Essay Instructions: General Requirement: 10,000 - 12,000 words (excluding what I have already written myself) 1st class writing. It is highly important to follow my writing style, and formats.
Required Chapters:
Ch1: Introduction: Starting with an abstract then followed by an introduction highlighting why is the research being conducted, aims and structure of the dissertation.
Ch2: literature review (I have done it already and will attach this to the description so that u can build up on my ideas)
Ch3:Methodology : Highlighting the method and philosophy, and why choose this method (more details will be given below)
Ch4: Data analysis: clear and detailed in depth analysis of data using the method as explained for Ch3. (I require fake data to be made exactly as described below)
Ch 5: Discussion of analyzed data. This involves combining analyzed data into meaningful patterns (start creating meaningful images) to be used in the next chapter which is conclusion and recommendation.
Ch6: Conclusion based on Analyzed data and according to the discussion made in Ch5. This conclusion is also to be supported with Literature evidence as per the Literature review (Ch 2).
Based on the conclusion recommendations are to be made to support a theory or a point of view (More details are to be given bellow).
Reference list: Harvard style. (Following the exact style I have used for my literature review).
Appendix1: Showing details of (Fake) collected data; details of filled questionnaires forms (all the 40 each unique and genuine copy)
and details of interview conversations
Dissertation Overview:
Project title: Organizational culture and sustained competitive advantage.
Aims and objectives: The proposed project explores how organizational culture may be a source of sustained competitive advantage.
The proposed research design, and details of the types of data to be collected:
I want to get accurate and reliable fake data, Using a questionnaire that I have already designed ,and Unstructured interviews with details as explained below (40 different and genuine answered copies should be made according to the details mentioned below)
The questionnaire is supposed to be created on “Google Documents” where a link is provided to the created form. The link will be shared via e-mail and different social networks. Candidates will be randomly selected, representing different age groups, and cultural backgrounds and will answer the questionnaire based on their diverse professional experience (Different industries between: Auditing firms, banks, Insurance companies, Real estate companies construction and engineering and logistics firms) (firms could be operating in different countries with 60% operating in Egypt and the remaining 40% operating in countries from Europe and Asia) (95% of candidates taking the questionnaire are to be on the beginner to mid career level with an average of 5 years or less in professional experience) . To collect the needed data I expect to distribute an average of 40 questionnaires. A copy of the Questionnaire will be attached.
I am also require to conduct 3 unstructured on the phone interviews (Fake ones) (interview questions are to stem and evolve around the same ideas used for my questionnaire with focus on the notes made below) please note that interviewed candidates are to remain anonymous and pseudonyms are to be used instead. Notes are to be written down for all interviews.
1st interview should be as following: an unstructured, on the phone Interview will be conducted with the CEO of “Al-Tameer” company (Medium size firm with an average of 1000 employees), the company is a leading engineering consultancy and real estate firm operating in the Egyptian market (located in Cairo). The company has been recently privatized (in 2004) after being publically owned and managed. The interview will focus on comparing the firm’s culture and market position before and after privatization (+ve changes in culture and the performance of the firm after privatization) (no need for detailed financial data to express the market position, it would be enough to express the profitability in terms of net profit “5 years figures” the firm was making financial losses under public sector control and is now making Profits. Profits are to be expressed in millions of Egyptian Pounds “L.E” and a brackets note is to be made for conversation rate into British Pounds “GBP” as following “ for updated financial rates please visit www.xe.com” ) , the interview will also reflect on the CEO’s experience in leading his firm through this change (leaders have been changed after privatization. Also focus on resistance to change acts by employees).
2nd interview should be as following: an unstructured, on the phone Interview will be conducted with the HR manager of the Cairo Marriott Hotel (In Egypt), a big property employing 2000+ employee.
