Research access and interventions in Dissertation projects

The following discussion agenda is on "Performing research access and interventions" in the subject of Dissertation and consulting management:

A. Consulting Management Perspective (based on Wickham (2004)

1. Identify opportunities and issues by the client organization
• Evaluate the problem
• Evaluate assistors and inhibitors (re: Table 7.1 of Wickham  (2004.)
2. Problem analysis, specification and quantification
• Brainstorming
• Grouping causes and identifying root causes
3. Setting objectives, defining desired end state/ outcomes, and formulating actions
• Reconcile your objectives as a consultant with those of your client
4. Develop a strategy for the destination
• Formulate a project charter
• Team members
• Project scope
• Project time frame
• Project measurements
5. Consultant-client engagement for the project implementation
• Spectrum of consultant-client interactions
6. Benckmark project progression
7. Hand over ownership of the project

B. Action Research Perspective (based on Checkland and Holwell (2007).)

1. The cycle of action research in human situations
• Real world problem situation
• Research themes
• Action in the situation
• Reflection on the intervention
• Findings
2. The process of action research
• Enter the problem situation
• Establish roles
• Declare methodology and frameworks of ideas
• Take part in change process
• Rethink the process of intervention
• Exit
• Reflect on the experience
3. The "recoverability" criterion and the "transferability" of results to other situations

Class discussion:
compare and evaluate the approaches of Wickham and Checkland and Holwell


Specific discussion on Research methods as related to Marketing:

• http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2012/01/example-of-quantitative-research-in.html
• The main article as related to Qualitative Research is Walsh, K. (2003) "Qualitative Research: Advancing the Science and Practice of Hospitality" Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administrative Quarterly, April, pp. 66-74. (re: http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2012/01/rationale-of-conducting-qualitative.html)
• The academic article for illustration of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing is Homburg, C., Workman, Jr., J.P. and Jensen, O. (2000) "Fundamental Changes in Marketing Organization: The movement toward a customer-focused organizational structure", Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28(4), pp. 459-478. See also diagram below that captures the main idea:

• Notes on Qualitative Research: http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-nature-of-qualitative-research.html

Lecture notes:

In this case: the table of content of the dissertation report has the following structure in general:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature reivew
* Literature review of theories -> formulation of a theoretical framework
Chapter 3: Background of the study
* Literature review of the subject matter/ area of concern
Chapter 4: Research design
* Describe a theory-driven research design with clear justifications; there should be a methodology, e.g. on Action Research, that further clarifies the research design; an example of a methodology is the soft systems methodology of Peter Checkland: http://members.tripod.com/ssm_delphi/ssm4.html
Chapter 5: Findings and Analysis
Chapter 6: Conclusions and recommendations
Chapter 7: Lessons learned and future research efforts
References
Appendix

In the lecture, I have also briefly mentioned the quantitative method of multiple regression analysis:
http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2011/12/research-method-based-on-multiple.html


References

1. Checkland, P. and Holwell, S. (2007) "Chapter 1: Action Research" in Kock, N. (editor) Information Systems Action Research, Springer.
2. Wickham, P. (2004) Management Consulting, Prentice-Hall [Mainly chapters 7-8]
3. On Project Charter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_charter
4. Overall teaching schedule on Research methods and Consulting practices: http://josephkkhoworkdiary.blogspot.com/2012/03/lecture-agenda-for-dissertation-and.html
5. On Qualitative Research Methods: http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2012/01/rationale-of-conducting-qualitative.html
6. Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (2010) "Chapter 7: Qualitative methodology: the case of ethnography" Research Methods for Managers, Sage.
7. Marketing forum: https://www.facebook.com/josephho33?success=1#!/groups/282669242406/