Critical evaluation of development and role of Balanced Scorecard in Essay

Critical evaluation of development and role of Balanced Scorecard in production and service organizations - Essay Example The current essay sought to provide a brief overview of BSC and its responsibility to measure overall performance of the firms in production and service sector. In addition to that, it also provides a critical reflection about the various roles played by BSC in service and production sectors. In today’s business environment, customer’s satisfaction has become one of the vital concerns for organizations and companies to improve product or service quality. Studies have noted that it is very problematic to measure performance of the service quality especially for the intangible goods. The accurate prediction of service quality is very complicated and there are numerous evidences that supports to that companies have failed to attempt the actual dimensional structure of service quality. Simons (2000) describes that, measuring and evaluating service quality generally uses a basic theory approach. He concluded that, it is very difficult to understand views of the different customers towards quality level of a particular product or service outcome. Thus, the mangers need to consider perception of the service process, service input and the overall supportive framework. The acceptance of globalization in the international market place has brought significant changes in the production and service sector, in terms of the level of competition, cost structure, production environment that led to rapid development in the advancement of technology. Majority of the companies in the global market were compelled to adopt contemporary business management techniques to ensure long-term business survival and to maintain competitive advantage (Kaynak, 2003). Performance management has evolved to be considered as an integral part of management accounting system. In this context, a large number of performance measures have been reported by the financial institutions to pursue cost of the organization’s long-term objectives. However, most of them have failed to provide

Internal vs. External Validity in Research Coursework

Internal vs. External Validity in Research - Coursework Example There is often a tradeoff between internal and external validity, due to the fact that that the requirements of a high internal validity is the creation of a controlled and artificial setting for the research, which then limits the application of the results to the natural and real-life situations (Mitchell & Jolley, 2001). The attainment of a high internal validity of a research requires that the participants in the research are shielded from the extraneous factors that may change the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. On the other hand, the extraneous factors are fully operational in the real-life situations, limiting the application of the findings of a research done in a setting where the extraneous factors were blocked. Therefore, there must b a trade-off between the internal validity and the external validity, such that internal validity is only high where external validity is low and vice versa (Isaac & Michael, 1971). 2. Is there a benefit in achieving a high level of one type of validity (internal versus external) over the other? Is there a way to design a study or series of studies to have high internal as well as high external validity? What would be the benefit? There is a benefit of achieving a high level of one type of validity over the other, based on the nature of the research in question. The level of internal validity achieved in the study is low, while the level of external validity attained in the study is high.

The concept of leadership is involved in all formal and informal Essay

The concept of leadership is involved in all formal and informal social activities - Essay Example This can be defined as the process where people are concerned about group interests and their acts are guided in that direction only. In this regards leadership is viewed as an instrument of achieving group interests and coordinated goals (Chemers, 1997). The concept of leadership is involved in all formal and informal social activities, and has become a fundamental part of social and working life (Chemers, 1993). Moreover, this concept of leadership is closely associated with organisational functions and organisational properties, where the basic nature of these organisations or groups might have been inefficient in the beginning (Chemers, 1993). In order to be efficient, organisations require the efforts of each of its members to be managed and coordinated (Chemers, 1993). Those members need to spend time and employ resources to build up coordinations to accomplishment their desired goals. More narrow the group or organisation, the greater is the requirement for those resources (Ch emers, 1993). As stated by Chemers (1997) in today’s world it is very difficult for only one person to do all tasks and group works and organisations are very much needed to accomplish goals of the entire group. In this regard the concept of leadership is crucial for achieving success. ... Explaining leadership: The word ‘leadership’ in literature is used according to individual perspectives of researchers and aspects that are most relevant to them in their context of research (Northouse, 2010). There are almost similar amounts of definitions and concepts to the number of researchers. It can be defined in various aspects and dimensions. For example, Western (2008) states that leadership can be defined in terms of behaviors, characteristics, patterns of interactions, influence, administrative