The hotel is located in the heart of the busy city of Cairo, where competition is high with many international hotel chains operating around. Interview is to focus on the challenges to manage a big number of people with different educational backgrounds and adopting the culture of Marriott international in the national environment (some of the employees are very well educated and some others have the minimum level of education and are not capable to deal with computers) and people from different national cultures (some internationals, occupy managerial positions). Follow this by explaining how the hotel culture gives employees a sense of ownership and makes the hotel stand out in performance from competitors around. The key to measuring performance is the occupancy rate, where data reveals that; the more training employees receive the more loyal they become to their working place which reflects positively on sustaining a good occupancy figure (assuming all other environmental factors are constant) (Occupancy rate are to be mentioned as an average figure compared against the average expenditure on training for the past 10 years “+ve relationship”, “again currency is to be expressed in Egyptian pounds with a note to conversation rate into British pound as in the 1st interview”
3rd interview should be as following: an unstructured, on the phone Interview will be conducted with the owner of “Zewar design” a family owned architecture and design office located in Cairo-Egypt, employing an average of 6 employees. Decisions are centralized ,and according to the interview questions it appeared that the firm’s culture is not valuable since involvement and collaboration are discouraged, as a result of the centralized decision making process. The firm culture did not also seem to be unique, ie; the firm did not have a unique historical path or social environment. As a result the firm does not have a valuable and/or a unique culture. Hence the firm would not be able to achieve a competitive advantage through its culture sustained or not. Reflecting that conclusion on performance and based on interview questions the owner refused to reveal any financial data but has commented that the firm has been breaking even for five consecutive years since its establishment in 2002 and has been forced to get rid of its employees because of the inconsistency of contracts the firm was getting engaged in. from 2007 till end of 2011 the firm has been getting engaged in contracts based on the circle of social relationships of the owner and has been realizing what the owner has described as “Normal profits”.
Explaining my questionnaire.
Part1: demographic data
Part2: based on the research that has been done by Mishra (1995) (paper will be attached). Mishra has tested 4 traits as indicators of culture and interpreted them as following
Involvment and adabtability are expressed in terms of flexibility openness and responsiveness. Involvement and adabtability result in the growth of the firm.
Consistency and mission are expressed in terms of integration, direction and vision.
Consistency and mission result in profitability.
Based on that, I interpret that a culture that promotes involvement, adaptability, consistency and mission is a valuable culture that will enable the firm to grow and become more profitable.
That interpretation I have made relates Mishra’s study to the RBV (Resource Based View), where the RBV mentions that a culture that is valuable, rare, non imitable, and non substitutable can be a potential source of sustained competitive advantage.
Q1 and Q2 test for involvement
Q 3 and Q4 test for consistency
Q5 and Q6 test for adaptability
Q8 tests for the mission
and Q9 tests for the relationship between these four traits and value
Part 3
This part is testing for the remainder of the RBV criteria, rareness, duplicability, substitutability
Q9 tests for rareness
Q10 tests for the possibility of the culture getting copied
Q11 testing for the possibility of using substitute resources to compete.
Part 4
Is linking part 2 and 3, testing for the credibility of Mishra’s study and the RBV, and hence confirming if there’s a real relationship between competitiveness and culture, and if firms can gain a competitive advantage based on their cultures if cultures have the criteria mentioned above, even more if that advantage can be sustained for an extended period of time.
Required result: a positive relationship between competitiveness and a firm’s culture that is rare, cannot be copied non substitutable.
Guide line to data analysis and discussion
data is to be analyzed and interpreted using codes, following the ideas of Nigel king
http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_code.php
Please use charts and graphs as appropriate and make an in depth detailed analysis and interpretation for discussion using all the guide lines as explained.
Data collected from interviews and questionnaire are to agree what has been said in literature that a culture with the characteristics as described in the RBV and Mishra’s research is to enable firms to obtain a competitive advantage over and to sustain that position.
Additional info:
• Please contact me if any additional details or clarifications required
• Would you please confirm when you would be able to provide me with the requested material?
• Would you be able to send me weekly drafts to be able to review with my supervisor?
There are faxes for this order.
