BMP6025 Presentation

Brainstorm and specify following points:

To be checked

by Supervisor

Explain Briefly

–     Identify a business / management related research problem which is currently prevailing in a company.

–     If you are employed, you might want to use your observation to one of the existing issues in the company which your research can resolve.

–     If you do not work, talk to your parent (s) / siblings / friends / other family members about what kind of business issues their company is facing and if you could conduct research.

–     The problem should be current and of significance.

–     Google for research topics of interest to you and see how research is developed.

–     Once you identify a problem, you will be required to write around 300-500 words. In order to write this, you will need to show some reading.

–     To back up your claim regarding the problem, you will have to support it with some references. The problem statement should be based on some literature review.

Approval / Feasibility

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

Analyzing the Impact of Employee Engagement Strategies on customer Retention

BACKGROUND

Wayfair, a technological e-commerce company that focus on home furnishing and home décor, has seen an overall growth strategy in the past few years (Shaw, 2024). Rizvi and Mahmood (2023) identified that employees’ turnover requires to be treated as a challenging factor that should be given priority for the top-management. I intend to investigate the effect of employee engagement strategies on retention and productivity within Wayfair as a part of e-commerce industry.

Employee engagement seems to be the key mediator of how a business achieves its goals because it directly affects job satisfaction of the employees and their retention. Customer satisfaction is the primary determinant of success in the e-commerce industry, where competition is brutal and expectations of customers are uncompromising. Hence, engaged workers are of utmost importance for these companies to hold their competitive advantages.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

·         To determine where and how employees are actively involved in profitable sales in the Wayfair’s e-commerce environment.

·         To spotlight the major determinants of employee engagement that are prevalent in e-commerce sector among Wayfair employees, including the purpose of this study is to correlate between employee motivation and retention numbers at Wayfair.

·         To assess whether employee engagement has a positive effect on business performance in Wayfair is to be evaluated (put up for review).

·         To propose and recommend effective employee engagement strategies for Wayfair to improve retention.

Literature Review

Multiple research findings align in confirming the fact that employee engagement and retention have a positive interrelation (Chopra, Sahoo and Patel, 2024; Naz et al., 2020). Involved employees are more likely to stay committed to the organization which eventually results in higher level of job satisfaction and decreasing rate of turnover (Ramalho, Luiz de Paula and  de Oliveira, 2018). As shown by this report, employee engagement is associated with increased productivity and consequent business performance.

Methodology: Specifically, this research will employ a mixed-methods design, which would involve both qualitative data analysis and quantitative interviews. Data collection will be done with quantitative data that will be gathered through an online survey that will be disseminated to e-commerce department employees at Wayfair. This survey will be measuring the level of employee engagement, intentions of keeping the job, as well as the productivity indicators. Qualitative data will be gathered through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders including HR managers, department heads and other managers and supervisors in order to receive first-hand insights on the company’s engagement strategies and their outcomes.

 Yes

 No

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Which domain of business does this issue belong to?

Like Human Resources, Marketing, Sales, Finance, etc.

–     You should choose one or two relevant domains of business management.

–     Anything outside of business management will not be approved as you are studying a business management qualification 

Approval / Feasibility

The domain of the proposed topic and research problem is primarily human resource management.

 Yes

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What are the most common terminologies used?

–     Such as Recruitment, Consumer behaviour, brand loyalty, credit policy, social media marketing etc.

–     These key words will help establish research variables, research title and objectives. There should be some logical connection among variables

–     For instance, leadership and motivation, digital marketing and brand loyalty, employee training and retention, etc. 

Approval / Feasibility

The commonly used terminologies/keywords will include:

·         Employee Engagement

·         Retention

·         E-commerce Operations

·         Employee Satisfaction

·         Business Performance

·         Engagement Strategies

·         Turnover Rate

·         HR

·         Stakeholders

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How do you see these terminologies linked to the issue you have identified?

–     Outline a mind map. Think how variables identified above can be linked together.

–     For example, leadership styles can affect employee turnover – This means leadership style is an independent variable where a particular type of style can lead to employee turnover which is dependent variable.

Approval / Feasibility

In the current, employee engagement is directly associated with retention and productivity showcasing that employee engagement is independent variable and the other two are dependent variables. Similarly, turnover rate and e-commerce operations will be independent variable whereas employee satisfaction, business performance will be dependent variables.