positional occupation and role relationships. According to House (2004) leadership represents the assumption that it entails a process where purposeful influence is applied over other people of a group or organisation to direct, structure and to facilitate activities and relationships in that group or organisation. Many definitions of leadership have been made with regard to concepts related to leadership. These definitions differ in many regards, including the person who exerts the influence, the presumed purpose of that influence, methods in which influence is applied, and the possible and observed outcomes of that influence (Yukl, 2011). According to Grint (2010) leadership can be defined in four aspects: position-based leadership, person-based leadership, results-based leadership and process-based leadership. All these concepts are related to an organisation. Firstly, in case of position-based leadership, the concept deals with the position in the formal or informal organisation. In this regard, leadership is explained as the activity taken by a person who is at the vertical position or the person is â€Å"at the top of the tree† having power of all the resources to lead (Grint,

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare Performance Monitoring in Equipment Maintenance Services checklist Title Abstract Method: Introduction Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Audit Summary Discussion And Conclusion Abstract The objective of this literature review is to deliver results to the key performance indicators in monitoring the performance of equipment maintenance services. Method: Medical equipment management, health source and Medline were used and the search was conducted using different keywords such as key performance indicators, equipment maintenance services and performance monitoring equipment maintenance services. Introduction The medical equipment management approach defines the strategies for oversight and interaction of the medical equipment’s used in treatment, diagnosis and treatment of patients. All the related procedures and policies govern event from selection to acquisition, incoming inspection and the medical equipment management. The mission is ensuring that the medical equipment used in patient care is affordable, safe, accurate and available. The scope of this plan is clinical laboratories and different health systems. (McDermott 2009) Performance indicators should be chosen with care, if not individuals tend to respond by optimizing what is being estimated and hence lose focus of the quality. There are two important questions that should be asked concerning any performance indicator. First, can the performance indicator in question lead to perverse incentives and does it have the required potential to induce the desirable changes. Key performance indicators help a company measure progress towards their set objectives. (Kyan et al. 2004) Additionally, key performance indicators help an organization present of service delivery to come up with the course of action. Different key performance indicators differ depending with the exact nature of service delivery and the company’s approach. Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators The right indicators vary depending on the reason why the management is choosing them. All key performance indicators contain numerous hidden assumptions. For instance, the company can quote is a known guaranteed downtime percentage with the inclusion of the time when the equipment will not be required. However, at times statistical measures can be very hard to interpret, while clinical users do not consider the actual time of action. (Willson et al.2008) On the other hand process indicators appear to change more often than those that have been made to support specific improvement, and monitor the key factors affecting to quality of output. Result measures are more bound to estimate the effectiveness of initiatives to boost the service. Reasons for the poor performance should be thoroughly investigated, for instance, a reduction of 15% in monthly number of the exact routine maintenance logged in by the workers could be caused by alternative external demands or slipping internal stand ards. The steps that need to be taken to improve the services include modifying procedures and services, modifying demand or delivering more services. If an indicator has been modified to make it more strong, then it will be very important to maintain comparison with the old for long enough, to find out whether the changes have had any positive impact. Process targets can be interpreted and set in regard to local circumstances, because the detailed practice commonly varies, on the other hand, outcome indicators are directly comparable between the services when similar definitions are used (McDermott et al. 2009) Cost measures are quite sensitive to what the service chosen omits and includes. Across a typical hospital, the annual maintenance cost per item included varies widely. Detailed research will give the right guidelines on where the reduction of cost will be more effective. At this point, a lifetime strategy to costing can greatly help avoid the situation where technicians spend endless hours repairing the same equipment because the clinical staff lucks the funds required replacing it. A great sense of perspective is required, for instance, so that the total amount of time required to find the right technician can be reduced, this will help theatres to avoid great loses associated with the breakdown of equipment. The clinical engineer will be responsible for balancing urgency and cost and justifying his/her actions to the clinical staff (Gruber et al. 2012) Key performance indicators are reported and monitored to the relevant safety committees in the hospital throughput the year to provide feedback to the efficiency of the medical equipment management plan, the following performance indicators can be quite helpful if well used in a clinic set up. Critical life support performance maintenance completion rate, with a 100% goal and a requirement rationale. Second, the overall performance maintenance completion rate, the goal is 90% and the best practice to report and monitor rationale. Third is the service requests caused by user errors or mishandling, with a 10% or less gal of all the service requests that had not been planned, in this regard, the exact number of chances may be synonymous without consideration of the overall volume of all the service requests received. Mishandling mistakes with the exact requirement will have to be evaluated to find out if the trends exist, with the overall ratio that has been tracked over time providing relevant information for risk reduction. Another performance indicator is the equipment failure rendering harm to staff or the parties, the goal is zero occurrences and the best practice to report and monitor rationale (Swan et al. 2004) The next performance indicator chosen is the hazardous investigations, the main reason for choosing this key indicator was getting the right information, the rationale of choosing the hazardous investigation KPI Is all SMDA recalls, reportable events and medical equipment accident investigations will be instantly reported to the relevant safety committees. The next performance indictor chosen was the performance improvement standards. First, clinical engineering is responsible for identifying performance improvement indicators, based on the priorities that have been identified by users of the medical equipment in question, the relevant department and the environment or safety care committee. The environment or safety committee has the sole responsibility of approving the thresholds and monitors on yearly basis. All performance maintenance indicators are reported after every three months to the safety committee. The information provided is then submitted to the governing body involved via the regular reporting channels. All the elements of performance indicators can be changed upon request based on the administrative input, the institutional experience and regulatory change (Willson et al. 2004) Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Over the years, there has been a lot of benchmarking activity with the clinical engineering sector. Clinical staff and hospitals are continually finding that there are many issues that are pushing them towards benchmarking. In this sector, we shall look at different methods in which benchmarking in the hospitals in used and the most common measures that are available. These different measures fall into different categories depending with the service they are used to measure. The outlined derivation of benchmarking measures differ between different organizations, and checking into the differences is often vibrant than opting to do a direct comparison. This results into a debate when estimate the cost against other relevant performance measures. In addition, they help guide in making evidence based decisions which integrate the quality with the worth of money. (Willson et al. 2004) In Canada, standards for evaluation and measurement of the best clinical engineering services were introduced back in 1998. To put everything in order, the Canadian biological and medical society created a review to boost the sharing of concepts. Another alternative option is making the use of external consultants to measure the service and advice on the utilization of performance indicators and quality systems to enhance it. Audit This is very important to getting and maintaining the highest quality standards. In its simplest terms, the audit compares the current and the intended practice and immediately reports on the difference. For instance, many follow a person through the maintenance process whilst looking out for any deviation from the right procedures, checking out the records and terms to ensure they have been completed successfully. This strategy is relevant to the internal audits and has the capacity of identifying whether the procedure is working as expected, unfortunately, it does not capture the power of exactly what the audit can achieve. (Willson et al. 2004) As a result, an auditor requires some level of incidence without carrying the responsibility of the area being audited single handedly, this is something that is very hard to achieve in small organizations. If this is done successfully, external audits may bring sufficient benefits mainly if the auditing was conducted by an experienced audi tor from another company. In simpler terms, a simple audit process visits are made up of: Preparation and planning: The auditor agrees to the extent of the audit in advance. Opening meeting where the auditor meets with the management representative to discuss the importance of the audit. Audit: Includes visits to several areas, interviews with the organizations staff and examination of the databases. Closing meeting: The audit meets the management to explain and share their audit findings and confirm the queries, indicating how the issues will be resolved. Audit report: The audit writes a conclusive report clearing outline recommendations for improvement. Once both parties agree to the report, it is signed and passed to the relevant bodies. Follow up: The auditor follows up checks out the corrective actions to see whether they have been completed. Organization