management technique is regarded as an interconnected and organization set of approaches or technique considered to achieve the purpose of the project implemented by a certain organization. This comprises project planning, risk management, project organization and responsibilities and project monitoring and control (See Appendix 1).              Project Planning is part of the project management wherein the management team determines ways and techniques to initiate a project or execute their objectives.  Project planning can be used in real life situation when an organization intends to instigate or initiate a certain project that will enhance the competitiveness of the organization. In this manner, the organization will set their objectives, determine the persons involve to initiate the project, determine the time frame or schedule on when the project will be executed, and determine the possible risks that the project may include.  The project pan must also include the discussion on how such project will be monitored and controlled to achieve their organizational goal ( 1993).             On the other hand, project organizing and responsibilities is another technique in project management process. Project organization specifies the means of integrating the functions of the individuals who will be involved in the project.  Organizing is normally done concurrently with project planning.  In project organizing directing involves guiding and supervising the project team members.  Directing requires skilful managers and members who have the ability to interact with subordinates efficiently by means of good communication and motivational approaches (2000). This technique may be used in real-life situation, when organization would want to evaluate the appropriate and effective personnel that will be chosen for the project. In this manner, the organization must be able to assign a successful manager that will be able to enhance the performance of other members of the project team by directing them, through proper tasks assignments toward the project goal.  In line with this, the manager should used proper directing to ensure that the members of the project team will do their best to achieve the main goal of the project.             The next technique to be considered in initiating a project is the risk management.  Risk management is considered as one of the acceptable concept on which institutions and different organization have utilized to sustain their success and competencies.  Risk management can be used in real-life situation in a way that it may serve as a guiding principle for any organization to prevent further harm on the overall performance of the organization.  In addition, risk management can be used in different aspects of real life situation like for example the management of risk from environmental hazards, and technological hazards. According to (2001), there are three steps in generating the risk management practice in an organization.  The first step is to establish the context where there is a careful examination of the strategy, stakeholders and the environment of the organization. Working within the context of the organization ensures that it will not go beyond what the organization should carefully manage and what risks should be considered. This is important so as not to overstretch the risk to be taken. The second step is the identification of situations that can have an effect to the business objectives. In these situations the managers must be able to consider the brand equity risk, where the reputation or the brand name of the company will be affected. And lastly, is the ability of the management to know the risk in terms of customer satisfaction that would be reflected on poor product acceptance. Quality control problems that are reflected in risk on product quality may also be considered so that the manager will know the current status of the company’s product on the consumers.             (1991) believes that the management of risk is contradictory to the concept of management as a whole. It is because management is supposed to be about control and while risk is about taking chances on the future. Herein, the management of risk is a concept that reduces the chances of the possible danger or risks which affects the strategy or the competitiveness of any organization. It is in the risk management that the chances of survival of a company are enhanced. It takes a larger context on the aspect of survival. However, risk management is not limited to the aspect of survival alone; it means that there is something that managers can bank on if something goes wrong.             The last technique of project management which is also useful in the real-life situation is the project monitoring and control.  In this aspect, the management should make it sure that the implemented project is being monitored accurately and timely.  It involves the determination on whether the implemented project is done in line with the goals and objective set in the project planning.  Tracking and reporting are prerequisites for project control.  A properly and accurately systematic report of the project status will immediately identify the deficiencies and the possible risks in the development of the project and this helps in pinpointing necessary corrective measures. Monitoring and control can be utilized in a real life situation when an organization or an individual has done something to improve the competitiveness of a certain organization or individual. Herein, the person involves should be able to monitor the development of the project imposed to determine whether the project will meet the objective or not.  In addition, in monitoring the project, the person or organization involved will have a chance to know the factors that affects the success of the project and will easily make decision for possible actions to eliminate such factors. In addition, control is used in real life situation so that the manager and the project team will be guided in the process (1999).             It can be said that the project management theory and techniques has its won unique functions in the project management process as a whole.  Without knowing the proper use of each, the organization may have difficulties in executing the objective of implementing project management.  With the differences of the concept and the function of each project management theory, it is possible that the effect of each project management varies in relation on how this project management technique has been used.   Concept of Project Planning             Project Planning is part of the project management wherein the management team determines ways and techniques to initiate a project or execute their objectives.  Project planning can be used in real life situation when an organization intends to instigate or initiate a certain project that will enhance the competitiveness of the organization. In this manner, the organization will set their objectives, determine the persons involve to initiate the project, determine the time frame or schedule on when the project will be executed, and determine the possible risks that the project may include.  