You have been learning about, and practising, a variety of statistical techniques for the analysis of quantitative data.  In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to show that you are able to combine some statistical techniques in a logical way in order to analyze data and answer specific research questions related to a real-case scenario.

Data Files

You will find an SPSS data file called ‘Asia Banks Survey(r).sav’, and ‘Experian Stock Price Data’ in the folder for this assignment on the NILE site. The ‘Variable View’ of the SPSS data will give you an idea of what the variables in that data set represent. You do not have to understand the details of the various measures in order to complete this assignment successfully. However, you can (and may need to) create new variables based on this data, selectively analyze just some sub-sets of it and/or transform the data into new values to answer the assignment questions.

Requirements;

In order to pass this assignment, you will need to show that you understand the principles and practice of using statistical techniques to find evidence and make logical conclusions based on quantitative analysis. To do this you need to show that you are competent in choosing and treating appropriate data, applying established statistical techniques, performing the analysis and reporting your results. Some of the questions can be answered by basic statistical tests, others may need, for example, multivariate approaches, further analyses. Some questions can be answered using several different methods and you will not be penalised for choosing more complex analyses – we are looking for understanding and basic competence at threshold level for passing. As always at this level, justification of what you have done is very important.

You are not expected to provide a reference list for this assessment, apart from any citations you may wish to make in justification of specific aspects of your chosen analytical methods.  This is only done in exceptional circumstances (general appreciation of statistical techniques can be assumed in the reader and it would not be normal to reference techniques from text books for instance).

Assessment Submission

Your assignment must be word processed and presented in a report format with simple headings.

The Assignment report should have a Front Sheet showing your name, your student number, the module name, the module number, the assignment title, the module tutor’s name, the date and the word count.

The assignment will be submitted, graded and fed-back electronically via TURNITIN. Several submissions will be permitted before the hand-in date in order to enable you to refine the content in your report.

Case Analysis

Background case

A major shareholder of four banking corporations in Asia has decided to develop leadership skills of branch managers. For this, after a competitive process they have selected the company Global Exec (Global Executive Training Ltd[*]) to develop a training programme in leadership throughout different markets in Asia where the four banks operate.

Global Exec is a British management consultancy which has developed a very good reputation on the quality of their Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource development programmes and their Leadership Training programme is particularly well-known for its high level of efficiency and effectiveness. Over the years the company has developed a standardized leadership development programme based on highly interactive activities using social multimedia technologies, team development workshops and collaboration projects.

However, this is the first time that Global Exec has won a contract to deliver their training programme in such a large regional scope involving different countries in Asia. They want to know if their standardized leadership training programme will have to be adapted or not for an effective delivery in the different cultures, values and management attitudes predominant in the regions the banks operate.

In order to have better understanding of the similarities and differences in the characteristic of banks and regions where they will deliver their training programme, Global Exec has conducted a major survey with bank branch managers from the four banks. More specifically, the data was collected from a sample of bank branch managers mainly composed by respondents of three different races: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Most of the banks have branches in five different regions (Northern, Central, South, West Coast, and East Asia). The four different Banks are identified as Nantong Bank^* (Bank 1), Jaipur Bank^* (Bank 2), Ampang Bank^* (Bank 3) and Union Bank^* (Bank 4).

 

Assignment activity

As a member of the Global Exec team of analysts, you are required to conduct some statistical analysis of the data and write a report that provides evidence and conclusions that will support the company’s decision on the extent to which they can preserve standardized formats or make adjustments in the training programme they will deliver to the bank across different regions.

Important issues concerning Global Exec’s strategic decision are listed below. Analyse them and explain your results.

1. Are there similarities or differences between
2. Region (variable RGN) in terms of targets for profits, deposits, fee income and new business (variables TAR1-TAR4)?
3. Race (variable RC) in terms of Interpersonal Trust (variables IPT1-IPT5) and the Age of the branch managers (variable AGE)?
4. Bank (variable BANK) in terms of your understanding how fairly you think your performance is evaluated (variable AMB6)?
   
   Clearly state the related hypotheses and conduct the quantitative analysis to test the hypotheses. Explain your conclusions on the hypotheses based on the results obtained. Discuss the implications of the results for the Global Exec training programme.
5. Analyze correlation patterns between following variables: AGE, YORG, AMB, TIME and IPT.

Conduct the quantitative analysis and comment on the significant results obtained (if any). Discuss the implications of the results for the Global Exec training programme.

3. Can we predict….
   1. “Peers and superiors are willing to help you” (variable IPT5 as dependent variable) from “Years in present organisation” (variable YORG)?
   2. Variable IPT1 from variable AMB4?

For each item above, clearly state the related hypotheses, conduct the quantitative analysis to test the hypotheses, and explain your conclusions on the hypotheses and the related implications for the Global Exec training programme.

4. Provide an overall conclusion of your report (Question 1 to 4) based on the evidence from the results of your analysis for all the questions above.

Your general conclusion should make clear to the directors of Global Exec whether they should preserve standardized formats or make adjustments in the training programme they plan to deliver to the banks across different regions. If they have to make some adjustments, which bank manager aspects they should take into account?

5. For question 5 use the Experian stock price data set in MS Excel file (see folder Assessment 2 – Case Analysis) and do the following:
6. Using Linear Regression Analysis (popularly known as OLS) explain the nature and magnitude of relation between stock prices and stock trading volume. Interpret the regression output and discuss different parameters (regression coefficient beta, t-statistics, F-statistic, R-squared, etc.)
7. Keeping above in view, discuss strengths and limitations of OLS technique.

Assessment Criteria;

• To PASS in this assessment you must apply the following approach for each of the questions above:

1. Demonstrate your understanding regarding the structure and distribution of the data (i.e. make graphs, histograms and summary tables to see if data is normally distributed or not).
2. Carefully state and explain, if possible, your hypotheses to answer the questions stated above.
3. Clearly explain your analysis plan (i.e. point out which statistical test you used and explain why you have chosen the specific test to accept or reject the hypotheses).
4. Analyze your data by presenting your results in summarized tables and explaining their meaning. Do NOT explain by just repeating what is shown in the tables, explain the results by discussing what they mean for the related hypotheses or issues involved.
5. Interpret the results by making connections between the findings and their implications for the case study (i.e. what the findings mean for the company Global Exec). Wherever possible, present summary of your results/findings.

[*] DISCLAIMER: This is a fictitious company’s name used in this case. Any association with a name of a real company is a mere coincidence.