auditing can be used to measure how technical and scientific procedures are being followed and whether they will give the right results. This perfect type of audit may be conducted by experienced professional bodies under registered national schemes. For instance, thorough checks between radiotherapy determinants for quality assurance schemes and dose delivery. Basically, it looks at the product, so that they can test a complete system that is where it differs to outline quality control. (Willson et al. 2004) Summary In this report, we have identified many reasons why a company should monitor its performance; we have also discussed the importance of integrating monitoring in a top-notch management system. We have vividly described the design of key performance indicators and looked at how they can be implemented in medical equipment management. (We have also outlined the pitfalls associated with developing and interpreting performance indicators and considered their utilization in practice. We have also reviewed how benchmarking can assist organizations enhance their performance. Finally, we have considered how audits should be strategized, what happens during the audit and how different groups of organizations can combine efforts and assist each other with benchmarking and mutual audit activities. (Grubel et al.2008) Discussion And Conclusion One important thing to understand is the fact that key performance indicators are not performance targets. They are put in place as monitoring facilities with the idea of moving towards the direction of the successful implementation of the procedures, policies and process. Performance indicators are categorized into two distinct groups, namely, quantitate and qualitative. (McDermott et al. 2009)There are two things that must be identified in order to use KPIs effectively; these include the points in procedures or process through which the data is gathered to support the equipment monitoring. Secondly, the locations in service where the data gathered should be presented as important information for quality management. KPI’s are important because they enable facilities to have systems in place for better management of medical equipment and devices. A few of the reasons why key performance indicators are used include more complicated, enhanced technical preventative maintenance, regularly needs consistent quality assurance and specialized user training. (McDermott et al. 2009) References McDermott, R. (2009) Key Performance Indicators Medical Devices/ Equipment Management.’ A Case Studies Of Equipment Management. London: Routledge Willson, K., Tabakov, S., Ison, K., et al 2013, â€Å"Medical Equipment Management.† [Online] 1, (1) 274-280. Available from http://www.openbooke.com/ebook/medical-equipment-management.html> [accesed on 30th April 2015] Gruber, S (2012) Exploring Analytical Solutions For Healthcare Improvement [Online]. Healthcare Analytics, New York. Available at: http://healthcareanalytics.info/2012/02/is-it-a-metric-or-a-key-performance-indicator-kpi/#.VUJEvlFMK_I [Accessed on 30th April 2015]

Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything b

Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Freakonomics brings together many combinations of thoughts that one wouldn’t find relevant in companionship. The two authors discuss comparisons that are so off the wall, that you almost question reading the book; however, that is the reason many read the book in the first place. The authors Levitt and Dubner compare in one chapter of Freakonomics the reason why drug dealers live with their moms. Throughout this chapter, the authors discuss questions about why intelligent people sometimes do not ask questions that people really care about, advertising and surveys, and why, in general, do drug dealers still live with their moms. The use of testimonial evidence is prudent in the chapter because its proof builds the case for the qualitative evidence used during the drug dealing section of the chapter. I will discuss these three topics in detail and analyze the author’s contributions to the arguments they present, by evaluating how the argument was portrayed based on the ev idence given in the book. â€Å"But if you can question something that people really care about and find an answer that may surprise them—that is, if you can overturn the conventional wisdom—then you may have some luck† (Levitt and Dubner 87). What Levitt and Dubner meant by this passage, is that if you divulge yourself into questions, ridiculous or not, you might find something you are looking for. If there are unanswered questions, and no one is asking them, they are â€Å"bound to yield uninteresting answers† (Levitt and Dubner 87). Meaning, people are not usually asking questions in which they are not interested in the answers. From a personal no... ...ves otherwise. A foot soldier makes, according to the financial evidence given, $3.30 an hour. Actually, many foot soldiers held other jobs to supplement the low wages they were issued dealing drugs. The evidence given in this section of the chapter was useful to the reader to understand and visually absorb the material. As a whole, the evidence given in this chapter was sufficient in building a cohesive thought. However, the advertising and survey section of the chapter through me for a loop and almost made me stop reading the chapter all together. The use of testimonial, measurement, and analytical data discussed in the chapter allowed me to truly understand the point that the authors were trying to get across to the reader. The chapter, like the rest of the book, contains thoughts that are not conventional in nature and are interesting to think about.

