Research into Indian management and cb Richard Ellis - Free Essay Example

Research is one of the ways to find answer to question (Kumar, 2005:6). In this chapter the researcher talks about the different methods used to gather the information about the Indian facility management industry in order to meet the aim and objectives of the research. The researcher has to make sure that what kind of research philosophies to be adopted while choosing the methodology, (Saunders et al, 2003). The researcher should fulfil the overall research study with great honesty and confirmable form, which gives a clear understanding of the various methodologies used in analysing the Indian facility management industry and the reasons why the methodology was selected. (Saunders et al, 2003). It is carried out by briefly introducing the summary of the topic which has been reviewed and presents the research design used. The research design discusses various elements of the process including the purpose of the study, data collection and analysis techniques, population and sampling procedures, the qualitative and quantitative research conducted, etc to enable a clear understanding of the processes involved. 3.2 Summary of Previously Work The previous work of this on Indian facility management industry has been summarized as follows: 3.2.1 Objective The requirement to develop and sustain property and facility management strategies to align with the changing external requirements in India a pragmatic study on CB Richard Ellis to augment its strategic competitive capabilities 3.2.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses Based on the above objectives, the following research questions are identified: Does the increase in company buildings pose an increased demand for professional facility management agencies in India? H1: There is an increased demand for professional facility agencies in India due to increased company buildings. Can go green policies and improved core services in facility management help CB Richard Ellis improve its present market share? H2: Prioritising go green policies and other core services have a positive impact on the CB Richard Ellis performance Can efficient management strategies and better research and value added services overcome the traditional mindset of facility management being a cost centre and Result in improved employee performance? H3a: Efficient management scan overcome the traditional mindset of facility management being a cost centre and results in improved employee performance Influence on the clients selection of a facility management company? H3b: Research and Value Added Services has an influence on the clients selection of a facility management company 3.3 Research Design The research design helps to develop a framework to gather the required data or information and also helps to analyze the same, to achieve the fundamental objectives of the study (Burns and Bush, 2006). It is the element that holds the entire research together. A research design can be described as a basic plan, which guides the phase of both analysis of the data and data collection process that should be done on the facility management industry in India. Suitable methodology should be chosen and appropriate data gathering techniques have selected to fulfil the need of information in research (Babbie Mouton, 2001). Thus, a well drafted research design would outline all the critical steps involved in the process of research. The research has designed to gain an insight in to the Indian facility management industry and to understand the views of clients, vendors and professional of CB Richard Ellis, Asset services-India. Three types of research designs are conclusive research, perfo rmance monitoring research and exploratory research (Kinnear and Taylor, 1996). The table below represents the graphical description of research design framework followed by the researcher to conduct the research. Data Analysis Ready for analysis Hypothesis testing Feel for data Interpretation Goodness of data Data collection Method Interviews Questionnaires Secondary Data Study Setting Contrived Non-contrived Time Horizon Cross sectional Longitudinal Researcher Interference Minimal Manipulation Unit of Analysis Individual Group Sampling Design Sampling process Types of Investigation Causal studies Co relational studies Purpose of Study Exploratory or Descriptive Hypothesis testing PROBLEM STATEMENT Measurement Measures Nominal scale Ordinal scale Interval scale Ratio scale Fig 3.1: Research design Source: Sekaran 2003 Kumar (2005) says that the design of research has two primary purposes: Recognize and develop procedures and logistical arrangements to carry out the research Highlight the importance of quality in the procedures to ensure validity, objectivity and accuracy Thus, the researcher has summarized the purpose in designing the research as follows: To conceptualise an operational plan to undertake various procedures and tasks to complete a study on the facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis To ensure that these procedures are adequate to obtain valid, objective and accurate answers to the research questions that were developed by the researcher on the company and the industry in which it is operating. This is referred to as control of variance by Kerlinger (1986). 