Analyze -techno art industries employee satisfaction survey
The purpose of this assignment is to investigate a dataset utilising the knowledge learned in Module Two. This will enable conclusions to be drawn that ultimately assist in decision making. You will also draw on information/techniques covered in Module One.
The assignment requires you to analyse a given dataset, interpret the results, and then draw conclusions such that you are able to reply to specific questions being asked of you in the form of a report. (These questions are asked in the following memorandum).
The aims of the assignment is to:
– provide you with some examples of the application of data analysis within an organisation
– test your understanding of the material in the relevant topics
– test your ability to analyse and interpret your results
– test your ability to effectively communicate the results of your analysis to others
Before tackling the assignment, make sure you have prepared yourself well. As a minimum, please read the relevant sections of the prescribed text and listen/watch the pre-recorded material for Modules 1 and 2.
Scenario
TechnoMart Industries is an automobile parts manufacturer with 9800 employees (TechnoMart is a fictitious company and meant to bear no resemblance to any existing organisation). It wishes to study its full-time workforce by developing an employee profile that measures factors such as income, job satisfaction and career progress. Emma Saward, the Vice-President of Human Resources, hires MDB Corporation, a consulting firm, to survey TechnoMart employees. A survey of a random sample of 400 staff was conducted via online questionnaire.
The questionnaire used for the survey can be found in the TechnoMart2015.xls file (All data in the spreadsheet is fictitious). Please ensure you read that questionnaire. To understand what each variable means, please cross-reference to the questionnaire given in the database file.
In the assignment, you play the role of Madison Thomson, an analyst at MDB Corporation. You are often required to report outcomes of your analysis to clients who have little or no knowledge of data analysis. Emma Saward, the Vice-President of Human Resources at TechnoMart Industries, has written to you regarding certain matters relating to the employee satisfaction survey. Her memo to you is reproduced below:Memorandum
Memorandum
To: Madison Thomson, MDB Corporation
From: Emma Saward, TechnoMart Industries
Subject: Analysis of TechnoMart Industries employee satisfaction survey
Dear Madison,
Management is concerned about the wide variation in work hours between TechnoMart employees and whether factors like employee job satisfaction, occupation, gender and union membership play any part in this variation. TechnoMart also has staff planning issues that need addressing, including planning to replace workers who retire, undertaking a recruitment drive for new employees and providing adequate promotion opportunities within the company.
As part of the last Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, we agreed with the unions that work hours would be reviewed, for all employees. Where possible, employees should not be working excessive amounts of overtime. I know that you recently undertook a survey of employees in TechnoMart. Could you please provide me with answers to the following questions?
1. An overall view of work hours at TechnoMart
Provide me with an overall summary of hours worked at TechnoMart, keeping in mind that the normal working week is 40 hours. I’m also interested in whether we have many employees that are working more than 60 hours. Can you estimate this for me?
2. Comparison of union and non-union members
In addition to the overall analysis you are carrying out for work hours, I am particularly interested in how union members in the company compare to non-union members in regard to a few key variables. Do union members tend to earn more or less than non-union members? Do they have different perceptions? In particular, I want you to investigate how union members and non-union members compare in regard to:
(a) Hours worked
(b) Occupation
(c) Before-taxes income
(d) Job satisfaction
Based on the above, can you provide me with a brief summary of how the two groups compare.
3. Employees working overtime at TechnoMart
(a) Can you provide me with an accurate estimate of the total number of employees across the whole organization who would work more than 40 hours?
(b) Likewise, how many employees are working more than 60 hours?
4. Workers approaching retirement
Senior management are concerned that over the next few years the company will need to undertake a large recruitment drive as our workforce is aging and a substantial number of employees will be retiring. Can you provide me with an estimate of the:
(a) average age of TechnoMart employees
(b) total number of workers across all of TechnoMart who are close to retirement age (55 years or older)
5. Union membership
In a recent Enterprise Bargaining meeting, the union made a number of claims that I would like you to check.
