Critical Analysis of CIPD Survey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critical Analysis of CIPD Survey - Essay Example The effectiveness of business research, as also of the research related to other sectors, is depended on certain criteria. The validity of data employed is critical in order to decide whether a business research project is credible or not.. In addition the methods used for data analysis need to be reviewed and evaluated. In any case, the ability of a research project to meet the targets set by the researchers has to be checked. In current paper reference is made to a particular research project: the ‘Annual Survey Report 2012 - Resourcing and Talent Planning’ of CIPD. Particular emphasis is given on two specific aspects of the above research project: a) its statistical analysis and sampling and b) its ability to explain clearly the impact of social/ economic change on resourcing and talent management. In terms of the first of the above issues, the particular project can be characterized as successful; still, certain improvements would be possible so that the level of qua lity of the project is further increased. As of its scope, the project has managed to respond to the vision of its designers, showing clearly the interaction between the social/ economic change and the talent management/ resourcing. Literature related to the specific subject has been used for critically exploring the issues highlighted above. Part 1 – Analysis case, sampling Before explaining the appropriateness of statistical analysis and sampling methods used in the particular research project it would be necessary to present the key characteristics of this project, as of the above two elements. The survey has been based on the responses of 522 organizations operating in different sectors across UK (case study, p.34). In fact, organizations in ‘the private, public and voluntary sectors in UK’ (case study, p.34) have been asked to state their view in regard to the 42 questions included in the survey’s questionnaire (case study, p.34). Particular emphasis has been also based on the size of companies involved. As explained in the case study, 6 different categories of firms have been addressed in the context of the particular survey. These categories are presented in Table 1 below. Table 1 – Types of firms used in the survey based on the number of their employees (Source: case study, p.36) The above table indicates an important characteristic of the particular research project, as differentiated from the organization’s similar research project of 2011. For its survey of 2012 CIPD has focused on medium size firms and not on small firms, as in 2011. Indeed, in the organization’s survey for 2012 emphasis has been given on firms with 1,000-4,999 employees instead of firms with 10-49 and 50-249 employees. The above differentiation is expected to influence, even slightly, the findings of the research at the level that employees in medium size firms have to face different organizational conditions. Also, the needs and HRM practices of medium firms have to be different, at least at certain points, from those of the small firms. More specifically, the operation of small firms is based on families, meaning that each small firm is usually administered by a single family so that the control over the firm is secured. Another characteristic of the firm’s sampling method is the choice of organizations operating in different areas of UK (Table 2 below). Efforts have been also made so that organizations from different industrial sectors are employed in the study, as indicated in the Table presented in page 35 of the case study. These practices show the efforts of the researchers to guarantee the credibility of findings, as indicators of the resourcing and talent management practices held across UK. The quality and the effectiveness of sampling in the particular research project are analyzed below using appropriate literature. Table 2 –