3.4 Purpose of Study The researcher has followed exploratory studies to explain the variables of interest. The exploratory research aids the researcher in improving the understanding of a topic that he may not know enough about and results in greater depth of understanding of the topic. This kind of research helps in gaining a clear insight in understanding the facility management industry in India and gives a clear course of action to find the data which has not been previously found. Usually all the collected information and data is informal and unstructured which is put forward as a hypothesis, which will be more specific as the researcher gain a correct knowledge of the industry and CB Richard Ellis (Churchill, 2004; Burns and Bush, 2006). The literature review which has been conducted in the earlier chapters has thrown light on the concepts surrounding the field of facility management in India. This study would gather relevant data from professionals who are associated with CB Richard Ellis in Ind ia and also the professionals related to the industry to derive the results of the study. 3.5 Types of investigation When the researcher wants to delineate the cause of a problem, then the study is called a causal study. This is basically a study based on cause and effect (Kotler Armstrong 2005). If a researcher merely wants to identify the important factors associated with the problem then the Correlational study is called for (Sekaran, 2003). The researcher has used causal study questions to investigate different aspect of the problem. The researcher tries to establish the cause-effect relationship the Indian facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis is facing. The researcher having established the relationships between variables in the literature review, the survey will aim at understanding the implications from the facility management professionals point of view. 3.6 Extent of researcher interference The extent of interference by researcher is determined is mainly based on whether the study undertaken is causal or correlation (Sekaran, 2003). The researchers influence to conduct a correlational study will be minimal while it may be necessary to manipulate certain variables in order make a causal study. In the context of this study, the variables are limited to facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis by the researcher. Also, the objective is to focus on listening to the interviewees and surveys so as to understand their opinion of the professionals in accordance with the research objectives and there is no motive to limit any extent of conversation. As such interference can be expected to be minimal. 3.7 Study setting Study setting could be either contrived or non-contrived (Sekaran 2003). The study conducted by the researcher has been in a non-contrived or natural environment setting. The researcher has not used any artificial or modified environment for the research. The researcher has considered all individual and the other aspects of the respondents as same as the events that occur in natural environment. The researcher has used respondents who are associated with either Indian facility management industry or CB Richard Ellis to conduct the study in a natural environment. Thus, the author has no influence on the study environment. 3.8 Measurement and measures A scale is tool which help people to distinguish between variables (Robbins 2004). According to Sekaran (2003), there are four types of scale. Nominal scale: designed to assign respondents to certain categories or groups Ordinal scale: categorizes the variables and also ranks the groups in some meaningful way. Interval scale: each option is a range of values Ratio scale: it measures differences between the points on the scale and also shows the proportion in the differences. But Wong (1998) says that, there exists a fifth scale called Yes/No scale which provides only two options. The combination of Likert scale and Yes/No scale has been considered by the researcher to conduct the survey and interviews to have a better understanding of the subject matter. 3.9 Unit of Analysis A unit of analysis is the unit about which we obtain information: it is the unit about whose characteristics we describe (Vaus 2002). The unit of measurement is individual when the problem statement focuses on individual reaction but when the study is directed comparing groups then the unit of measurement would be group. The data is collected and analyzed according to each facility management professionals opinion; therefore, the unit of analysis would be individual. 3.10 Sampling Design ÂÂ  Sampling or sample selection is organised to find a particular number of respondents who will be representing the vast population. By selecting a suitable sample, the results of the study can be generalized towards the entire population (Cooper and Schindler, 2007). The research deals with the facility management industry in India. As such, a random sampling technique will be highly ineffective. Thus, it is important to choose the right sample in order to receive valid responses. As such, purposive sampling (non probability sampling) will be used for the survey. The sample will be the professionals concerned with facility management industry in India. Statisticians have proved that the larger the absolute size of the sample, the more closely its distribution will be to the normal distribution and more robust it will be (Saunders et. al., 2003) and it is known as central limits theorem. A sample size of 61 respondents was initially chosen to ensure the reliability of the survey results. For interview process, the researcher has considered a sampling size of 9 respondents who are a part of CB Richard Ellis India. The interview process will require individuals who have assumed a certain position in CB Richard Ellis. Hence, non probability sampling will be used for the interview process. Further, purposive sampling technique is used to enhance the effectiveness of the survey. The table below represents the sampling plan. It was decided that the purposive sampling strategy would followed. This is a non probability sampling strategy which is considered to be typical of the wider population. SAMPLING PLAN Population Description Sampling frame Sample size Sampling Technique FM Professionals, Clients and suppliers Interview 9 9 Purposive sampling Survey 61 61 Purposive sampling Fig 3.2: Sampling plan Source: Researcher, 2010 3.11 Time Horizon The principal options available for researchers to deal with the issue of time are cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. According to Babbie (2009), cross sectional study involves observations of a sample or phenomenon that are made at one point in time. On the other hand, longitudinal study permits observations of the phenomenon over an extended period (Babbie 2009). The data has been collected only once from the respondents over a brief period of time. Henceforth, the time horizon would be attributed as cross-sectional as the data is collected at the same point of time from the professionals. 