Research Plan for Woolworths organizational performance

Question

Task:

The main task is to develop a quantitative research plan to collect quantitative data and subsequently test hypotheses about some of the main determinants of acompany’s organizational performance.

Specific Tasks
1. Conduct a brief literature review which employs at least ten articles which does the following:

1. Identifies how to most appropriately measure the dependent variable of interest (organizational performance), document and comment on its validity and reliability properties.
2. Identify at least three other variables (independent, mediating or moderating) which are hypothesized to influence or explain the dependent variable of interest (organizational performance) , document and comment on their validity and reliability properties.

2. List the specific hypotheses relating the dependent variable (organizational performance) to the other variables. Draw an accompanying diagram illustrating the conceptual model. Briefly outline the theory which underpins these hypotheses and the conceptual model.

3. Develop and justify an appropriate questionnaire which can be used to generate the data to test the proposed conceptual model. Explicitly consider other control and demographic variables which may impact on the employed framework.

4. Using the proposed quantitative method develop a research plan.
The research plan should address, at least, the following, choices must be justified:

• What is the population of interest and what sampling frame will be used? How will sampling be conducted? What is the target sample size?
• How will the data be collected, mail survey, on-line distribution, face-to-face? Motivate your choice.
• How do you propose to analyse the data? How do you propose to test the stated hypotheses?
• What are the ethical implications of your research, and how will they be addressed?

Answer

Introduction
The current Woolworths organizational performanceassignment will work on understanding the ‘quantitative’ factor of the research process and understanding the potential hypothesis. The current research planning will discuss and analyze the Woolworths organizational performancevariables. The organizational is considered to be a strong threat among its competitors as they serve quality products and services to their customers. The company has an effective understanding of delivering fresh goods daily and maintains a healthy relationship with its suppliers. The assignment will draw a proper questionnaire to proceed with the research.

Brief ‘Literature Review’
a. Analyzing the Organizational ‘Dependable’ Variables
The ‘dependable’ variables of an organization can make a strong effect on the ‘Woolworths organizational performance’, revenue, and productivity. According to Navimipour, Milani, & Hossenzadeh (2018), implementation of an appropriate framework to identify the critical aspects that influence the organization's growth and performance. The dependable variables are mainly related to the internal resources of the organization, which are commonly identified as 'employee's satisfaction', organization's 'internal culture and behavior', and implementation of development strategy. The researchers of the mentioned article have mentioned about the implementation of "Structural Equation Model" (SEM)to understand the existing state of the ‘dependable’ variables and predict the future productivity of the organization.

Another concerning factor about the ‘Woolworths organizational performance’ measurement is its ‘productivity’ capacity. A research conducted by Chavez, Yu, Jacobs, & Feng (2017), explained a ‘dependable’ factor behind ‘Woolworths organizational performance’ is its internal productivity and manufacturing capacity. It is a continuous process of the organization in maintaining its annual revenue. The researchers have indicated about implementing "Contingency Theory" which allows the organization to sustain its internal management. It is including the leadership factor, implementing appropriate employees into the organizational operation, and proper 'decision-making' factor. The researchers have been discussed about these factors from the “entrepreneurial orientation” for maintaining the strategic and cultural aspect of an organization. However, in established organizations, such as “Woolworths”, it is important to secure the internal management operation to sustain the ‘dependable’ variables.

The effective implementation of appropriate ‘leadership quality’ in the organizational operations. According to Koohang, Paliszkiewicz, & Goluchowski (2017), the positive impact from the management of an organization can build trust and disseminate valuable knowledge among the employees to enhance the ‘Woolworths organizational performance’. The management should work on acquiring employee’s and supplier’s trust to strengthen the ‘dependable’ or constant variables of the organization. It will help in ensuring the ‘employee’s satisfaction’, and strengthen the employee retention factor. The sustainable achievement of these factors can improve the performance growth and standard of the organization.

One of the most important aspects in identifying the 'dependable' variable is aligning the organization's internal factors, such as culture and operations. According to Wu, Huang, Huang, & Du (2019), an organization’s success is dependable on the internal operational process and the work environment. A healthy work environment and proper working culture can enhance the employees to improve their performance. The effective implementation of the organizational ‘operation strategy’ can influence the organization to create ‘innovative’ services/products to attract customers. All these elements are interlinked with the growth and improvement of the ‘Woolworths organizational performance’. The organization’s ability and capacity will determine the strength of making ‘innovative’ plans and strengthening the healthy ‘work culture’.

