Management Dilemma: Research Proposal

Introduction

WXY is a shirt corporation and is concerned about the change in consumer preference for short-sleeved shirts. The government has announced that the winter period will come earlier than expected and at the same time it will extend by two months than expected. The management anticipates that the change in consumer preference may continue and intensify if the meteorological department insists on the winter period coming earlier. The news leaves the management on a dilemma on whether to cut the production of the short-sleeved shirts.

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Hypothesis

The relational hypothesis appears to be the most suitable type of hypothesis for this study compared to the other hypothesis such as descriptive and proposition hypothesis. Besides, a relational hypothesis will provide the perfect platform for determining the relationship between the change in consumer preference and production of short-sleeved shirts. Hence, the relational hypothesis would be "the shift in preference for short-sleeved shirts."

Definition of Variables

The dependent variable is short-sleeved shirts preference while the independent variable will be the climate. In this case, the preference of short-sleeved shirts becomes the dependent variable because the shift in preference relies on the change in climate and the vice versa.

Research Design

The research study will adopt a qualitative research design. A qualitative research design can provide a deeper understanding of any occurrences that cannot be achieved in other ways. Nonetheless, it is argued that the kind of data that a researcher extracts from a study depends on the parameters and experiment design that one sets at the beginning. Additionally, the type of data that the study aims at achieving does not relate to measurements, amounts and quantities that can be statistically manipulated. Instead, the research study at hand will aim at deriving attributes and features of a phenomenon that needs to be interpreted thematically.

Moreover, a qualitative research design will enable the generation of ideas and leads that can be used to formulate a testable and realistic hypothesis. More so, as discussed above, this study has a testable hypothesis. Therefore, the use of a qualitative research design will result in the creation of a hypothesis. Further, the hypothesis can not only be mathematically analyzed, but also comprehensively tested with standard quantitative research techniques. For instance, one can try to generate reasons for the shift in consumer preference on the short sleeved shirts, to determine whether to produce more or cut the production of the short-sleeved shirts. A focus group can yield qualitative data about their opinion on the shift in short-sleeved shirts preference due to climate. One can draft a questionnaire that asks individuals to rate the effects of climate on consumer preference on a scale of 1 to 10, with ten being the greatest effect.

A qualitative research design enables the use of case studies, focus groups, interviews and survey design techniques. The effect of climate change on consumer preference of short-sleeved shirts can adopt any of the above approaches. For instance, one can use a case study to determine the shift in consumer preference by analyzing situations in the past and how they affected consumer preference. This can be achieved through checking the sale of short-sleeved shirts during winter period. Alternatively, one can examine the demand patterns for the company in the past years, especially during the cold seasons, for instance, one can establish how the approach to a cold season affected the sales by checking one to two months prior to the cold season.On the other hand, one can conduct an interview of professionals who can assist in predicting how the weather pattern affects the sale of clothes. Lastly, one can conduct a survey to determine people's reaction to a change in weather pattern as well as the most likely behaviors.

As discussed above, a qualitative research design appears as the best design in that it is more flexible; this means that it can encompass a variety of accepted structures and methods. Furthermore, a qualitative research design utilizes techniques that can yield rich data; this can be more insightful into basic patterns and reasons within phenomena.

Moreover, a qualitative research design creates no problem if a research leads to unforeseen direction. Typically, a researcher is pleased with whatever he or she discovers; this means individuals will deliberately avoid going with any expectations. Lastly, a qualitative research design does not depend on a sample size; this means one can generate information from a small number of individuals.

The Decision Rule that will Confirm, Deny or Prove the Hypothesis

If the sale in the next one month is significantly lower than the previous months (a decrease by less than 30%) then the hypothesis is true. If the demand is the same or more, then the hypothesis is false.

Conclusion

In any organization, the management has a duty to make key and informed decisions. However, at times, the management can end up in a dilemma. Hence, when faced with a dilemma, the management can conduct a research to determine the best decision. Choosing the appropriate research design can assist the management in generating useful information.