Mistake vs. Misrepresentation

In brief: Mistake vs Misrepresentation †¢ A mistake is inadvertent and only an error on the part of the person committing it while misrepresentation is often wilful or intentional, done with the intention of gaining wrongfully. The main difference between Mistake and Misrepresentation is that in the case of Mistake one or both parties to a contract or what was intended to be a contract unintentionally or unknowingly made statements not intended to mislead the other. Therefore fraud cannot be implied from these statements or circumstances. At Common law, a mistake can affect the validity of a contract â€Å"operative mistake†, making it null and void. In the case of misrepresentation, false statements of facts are required to be made which knowingly or unknowingly could amount to fraud and remedy or rescission may apply. In the modern law, misrepresentation is classed as fraudulent, negligent or wholly innocent. Fraudulent misrepresentation Definition Fraudulent† in this sense was defined by Lord Herschell in Derry v Peek (1889) 14 App Cas 337 as a false statement that is â€Å"made (i) knowingly, or (ii) without belief in its truth, or (iii) recklessly, careless as to whether it be true of false. † The essence of fraud is the absence of honest belief; in Derry v Peek , a share prospectus falsely stated that the company had the right to use mechanical power to draw trams, without explaining that governmental consent was requir ed for this. In fact, the directors honestly believed that obtaining consent was a pure formality, although it was ultimately refused. The House of Lords held that there had been no fraudulent misrepresentation. Lord Herschell however did point out that though unreasonableness of the grounds of belief is not deceitful, it is evidence from which deceit may be inferred. There are many cases, â€Å"where the fact that an alleged belief was destitute of all reasonable foundation would suffice of itself to convince the court that it was not really entertained, and that the representation was a fraudulent one. † On the other hand, there need be no intention to defraud. An intention to deceive (with no intention to cause the claimant loss) is sufficient. Negligent misrepresentation Negligent mis-statement at common law Until 1963, damages could only be claimed for misrepresentation where it was fraudulent. All non-fraudulent misrepresentations were classed as â€Å"innocent† and damages were not available for such innocent misrepresentations. In 1963, the House of Lords stated, obiter, in Hedley Byrne Co Ltd v Heller Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465 that in certain circumstances damages may be recoverable in tort for negligent mis-statement causing financial loss. The liability depends on a duty of care arising from a â€Å"special relationship† between the parties. It is now clear that a party can claim damages under the principle in Hedley Byrne where a negligent mis-statement has induced him to enter a contract; Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon (1976) QB 801. Broadly speaking, the special relationship will only arise where the maker of the statement possesses knowledge or skill relevant to the subject matter of the contract and can reasonably foresee that the other party will rely on the statement. Negligent misrepresentation under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 Section 2(1) of the Act of 1967 introduced, for the first time, a statutory claim for damages for non-fraudulent misrepresentation. Section 2(1) provides that where a person has entered a contract after a misrepresentation has been made to him by another part thereto and a result thereof he has suffered loss, then, if the person making the misrepresentation would be liable to damages in respect thereof had the misrepresentation been made fraudulently, that person shall be so liable notwithstanding that the misrepresentation was not made fraudulently, unless he proves that he had reasonable ground to believe and did believe up to the time the contract was made that the facts represented were true. It should be noted that the sub-section assumes all non-fraudulent statements to be negligent and puts the burden on the maker of the statement to disprove negligence. Wholly innocent misrepresentation We have seen that before 1963, the word â€Å"innocent† was used to describe all misrepresentations that were not fraudulent. In the light of Hedley Byrne and s. 2(1) of the Act of 1967, the word innocent may now be used to refer to a statement made by a person who has reasonable grounds for believing in its truth. To avoid confusion, â€Å"wholly innocent† is a better description.

Research Aims and Objectives

The following research for consumer preference regarding the choice for a particular Bank in the United Kingdom is done with the aim to analyze the consumer mindset and preference when they make a choice for something so essential like a Bank to whom they handover their hard earned money to. The aim of the research is to determine what consumers want and what the usually preferable features in the Bank are. In order to do so, a sample of the population would be analyzed who would be representing the entire population.The objective of this particular research to identify the consumer demands and their preferable features would be the understanding of consumer psyche in order to be in a better position to be able to provide them with what they require. However, this would be the prime objective but the secondary objectives would be to discover the hidden factors that mostly people tend to forget while devising a Bank or its strategies. This research would also enable the person formula ting the strategy to have an insight to what consumer wants and requires of their efforts and endeavors.Apart from that, it is essential to conduct a research for what consumer wants rather than assuming their requirements and demands. This research would enable to actually find out that which strategies are to be continued by the Bank in the future while which strategies are meant