The current retail industry is going through constant changes and new implementations. According to Felipe, Roldán, & Leal-Rodríguez (2017), the established organizations need to get the flexibility of adapting the current 'market trend' and new techniques. The strengthening factor of the organization's 'agility' will define the organization's capability in changing or adapting its operation along with the 'market change'. It will enhance the internal 'working culture' and technological implementation to change the company's working process according to the current trend. The 'dependable' variables of the organization, such as 'productivity', employee's engagement, innovative ideas, 'employee's satisfaction', internal culture and management behavior can be into the most vulnerable position if the organization's growth becomes stagnant or refused to consider the ‘market change’.

b. Identifying Organizational ‘Independent’, ‘Moderating’, and ‘Mediating’ Variables
The ‘independent’ variables of an organization can be measured the appropriate implementation of different improvement factors that will help in developing the ‘dependable’ variables. According to Andrew (2017), the organizational internal system, such as its performance, existing ‘dependable’ variables, and cultural factors can influence the employees to be loyal and committed towards the organization. It is considered as the 'independent' factor that cannot be controlled or changed by authority. However, these variables can be achieved by improving the 'dependable' variables. It is beneficial for the organization to incorporate the valuable 'independent' variables in the further improvement process.

‘Moderating’ variable of an organization emphasized on disseminating the relationship between an ‘independent’ variable with the ‘dependable’ variable influenced by a particular factor. A study conducted by Setyaningrum (2017) explained that the organizational 'leadership quality' can be emphasized on the 'independent' variables, such as organization's behavior towards the employees and customer, productivity and service commitment, and cultural development. The 'moderating' variable will enhance the 'dependable' variables to be improved enough to satisfy these 'independent' variables. It will help the organization to improve its performance quality.

'Mediating' variables of an organization can be identified as those factors that maintain the interaction between the internal and external operations. The 'mediator' can also establish an effective relationship between the 'independent' and 'dependent' variables. According to Hendriyani & Auliana (2018), the current trend in 'digitalization' and 'technology-driven' market is acting as a platform or 'mediator' between an organizations with its customers to enhance the interaction process. It will also help the organization to understand the customer's need to implement proper strategies to improve the business and Woolworths organizational performance. The current market requires appropriate technology implementation to communicate with people conveniently and understand their requirement to provide better service.

c. Justifying Organizational ‘Dependable’ Variables
'Dependable' variables are interlined with other forms of variables in maintaining the business flow and performance standard. It is important to identify the ‘performance-based’ factors to understand the strengthens and weaknesses of an organization. According to Phadermrod, Crowder, & Wills (2019), the implementation of the "SWOT" analysis framework can help an organization in identifying the quality of their existing 'dependable' variables. It validates the importance of improving the 'dependent' variables, such as internal culture, management behavior, 'employee's satisfaction', and sustainable 'productivity' to achieve the 'organizational goals'. The influential factors from the 'independent', 'mediated', and 'moderating' variables are the critical aspect the organization need to maintain their 'dependable' variables effectively.

According to Bagozzi, Batra, & Ahuvia (2017), the ‘conceptualizing’ models in developing the Woolworths organizational performancevalidates the importance of 'dependent' variables. It is also in terms of analyzing the effecting factors behind the Woolworths organizational performanceand for a restricted 'questionnaire' situation. The justification of the importance of 'dependent' variables and its linkage with other variables can be influenced by other factors. It is important to improve both continuous and 'independent' factors to achieve the desired goals. The effective maintenance of 'dependable' variables can attract the 'independent', and 'moderating' variables to attracted towards the organization's effort. Thus, is validates and justifies the consideration of ‘dependable’ variables to achieve better Woolworths organizational performance.

Research Hypothesis
After analyzing the existing research journals and articles on ‘dependent’ variables and its various factors in influencing the performance of an organization can help the current research process to understand its potential hypothesis. However, the hypothesis is specifically related to the Woolworths organizational performance and its connection with other ‘organizational variables’. The ‘innovative’ thinking ability of an organization can enhance various opportunities and business possibilities. ‘Innovative’ work or production factor can act as a ‘mediating’ variable and make a positive impact on the Woolworths organizational performance(Shanker, Bhanugopan, Van der Heijden, & Farrell, 2017). The hypothesis of the current research process is, The Woolworths organizational performanceis dependable on the interrelation between the ‘dependable’ variables with the ‘independent’, ‘mediated’, and ‘moderating’ variables in developing the organization’s standard. Diagram for Understanding the Woolworths organizational performance“Conceptual Model”

The understanding of the "Conceptual Model" based on the hypothesis of the current research process can be indicated by the specific knowledge acquired from the existing concepts. The understanding behind the influential factors or variables that determines the Woolworths organizational performance can help the research process to document efficient data. However, it is a clear concept that organizational employees play a critical role behind developing and improving the organization's standard and quality. The management team is responsible behind maintaining the organization's useful resources and assets for acquiring sustainable business process. The 'employee's satisfaction' and their commitment towards an organization act as a 'mediating' variable in enhancing the Woolworths organizational performanceand culture (Nikpour, 2017). The diagram can showcase the interlinked factor behind the Woolworths organizational performance, its influential factors and the capacity of providing innovative creation.

