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Qualitative interviews differ from surveys； for example in that they adhere
less to a fixed set of questions but continually probe and cross…check information；
building cumulatively on the knowledge gained from earlier
answers。 Nevertheless； interviewers at some point have to ask the questions
that give them the specific data they need。 Good interpersonal skills； sensitivity
to the respondent； conducting the interviews at an appropriate time
and place； using trained interviewers as well as having an appropriate
sample are all vital to successful interviewing。
Focus groups
Focus groups are a form of multiple interview； with small groups of around
8 to 10 people selected with specific key a。。ributes in mind： specific knowledge；
experience or socioeconomic characteristics； for example。 Participants
are invited to a。。end informal discussion sessions of no more than two
hours’ duration on a particular topic； facilitated by someone knowledgeable
about the issues involved； but tactful and firm enough to keep the group
in order and on task。 O。。en an incentive is offered for people to a。。end。
The advantages of using a focus group over interviews include efficiency；
as you can get 10 opinions in around twice the time it takes to conduct an
interview； and by listening to other people’s ments； o。。en more ideas；
opinions and experiences and insights can be gained。 It is also easier to take
notes of the discussion as this is expected and less threatening in a group
situation。 But； as with interviews； it relies on the views of a small sample
and so is not truly representative of any body of opinion。
Three variations on focus groups are：
258 The Thirty…Day MBA
。 Neighbourhood forum： These are structured； regular local meetings
for local people to consult about issues of local importance。 The term
local can mean any characteristic that binds people together – young
mothers； pensioners； train users。
。 Citizens’ juries： These involve a small sample of the public spending
perhaps a day or two； at most； debating an issue in a quasi…judicial setting。
They hear experts present the various sides to an argument； much
as in court they would take evidence from witnesses。 This approach is
used by local government and police forces； but is also used by major
local employers to gain insights into local munity issues that they
might impinge on。
。 Brainstorming sessions： These are group meetings designed to stimulate
creative thinking to solve a particular problem or address a single
issue。 There are three steps to brainstorming。 Initially the group should
try to generate as many ideas as possible； without criticism； weling
unusual and even apparently impractical or impossible propositions。
Next； the propositions should be reviewed briefly to either eliminate
the ones universally agreed to be unworkable or to bine ideas to
form be。。er solutions。 Finally； the handful of feasible solutions are discussed
and ranked。 All that is needed by way of materials are a flip
chart； marker pens and Blu…tack to fix the ideas that have been generated
visibly onto walls。
Case studies
A case study is a prehensive and systematic study of a specific organization；
event or subject。 They can be wri。。en； on film or puter and are
usually used where wide…ranging； plex questions have to be addressed
and the findings used either as a focus for further discussion； for illustrative
purposes or for training。 The case study needs an underlying question – how
did the pany go about closing down a particular unit； for example。 It
doesn’t answer the question； rather it provides the ‘reader’ with information
from interviews； pany and public documents； observations and such
sources； from which they can debate and form an opinion。
TRIANGULATION
This is the rather pretentious name given to the bination of qualitative
and quantitative research methods； a sensible process that allows
researchers to get the best of both worlds。 In fact the disciplines already
overlap。 Quantitative research produces numbers – the number of people
questioned； for example； or how many times a particular feeling or opinion
Quantitative and Qualitative Research and Analysis 259
was mentioned in an interview。 Qualitative methodology can be used to
shed light on qualitative issues； such as how strongly people feel about
a certain issue。 Triangulation strengthens qualitative and quantitative
analyses by bining insights from both。
Surveys
The most mon research method that bines quantitative and qualitative
processes is the survey。 This is a near…ubiquitous tool used in organizations
to get a handle on almost every aspect from measuring employee
morale or assessing customer satisfaction to ge。。ing the views of almost any
stakeholder group on almost any issue。 MBAs will certainly have to know
how to get surveys done and； if working in a small organization； they may
well have to do it themselves。
Around half of all surveys are conducted face to face； considered best for