for amendments or complete eradication. Not only banks, but any products or services that are highly dependent on consumer demand and preferences need to analyze their demands and choices before entering in the area to serve them.Hence, the primary Aim of the research is to determine the expectations and requirements of a customer from the place it entrusts its finances into. The objective is to make use of the research and make the result of the research the motive of existence. Rationale of the Research The rationale or the purpose of the research is to make sure that the consumers are receiving what th ey expect and require of the Banking services. It is to ensure that the current strategies adopted by the Banks in United Kingdom are appropriate or not. There are many sectors in which the Banking Industry of the United Kingdom is divided.The purpose of the research is to analyze the different customer present in each sector and the reason of their preference for a particular sector. The sectors for Banking Industry are Independent British Banks, British Banking Brands owned by British Companies, British Banking Brands owned by Foreign Companies, Foreign Banks in the United Kingdom and External Links. The Independent Banks in United Kingdom include HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank, HBOS, Lloyds TSB, Standard Chartered, Alliance and Leicester, Northern Rock, Cooperative Bank and Bradford and Bingley.The amount of independent Banks is few in the United Kingdom as compared to other countries. The research would also enable us to understand as to whether consumers want more independent banks or not. Quite a lot of foreign banks are present in the United Kingdom as well which are ING Direct, Citibank and Bank of Cyprus. This research would also enable in understanding the reason of the presence of such humungous amount of foreign banks in the country.In London, there is an investment and commercial branch of almost every big Bank in the world. Hence, the purpose along with determining the consumer preference and demand is to determine the purpose of the existence of different sectors and the consumer’s take on these different sectors. The research conducted would help in dividing the preference according to the sector under review which would make it easier for the Banks in different sectors to extract knowledge of their requirement. Theoretical UnderpinningSeveral theories were evaluated to determine which would be best to analyze consumer behavior and their reason to choose a particular Bank for their transactions and activities. The major cate gory which it was divided into was ‘Qualitative research’ as it had to do with consumer preferences and hence could not be quantified into any numbers. It would deal with qualitative data like questionnaires, Focus Group and In-depth Interviews. However under Qualitative research is further divided into three more types which include Positivists, Interpretive and Critical.The positivists takes the society at its face value and assumes that everything portrayed is for real and true, the interpretive assumes that the situation changes and so does human behavior as per the situation while on the contrary the critical approach takes a critical perspective on the society and everything present in the social reality is historically present and created by human minds so nothing is for real but a creation of people’s mind. The method that would be taken use of in this research would be the ‘Interpretive Research’ because it takes the most reasonable and rati onal approach to the data available in the social reality.As the primary data collected in a qualitative research is highly subject to personal views, therefore it is very important to take a rational approach on the analysis of data and its interpretation. For this kind of research theory, the most important aspect is the interpretation of the collected data as it is difficult to analyze the in-depth interviews and focus groups because of the presence of no right and wrong in the approach as it is highly dependent on human views and method of interpretation. Hence, the theoretical approach used is ‘Interpretive Qualitative Research Methodology’.Methodology Research Approach The research would be highly dependent on the data collected via primary as well as secondary sources. Since, the entire research is to determine human psyche and preferences therefore nothing can be assumed and neither is anything pre-determined. The data however would be achieved through primary s ources via Focus Groups, In-depth Interviews, Questionnaire and Surveys as well secondary sources such as Internet sources, Journals, Articles, Past Researches, Magazines, and Books etc.The theory that is used as a methodology is as defined the Qualitative Interpretive method as the data received would be either the feedback from the customers or the secondary published resources. The data interpretation is where the methodology or the theory of the research would be utilized. The focus groups would be analyzed based on people’s verbal reactions as well as their attitude and gestures and so will be the In-depth interview which would be a one-to-one interaction with the consumer. However, the answers of the questionnaire would have to be quantified and displayed via graph to display the inclination of the answers.The research methodology used would be ‘Relational’, this is because one factor of the research would be analyzed as to whether it depends on the other o r not. For example, if consumers prefer on-the-go Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Service then is it because of the low savings and high expenditures of the people in the United Kingdom. The relational approach would also help in analyzing and explaining the reason of several factors and demands by the target consumers of the Banks in the United Kingdom.It would be helpful in explaining a lot of consumer preferences and would be better in understanding the logic behind the Human Psyche. Research Strategy The research strategy has several steps which are being