3.12 Data collection: Source of Data A data gathering exercise is the primary need for a researcher while conducting a basic research study. Accordingly, the researcher may follow a qualitative or quantitative approach. In either approach, the researcher can distinguish between primary and secondary research. According to McNabb (2004), primary data means the researcher gathers new data that may be in support of the study conducted. The primary data would be gathered from the facility related individuals. Similarly, secondary data is the gathering of information that has already been previously published and hence very reliable (McNabb 2004). The secondary data will be obtained from the books, journals and articles which are related to facility management industry. 3.13 Data collection Method Collection of data can be done by using two different methods primary research and secondary research. The gathered data will be further analyzed using various tools to get the results of study (Churchill and Lacobucci, 2002).This study makes use of a quantitative survey using a questionnaire and interviews as a means to gather primary data. In order to reduce the amount of error produced, the respondents were briefed about how they need to fill in the questionnaire. Two types of data collection method is explained in brief in below paragraph. 3.14 Secondary Data The secondary data is used to meet the objectives of research and analyze the collected data (Saunders et al.2003). According to Bradley (2007) the good researcher is the one who starts with the secondary data before planning to design primary research. According to Crowther Lancaster (2008), secondary data is essentially second hand data that may have been previously collected for reasons that vary from the actual research it may be used for. Generally gathering secondary resources is relatively simpler as these datas are already available in the form of books, Journals, Electronic journals, business magazines, articles etc. But the researcher have to collect, frame and structure it as it is needed and sometimes the data which is collected may be raw data or may be compiled data related to the Indian facility management industry (Kumar, 2005). According to Bradley (2007) and Saunders (2003) the secondary data helps the researcher to understand the literature and background which was already written by the number of authors about the topic which again helps the researcher to keep the study on focus. The use of secondary data in this research is extremely valuable in order to understand the variables, examine the relationships and draw conclusions with topics related to the Indian facility management and CB Richard Ellis. This will help in providing a comparative analysis on the facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis once the primary data is retrieved thereby making the interview and survey process more meaningful. In this study the secondary data is used to make the analysis more reliable and remarkable. 3.15 Primary data One of the most challenging tasks for the researcher in this research was of collection of meaningful and truthful collection of primary data from the field (Bradley, 2007). Primary datas are first hand data which has been collected from the organization and society by the researcher. These datas are never been published before and are gathered personally by the researcher for research purpose with the help of structured interviews and by distributing questionnaires (Bradley, 2007). The primary data would be gathered from the facility related individuals in India. 3.16 Interview and Surveys The interview pattern has been structured and face-to-face. The researcher asks the same questions to the respondents. Face-to-face interviews have a higher degree of accuracy since the researcher has direct access to the respondents. The researcher has chosen respondents who assume an important position in CB Richard Ellis, India, to conduct the interviews. It is recognised that structured interviews play an important role in developing exploratory models and preparation of more systematic forms of investigation. The interviews also provide an improved clarity on the subject matter to the respondents. 3.17 Questionnaire design The design of questionnaire is very important in the research process. It is a systematic procedure, which requires continuous input from the researcher to make the questionnaire easy, simple, interesting and encouraging to gather the required information easily (Burns and Bush, 2006).ÂÂ  The idea behind this is that samples from a certain population are administered a number of questions and the researcher makes inferences about the population from the data that is gathered (McNabb 2004). The author further explains that the greatest advantage of a questionnaire lies in the fact that it can be tailored to meet the objectives of any research subject thereby signifying its flexibility. The researcher has chosen facility related professionals to derive a valuable conclusion on the research topic. Other advantages according to McNabb (2004) are that questionnaires can be designed to determine peoples opinions and thinking patterns, measures factual knowledge, etc. In this researc h the questionnaire is designed by keeping focus of research question and objectives of study in mind. Care has to be taken not to complicate the questionnaire in any manner by asking confusing questions. 