Question

The Mobile Phone Company has been named as the most complained‐about mobile phone company, narrowly beating 3G, which has shot to the top of the table as the worst landline provider. According to the latest figures from the regulator, Ofcom, the Mobile Phone Company was the most complained‐about mobile provider – with 0.15 complaints per 1,000 – in the last three months of 2014. It saw its complaint figures rise substantially in the last quarter of 2014. The company wanted to pinpoint the specific problems and take corrective action. Researchers were called in, and they spoke to a number of customers, noting the nature of the specific problems they faced. Because the problem had to be attended to very quickly, they developed a theoretical base, collected relevant detailed information from a sample of 100 customers, and analyzed the data. The results promise to be fairly accurate with at least an 85% chance of success in problem solving. The researchers will make recommendations to the company based on the results of data analysis. Question

1. Critique the research done in a service industry as to the extent to which it meets the hallmarks of scientific investigation.

Answer 1

Being the most Customer complaints organisation with letters of complaint regarding the problems the company experienced along with the residential telephone lines were continually cascading in at the company.

Before discussing the hallmarks:

Managerial decisions are an integral prospects of efficient problem solving. Scientific research is being applied to both research's i.e basic and applied. Applied may or may not be generalizable to other organisations depending upon the differences in size, nature of work, employees characteristics and infrastructure of organisation.

The hallmarks of scientific research are as follows: Purposiveness: Research is initiated with a definite aim or purpose.

Rigor: Theoretical base and methodological design indicates the degree of exactitude of research  

Testability: Test logically developed hypothesis to see whether data supports it or not

Replicability: The hypothesis should be supported again and again if same type of research is conducted

Precision and Confidence: It depicts the degree of accuracy of results and the probability that estimations made are correct.

Objectivity: Conclusion drawn should be based on the facts derived from finding of actual data

Generalizeability : Application of research findings in organisational structure  

Parsimony: There should be the simplicity in describing the problem that arises and thereafter developing a wise solution for it

This study meets the Basic criteria of purposiveness as explained above. It cannot be concluded for a rigorous study in as much as a theoretical framework seems to have been formulated merely on the basis of conversation with a no. Of customers and henceforth no scientific data seems to have been collected. For the same reason, the replica and general criteria also abide. With customer complaints ascending an 85% confidence level may not suffice. Unless one knows the theoretical basis, he cannot be sure that the criterion of parsimony is met. Overall this depicts a good example of non scientific investigation.