Topic 2

Thank you for your advice and I certainly will take it on board. Because of my topic a lot of my research is from internal documents i.e. internal audit report giving the recommendations in the first instance, terms of reference from consultant to implement project, internal PI’s showing the improvement or not of invoice processing etc. I am unsure how to reference these documents. I was planning on adding as an appendix, so do I reference both the appendix and the author, year ie (appendix1, Pringle, 2013) or just the appendix. Also, I was thinking on doing a cost benefit analysis, getting the actual costs is not too difficult but for benefits, I would have to apply an estimate of cost i.e time saving, less paper, better control etc. Do you think this would be OK to do.

Hi there

Your advise is really good thanks. This question may have been answered before but looking through other posts I can’t find. Do I include the SWOT analysis i.e. the table show the SWOT as part of my RR or do I just give a summary of my findings based on the SWOT in the RR and add the actual table of SWOT as an appendix? Also, same question for a cost benefit analysis?

@furhana-whilst I am the first person to encourage students to choose the topic and company for themselves (rather than a mentor imposing one) you must give a lot of thought to this decision before going ahead.

The main problem here being that as you don’t work for this company you will probably be heavily reliant on the information they put out which might limit your ability to do an effective and objective analysis. This being the case you will need to do as much research as you can to find independent articles that discuss some of the cons as well as the pros of the system so that your report is balanced and does not just describe the benefits.

You may need to do some primary data collection so that you acquire some independent evidence from users of how successful this money mobile system is from their side. I cannot stress too much how important it is that when conducting such a survey to plan it well. With questionnaires it really is garbage in -> garbage out. So many students fail their RAPS because of ill thought through badly worded, ambiguous questions, inappropriate questions, asking people what others think (this then is not evidence of fact but merely a perception of other people’s opinions) and then using what in statistical terms is useless, invalid and unreliable information to try to ‘prove’ something (something clearly, which a poor questionnaire is never going to do). So read Phil Clarke’s article in the Info Pack, and study how to design about 8 to 10 sensible reliable questions (which you should test out first before the main survey to ensure they are not ambiguous and can easily be understood and answered). You will also need to include your raw data in the appendices. I haven’t myself used survey monkey but this might be one way of conducting such data collection.

As for the model chosen, you have to apply this so you should see whether the key features of your chosen company and its strategies are appropriate (read the last few CEO and Directors reports in the last 2 annual reports to see what the company direction is and how it views itself in terms of strategies). Remember some theorists’ models only fit companies producing a tangible product not a service so no one model can be prescribed for T2.

I hope I am not coming over as too negative but I want you to be aware of potential problems and difficulties upfront so you can avoid them and are fully aware of any pitfalls. (Tutors from The Learning Luminarium have set out a good article on their website listing 5 commen causes of failure which is well worth reading)
https://learningluminarium.com/2015/07/03/5-main-reasons-failure/

Thanks to opentuition for this platform.

Hello, Please, I chose topic 2.

Project title: AN EVALUATION OF HOW THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAN ASSIST THE EASTERN REGIONAL BRANCH OF HFC BANK GHANA TO ACHIEVE ITS BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Objectives of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to assess how the introduction of IT has helped banks to create more satisfied customers. Specific objectives include;
1. To examine the usage of IT products among the customers of HFC bank in the Eastern region of Ghana.

2. To identify the satisfaction level of customers with regards to the use of HFC bank information technology products.

3. To examine the challenges customers encounter with regards to the use of HFC bank’s IT products.

Research Questions

The study seeks to answer the following questions in order to achieve the above objectives:

1. How are customers of HFC bank in the Eastern region using the IT products of the bank?

2. What is the satisfaction level of customers of HFC bank with respect to the use of the bank’s technology product?

3. What challenges do customers encounter with regards to the use of HFC bank’s IT products?

MY REQUESTS

Please:
Is there any problem with my project title?

Are there any problems, omissions or additions to the study objectives and research questions above?

Finally, can electronic banking(such as the use of ATMs, E-switch, Telephone banking, internet banking,mobile banking and funds transfer) be a new information technology?

