Ballard Integrated Managed Services

This is very well written and the research is one that can be effectively proven and lead to further analysis to improve employee/management relations. This is a very applicable business research problem. Watch out for grammatical errors and work on sentence structure. You might one to have additional references to strength you related literature. Overall, you did a nice job. 7.75/8.0

BIMS Research Study Overview
Headquartered in New York City, The Ballard Integrated Managed Services (BIMS) is a support service company that specializes in providing housekeeping and food services to many corporations and institutions to include 22 Fortune-100 businesses. The focus of the research is the BIMS site at Douglas Medical Center (BIMS-DMC). The problem BIMS is facing is to determine the cause for the decrease in worker productivity and morale, which resulted in an increase in complaints from the hospital staff and administration. The purpose of the survey is for BIMS-DMC employees to express their view about their job and to compute descriptive and frequency techniques and further study data for possible correlations. The research questions ask if respondents enjoy working for BIMS, how many times they have called in sick, if they are well trained, if they are paid fairly, and if they like their supervisor.

Our assumption is that at 17% participation, this survey will not have enough participants to get enough data to determine the problems in BIMS-DMC; a larger sampling or new sampling method may have to be acquired. The instrument used in collecting the data was from a sample survey. In some sample surveys, a couple of questions that may be included could stem from demographics and age brackets. Also, some of other areas of consideration that may be included are a rating scale. For example, a rating scale is stated poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent, but in this survey its rated very negative to very positive. There are two types of data, which may be collected. The first type is quantitative data, and the second one is qualitative data. The difference between the two is quantitative data is mainly expressed in numeric measurements, while qualitative data is data collected in a categorical measure, which are not expressed in a numerical measurement (Lind, 2011). BIMS collected mainly qualitative data due to their concerns.

BIMS then scaled the survey data to try to paint a picture for managers so they could troubleshoot the morale and productivity issues. BIMS human resources personnel utilized a survey to collect data to determine the morale and concerns of the personnel responding to the survey. The respondents comprise the sample, which represents the population of the employees of BIMS-DMC. The survey asked ten questions to gauge perception and job satisfaction, and four additional questions were asked to gather demographic information on the respondents (University of Phoenix, 2012). The questions collected information at the nominal, ordinal, and ratio levels. The first ten questions required an answer on a scale one through five; one being “very negative” and five being “very positive”. The four demographic questions provided blank space for the respondent to provide their reply.

The first two questions ask how well the respondent “enjoys” working for BIMS and working on his or her respective shift. This data is measured at the ordinal level. The third question asked if the employee’s request for a desired shift was satisfied. This is measured at the nominal level and even though the appropriate response to this question is either yes or no, the respondent has five responses to choose from. Question number four asked how many times the respondent called in sick during the last month. This information is at the ratio level. The responses available were one through five. Question number five asked how well they are trained, which would be measured on the ordinal level. Question six asked if they felt they are fairly compensated for the work they do. The appropriate response is either yes or no, which nominal level information. Questions number seven and eight are concerned with the respondent’s perception about the fair treatment of themselves and their division. This information is collected at the nominal level.

Question nine asks whether or not the company is good at communicating. This is more information collected at the nominal level because the appropriate response is yes or no. Item ten relates to the respondent’s fear of losing his or her job. The appropriate response to the statement is either yes or no causing the information to be measured at the nominal level. The responses to the first ten items on the survey are all coded on a numerical scale with five data points. The first data point is labeled “1” and represents the low end of the scale. There are no labels for data points 2, 3, and four. Data point 5 is labeled as “Very Negative”. The respondents are expected to assign a numerical value at some point along the scale. The last four items on the survey require the respondent to identify in which division they work (measured nominally), how long they have worked for BIMS (measured at the ratio level), the respondent’s gender (nominally measured) and whether or not they are a manager or supervisor (measured nominally).

