Research Methods Management and Business Consultancy

Question: Discuss about the Research Methods for Management and Business Consultancy. Answer: Introduction The present proposal is developed for analysing research Topic Role of HR in employee relations. The research proposal has outlined a brie literature review, research question, research methodology, data analysis technique and resrch outcome in brief. Research Topic and its Business Significance The present research is about the topic Role of Human Resources (HR) in maintaining employee relations. The selected research topic holds high significance as it will help in developing an understanding of the importance of human resource management in business organizations for motivating and retaining employees. The development of healthy relationship between employees and management is essential for the long-term growth and development of a company. In this context, the role of Human Resource Department (HRD) is very important for maintaining effective human resource strategies to maintain good employee relations. Employee relation programs emphasises on issues that impacts employees such as compensation, healthy work environment and good working conditions. The human resource strategies can be described as the methods adopted by business corporations that help them to achieve a competitive position in the marketplace. The human resource managers must develop effective strategies that provide proper guidance and motivation to the employees to achieve organisational aims and objectives (Wiley et al., 2015). Brief Literature Review As per the views and opinions of (Jeston and Nelis, 2014) employee relations refer to the relationship between an employee and the employers that develops the working environment of an organisation. The development of good relations with employees is essential for business organisations for ensuring their long-term growth and development. The implementation of effective programs for maintaining employee relations is essential for businesses to provide fair treatment to all the employees for enhancing their job performance. The maintenance of good employee relations is the part of human resource strategy of an organisation. Human resource department (HRD) of an organisation carries out the responsibility of promoting co-ordination and integration between employees and employers. The strategies are developed by human resource managers that aim at achieving employee satisfaction through providing healthy working environment to the employees (Jeston and Nelis, 2014). Wiley et al (2015) stated that human resource strategies developed should place high value on employees as stakeholders of business organisations. Stakeholders of an organisation include all the people that are directly or indirectly impacted by the operational activities of an organisation. As such, it is very essential for a business firm to implement proper strategies that promotes transparency in its operational activities for achieving the trust of stakeholders. Thus, the role of human resource department of an organisation is very important in this context to adopt adequate program that treat employees as stakeholders. This is essential for providing proper motivation to the employees for improving their job performance and thus increasing the organisational productivity (Wiley et al, 2015). According to Miller (2011), human resource managers develop the rules and procedures that the employees should comply for conducting their daily job role. Business also appoints their employee representatives that work in human resource department for ensuring that rules and policies developed are consistently followed by all the employees. They also hold the responsibility of resolving the employee problems through providing them proper mentoring and counselling. The human resource managers also have the responsibility of maintain proper communication flow within the organisation in order to ensure harmonious relationship between employees and employers. All the critical decisions should be communicated properly to all the employees through email announcements, newsletters, employee portals and regular office meetings. Also, the HR managers must develop sound policies to involve employees at all the managerial levels in the decision-making process of an organisation. In addition to this, human resource managers must ensure that there should be proper measures for addressing the grievances of employees in order to address all their concerns properly (Miller, 2011). As per the opinions of Armstrong and Stephens (2005), the employee satisfaction results in increasing the productivity of employees and thus ensuring the long-term growth and development of an organisation. Human resources managers must allow develop and implement effective employee retention programs in order to retain the employees. Retaining of employees is highly essential for a business organisation to enhance its profitability and to keep the business functioning smoothly. Employer and employee relationships should be long-lasting to increase the profitability of organisation. The employee turnover should be low as more number of employees leaving increase the cost of an organisation involves in hiring and selection of employees. Thus, human resource managers must develop sound policies that retain employees and thus ensure the development of healthy relationship between employer and employees (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005). Research questions for the identified problem or opportunity The research study will aim to achieve the answer for the following research question What is the role of Human Resources (HR) in an organisation for managing employee relations? Also, the research study will address the following sub-research questions: What are the main employee programs implemented by business organisations for increasing employee motivation? What are the different human resource strategies adopted by HR for enhancing employee job performance? How healthy relationship between employers and employees increases organisational growth and development? Appropriate research methodologies and techniques to use for the research project Research methodology describes the overall procedure that is used for carrying out the overall research. It is a very important section of a research that provides a direction for carrying out the overall research process to the researcher. In this context, the present research study will adopt qualitative research methodology for developing a specific answer