Thank you so much.

l have chosen topic 2,is it possible for me to use an a car assembly company that has just introduced a modern piece of equipment

thank you very much

Sorry but from the information you have supplied I don’t think this would result in a successful outcome.

The reason I say this is that you must submit a Research and ANALYSIS Report whereas it sounds as if most of your proposed report would be just research. You really need some end results to analyse and evaluate and demonstrate some original input from you otherwise you are just describing the set-up and situation. The Information Pack makes it very clear that you cannot just report what you found. See my article on Evaluation and Analysis on our homepage http://www.opentuition.com/obu

Sorry but I don’t want you to end up wasting your efforts and being frustrated

This would probably depend on topic chosen. For example there would be no problem using your department for Topic 6 on motivation provided you just mentioned in the limitations to your research that as it was confined to this one department the findings may not necessarily be applicable to the whole organisation.

If there had been a strategic investment decision that only affected this one faculty then again that might be acceptable as long as you considered the limitations in the data and any inferences drawn. However as with your original proposal you need to have sufficient data to work with, develop and produce some original analysis / critical thought of your own rather than just report secondary data obtained from research.

Do a search on ‘Change Management Models’ . Also go to ‘Google Scholar’ to look for relevant theoretical information as you should make some reference where appropriate to the work of Kotter, Lewin, McKinsey etc or some other well known writers on the topic.

Sorry for the late response but I assume you are preparing for a P39 submission? I am wondering if this scenario might be more appropriate to Topic 14. Normally for either T2 or T14 you need detailed financial information and access to internal Information to help you evaluate the consequences of the change in technology / investment decision. Forecasts and budgets would often form part of this and with possibly some application of sensitivity analysis of the forecasts.

Take a look at change management and that might give you some ideas on appropriate models.

From a practical point of view neither Topic 2 nor 14 are popular topics (because the majority of students do not have direct access to first-hand info) and you will find most mentors will try to push you into another topic… on one of our forums a student found herself handing over a not inconsiderable sum (for mentioning on one of the more unusual topics) and then being shoved into doing Topic 8 because the mentor was incapable of doing any other topic.

If you need a high grade then ensure you establish some of the parameters before you part with your cash and get a reputable mentor -it will take an experienced mentor to help you achieve a high grade.

A strategy is a course of action taken by a company to help it fulfil the objectives of the company.

A strategic investment is a material amount spent on a specific strategy. It does not necessarily mean that it has to be in another company as it could be about entering a new market, developing a new product or diversification or in your company’s case to try to ensure survival (by the sound of it).

There does tend to be an overlap between some of the topic titles so in normal circumstances you could probably make a case out for either Topic 2 or 14. However Topic 2 ‘An evaluation of how the introduction of a new technology can assist an organisation in achieving its business objectives’ seems to anticipate that the new technology will have brought the desired results (more sales and profit)

Whereas Topic 14 ‘An appraisal of the business and financial objectives of a strategic investment decision made by an organisation and its impact on key stakeholders’ seems to cater for a negative outcome (even though of course a positive one would have been desired)

Whilst you can do a preliminary SWOT and PESTEL I would expect as part of the financial evaluation to see use of breakeven analysis, payback periods (perhaps with discounted cash flow if the project was funded by borrowing), so if the data you would have access to would allow you to do some of this then you would be in OK. The trick with doing many of the more ‘unusual’ topics is to ensure that you do adequate analysis of this type and not just describe what went on. However with the ability to access a lot of primary data you do seem to have most of what is required to produce a decent report provide you can extrapolate the relevant figures.

1. Yes

2. No but you will be expected to demonstrate business techniques such as break-even, payback period as mentioned previously

3.1 You will be expected to supply a letter from the company on their company letterhead to certify that you have been given permission to use company data. You will be expected to include some raw data otherwise your figures cannot be checked

3.2 Yes but remember each document has to have a unique reference (see our reference guide on our homepage)

3.3. Yes that would be 2 words

3.4 Normally the documents need to be included – you may redact anything that is ultra sensitive

4. Not specifically but you could look for articles about different approaches to investment appraisal. You mightalso find something relating to academic papers on investment appraisal using the search engine ‘Google Scholar’