(a) It was also mentioned that our employees are very loyal to the company and that the union believed the average length of employment at TechnoMart would be more than the industry average of 7.5 years. Could you check if this claim is true for all employees? What about for only male employees? What about only for female employees?
(b) There is some speculation that the union members work on average more than 45 hours per week. Is there any way of confirming this?
6. Future Surveys
Finally, I am interested in your opinion about future surveys of our employees.
(a) I am concerned that a sample of only 400 employees seems too small compared to the population of 9800. Could you explain to me how we calculate an ideal sample size?
(b) Of particular interest to me is being able to accurately estimate the size of the problem we have with staff working excessive hours (i.e. more than 60 hours a week). In other words, in order to accurately estimate the size of our overtime problem, do I have a sufficient number of staff in my sample who work more than 60 hours? If not, how many should be sampled?
I look forward to your response. Sincerely,
Emma Saward
Requirements:
– Your report must be no longer than 2000 words (including the Introduction but excluding any Table of Contents, Charts and Tables, and Appendices). Your Charts/Graphics and Tables are only to be placed in the Data Analysis file i.e. the Excel spreadsheet
– The report is to be written as a stand-alone document (assume Emma will only read your report). Thus, you should not have any references in the report to your data analysis output. Eg. “According to Table 1 in the analysis…”
– Word formatting for the Report: Single-line spacing, no smaller that 10 point font, page margins at least 25mm, good use of white space
– Your report must have an informative title
– Your report must contain an introduction/executive summary that explains in plain language what the report is for and summarises the main findings. The introduction should be no more than 1/2 page
– The body of your report must be set out in the same order as in the originating memorandum from Emma Saward, with each section (question) clearly marked
– Keep the language simple and the explanations succinct. Avoid the use of technical or statistical jargon as Emma will not necessarily understand even simple statistical terms. As a guide to the meaning of “Plain Language”, imagine you are explaining your findings to a person without any statistical training (e.g. someone who has not studied this unit). What type of language would you use in this case?
– Marks will be lost if you use unexplained technical terms, irrelevant material, or have poor presentation/organisation
– All Microsoft Excel output associated with each question in the Memorandum is to be placed in the corresponding tab in the file TechnoMart2015.xlsxData Analysis Instructions/Guidelines
In order to prepare a reply to Emma’s memorandum, you will need to examine and analyse the dataset TechnoMart2015.xls thoroughly.
Emma has asked a number of questions and your Data Analysis output (i.e. your charts/tables/graphs) should be structured such that each question is answered on the separate tab/worksheet provided in your Excel document.
In order to effectively answer the questions, your Data Analysis output needs to be appropriate. Accordingly, you’ll need to establish which of the following techniques are applicable for each question:
– Summary Measures (Descriptive Statistics)
– Comparative Summary Measures (i.e. Descriptive Statistics for multiple values of a variable)
– Suitable tables and charts or graphics (Topic 3; Chapter 11 of the text) that will illustrate more clearly, other important features of a variable
– Cross Tabulations (sometimes called Contingency Tables), used to establish the relationships (dependencies) between two variables (see Additional Materials under Topic 5 – Probability and Distributions on how to create Cross Tabulations in Excel using Pivot Tables)
– Confidence Intervals. You can assume that a 95% confidence level is appropriate. We use Confidence Intervals when we have no idea about the population parameter we are investigating. Additionally, we would use Confidence Intervals if we are asked to provide an estimate. You can use the relevant Excel template provided in the dataset and copy to the applicable question tab
– Hypothesis Tests. You can assume that a 5% level of significance is appropriate. We Use Hypothesis Tests when we are testing a Claim, a Theory or a Standard. You can use the relevant Excel template provided in the dataset and then copy to the applicable question tab
Additionally, the textbook provides you with step-by-step instructions for several automated statistical processes (e.g. see “Steps for finding Descriptive Statistics”, also known as Summary Measures, at the end of Chapter 12).