The divisions are coded as such: 1 = Food, 2 = Housekeeping and 3 = Maintenance. Years of service is provided as years and months and coded as total number of months. The respondent’s gender, measured nominally, is coded as 1 for female or two for male. The last item, manager or supervisor, is measured nominally and coded as 1 for yes and 2 for no. Any item to which the respondents did not reply was coded as “0”. We have several conclusions about the appropriateness of the data to meet the purpose of this study. First, the sample size of 17.3% is too small to conclude much from the data.

Second, the survey was poorly constructed. Several of the questions became nominal level because they were written as mutually-exclusive statements, even though the Likert scale suggests the writer desired a “degree of satisfaction” indication. Other questions are ratio level and don’t need a Likert scale. Third, a small-scale test survey should have been given out first (to test for problems). Also, the office support member’s “bad habit of typing 6 when she means 5” cast doubt on the validity of the other “5s” in the survey. Finally, the assumption is made that the problem only applied to the DMC site, not BIMS as a whole. BIMS should explore surveying a sampling of the entire company.

References

Lind, D. (2011). Basic Statistics for Business and Economics (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. University of Phoenix. (2012). University of Phoenix Material: Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc., Part 1. Retrieved from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom/coursematerials/qnt_351/20120110/

Ballard Integrated Managed Services
Ballard Integrated Managed Services
QNT/351 Quantitative Analysis for Business
Ballard Integrated Managed Services
Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) is an organization that provides food service and housekeeping services to corporations and institutions on a contractual basis. Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) has a contract with Douglas Medical Center (DMC). As general manager of the Douglas Medical Center site for Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS), Barbara Tucker is responsible for three divisions at this site, each with its own management staff. The food service division, led by Flora Torres, is responsible for providing daily meals for the 5,300 staff members, nurses, and doctors as well as the public in the six cafeterias. In addition, they prepare specialized meals for patient care.The hospitality division, managed by Henry Dumas, is responsible for refreshing each hospital room, including changing the linens on empty beds, replacing towels, and sanitizing bathrooms, which includes maintaining the public areas: hallways, lobbies, and elevators. The Physical Plant Maintenance division, led by Matt Lee, is responsible for the nonmedical equipment and physical aspects of the medical center (University of Phoenix). Overview

The problem is that in recent months, the general manager, Barbara Tucker, noticed a decline in staff morale, a higher turnover rate, an increase in the amount of sick time used, and poor work ethics. Exit interviews did not provide new information on employees’ sudden changes. Even though replacing staff is not difficult to accomplish, it is costly. Barbara agreed to have the human resources manager, Debbie Horner, conduct a survey focusing on what would motivate employees. Debbie asked questions that pertained to work conditions, shift hours, quality of training, and level of compensation, fair treatment, internal company communications, and job security. Demographic questions were also asked so Debbiecould separate responses by division. Debbie hypothesized that the variables would correlate high employee turnover ratio to low employee morale. Data Collected

Quantitative has two kinds of variables, reported numerically. Discrete is one of the variables, which can only assume certain values, containing gaps between the values. Quantitative data collected based on numbers;the information collected can be analyzed using various statistical techniques. The analysis helps the researcher create meaningful patterns and take a deeper look into the data. The most important use of quantitative data is in hypothesis testing and can support researchers in reaching conclusions. The main methods used to collect quantitative information are using questionnaires that require input of the user’s response. Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) placed questionnaires in the payroll checks for two pay periods, and employees were asked to return them to the Human Resources Manager. Types and Methods of Data Collected

The type of data collected in the BIMS Employee Survey is quantitative. According to “Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario” (2013),”Quantitative data is information that is measured and expressed as numbers. Scores on standard tests like the SOGS, scores on scaled questions (e.g., a five-point scale), and records of sessions attended, are examples of quantitative data.” The Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) Employee Survey consisted of 10 questions that required the employees to rate his or her level of job satisfaction on a scale from one to five,one meaning very negative and five meaning very positive. Quantitative methods of collecting data are good because it is relatively easy to collect, score, and analysis data from a large group (Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario, 2013). Level of Measurement