The project plan must also include the discussion on how such project will be monitored and controlled to achieve their organizational goal (1993). In a project plan, there are different project planning tools which can be used to make the project work effectively and smoothly. One of these tools is the Gant chart. A Gantt chart is one of the most widely used tools for presenting a project schedule. A Gantt chart can show planned and actual progress of activities. The time scale is indicated along the horizontal axis, while horizontal bars or lines representing activities are ordered along the vertical axis. As a project progresses, markers are made on the activity bars to indicate actual work accomplished. Gantt charts must be updated periodically to indicate project status (2003). Gantt chart for the Designing and Creating Information System Development Program: Activity Duration Estimating Sheet     Aside from the Gantt chart another project planning tool that can be used is the PERT/COM Network diagramming technique. This technique has undergone changes over the years, and it is currently referred to as the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM).  PERT/CPM became a valuable scheduling tool. Its value was rooted in a number of factors. First, to create a PERT/CPM network, a project team needed to engage in scheduling discipline. Tasks needed to be identified, durations estimated, and the relationships of the tasks to each other understood (Frame 2003). One cannot create meaningful PERT/CPM networks in an ad hoc fashion. This scheduling discipline was salubrious because it required project workers to understand thoroughly the steps that needed to be taken to implement their projects. Second, once a PERT/CPM network was created, it could serve as a mathematical model of the project because computerized PERT/ CPM software routines linked cost and resource utilization data to the scheduling data. Consequently, the PERT/CPM network could be employed to address important “what if” questions. Third, the PERT/CPM approach was the principal approach estimators could employ to estimate the duration of projects. The duration could be derived by identifying the critical path, which is the longest path of linked tasks in the PERT/CPM network. By identifying the critical path, schedulers had a way of identifying which tasks needed to be monitored closely in order to avoid schedule slippages and which tasks needed to be adjusted in order to accelerate the project schedule. PERT/CPM Sample   The PERT/CPM approach served project managers well over a period of several decades. It remains the core scheduling technique used in project management today, and this turns out to cause a bit of a problem. The creation of a PERT/CPM network requires three basic pieces of information: ·        What tasks will be carried out? ·        what is the duration of each task; and ·        How are these tasks linked?   The discussion shows two important project planning tools that can be used in a project management activity. Given the definition and the advantages of the two tools, I recommend that my classmate use Gantt chart tools. This is because Gantt chart allows the project team members to see easily when tasks should begin and when they should end. Gantt charts are widely used for the planning and control of schedules on projects. Many project workers employ them without even knowing that they have a special name. Their popularity lies in their simplicity. They are easy to construct and easy to understand. No special training is needed to learn how to use them, and no elaborate equipment is needed to make them—just a sheet of graph paper, a pencil, and a ruler. They are especially useful for examining schedule variance, since they convey project slippage dramatically. The following is an example of a Gantt chart for a specific information system development. Project Models The four phased model for initiation a certain project includes initiation and concept, planning and development, implementation and execution and handover and evaluation. In doing a project, it is important that people that would be selected are those individual who are knowledgeable regarding the project to ensure that the output adheres to the purpose and objective of the said project.  In organising a team, it is also essential that the members chosen will be able to meet the needs for a particular phase in the project. In the last project that we have done, the team was organized in accordance with the four phased model. First in order to create the project concept, a team leader was selected prior to its execution. Herein, the members have selected the leader whom they thought to have intensive knowledge about the project. As the initiation and concept phase continues the leader and the members of our project has been able to assess each of their abilities to be assigned for the next phase of the model which is the planning and development. In this phase, our project team leader and the members are able to identify who among the members have the ability to effectively plan and develop the project. The project leader and the members are also able to determine who among them will implement and execute the project and lastly, they are able to know who will be assigned in the evaluation phase. Hence, it can be said that the team was organized because of this four-phased model. It can be said that the group formed in this project are all capable and efficient in doing their project tasks. Although, there are some problems and issues that have been encountered, the overall output of the project still becomes successful. All in all, it can be concluded that the project team that has been established for the project performed well to achieve the objective of the project.  The good performance of the group can be attributed to some positive aspects which help the members do their job effectively. One of the factors is having a leader who is capable of handling different individuals. Having an effective leader which creates harmonious relationship among the members helps the group to perform well for the project. Another positive factor is the effective selection of members who will take part of the project. Identifying members who will handle the projects tasks is very important to ensure that the project will be successful until the end. Hence, with the ability of the leader and the members to choose the members who fits for a certain tasks is an essential aspect to have a better project performance. On the other hand, the negative factors that affects the performance of the group is ineffective communication and individual differences. In order to solve the problem, the group has been able to create an atmosphere which gives importance to communication. The leader sees to it that they impose open communication so that deeper conflicts may be avoided. In addition, the leaders also sight the importance of respecting individual differences to avoid clash of personalities among the members. If I were the leader, I will solve such problem by having an open forum with the members. In this meeting, each member will be able to know each other for them to work harmoniously. Aside from that I will ensure that everyone values the opinion of the others to avoid problems. In terms of meeting, the leader make it sure that they apply open and direct communication approach to know the opinions of the members. Herein, the project leader gives time for all the members to speak what is on their mind and come up with a conclusion that is agreed by all.  