Fig 1: ‘Organizational Performance’ Influencing “Conceptual Framework”(Ahmed & Othman, 2017)

The theoretical references of "Conceptual Framework" can be obtained from the existing research works that explain the linkage between the Woolworths organizational performanceand their 'innovation' are consists of some underlying variables – 'organizational commitment' from the employees and customers, 'organizational culture' and environment, and ‘employer branding’ that helps the organization to earn reputation (Ahmed & Othman, 2017). These factors are influencing the hypothesis of the current research paper in understanding the variables that help the organization in achieving its desired performance standard. However, the achievement of the 'independent' variables can sustain the customer and employee base for a long-term, which is an essential factor in growing the performance level.

Fig 2: “Conceptual Model” for the Current Research Process Based on the Hypothesis ‘Questionnaire’ Development

The current research paper needs a clear understanding of the different variables existing in a big organization like "Woolworths", and how those variables influence the organization in maintaining and developing their performance. The questionnaire 'survey' process will interact with twenty employees and five managers from "Woolworths" to help in understanding and collecting the required data. The “Organizational Citizenship Behavior” (OCB) helps in enhancing the ‘brand identification’ and reputation (Kiranmayi & Jyothi, 2018). The questionnaire for the current research process is consists of ‘open-ended’ questions which will help in understanding the required data ‘in-depth’ and testing the “Conceptual Model” conveniently. An appropriate list of questionnaires in understanding the “Conceptual Model” and obtaining required data can be drawn as follows,

• What are the most critical internal factors that define the organization's performance growth or development?
• What are the external influences that determine the Woolworths organizational performanceheavily?
• How the 'dependent' variables that maintain the Woolworths organizational performanceare 'correlated' with the 'independent', 'mediated', and 'moderate' variables?
• How to measure the variables in understanding the current internal and external situation of the organization?
• How the variables influence the organization in acquiring ‘innovation’ to develop its operational and financial performance?

The 'survey' process will also carry a separate digital form contains 'multiple-choice questionnaire' related to the research topic. It will help the current research process to understand the technical parts by numerically analyze the results.

Justification of the Research ‘Questionnaire’ and Other Impact Factors
The research questionnaires are particularly asking the identification of the existing variables and their impact on the Woolworths organizational performance. The development of the discussed "Conceptual Model" in understanding the "organizational citizenship behavior" (OCB) can help in understating the commitment aspect of the organization with the employees and customers (Alzayed, Jauhar, & Mohaidin, 2017). It will then help in understanding the ‘dependable’ and other variables of the organization. The 'multiple-choice questionnaire' will help in understanding the measurement and identification of the variables by acquiring numerical results. The ‘demographic’ variables of the current research paper aredirectly related to the "Woolworths". It is better to directly obtain information from the employees and management. However, the 'demographic' variables are divided into two group – employees and managers, to an acquired different perspective. The employees will give their answers as both the 'dependable' and 'independent' variable's perspective. On the other hand, the managers can draw data from the organization's internal 'decision-making' process, and existing influential factors.

The ‘control’ variable of the current research paper might restrict the data enhancement process. The “Conceptual Model” requires more perception from the marketing and organizational viewpoint. The current research process can only include an outlet of "Woolworths", which might not be efficient for acquiring different ideas.

Research Plan Development
a. Background of the Research Participant Demography for Sampling
The development process of the data collection needs to be started by understanding the participant group of the current research process. The research hypothesis is very specific and does not require a wide range of participants. The critical variables related to the Woolworths organizational performancegrowth and development can be answered by the ‘organizational stakeholders’. The population for the current survey process will be the employees and management officials from the “Woolworths”. The descriptive or elaborate answer process has been considered for acquiring the sample.The sampling procedure would be identifying a particular "Woolworths" outlet that can be suitable for evaluating the research hypothesis. The sampling 'size' will not potentially carry any error as the survey process demands a conceptual or elaborate answer to the survey questions. However, authenticity and partiality will be observed during the interview process. On the other hand, the 'multiple choice questionnaire', the questionnaire needs to be filled, otherwise, the incomplete form will be rejected.

b. ‘Data Collection’ Method
The 'data collection' method for the current research process is 'face-to-face' interview that will help the research process in understanding the various aspect of an organization's operational process. The 'multiple-choice questionnaire' part needed to be solved through the digital form submission process. The interview method will be contemplating the traditional ‘data collection’ method of conducting ‘cognitive interview’ (CI) process to enhance the internal knowledge and intelligence of the participants (Edgar, Murphy, & Keating, 2016). While the ‘multiple choice questionnaire’ will be done by implementing modern technology, which is ‘online distribution’ process.

