Discussion
A research study was planned to analyze the impact of knowledge management on the decision making process of the organizations. The decision making process is a complex procedure that takes various factors, such as, leadership styles, techniques, resources, tools and equipment and competencies, into consideration (Pettigrew, 2014). As stated by Webb (2017), the knowledge management process needs to be utilized effectively for the optimum outcome in the organization. Hence, to evaluate the importance of knowledge management on the decision making process, I chose Woolworths as the case study company. Woolworths is one of the largest supermarket and grocery stores in Australia and has captured 37% of the grocery market by 2017 (Westbrook, 2017). I chose this organization as I assumed that substantial amount of information could be available on Woolworths. This essay will illustrate my learning from the subjects while preparing the research proposal for the study on Woolworths. It will also present the challenges that I encountered while studying and making the proposal.
Conducting a research study contributes not only in the academic world, but also in developing the knowledge and personality of the researcher. It is beneficial in improving the observation skills, interpretation abilities, data collection abilities and judgmental abilities of the researcher along with enhancing the knowledge on the subject of study (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). While making the proposal, my guide has helped me immensely to make the research framework, understand the significance of the study, and learn the appropriate research methodologies. The proposal starts with a problem statement, which is followed by research aim and objectives. With the help of my guide, I was able to narrow down the research topic from the vast subject. Knowledge management and decision making in the organizations are large subjects that include numerous important factors. However, it is not possible to study every aspect of the subjects as that would make the study robust. Thus, it is important to narrow down the research subject and choose a topic that was not explored earlier, so that important contribution in the academic and business world can be possible. With this perception, I explored the subject and chose to evaluate the relationship between knowledge management and decision making process in the corporate world. The supermarkets and grocery industry has been chosen for the study as I found that not much research was undertaken earlier to study the implications of the research variables on the grocery industry. Hence, I chose to examine the impact of the research variables on the largest supermarket and grocery chain in Australia, that is, Woolworths.
While moving forward with the research topic, I learnt to identify the research problem. This is a significant step in a research study as the entire research study is based on the research problem. As stated by Collis & Hussey (2013), research study is undertaken to address specific research questions, which exhibit various aspects of research problem. Hence, making a proper problem statement is essential while conducting a research. I found that Woolworths has faced some losses from the contemporary brands due to various problems in the strategic planning and efficient decision making. This constituted the problem statement for the study. With the help of my guide, I learnt how to make research aim, objectives and research questions. I designed the research aim as to examine the impact of knowledge management on decision making process of Woolworths to address the research problem. I also learnt to frame the research objectives and questions following the research aim. In this research proposal, I presented four research objectives that address different aspects of the study, such as, leadership style, techniques for decision making, impact of knowledge management practices and recommend ways to address these aspects. The research questions were also designed in alignment with the research objectives to maintain the parity of the study. I also gained knowledge about how to assess the significance of the study. My guide taught me that a research study has multiple significances, that is, in the academic world, business world and in developing the personality of the researcher. For instance, this research study would contribute in the sphere of literature in terms of the relationship between the variables, that is, knowledge management and decision making process in the organizations. The theoretical considerations are effective in terms of understanding the cause and effect of the research problem. This study would also help the business managers to consider the knowledge management process while applying decision making techniques and employee management techniques for regulating the employee performances. Lastly, this proposal making process has helped to me to enhance my observation skills, understanding of the subject, increase the knowledge regarding various segments of a research, that is, literature review, choosing the relevant research methodology, making time frame for the project, and have an understanding of the data collection and analysis process.
After designing the research aim, objectives and questions on the basis of the problem statement, I proceeded to make the literature review. I learnt from my guide that literature review is the next essential step in any research. This would allow a researcher to explore the world of relevant literature, which would help him to have an understanding of the paper structure and content of the study (Hart, 2018). I got a learning about how to search relevant research papers on the research topic from online sources, such as, Google Scholar and many online libraries. This made me identify the appropriate key words for the study and using those key words; I looked up for multiple relevant literature papers, such as, peer-reviewed journal articles and books. A thorough reading of these papers made me understand various aspects of the research topic and also made my concepts on how to frame the study clear. I presented my knowledge on the themes, chosen for the study, under the section literature review. Concept of knowledge management, decision making process, theories on knowledge creation, impression management, and classical decision making were the themes that were chosen to make the conceptual framework for the research. This exercise has made me learn about the importance of previous literature in a new research study and also improved my knowledge about the research topic.
After the literature review, I gained a thorough knowledge on the research methodology. Research methodology depicts the basic techniques and planning for conducting a research in the most logical and unambiguous manner (Panneerselvam, 2014). It consists of research philosophy, research design, approach, data collection and analysis process, sample size, sampling techniques, timeline and also includes ethical considerations for the exercise. My guide helped me to understand the fundamentals of research methodology. I studied about the above mentioned aspects in-depth so that I could choose the correct methodology for the study. Choosing the correct methodology is extremely important as that would determine the process of data collection and analysis and that ultimately determine the output of the study (Flick, 2015). Thus, I gave a lot of effort and time in understanding the sections under methodology in details. I learnt about research philosophy and subsequently other segments, that is, research design, approach etc. The types and purpose of the research philosophies, that is, interpretivism, positivism, and post positivism, were studies in details to know their implications on a study. Similarly, I gained knowledge on explanatory, exploratory and descriptive research design and inductive and deductive research approach. All these lessons helped me to understand the nature of my research topic and what methods would be most suitable to perform the research. I understood the importance of case studies in a research. Case studies are beneficial in the research studies as these help in understanding the implications of the problem in a real world scenario (Wahyuni, 2012). Using Woolworths for conducting the study would help in realizing the impact of the knowledge management on the decision making process on a real world organization, which would give a more practical knowledge about the research problem. I also experienced about the methods of data collection, sampling techniques and analysis process, which enhanced my statistical and mathematical knowledge about handling large data. This was followed by the ethical considerations of a research work and designing the timeline of the study. Both of these are also very significant for any research study.
