Capella MBA6018 all discussions latest 2016 july

Selecting Appropriate Techniques

The human resources (HR) manager for Gorman Industries, LLC wants to give a short survey to a sample of recent hires (defined as people who have been with the company for less than one year). This sample will include several thousand individuals. The HR manager wants to be able to develop a confidence interval for the proportion of new hires that are happy with the company.

To get the sample, he has two plans:

• Plan 1: Stand at the door as people are entering and leaving a quarterly employee communications meeting. Whenever he sees someone with a red badge, which indicates less than one year with the company, he will stop that person and give him or her a packet with the survey and instructions.
• Plan 2: E-mail new employees with the packet attached and request they complete it and e-mail it back within three days.

What planned approach would you use and why? Base your decision on statistical fact, potential cost, and HR management time to evaluate the results. You can assume that a reasonable estimate for the proportion of new hires that are happy with the company is 0.8.

Response Guidelines

Provide substantial feedback to at least two peers from the perspective of the human resources manager.

Hypothesis Testing Assumptions

For its validity, all hypothesis testing depends heavily on the assumption that the sample was drawn using probability sampling techniques. For this discussion, answer the following:

• Why is it important that a sample be random?
• What can you do if you cannot use a probability sampling technique? (For example, suppose there is no good sampling frame available for the population of interest.)
• Provide an example of a population and explain how you would collect a random sample from that population.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of at least two peers by sharing:

• Insight as to why probability sampling techniques are important.
• Your evaluation of your peer's suggestions for alternatives to probability sampling.
• Suggestions for how to collect a random sample from the identified population.

The Mixed Methods Approach

Through your work in this unit, you have come to understand just how different quantitative and qualitative decision-making techniques are. Perhaps that is why a mixed methods decision-making technique could be characterized as drawing from the best of both worlds. For this discussion, post a reflection on how a mixed methods decision-making technique fits this description, providing examples from your professional experience that could have benefited—or did benefit—from a mixed methods approach. Remember to cite and source your posts, if necessary.

Response Guidelines

Respond substantively to the posts of at least two peers. For each post, provide additional support for the use of focus groups. If possible, include a comparison of the validity of focus groups for this scenario to other qualitative data collection methods.

Course Reflection

Throughout the course, you have been building toward the achievement of the following competencies:

1. Identify, organize, and assess data for use in business decisions.
2. Analyze business decision opportunities using descriptive statistics.
3. Analyze business decision opportunities using basic inferential statistics.
4. Assess the use of qualitative data to support business decision making.
5. Integrate data analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
6. Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.

For this discussion, reflect on the knowledge and skills you developed over the past six weeks. Address the following questions in your post:

• For each competency, how has your ability evolved to perform these skills and apply this knowledge?
• What concepts, skills, or insights were most relevant to you? How have you applied, or will you apply, them to your professional practice?
• How have you grown in your academic and professional goals? Have you made progress on any items in the self-assessment tasks plan you developed during your first course?

Response Guidelines

Respond substantively to at least two other learners, providing encouraging feedback regarding your peers' growth over the past six weeks. If applicable, provide recommendations for how they may continue to develop these skills and knowledge, or suggest additional strategies for leveraging the knowledge gained in the course.