tackling consumer markets。 Next in popularity e telephone； e…mail and
web surveys； which work well with panies and organizations。 Postal
surveys； once very popular； now account for less than 10 per cent of survey
work。
Chapter 3 provides the guidelines for interviewing and questionnaire
design。
Survey sample size
The size of the survey undertaken is also important。 You frequently hear
of political opinion polls taken on samples of 1；500–2；000 voters。 This
is because the accuracy of your survey clearly increases with the size of
sample； as the following table shows：
With random sample of 。 。 。 95％ of surveys are right within 。 。 。
percentage points
250 6。2
500 4。4
750 3。6
1；000 3。1
2；000 2。2
6；000 1。2
So； if on a sample size of 600 your survey showed that 40 per cent of women
in the town drove cars； the true proportion would probably lie between 36
and 44 per cent。 For small businesses； we usually remend a minimum
sample of 250 pleted replies。
260 The Thirty…Day MBA
Andrews University in the United States has a free set of lecture notes
explaining the subject of sample size prehensively （andrews。
edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/prod12。htm）。 At （auditnet/docs/
statsamp。xls） you can find some great Excel spreadsheets that do the boring
maths of calculating sample size and accuracy for you。 ResearchInfo
（researchinfo/docs/websurveys/index。cfm） gives the basics of
writing a program in order for you to use your own questionnaire on the
internet。
Strategy
。 Devising strategies
。 Differentiation； cost leadership； focus
。 First to market； first to fail
。 Tools and techniques for shaping strategy
。 Implementing business plans
Joseph Lampel； Professor of Strategy at Cass Business School and author
of Strategy Bites Back （Financial Times Prentice Hall； 2005）； tells the story of
when he received an urgent request from one of his MBA students： ‘Could
I please provide a clear and easy…to…use definition of strategy？’ ‘My career’；
wrote the student； ‘may depend on it’； and ‘besides I would like to start
the course with a be。。er idea of what I am supposed to be looking out for。’
Lampel goes on to explain that he was less surprised by the request than
by the fact that it came before the course had even begun。 He was used to
being approached at the end of the course by students confessing that they
still did not know exactly what strategy is。
Strategy； though a core subject in every business school； is less an academic
discipline than an ever…shi。。ing appraisal of how an organization
should position itself to best meet the challenges it faces。 Rather like
the quote a。。ributed to one Governor of the Bank of England who said
that the true meaning of Christmas would not be apparent until Easter；
when it es to estimating retail sales； successful strategies are really
only recognizable a。。er the event。 The case below gives a flavour of the
dimensions of how strategy is shaped： part marketing； part money； part
people； part culture； and mostly an appreciation of an ever…shi。。ing and
developing world。
Strategy has three dimensions： the intellectual analytical and thinking
aspect used to devise broad strategic direction； the development and shaping
of specific actions in pursuit of those strategies； and the implementation of
strategy through the execution of business plans。 If an organization gets it
12
262 The Thirty…Day MBA
Michael Dell； gazing around his empire in 2008； had plenty to be pleased
about。 He had e a long way since founding his business from his
dorm at the University of Texas nearly quarter of a century earlier； aged
just 19。 He had turned his 1；000 initial stake into a business generating
over 60 billion a year in revenues making nearly 16 per cent of PCs
sold globally。 It was only in 1980 that he had acquired his first puter；
the Apple II； and on founding his pany； PC Limited； had as his goal
to beat IBM。 His first product； The Turbo PC； was supported by a noquibble
returns policy and a unique home support service。 The IPO in
1988 valued his 1；000 business； founded four years earlier； at 85 million。
From the outset Dell had three golden rules： disdain inventory； always
listen to the customer and cut out middlemen。
An internet pioneer； the pany launched a static online ordering
page in 1994； and by 1997 Dell claimed to be the first pany to
record a million dollars in online sales。
Dell； since its early beginnings； has focused on fundamentally different
strategies from its petitors。 Unlike Apple； it has never tried to
design sexy devices or to build a global network of retail outlets。 Dell’s
strategy was to create the leanest possible supply chain direct to the
end user while allowing them to choose the features they wanted。 It
extended that successful strategy across to related products such as
servers； printers and storage devices to build a business shipping 140；000
systems a day worldwide – more than one every second – ranking 34
in the Fortune 500 listing of panies and one of the world’s leading
brands。
But just as Dell looked to be in an