followed in the conducted research. It started of with defining a title for the research which was finalized to be stated as ‘How the people choose in U. K which bank to patronize? ’ After that came the step to analyze the background data which would be partially collected via primary sources as well as secondary published sources.The primary sources as mentioned would be the Qualitative Research tools such as the F ocus Groups, Surveys and Interviews while the secondary sources would be the publishes material in the form of either past Researches in the relevant field, articles, journals or magazines. In order to get hold of the relevant sources several catalogs have been searches and the internet has been browsed in order to come up with as authentic and relevant material as possible. Even the internet sources that are being analyzed are the published authentic ones and not just the random material present.After the collection of data, it was critically analyzed to remove all loop holes from the procedures and find reliable material from which the research can take constructive help from in order to make it as productive as possible. The next step of defining the citation style has been done with utmost care keeping the professionalism and the research relevance in mind. Therefore, the citation style used in this research is Harvard style of referencing. The material used in the literature re view and the entire research would be cited in the Harvard style of citation and so would be the in-text citation.The Harvard style has a professional work procedure and cites the work in an appropriate manner for the reader to understand where the work is taken from and along with that helps in giving the original idea provider the due importance by mentioning and recognizing their efforts. The strategy adopted in the process of the research has to be clear and defined in order to follow a research process that has a vivid objective and is able to reach its motives effectively and efficiently. Primary Data and Secondary Data CollectionThe primary data will be collected with the qualitative tools such as the †¢ In-Depth Interview: The one-to-one interviews with the few selected customers who would be questioned in detail and would have the option of answering open ended in order to gather the most data possible and then extract the one relevant. Along with the information the i nterviewee would also be analyzed of his/her gestures and body language. Hence, this would help in providing a deep insight in the consumers mind and preferences.†¢ Focus Group: This would be a method for a group of customers to express their opinion on a platform provided. Several minds when act together would give a clear view of what majority of the customers think. However, there are certain pitfalls to this procedure as well which would be tried and avoided as much as possible. †¢ Questionnaires: These are the only tools in the qualitative method that can be quantified and does not entirely depend on interpretation.The questionnaires would mostly contain close ended questions as the open ended ones would be there in the focus groups as well as the in-depth interviews of the customers. †¢ Surveys: As per this method, the customers in each sector would be randomly surveyed for their opinions and suggestion to improve the Banking service in the country. Hence, all t he above mentioned primary data collected would not only help in devising as to what customers prefer but also would provide with a solution and recommend possible outcomes.The secondary sources would be from published sources. In order to analyze the scenario of Multinational Banks in the United Kingdom, the book by Geoffrey Jones (1993) is used for referencing which present the scenario of international Banks in the United Kingdom’s market. Presenting the scenario it states â€Å"the leaders were five large American Banks which dominated the process of syndicated sovereign loans as they sought to achieve an accelerated growth of their assets. They pursued lending strategies that emphasized wide margins and large volumes of loans.† (Jones, 1993, p. 352). Another book by Francesca Carnevali called as the ‘Europe’s Advantage: Banks and Small Firms in Britain, France, Germany and Italy since 1918’ talks about the importance of small Banks. In the rese arch the customer of small banks would also be a subject therefore this book would be of high importance as its states â€Å"small firms are part of local economies. These can be defined simply and loosely as spaces where most local saving found their way to local financial intermediaries and then back into the local economy† (Carnevali, 2005, pp. 2-3).In order to understand the Human psyche as well as competing for customer the help of a book called ‘Competing for Customers and Capital’ by Victor J. Cook Junior (2006). It talks about the competitive cut-throat environment that today every field has including products as well as services and bridges the gap between the marketing and the finance areas. It is also helpful for those who aspire to be the upper level management as it enables the reader to understand the consumer psyche and the reason behind their preferences. A very important book that is used in the literature as a reference is a book by John R.Weeks called the ‘Unpopular Culture: The Ritual of Complaint in a British Bank’ (2003). It talks about how unsatisfied culture of the employees spreads a negative energy in the entire organization and it effects on the performance of the employees which ultimately affects the customer service and produces unsatisfied customers. Book which talks about the history of the Banking Industry in the United Kingdom and the changing and evolutionary trends is a book by Ronald Myles Fitzmaurice (1975) called ‘British banks and banking: A pictorial history’.In order to understand British banking history and how it dealt with crisis in the past, a book by William Frazer (2000) is used called as ‘Central Banking, Crises, and Global Economy’ which states that â€Å"Governments in crises should not be