How the Operation Management and Environmental sustainability effects business - keeping in view Risk Management

                                     Table of content

 

1. Background

2. Research methodology

3. Data analysis

4. Ethics, Validity, and Reliability

5. Gantt Chart: Time Plan for Completion of Project

 

Background

In this research, we propose to get knowledge about how operations management works for the betterment and success of a business. It is an opportunity that a business should work along in detail because a well-chalked-out process of operations management helps a business to grow and expand. Effective operations are not only an opportunity for the business in itself they also help the business grow and expand because they form an integral function of the organization. Many organizations forget that while working out their operations effectively they should keep in mind the sustainability of the environment as well as a managing risk which are integral elements of successful operations management. Risk management includes various activities that deal with risks after they are identified and evaluated. Risk management commences when there is enough evidence for hazards identified and evaluated by risk assessment.

Operations management can be explained using the process that involves the planning, forecasting, and controlling of activities that modify the efforts and hard work of employees into finished goods and services. It is a vast field of study, which highlights how an organization can effectively work, plan and control its operations via the study of concepts related to the effective operations of the organization. These concepts include design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, risk management, quality management, production management, accounting, and numerous other essential functions, which influence the operations of the organization (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006, pp. 42-54).

Operations management is all about making the best use of the resources that an organization has and employing them to bring satisfaction to the final consumer. This happens by providing the finished goods or services to the final consumer, as per his need, in a timely and economical way. Operations management needs to be aligned with the core strategy of an organization. In this research proposal, we will analyze a case study of McDonald's in which we will study how it has been addressing the issues of environmental sustainability within its operations and how it is taking care of risk management for the successful operations of its business. This will help other businesses understand these two factors as integral elements of successful operations of their business while analyzing how Mcdonald’s gained success in working them out effectively.

 

Problem Statement & Rationale for the Problem

To analyze operations management from the environment sustainability perspective and to evaluate how effective risk management can work as an opportunity for the successful operations of an organization. The rationale behind this research is to understand operations management not only through its key processes that help it happen successfully but analyzing it dealing with opportunities for effective risk management and environmental sustainability which play an integral role in the overall operations of an organization.

 

Aims & Objectives of Research

To understand how environment sustainability forms an integral part of effective operations management

To understand risk management and how to take care of it for effective operations of a business.

To understand the issues that may arise in risk management and environmental sustainability

Research Questions

How effective operations management helps an organization to expand and grow?

How environmental sustainability helps in the effective operations management of a business?

How risk management if handled carefully will work for the effective operations of a business?

What could be the issues that may come up in risk management and environmental sustainability?

 

 Research Methodology

The study will be carried out by employing the qualitative methodology. To find precise results both the primary and secondary data shall be collected. The primary research will involve data which will be collected through questionnaires and surveys will be conducted for the employees of the company. Interviews will also be taken up with the employees to get to know the real stats of how risk management and environmental sustainability have helped McDonald’s see progress in its operations. The research would also make use of secondary data accumulation. The data would be taken out from various journals, articles, and books. Secondary research of this article is depicting information assembled by literature, broadcast media, publications, and other non-human origins. In this study, we would also be using the descriptive method of research to get a closer understanding.

A qualitative study does not necessarily need to fit squarely within a specific approach. Once you have the groundwork in the different approaches and the different ways to gather and analyze data and have a good depth of understanding of that, you'll start to see that actually what might effectively answer a research question is a little more blended or adapted using multiple approaches or an adaptation. The key thing you need to do is consider what is needed to validly answer that question. And it might be that an analysis approach that is part of one qualitative approach can be combined with another or that a data collection approach, something more ethnographic might be more appropriate based on your population, but a different type of analysis might be needed. The main thing is to have a good understanding of all of it and to explain why you would want to carry it out and make your case. It's almost like being a lawyer. You make your case and make it stronger. And, be able to justify why you are taking some specific decisions. All these decisions will be the key to making your study strong. Another thing to consider as you are carrying out research and evaluating it on a qualitative end is to make use of a multi-method approach where you know a blended approach within qualitative multiple approaches within the same paradigm.

 

 Data Collection Method

Data for this study will be collected through questionnaires asking McDonald’s employees about the organization, its successful operations management, and how it has handled the issues of risk management and environmental sustainability as part of its operations effectively.  The study will also assemble data through interviews. Detailed interviews will be taken up with people from the top management level as well, who will explain how they strategize this process and make the best out of them using them as opportunities for the business to expand and grow.

 

 Sample Size

The sample size of this research is based on the formula presented by Rea and Parker with 10% of tolerance or margin of error and 95% of reliability. The following table 1 in this regard illustrates the sample size with an unknown or large number of populations suggested by Rea and Parker.