The motivation behind choosing this particular method is to understand the organization’s existing variables and its practical impact on the Woolworths organizational performance. The effective conversation process with the employees and managers of "Woolworths" will make them comfortable in discussing the impact of 'dependable' variables in developing the organization's standard, and the active role of other variables.

c. Data Analyzation Process
The critical analysis of the acquired transcript from the interview session will allow the current research process to evaluate the hypothesis. The appropriate proposal for analyzing the collected data can be with conducting "thematic analysis". Although, "thematic analysis" is considered to be the most popular method for 'qualitative' analysis.

“Thematic analysis” will enhance the value and meaningfulness of the collected data, and demonstrate accurate result with specific codes and themes (Nowell, Norris, White, & Moules, 2017). The analyzation of the acquired themes from the “thematic analysis” process will help in establishing the research hypothesis accurately.

The 'quantitative' analysis of the current research paper will divide the response themes and other 'multiple-choice questionnaire' to be analyzed by presenting accurate graphs. It will further help in test the hypothesis properly.

d. Ethical Consideration
Both the ‘face-to-face’ interview and ‘online distribution’ of ‘MCQ’ questionnaire will maintain,

• Participant’s anonymity and confidentiality
• Allow withdrawing the participation during any time
• The survey sessions will help the participants to understand the research processes

The above-mentioned points will address the ‘ethical implications’ in the research process.

Conclusion
The current assignment is determined in understanding the organizational ‘dependable’ and ‘independent’ variables that influence the Woolworths organizational performance. After analyzing the acquired results, the research process can work on establishing the hypothesis with facts and practical justification. The descriptive interview session will help the researcher in understanding and analyzing the subject background. The online ‘survey’ will draw various graphs that will represent numeric results. ?

References
Ahmed, A., & Othman, I. (2017). Relationship between organizational resources and organizational performance: A conceptualize mediation study. Woolworths organizational performanceEuropean Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 6(1), pp-10.

Alzayed, M., Jauhar, J., & Mohaidin, Z. (2017). The mediating effect of affective organizational commitment in the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior: a conceptual model. Asian Social Science, 13(5), 165.

Andrew, A. (2017). Employees’ commitment and its impact on organizational performance. Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting, 1-13.

Bagozzi, R., Batra, R., & Ahuvia, A. (2017). Brand love: development and validation of a practical scale. Marketing Letters, 28(1), 1-14.

Chavez, R., Yu, W., Jacobs, M., & Feng, M. (2017). Manufacturing capability and organizational performance: The role of entrepreneurial orientation. International Journal of Production Economics, 184, 33-46.

Edgar, J., Murphy, J., & Keating, M. (2016). Comparing traditional and crowdsourcing methods for pretesting survey questions. Sage Open, 6(4), 2158244016671770.

Felipe, C., Roldán, J., & Leal-Rodríguez, A. (2017). Impact of organizational culture values on organizational agility. Sustainability, 9(12), 2354.

Hendriyani, C., & Auliana, L. (2018). Transformation from relationship marketing to electronic customer relationship management: A literature study. Woolworths organizational performanceReview of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 7, 116-124.

Kiranmayi, G., & Jyothi, P. (2018). Role of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour on Internal Brand Identification. PURUSHARTHA-A journal of Management, Ethics and Spirituality, 11(2), 117-128.

Koohang, A., Paliszkiewicz, J., & Goluchowski, J. (2017). The impact of leadership on trust, knowledge management, and organizational performance. Industrial Management & Data Systems.

Navimipour, N., Milani, F., & Hossenzadeh, M. (2018). A model for examining the role of effective factors on the performance of organizations. Technology in Society, 55, 166-174.

Nikpour, A. (2017). The impact of organizational culture on organizational performance: The mediating role of employee’s organizational commitment. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 6, 65-72.

Nowell, L., Norris, J., White, D., & Moules, N. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1609406917733847.

Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R., & Wills, G. (2019). Importance-performance analysis based SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management, 44, 194-203.

Setyaningrum, R. (2017). Relationship between servant leadership in organizational culture, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour and customer satisfaction. Shanker, R., Bhanugopan, R., Van der Heijden, B., & Farrell, M. (2017). Organizational climate for innovation and organizational performance: The mediating effect of innovative work behavior. Journal of vocational behavior, 100, 67-77.

Wu, L.-F., Huang, C., Huang, W.-C., & Du, P.-L. (2019). Aligning organizational culture and operations strategy to improve innovation outcomes. Woolworths organizational performanceJournal of Organizational Change Management.