CLO Business Decision-Making Project Part 1

CLO Business Decision-Making Project Part 1

Broadway Cafe is a corporation is crippled by numerous problems in the United States. Over the past few years, the firm’s sales revenue has dropped drastically because the management failed to modernize its business processes to adjust to daily demands. Besides, the firm gas a zero technology footprint. Therefore, utilization of manual processes freezes business improvements from the existing levels.

Problem

Technology is the main problem affecting Broadway Cafe. Lack of application of technology implies that the advertisement is by word of mouth instead of social media and the internet. As a result, Broadway Cafe is under a threat of closure as firms such as Starbucks apply technology to launch a fierce competition. In fact, Starbucks has opened numerous outlets within the past year in the operating range of Broadway Cafe.

To attract more customers, the management of Broadway Cafe should redesign the mission statement to incorporate use of midrange technology solutions. Besides, the firm should acquire and install technological infrastructure and hardware necessary in running a wireless internet system and POS (Point Of Sale) processing system. The latest technology adds the capability of analyzing and storing the generated data for easier retrieval. Furthermore, a combination of these two systems allows the organization to track, analyze, and capture all pertinent information about customers, employees, and products. Then, the captured data can be used in making strategic business decisions to sustain Broadway Cafe’s competitiveness. Moreover, installation of a functional wireless internet solution at the cafe encourages customers to spend more time.

Data Collection Methods

The choice of data collection method is directly influenced by the type of variable, strategy employed in data collection, place of collection, and the enumerator’s skills. In this case, several methods that can be used to track data on the number of customers include registration, filling in questionnaires, reporting, and direct observations. Information related to customers can either be qualitative or quantitative depending on research questions. Therefore, appropriate collection method should be selected according to the researcher’s demands. Moreover, the researcher should collect data at frequent intervals to track sufficient information for managerial use. For instance, data for customer monitoring ought to be gathered constantly to detect slight changes in their number, thus allowing the leadership to implement counter-strategies. Even though numerous can be collected simultaneously using these methods, it is important for the researcher to focus on a major variable to avoid confusion or confusion in data analysis.

Research Variable

The number of customers varies as per the conditions of a business entity. The customer loyalty shifts according to favourability, discount, and rewards provided by the competing firms. In the modern times, technology plays a critical role in attracting the customers to purchase the organization’s products and services. Some of the latest technologies such as robots boost the efficiency in service delivery. Additionally, the presence of Wi-Fi hotspots in restaurants and cafes attract the tech-savvy customers hence adding a new segment to an existing base in an organization. Though installation of such infrastructure and facilities is costly for small corporations, it is beneficial in the long run because the return on investment is remarkably high.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument with a series of structured questions to be answered by customers. The designers intend questionnaires to be used in statistical analysis of respondents. Thus, Broadway Cafe can serve customers with questionnaires to get data on their level of satisfaction, frequency of access to the firm’s services, and their opinions on how the organization can improve its service delivery. Besides, the customers can fill in information on the benefit of introduced technology and the adjustments that need to be made.

            For small firms like Broadway Cafe, a questionnaire is one of the cheapest ways of data collection as compared to telephone or verbal surveys. It is easier for the data analysts to compile information because a questionnaire is structured for standardized answers. However, this method of data collection is limited by the need for the respondent to read and provide feedback to the questions.

Interviews

Broadway Cafe can conduct interviews with the sampled customers to understand their needs and to address them accordingly. Interviews are useful, especially when gathering feedback on the effectiveness of the introduced technology. Interviewed customers have a tendency to provide resourceful information to for the strategists to implement and to launch effective competition against rivaling firms like Starbucks.  Further, interviews involve the transfer of useful information between the interviewee and interviewer to establish a cordial relationship between the business entity and the customers. The process can be conducted via the internet or through face-to-face conversations. Other forms of interviews (for instance video conferencing and telephone interviews), though expensive, is equally useful in gathering qualitative data about Broadway Cafe’s customers.

Direct Observations

Direct observation refers to a direct acquisition of information customers a primary source. As one of the methods of data collection, it entails recording of data and information using instruments. The information gathered is qualitative and measurable for analysis. It is an observational study, where evaluator studies customers (study subject) in the organization as they use Wi-Fi technology provided. In this way, the evaluator can gauge the level of satisfaction derived by the customer through evaluation of ongoing processes or situations. Structured observation is one of the most appropriate forms to gather standardized customer data for quantitative purposes. On the other hand, unstructured observation is useful in obtaining qualitative information about natural occurrences.

Assessing Validity and Reliability of the Collected Data

To know if the data collected is reliable and valid, the researcher should ensure that the selected instruments to gather data are appropriate for the procedure. For instance, the instruments for gathering quantitative field data should be field-tested for accurate outcome. A reliable measure must produce stable responses regardless of the information collector. Therefore, it is important for the researcher to seek advice from experts on how to conduct the study successfully. Besides, different samples of customers should be interviewed for easier comparison and analysis of data.

It is notable that qualitative methods of data collections such as open-ended interviews and observations bear validity challenges which can only be eliminated the utilization of low-level interference instruments (Axinn, 2014). In fact, resources and time should be provided to train the researchers on how to utilize instruments. The researcher needs adequate sample size as well.

In summary, business organizations like Broadway Cafe should introduce and apply technology in daily operations to ensure efficiency and competitiveness. Installation of Wi-Fi ensures that the customers spend more time at the cafe. In addition, new customers will be attracted to the firm thus boosting sales revenue and the overall annual performance. Employing effective data collection methods is crucial in gathering the customer response and addressing the rising needs.

References

Axinn, W. G., & Pearce, L. D. (2014). Mixed Method Data Collection Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.