Hence, it can be said that, while pursuing this project, I contributed in making the structure of the study with the guidance from my guide, and in the bigger picture, I contributed in making a plan to conduct the research. Moreover, I also arranged for the study materials for the literature review from various sources while the access to the online libraries was given by my guide. While making the research proposal, I had several type of experience, which mostly includes learning on different aspects from different sources. In future, I will also experience the operation scenarios in a real world corporate organization while I would be going to Woolworths store to collect the primary data through surveys and interviews.
During the process of writing the research proposal, there were few highly challenging tasks in every segment. In the beginning, the most challenging part was to frame the research objectives and research questions, as those are highly significant in precisely addressing research topic. If those are not framed properly, then the outcome of the study would be inappropriate. Secondly, choosing the appropriate keywords and themes and accessing the relevant peer-reviewed journal papers was another challenging task. It took much time to identify the relevant concepts that would lead to the desired outcome in the most comprehensive manner. Once those are identified, the related journal articles needed to be found for reviewing the topic. These papers are not easily accessible and the online libraries are usually password protected. Not all the papers were available in Google scholar or in the university libraries. Thus, I had to take help of my guide to access the password protected papers and paid papers form the online sources. Thirdly, understanding and choosing the correct methodology was another challenge for me as I had no previous knowledge of the research methods. I had to take much time to study and understand the methods before selecting the proper one.
Although research works are always challenging, yet there are few areas in which I did not need to think much. Deciding the significance of the research work was one such thing. Once the topic or problem statement was decided, it was easier to understand and present the research rationale. Secondly, making the conceptual framework was another easier task. After gaining substantial knowledge on the research subject, especially on the key themes, the flow of the research came very naturally. This was possible only because I was able to comprehend the structure of the research work, and the appropriate theories which could be used to analyze the situation after I studied the papers of various scholars on the related subjects. Thirdly, choosing the case study research approach was easier. I learnt from my guide that case study research is very much suitable when the research proposal is based on a contemporary phenomenon. Here, the knowledge management, which is a contemporary business phenomenon that plays a major role in the business operations, is chosen to evaluate its impact on the decision making process. A scientific and logical study is expected to produce a more precise outcome when focused on a particular direction or a company. Hence, Woolworths was chosen as the case study company as being the largest supermarket and grocery store in Australia, it was assumed that much data on the decision making process, leadership styles and knowledge management could be attained from this organization.
Lastly, it can be said that I lost my sleep over deciding the research topic and the subsequent research problem. Organizational management is a vast subject and includes many segments. It was essential to pick out one topic or subject from the vast topic to conduct the research study. While making the research proposal, I needed to perform another research work to find out any less explored area under the subject and choose a particular research problem. I had to maintain originality in my work and hence, it was necessary to choose a topic, which was original and had no prior research work. My guide helped me extensively to choose my research topic as I was unable to pick out a particular phenomenon myself. After a thorough literature search, when the research topic was selected, I chose the case study company with the help of my guide. The next difficult step was to find out a precise problem in the case study company that would match the research topic. Again I experienced a very tough time to find out the precise issues in Woolworths that can be addressed or used to examine the research topic, that is, the causal relationship between the variables, knowledge management process and decision making process. These issues were extremely important as the outcome of the study is entire based on these and if there is no significant outcome, the effort of the research would be futile.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that, there are many things to be learnt during a research study. Starting from choosing the research topic, and writing the proposal, to actually proceed with the study, there are many challenging steps involved in the entire process. A research work not only makes significant contribution in the academics and in the business world by providing insights on the research problem in a real world scenario, but also in developing the knowledge, skills and overall personality of the researcher. During the making of this research proposal on the cause and effect relationship between the knowledge management process, leadership styles and decision making process of the organizations, with a focus on Woolworths, I learnt various aspects of the structure of research and how to address those in the most comprehensive manner. I gained knowledge from the papers of other scholars on different concepts relevant to the research subject and learnt to apply that knowledge while making the research framework. A vast and extensive knowledge was also gained on research methodology, on which I had no prior knowledge. This has been extremely helpful for me as I learnt about the scientific and logical steps and explanations required to conduct the study. Although I faced quite a few tough challenges regarding the choice of topic, methodology and accessing the literature, yet it has been a very useful experience for me that would help me in my higher studies, career and in my future life.
References
Collis, J., & Hussey, R. (2013). Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.
Hart, C. (2018). Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Research Imagination. Sage.
Panneerselvam, R. (2014). Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Pettigrew, A. M. (2014). The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge.
Saunders, M. N., & Lewis, P. (2012). Doing research in business & management: An essential guide to planning your project. Pearson.
Wahyuni, D. (2012). The research design maze: Understanding paradigms, cases, methods and methodologies.
Webb, S. P. (2017). Knowledge management: Linchpin of change. Routledge.
Westbrook, T. (2017). Australia’s Woolworths beats Coles in food sales growth for third straight quarter. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-woolworths-results/australias-woolworths-beats-coles-in-food-sales-growth-for-third-straight-quarter-idUSKBN1D0034
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