In this particular project the group is said to perform well in effective solving of the problems regarding the projects. In this manner, it is recommended that the group should continue to be more open minded in a meeting and to still have open communication to discuss issues which may affect the project as a whole.   Other factors in a Project In doing a project, there are many other factors that should be considered to ensure effective or positive result. These include, effective listening, effective meetings and project report. Effective Listening: People have different ways of listening because we all have individual personalities that we have to except and compensate for when listening to each other. To be a good listener the receiver should be active, positive, pay attention to the speaker and be able to analyse the message in the intended way. This isn’t easy but is the best communication tool that we have. Listening helps to solve problems, build good relationships and gives a good understanding of any situation. When we listen effectively to someone our communication difficulties will stop and by doing this it shows us how vital and important listening is within all human communication.             The first step toward more effective listening is paying increased attention and this helps us to keep the verbal and nonverbal stimuli in our long-term memory. We are then able to compare the information with new and old material. Everyone can increase attention by realizing its importance, avoiding the chance to daydream, removing the distractions if possible or by learning to listen over these distractions. We all have the ability to listen and understand a speaker even when there are large distractions. We should then learn to understand nonverbal communication. Listening effectively is difficult because people vary in their communication skills and in how clearly they express themselves and often have different needs, wants and reasons for communicating. Effective Meetings: This aspect is important to ensure that the project leader and members are always on the right path. In an effective meeting, the conductor must be able to establish a clear purpose and objective. In this manner, the leader should be able to disseminate the information about the meetings three days before the day of the meeting so that all important members may be able to attend. In addition, the leader must set some agenda which will serve as guidelines as the meeting proceeds. The meeting should include the determination of the progress of the current project. In addition, the meeting should also tackle about different problems and issue that affects the performance of the members as well as the project procedures. After identifying these problems, the next step is to determine the possible solutions for the problems. An effective meeting is the one which has been evaluated at the end. The effective meetings must have effective communication and decision making process which will help the project team leaders and members to performed better in the actual project. All the members of the project should be present in the meeting. Project Report: The team that is assigned to do the project should hold regular meetings and at each meeting the leader should provide time for  the discussion and reporting of the overall progress of the plan or the project. The main focus of this project report includes the things that have been done in line with the project. The report should also include, the report on the budget used for the project, the time that the members have spent for the project and if the project is still in the right direction to achieve the objective and purpose. Other than these three aspects, another important factor to consider in project planning and initiation is the controls establishment. A good project plan itself won’t insure that your team works effectively. In most of the projects, unexpected problems may arise like some members have trouble completing assignments, schedules get changed, and plans have to be revised. The further a team gets into its project, the less relevant its initial plan can seem. It is very important to continue to monitor and control the team to keep it on track and on schedule. Without good monitoring and controls, the scope of the project can begin to enlarge bit by bit, or a crucial subtask can fall behind schedule and delay other subtasks, or a fundamental mistake can be ignored until it becomes extremely costly to fix. Controlling the project falls into two categories which are the scheduling and monitoring. Aside from controls establishment planning for error is another aspects that must be considered when doing a project.  One of the most common errors in planning is that assuming there will be no errors in the implementation which in effect, the schedule is not based on the plan. On the other hand, recognizing that errors will occur is the reason for implementing a monitoring strategy on the project. However, by cautiously considering errors in advance you can make changes to the original plan to enhance its tolerance. The team in designing and creating the information system development program try to predict where the errors will occur by examining the activities’ list (1975). The risky areas might then be given a less strict time-scale – actually planning-in time for the mistakes. Another option is to apply a different strategy, or more resources, to such activities to minimize the disorder in the project. Chapter 3 Research Methodology   The method followed in conducting the research is both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative method is used to answer questions about relationships among measured variables with the purpose of explaining, predicting and controlling phenomena, while the qualitative method is used to answer questions about the complex nature of phenomena, often with the purpose of describing and understanding the phenomena from the participants’ point of view. Originally, different types of data collection methodologies were proposed to investigate the research questions: The sources of the primary data: (1)   Questionnaire administered to project managers (2)   Telephone interview with the Project manager (3)   Face-to-Face interview with the Metro Rail System Project Developers. The Sources of the secondary data: (4)   Information from the Internet. Based on the literature review, we have created our own criteria to evaluate the automated leave system, which are: Data Collection 1)     Questionnaire: A questionnaire was administered to the project managers for the purpose of knowing the major problems that were associated with the Metro Rail System’s project. The questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of size 80 managers. One of the challenges considered when conducting the survey is the assurance of an adequate and representative sample of the population being surveyed. The project manager sent letters to the involved managers in the Metro rail projects requesting their cooperation and participation in the study. Approximately one week after the distributing questionnaire, reminder letters were sent to the participated employees to solicit any questions or comments, and request that they return the completed instrument as soon as possible. Thank you letters were also mailed to the respondents upon receipt of the completed questionnaires. The survey method applied in collecting primary data. Survey comprises a descriptive and non-experimental data collection method intended to draw information from a large sample. The survey method allowed the investigation to derive precise and impartial data to support conclusions and generalizations. This applies in studies requiring the determination and investigation of links or relationships between or among variables (2003).              