It is important to recognize that there is a hierarchy implemented in the level of measurement concept. At each level of the hierarchy, the current level includes all of the attributes of the previous level as well as adding something new(Trochim, 2006).The ordinallevel of measurement used in the Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) Employee Survey classified as discrete. The attributes in the ordinal level can be rank-ordered in this level of measurement, but the distances between the attributes are not the same. Description of Coded Data

The surveygiven to employees at Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) attempted to identify the root cause for the decrease in morale. The survey consisted ofquestions that focused on the relationships between employees, management, and the company. Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc.(BIMS) employs more than 400 people at the Douglas Medical Center site, but only 17.3% participated in the survey. The data from the survey coded as follows: Q1.How well do you enjoy working for BIMS?

Out of the 78 employees surveyed, 15 answered very negative, 21 answered negative, 15 answered neutral, 13 answered positive, 13 answered very positive, and one didn’t answer. Q2. You enjoy your assigned shift.

Out of the 78 employees surveyed, 14 answered very negative, 22 answered negative, 13 answered neutral, 14 answered positive, 12 answered very positive, and three didn’t answer. Q3. Your request for your desired shift was fulfilled.

Out of the 78 employees surveyed, 15 answered very negative, 21 answered negative, 15 answered neutral, 13 answered positive, 13 answered very positive, and one didn’t answer. Q4. How many times have you called in sick in the last month? Out of the 78 employees surveyed, 15 answered very negative, 21 answered negative, 12 answered neutral, 12 answered positive, 15 answered very positive, and three didn’t answer. Q5. You are well trained for work.

Out of the 78 employees surveyed, 13 answered very negative, 22 answered negative, 14 answered neutral, 14 answered positive, 14 answered very positive, and one didn’t answer. Q6. You are paid fairly for the work you do?

Out of the 78 surveyed, 20 answered very negative, 30 answered negative, 19 answered neutral, six answered positive, Zero answered very positive, and three didn’t answer. Q7. Your supervisor treats you fairly.

Out of the 78 surveyed, 15 answered very negative, 21 answered negative, 15 answered neutral, 13 answered positive, 14 answered very positive.
Q8. Your supervisor’s boss treats your division fairly.
Out of the 78 surveyed, 15 answered very negative, 22 answered negative, 12 answered neutral, 13 answered positive, 12 answered very positive, and four didn’t answer. Q9. The company is good at communicating.

Out of the 78 surveyed, 17 answered very negative, 32 answered negative, 24 answered neutral, five answered positive, zero answered very positive. Q10. You do not fear that you will lose your job.

Out of the 78 surveyed, 17 answered very negative, 22 answered negative, 12 answered neutral, 15 answered positive, 10 answered very positive, and two didn’t answer. Out of the employees who took the survey, 12 were supervisors, 32 worked in the food division, 36worked in the housekeeping division, and nine worked in the maintenance division of the company. According to the survey of 17.3% the average length of employment with Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) is three years and five months. Conclusion

The conclusion drawn from the questionnaire is that the majority of participants in the Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc.(BIMS) survey are dissatisfied with the company. Out of the 17.3% of employees who participated answered all 10questions one or two being very negative. Dissecting the questionnaire by department showed that only nine out of 78 worked in maintenance. This could indicate satisfaction by maintenance department or that the employees elected not to participate. The other two departments, food and housekeeping participated equally in the survey. Barbara Tucker can use theoutcome of the survey to support her management team motivate their employees. The objective to discuss immediate changes to implement without affecting the budget, such as shift changes, department changes, and opencommunication. Once the employees notice a change in the company, it will boost employee morale resulting in a decrease in turnover (University of Phoenix).

References

Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.problemgambling.ca/EN/ResourcesForProfessionals/Pages/DataCollecti
on.as px
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Levels of Measurement, Research Methods Knowledge Base, Retrieved May 12, 2008 fromhttp://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measlevl.php University of Phoenix. (). Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc., Part I. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT351-Quantitative Analysis for Business website.