3.18 Data Analysis 3.18.1 Preparing for data analysis The data analysis method chosen is both qualitative and quantitative. Saunders et al (2007) state that, qualitative research is usedÂÂ  predominantlyÂÂ  as a synonym for any data collection technique (such as an interview) or data analysis procedure (such as categorising data) that generates or use non numerical data. Further, Cooper and Schindler (2008) state that qualitative research includes an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate , and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world. The data obtained for qualitative research will be from the articles, books and journals which relating to Indian facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis. The data will be sorted will be sorted manually by the researcher as the data collected will be varied. Saunders et al (2007) state that, quantitative is predominantly used as a synonym for any data collection techniques (such as questionnaire) or data analysis procedure (such as graphs or statistics) that generates or uses numerical data. Muijs (2004) further states that quantitative research is explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics). Consequently, Babbie Mouton (2001), describe the three steps in preparing data for analysis as follows: Coding: Although codes may be derived from the theory being explored, researchers can use open coding where codes are suggested by the researchers examination of the information and questioning of the data. Memoing: Memoing at various stages of data processing is important as it captures code meanings, theoretical ideas, preliminary conclusions and other thoughts that will be helpful during the analysis. Concept mapping: Concept mapping makes use of diagrams to explain or establish relationships in the data graphically. Other simple measures to be undertaken before analysing data includes discarding incomplete data, editing unwanted data and examining outliers that may exist. 3.18.2 Hypothesis testing Hypothesis testing is a process based on the sample data and probability theory in order to understand if the developed hypothesis is justifiable (Jackson, 2009). Hypothesis testing is an important part of the data analysis. The researcher has chosen T Test method and regression analysis to prove the hypothesis that was developed in the previous chapter. 3.18.2.1 T Test The T-Test was invented by William Sealy Gosset in 1908. It is also called Students t distribution. It is statistical hypothesis test. The main purpose of the t test is to conclude if the null hypothesis could be rejected or not based on the statistical output (Koh and Owen, 2000). Regression Analysis Regression analysis is a tool based on statistics to understand the connection between variables (Sykes, 2008). It is a technique used to model and analyse numerical data. The regression analysis mainly analyses the impact of one variable on the other. Further, it is an important tool in the hypothesis testing process. 3.18.3 Data Interpretation Schoenbach (2004) says that analysing and interpreting the results are the reward for the work of collecting data. The researcher has to focus on the addressing the purpose of study. The data interpretation should relate to the study objectives and research questions which are related to facility management in India. Data interpretation occurs as gestalt shift and represents a synthetic, holistic and illuminating grasp of meaning, as in deciphering a code (Spiggle 1994). The success of the research could be owed to the good interpretation of data. 3.19 Limitations of the Study Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies have their own limitations. Despite having an advantage of using Quantitative methodology, it has its own limitations. It has been argued by various authors that the limitations that they have in the qualitative methodology are the finding, which can be generalized to the total population (McQuarrie McIntyre, 1988). It is impossible to measure or evalu ate Qualitative method but however can be rendered with the participants thoughts and their needs (Marks, 2000). The results of the survey and interview may represent the vision and thoughts of the individual. This may cause the research to deviate from identifying the actual scenario. The interpretative process is used to understand the collected information is subjective and to show the ability of the researcher to translate and assign correct meaning to the collected information (Spiggle, 1994, Kress Shoffner, 2007). There is a remote possibility that due to lack of experience of the researcher the result, which is translated, can be misinterpreted information. 3.20 Ethical Consideration The researcher reserves the right to maintain the confidentiality of the respondents of the survey as per the request from the respondents. Thus, the only the output of the survey would be revealed and the confidentiality of respondents of both survey and interview would be maintained. The respondents are endowed with the right to withdraw partially or fully from the process, due to their voluntary nature. 3.21 Conclusion The researcher has described the research methodology followed to conduct the research on the Indian facility management industry and CB Richard Ellis. The details would impart the reader clear indication of the parameters considered by the researcher to analyse the industry. The researcher has considered all the critical parameters that would influence the research on facility management industry and has followed a holistic approach to develop the hypotheses.