However, there are advantages and disadvantages in using the survey method so that, the disadvantages should be addressed to justify the method and ensure the reliability and validity of the data collection process. An advantage is the ability to establish a relationship among variables but a concurrent disadvantage is the failure of the method to indicate the direction of the relationship (1994). In the current study, combining the quantitative and qualitative approaches led to the determination not only of the existence of a relationship but also the direction of the relationship and the explanation for this. Another advantage is the ability of the survey to draw data from many respondents but a related disadvantage is the heavy reliance of the method on self-reported data ( 1994) by the respondents making it imperative for the researcher to apply ways of ensuring the willingness of the respondents to participate and freely share information to support research validity. In the study, respondents were contacted beforehand to seek their willingness to cooperate in the data collection process by explaining to them the purpose of the study and the need for their participation in the data collection process to ensure that answers given can validly support conclusions. In addition, combining survey with interview method also allows the company to derive explanations for answers. Still another advantage is the ability of the data collection method to derive a wide range of experiences and opinions on the subject of the study but this also involves the concurrent disadvantage of requiring a tedious process ( 1994). The current study worked through a timetable that allotted sufficient time for data collection especially because of the need to draw willing customers and wait for replies to the questionnaire.             The survey used a questionnaire, as shown below, composed of two parts. The first part of questionnaire contained demographic information while the second part involved the survey proper. The questionnaire was administered to the project managers. In addition, another primary data collection method is interview with selected survey respondents conducted to derive insight on the responses. The data collection instrument will be a structured questionnaire that would be based on Liker scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement. By rating scale we mean the scales that are usually used to measure attitudes towards an object, the degree to which an object contains a particular attribute, (Like or dislike), toward some attribute, or the importance attached to an attribute. The equivalent weights for the answers would be: Range                                    Interpretation 4.50 – 5.00                            Strongly Agree 3.50 – 4.00                            Agree 2.50 – 3.49                            Uncertain 1.50 – 2.49                            Disagree 0.00 – 1.49                            Strongly Disagree The use of the questionnaire would provide the project owner the ability to test the views and attitudes of the respondents. The distribution and collation methods used to manage the questionnaire process would ensure anonymity. For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires for approval; the survey will be initially conducted to five respondents.  After the questions are 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 survey questions/statements to find out the reliability of the instrument. Afterwards, the researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and changed words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher will exclude the five respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument. The researcher will then tallies score and tabulate all the responses in the provided questionnaire.   Ethical Considerations             The ethical considerations arising in the investigation covers the consent of the respondents to the data collection process and the confidentiality of the information given by the respondents. This could raise concerns on the part of the respondents. In order to allay this concern, the questionnaire includes a letter explaining how their information was obtained, the extent of information obtained on them, the researcher, the purpose of the study, the participation expected from them, and an assurance that personal information obtained would be kept in confidence and used only for the purposes of the study. Answering and mailing back the questionnaires indicates consent and voluntary participation to the data collection process. In addition, protecting the confidentiality of identities of the respondents and the information given would also be assured the respondents during the interview process. These steps are necessary to ensure that the respondents knowingly and willingly extend their cooperation and participation to the research process.  Data Processing             The method of data analysis for the qualitative data is deriving and interpreting meaning and deriving implications in relation to the aim and objectives of the study. Results and analysis are presented in text discussions and graphs or charts to facilitate readability. In relation to the quantitative data, correlation analysis determines the existence of a relationship between the dependent and the various independent variables. Statistical Treatment of the Data After the collection of information from self-administered questionnaire, and related studies, the researcher collated all the data.  The statistical analysis for the information from semi-structure questionnaire was conducted using Microsoft Excel where the data is tabulated, graphed, and evaluated.  The testing of the level of significance was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and tabulated in the Excel files.  The SPSS is the standard software in conducting statistical analysis. Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire:                                                             Where:  n = number of responses                                                                           N = total number of respondents Weighted Mean:                                                 where: f – weight given to each response                                                              x – number of responses                                                              xt – total number of responses   To evaluate the information gathered, the percentage analysis and mean analysis are used.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Project Management of Metro Rail in Malaysia

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction As project management moves into the 21st century, people involve in the various projects, face t...