for the research problem in context (Crowther Lancaster, 2008). Qualitative research method includes collecting and analysing the information from primary as well as secondary sources. Primary data usually includes the information that is collected for the first time for carrying out the research process. On the other hand, secondary data usually includes relevant literary sources that already have sufficient information about the research topic in context. Secondary information is usually collected for supporting ten findings obtained from primary data. As such, the research will incorporate the sue of exploratory research des ign as it involves exploring the research topic in detail through the use of practical as well as theoretical sources of information. In addition to this, the research study will also use deductive research approach for developing a specific answer for the research question. Deductive research approach is selected as it is top-down approach that involves moving from a general topic to a more specific one (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000). Project plan using a Gantt chart clearly defining milestones Research objectives Time Scale Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 to 8 Week 9 to 11 Week 12 to 14 1 Defining Research Aims and Objectives 2 Preparation of questionnaire 3 Collection of information through conduction the survey 4 Collecting information from the secondary sources of data 5 Completion of Literature Review 6 Application of Research Methodologies 7 Completion of data analysis section 8 Recommendation and overall opinion (Final Submission) Description of the research process The various steps in the overall research process that will be used for conducting the research study is as follows: This covers the first chapter of the research study that includes defining the research problem and specifying its aims and objectives. In addition to this, this chapter of the research study will also provide background information about the research topic. This is the second chapter of the research study that involves analysing and examining the secondary literary sources that collects wide information about the research topic. This includes selection of the relevant literary sources that will be used for gaining the relevant facts that are already found out by the academic researchers. This involves defining the research method that will be used for conducting the overall research study. This chapter of the research study provides necessary details about the graphical technique that will be used for analysing the information collected through primary research method. It also involves supporting the findings obtained from primary research process with the facts obtained from analysing secondary sources of information. This is the last chapter of the research study that involves summarises the overall findings obtained from the research study. At last, recommendations are provided about the researches that can be conducted in the future in this context. Data Collection and Analysis Methods The present research involves collection of both primary and secondary data for achieving an accurate answer for the research problem. The present research will involve the use of questionnaire survey method for collecting primary data. The questionnaire developed will consist of both open and close-ended question that will help in developing appropriate knowledge regarding the nature of the research problem. The questionnaire developed will be presented to the different HR managers in various organisations for analysing the role of human resources in maintaining the employee relations. The primary data collected will be analysed through the implementation of graphical technique. The response of the participants of the survey will be depicted through the use of pie-chats that will help the readers to easily gain an understanding of their views and opinions. The responses obtained from the participants of the research process are maintaining confidentiality of the information to limit their access by any third party for unethical purpose (Hendricks, 2011). The main advantage of using questionnaire survey method is that it will help in acquiring sufficient information about each research topic in detail. However, the major limitation of this method is that it is highly time-consuming and thus can increase the time required for the completion of the overall research study (Jackson, 2008). Secondary source of information would be collected from the literary sources such as books, journals that include the work of previous researchers about the research topic. The secondary information will be collected in order to support the findings obtained from the primary data. The major advantage of this method is that it is less time-consuming as compared to primary survey method (Gliner Morgan, 2000). Description of expected research outcomes The present research will help in increasing the knowledge of the readers about the various roles that are played by a human resource manager in managing employee relations. It will also help in depicting the various strategies that can be implemented by the human resource manager for developing good and healthy relations between employer and employees. The significance of good working environment is enhancing the organisational profitability will also be analysed and discussed in the research study. The research study will provide insight to the readers about the necessity of achieving employee satisfaction by human resource manager in order to achieve organisational aims and objectives. References Armstrong, M. and Stephens, T. 2005. A handbook of management and leadership: A guide to managing for results. Kogan Page Publishers. Crowther, D. Lancaster, G. 2008. Research Methods: A Concise Introduction to Research in Management and Business Consultancy. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. 2000. A Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: Sage. Gliner, J.A. Morgan, G.A. 2000. Research Methods in Applied Settings: An Integrated Approach to Design and Analysis. New Jersey: Routledge. Hendricks, D.W. 2011. Analyzing Quantitative Data: An Introduction for Social Researchers. John Wiley Sons. Jackson, S.L. 2008. Research Methods: A Modular Approach. Cengage Learning. Jeston, J. and Nelis, J. 2014. Business process management. Routledge. Miller, K. 2011. Organizational communication: Approaches and processes. Cengage Learning. Wiley, et al. 2015. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. John Wiley Sons.