Example of research proposal on contemporary issues in business

Do Top Managers need a Crystal Ball: An analysis with a special focus on Abu Dhabi National Hotels.

Introduction
Several researchers had identified that the twenty-first century will be marked with highly competitive and dynamic business environment; and it will be a challenging job for business leaders and managers to ensure business success in the given business environment. Researchers argued that leaders in the 21st century will require developing dynamic core capabilities and competencies to effectively manage resources and ensuring organisational success. Globalization has increased competition for organizations and there is a need to adopt an adaptive approach to management of global organizations to stay competitive and relevant in a challenging business environment. Major changes in the business environment in the 21st century, including internationalisation of businesses, advancement of technology, demographic changes of the workforce, changing customer preferences and expectations, flattening of organisation structures, demands changes in the way businesses are conducted (Prahlad, 1995). To be successful in this given business environment, the business leaders need to reassess the business processes and practices (Bossidy, 1995). Corporate level and business level strategies need to undergo transformational changes. To successfully implement these changed strategies, leaders need to reassess their skills and capabilities (Prahlad, 1995). Crystal ball is a glass globe used for foretelling. The study would attempt to identify if the managers were able to successfully handle these business dynamics through change in management strategies or do they need a crystal ball to do so.

Literature review

Hospitality industry plays an important role in the service industry of UAE. Different aspects such as low cost services, less time consuming and conformable services with high quality, etc. influences the growth of hospitality companies in the industry (Koc, 2009). In this highly innovative and technological world, competition in the tourism industry has increased and companies are executing innovative and unique strategies to attract and retain global consumers. Customer retention and acquisition is one of the biggest needs of the tourism industry. It is a challenging task for the business firms to cope with global changes and demands of the consumers and retain them for a long time (Ahuja, et. al., 2003). All these factors make strategic planning important for the top management at Abu Dhabi National Hotels. The sources that will be used for the purpose of conducting the literature review are journal articles from Strategic Management journals, hospitality journals, books, company annual report, company website and news articles.

Methods

Research design
For this research, the research philosophy is positivism. A positivist approach to research is based on the knowledge, information and understanding gained from ‘positive’ confirmation and proof of evidence rather than, for example, introspection or perception (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005). Scientific research is the best way of understanding the subject. The broader perspective for this approach is the Modernist movement. One of the advantage of using the principle of positivism in this research is that Positivism relies on quantitative data, which is believed as more scientific and methodical and also more trustworthy (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005). Quantitative data provide objective information that helps the researcher to make scientific assumptions. Second advantage is that positivism always follow a well-defined structure while studies and discussions, as maintaining a proper structure encourages accurate study and minimum error, when it comes to applications and experiments using scientific tools. The approach of positivism is chosen for the paper because based on the nature of questions to analyse, this approach seemed to be the most appropriate.
Exploratory research is conducted for this study. The focus of exploratory research is not to deduce firm conclusions but to recognise general parameters. The study is cross-sectional as it investigates the topic at a particular time. Cross-sectional studies are most appropriate when the research is faced with time and budget constrains (Bowling, 2005).

Methods: Context population and sampling

The research uses mixed methodology design as it allows for greater diversity of views to inform and be reflected in the study (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005). Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires. In addition, qualitative data was collected by analysing data from previous research. Mixed methodology design was selected due to its various advantages. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology helps clarify and enhance the findings of the research. In addition, mixing the two methods can lead to interesting connections and links in the results as the qualitative method can help interpret the data analysis of the administered surveys (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005).
In order to collect data, the researcher approached a number of companies and asked for their permission to distribute online questionnaires among the managers. Using this method, Abu Dhabi National Hotels allowed distributing questionnaires to the managers. In this way 50 respondents were recruited. In addition, respondents were also recruited with snowball sampling i. e. acquaintances of the researcher and managers referred by the fellow managers.

Instruments

In this research, the researcher has adopted questionnaire survey because this will help the researcher to study multiple variables at a given point of time (Mochain and Perkins, 2010). Using any other strategy like laboratory experiment or a field study will not allow studying multiple variables at the same time. A single questionnaire survey is conducted on the research sample to collect data for this research. Quantitative data can be collected in a standardized way through questionnaire, so that the data are internally consistent or reliable and rational for interpretation. The questionnaire ensures consistency and comparability of the data, and increases the speed and accuracy of recording and processing of data (Foddy, 1993). Likert scale questions along with other closed and open ended questions will be included for the ease of quantifying the data and computing numerical analysis. Likert scale questions do not force the respondents to give concrete dichotomous answers, but allows the researcher to get inputs on the degree of agreement or disagreement on a particular statement related to motivational factors (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005).

Procedures

The researcher has consulted the Guidelines for Applying for Ethical Approval and and has passed through an ethical training.
Data analysis
Data analysis includes transforming data collected into meaningful representations to identify what is meaningful for the research project. The data for this research was analyzed using the “ SPSS” software. With, the help of SPSS charts and diagrams were easily produced and is very supportive to reach the conclusion of the research. The different aspects of the literature review will also be linked to the quantitative findings of the report, to identify if they confirm or contradict the findings of previous researches.

References

Ahuja, M., Gupta, B. & Raman, P. (2003). An Empirical Investigation of Online Consumer Purchasing Behaviour. Communications of the ACM, 46(12), pp. 145–151.
Bowling, A. (2005). Mode of questionnaire administration can have serious effects on data quality. Journal of Public Health, 27(3), pp. 281-291.
Eisingerich, A. B. & Kretschmer, T. (2008). In E-Commerce, More is More. Harvard Business Review, 86 (March), pp. 20–21.
Foddy, W. (1993). Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and Practice in Social Research, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ghauri, P. N. and Gronhaug, K. (2005). Research Methods In Business Studies: A Practical Guide. 3rd. Prentice Hall.
Prahalad, C. K. & Bettis, R. (1995). The Dominant Logic: a New Linkage Between
Diversity and Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 7, 485-501.