 Yes

 No

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Which industry have you observed struggling with this issue / challenge / problem?

–     Such as Airline Industry in UAE, etc.

–     You cannot do research in multiple countries or industries as industry dynamics and player vary from one country to another. For example, Emirates has different competitors in the UAE airline industry.

–     Hence you need to be specific.

Approval / Feasibility

The UK workplace scored 33 out of 38 countries for employee engagement and enthusiasm, giving a grim picture of the current state of the workforce (Young, 2023).
Engagement and loyalty levels are significantly lower in the public sector than in private sector enterprises, particularly in the UK (Mone,  London and Mone, 2018).

Mone, E., London, M. and Mone, E.M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

Young, H. 2023. UK Workforce Amongst Worst For Engagement. [online] Startups.co.uk. Available at: https://startups.co.uk/news/uk-least-engaged-workforces/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2024].

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 Yes

 No

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Which company in particular have you observed struggling with this issue / challenge / problem?

–     Be specific. Such as: Starbucks, IKEA, Adidas, Emirates, Apple, etc.

–     You could also do for the company you work for / you have access to.

–     You cannot research all companies, or a full industry given the research constraints of time and wordcount.

Approval / Feasibility

Starbucks is recently experiencing alleviated employee engagement (Maspul, 2024).

Maspul, K.A., 2024. Starbucks and MENA’s Geopolitical Challenges: Prioritizing Resilience and Employee Well-being. Zenodo, Article 10801792.

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What do you want to investigate? And Why? 

–     Explain briefly What will you research?

–     You will have to link this thought back to the problem statement. 

Approval / Feasibility

I will look on the employee engagement strategies that Wayfair is adopting currently. Also, I will delve into how these strategies are shaping the e-commerce operations and are expected to change these operations in future. 

 Yes

 No

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If you need to ask questions, whom will you reach out?

–     You cannot do research on secondary data only. One of your learning outcome requires you to collect primary data, which could be via questionnaires or interviews (or both).

–     Think about people you will ask questions. Customers? Employees?

–     Will you have access to these people? If you are living in UK and choosing a company based in UAE to assess employee satisfaction, think if the company will allow you access their employees (give you written permission) or if you can talk to their employees (while you have travel limitations).

–     You will need consent from people or organisations as per University’s protocols.

Approval / Feasibility

I will reach out to employees rather than engaging with clients/consumers because the research problem revolves around the employees and their engagement. The interview questions will be designed to evaluate the extent of employee engagement at work, strategies that the company authorities are adopting for increasing the level of their engagement, and then I will consult the administration and customers to measure the efficacy of the operations that are resulting from these strategies.
The total revenue and profit analysis will also be executed to evaluate the performance of the company.

 Yes

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How many people will you reach for your questions?

Your proposed sample size. You should have an appropriate sample size to collect data from. At least 25-30 people if using the questionnaire survey; and 10-15 people if conducting interviews. This is to ensure that findings are credible to represent the population.

Approval / Feasibility

Wayfair has 16681 employees till date and I will target 100 employees so that the data can be generalized without bias.

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How will you reach these people?

Any Strategy? Accessibility Issues?

Approval / Feasibility

I will prefer to consult the employees via e-questionnaires through emails and will conduct Skype interviews to ensure authenticity.

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What questions do you want to ask?

List few which are on your mind.

Approval / Feasibility

For Employees:

1.       1. To what extent are you satisfied with the present position and duties which you fulfil during your job?

2.       Do you care about your effectiveness and your key role as a player in the organization?

3.       Make a list with of all the things that whenever they happen you feel motivated to be a better version of yourself at work.

4.       As you need to determine the effectiveness of the current Wayfair’s approach to the involvement of employees.

5.       Has your participation in our Wayfair organization affected the level of your interest in a way?

6.       If so being what did the factors that affected this transition? Do you believe you would you be willing to continue with Wayfair today or in the future?

7.       Looking at the link between employee engagement and job satisfaction, how you experience it?

For Administration (HR managers, department heads, managers, supervisors):

1.       What employee engagement strategies or initiatives are currently being practiced at Wayfair?

2.       How do you assess the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting employee engagement and retention?

3.       What metrics or indicators do you use to measure employee engagement and productivity?

4.       How do you identify and address factors that may contribute to employee disengagement or turnover?

5.       How do you incorporate employee feedback and suggestions into the development and implementation of engagement strategies?

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Supervisor’s Comments