 

Where:

N= Sample Size

Z = Standard Deviation

Cp=Tolerable Error/Margin of Error/Sampling error

α = Significant Level

p = Population Value

 

Where:

Variable           Value

N= Sample Size = 96

Z = Standard Deviation = 1.96

Cp=Tolerable Error/Margin of Error/Sampling error       = 0.10

α = Significant Level    = 0.05

p = Population Value    = 0.5

 

Since McDonald’s worldwide has a huge set up of employees working globally there is no way to know relatively such a large population and corresponding population value (P value), hence the current research assumed and conservatively used Cp=0.10, α=0.05, and p=0.5. By using these, the minimum sample size of the overall respondents who are employees at Mcdonald’s also those who have been interviewed by the top management in this study would be 96 in total.

 

 Sampling Method

The non-probability convenience sampling has been employed in this study as a sampling method to select the research participants. Convenience sampling has been chosen because it is one of the most widely used sampling methods in the exploratory phase of the study and is perhaps the best way of getting some basic information quickly and efficiently. 

 

 Data Analysis

Data analysis

The data collected through the questionnaires and interviews will then be studied and analyzed employing the qualitative research method which will consist of the experiences and valuable insights shared by the employees of McDonald’s. Also, several excerpts will be analyzed from the information collected through secondary research about the several factors that lead to social issues so that they can be solved for good.

 

What Sort of Timetable Is Required

The researcher must investigate and should take adequate measures to ensure that authentic responses and data are being obtained through surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. The time that will be required is good enough for chalking out the questionnaire, finding the right people, and getting the right response that will be of help. Hence, planning it out properly is integral. Everything should be planned out with a proper timeline so things move on smoothly.

 

Limitations

However, the current investigation has employed a survey through questionnaires from employees at McDonald’s. The questionnaire would be online because it needs the perspectives of employees working in its global setup. The researcher needs to assure that there is no pressure on survey participants in terms of answering any questions. An attempt to enhance the honest responses of participants has also been made by assuring the participants that confidentiality of their responses has been strictly made on all grounds. The available literature suggested that the promise of confidentiality may probably have a great effect on the willingness of participants to provide accurate responses to questions. Interviews are already a very safe means of obtaining information so they can be handled effectively.

 

 Ethics, Validity, and Reliability

 

Validity refers to the degree to which the study completely illustrates the concept that the researcher aims to measure. Validity can be of three types which are content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity. Content validity determines whether the content of the measures fully demonstrates the study. Construct validity is a collection of opinions that are interconnected in a meaningful way to create a logical meaning. Face validity is not considered one of the statistical methods and it measures what we claim.

On the other hand, reliability is described as the extent to which results are accurate and consistent over time. Reliability is very essential to the research design as it helps to conclude the data collected through the study. Reliability can be either test-retest, inter-rater, or internal consistency.

The ethics, validity, and reliability of the research will include the economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic, and discretionary prospects of a firm. Until very lately, several firms looked at business ethics through means of administrative conformity with standards of law and faithfulness to internal rules and regulations that are related to transactions of international business. In the environment of today, it is essential to give ample attention to business ethics as it is happening and upgrading around the globe so that the firms can obtain the respect and confidence of their customers and remain successful throughout their businesses. Incorporating legitimate and ethical behavior is extremely important for companies and individuals as they would be held for all their actions, as the requirement grows for much better principles of social responsibility. Having a relationship of courtesy with the customers is important and paying off pending debts punctually is one more significant aspect that comes under social responsibilities, which deal with a business. Having a concept of optimistic behavior within the organization encompasses having a positive relationship with everyone within the organization and for any sort of dispute handling there should be a proper channel. It also includes dressing elegantly when coming to work within a professional organization to get respect from the customer’s side.

For ensuring validity, content validity has been used as it is considered by many researchers as the best validity criterion when instruments measure the opinions, perceptions, and attitudes of individuals on a certain perspective. The content validity of the data is often evaluated through opinions presented by a certain number of participants in the field involved. Based on their opinions, the content validity of the test is then considered satisfactory to the extent that such participants agree that the instruments used for collecting and analyzing the research topic are valid and met all requirements. 30 global employees which make up 20% of the respondents were selected in the pilot test to determine the validity of the data of instruments.

The content validity with these 30 employees suggested that all the respondents can easily understand the intended use of the questionnaire and that all the questions in the questionnaire applied to measuring the key objective of the research. Additionally, the validity test confirmed that the questions were easy to follow and logical and there was no negative feedback concerning the understandability of the questions. Lastly, the content validity suggested that the average time required to fill out the questionnaire is 10-12 minutes.

 

 

 

Gantt Chart: Time Plan for Completion of Project

 

Tasks

May.

June.

July.

August.

A critical review of the Literature

Preparing the questionnaire

Making appointments to interview the target samples

Conducting the interviews and surveys

Analysis of primary data

Literature review changes

First draft

Revisions

Second draft

Revisions

Final version submission