surprised, however, when aid and coordinated private-sector support packages are extended on condition that problem-causing traditions and practices be changed† (Frazer, 2000, p. 315). Along with that the news article by Steve Pain (2000) indicates the importance of customers in the generation of profits by the banks.Hence, the satisfaction of the customers is of utmost importance and therefore they need to be given special attention to. Their needs and requirements have to be identified in order to be in a better position to provide them with better service which is up to their mark. Some companies or banks even misuse their customers by getting them into trouble so that they force them into calling the call center as â€Å"BANKS and power companies have been accused of making big money out of customers who ring their call centers† (Poulter, 2005, p.6). Hence, there are all kinds of business running around the world and in order to have healthy business one needs to get rid of these unethical tactics. Data Analysis As mentioned above, the data collected through primary means as well as secondary means would be critically analyzed to ensure their importance in the research and to determine whether they are being utilized efficiently or not. However, due recognition would be given to any data that has been extracted from other sources and is not achieved via primary method.The entire data collected would not be used but only the important and highly relevant portions would be selected to gain knowledge from and cite in the original research. The data would relate to the original topic as to what are the criteria of the customers when choosing a Bank in the United Kingdom. Anticipated Limitations Despite the best of efforts there are certain limitations that would be faced by the people conducting the research which are as follows;†¢ Time Constraint: Although there my be a lot of time available but for the research of such magnitude there is no sufficient time as with new time new data arises which can be incorporated as well. So time acts as one of the constraints. †¢ Monetary Constraints: Due to th e status of being students, there are certain financial limitations that have to be abided by, hence acting as constraints as there is not a sufficient or unlimited flow of funds.†¢ Knowledge: Although a lot of background research would be done and plenty of material would be read to make this research as authentic as possible but still there is some knowledge that would be unattained. Hence, that unattained knowledge would act as a constraint for further depth in the research. †¢ Secondary Data: The presence of secondary data regarding the given topic is scarce and hence proper information of several fields cannot be gathered which is a constraint for the production of an excellent research. Ethical ConsiderationsThe first and the foremost consideration as per the ethical boundaries would be the due recognition of the material or data taken from other authors by books, articles and journals. If they are not acknowledged, it would be included as plagiarism rather than help from various outside sources. Apart from that, what needs to be taken care of is that none of the Banks or financial institutions is allegedly claimed for poor performance. In short, there should be no incorrect data; all the data should have a back support to it in order to provide the proof of its authenticity.One thing that is often ignored by the researchers is the pre-developed biasness or prejudice. A personal experience or a past knowledge may lead the researcher to have a pre-conceived notion regarding a certain factor. This makes the entire research to be less authentic as its starts to involve personal opinion rather than rational views. For instance, in this case the researcher might have had a bad past experience with a bank and may prolong that biasness into the research making it less objective.Hence, in order for the research to be carried out in an ethical manner, all these ethical concerns have to be taken into account. Otherwise all the effort done by the research er may result to be void. Conclusion The following research would be carried out with the Harvard style citation and the methodology would be ‘qualitative interpretive’ method. The primary sources of data would be the qualitative tools which include In-Depth Interviews, Surveys, Questionnaire and Focus group.The ethical constraints would be followed to make sure that the research is highly objective without the involvement of any plagiarism, incorrect information or personal biasness or prejudice. Hence, the research would follow all the pre-determined set patterns of following a research with a research theory and methodology. Although there are slight constraints which would act as a hurdle in the way but it would be made sure that it doesn’t have a drastic impact on the research.The hypothesis of the research would conclude as to what are the primary, secondary and involuntary (hidden) reasons for customers to choose a particular Bank in the United Kingdom. Bi bliography Jones, G. (1993). British Multinational Banking 1830-1990. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019820602X. Carnevali, F. (2005). Europe’s Advantage: Banks and Small Firms in Britain, France, Germany and Italy since 1918. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199257396. Cook, V. (2006). Competing for Customers and Capital. South-Western Educational Pub. First Edition. ISBN-10: 0324405979.ISBN-13: 978-0324405972. United States of America. Crawfordsville. Weeks, J. R. (2003). Unpopular Culture: The Ritual of Complaint in a British Bank. University Of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226878120. ISBN-13: 978-0226878126. United States of America. Fitzmaurice, R. M. (1975). British banks and banking: A pictorial history. Barton. ISBN-10: 0851531547. ISBN-13: 978-0851531540. Frazer, W. (2000). Central Banking, Crises, and Global Economy. Praeger Publishers. Westport, CT, London, United Kingdom. Pain, S. (2000). Customers Co-operate in Bank's Profits Boost. The Birmingham Post. 19.