Business Analytics

Instructions
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to provide you with an opportunity to “flex” your human resource management (HRM) knowledge and skills. This paper provides you with an opportunity to dive deeper into a functional area of HRM.

Step One: Read the Background Information for the Company and the Job
Read the Overview of the Company, Job Description, Job Specifications, and Additional Information on the Job and Organization sections. In these sections, you will find background information about the fictitious company I have created for the purposes of this assignment, as well as background information on the job in question.
This information represents will be important for your paper. Use the company and job information to provide contextual clues that can help you diagnose and critically evaluate problems, and ultimately provide recommendations to the company.

Step Two: Read Task Descriptions
For this paper, you will complete one (and only one) task. Read through the different task descriptions to help you decide which task to select.

Step Three: Select a Task
After reading the different task descriptions, select the task that you would like to complete. Remember, you will only complete one task. For example, if you select the recruitment task, then you will be responsible for completing the task described in the Recruitment Task Description section. You are not responsible for knowing any information contained in any other tasks beyond the one to which you are assigned. You are, however, responsible for using and leveraging the information found in the Overview of the Company, Job Description, Job Specifications, and Additional Information on the Job and Organization sections, which you read for Step One.

Step Four: Conduct Literature Review
To complete your task, you will evaluate the problem at hand and make recommendations by reviewing relevant academic research; this process will help you interpret the challenge(s)/problem(s) faced by the organization and make recommendations to address those challenge(s)/problem(s). You will need to review three peer-reviewed journal articles, and provide corresponding citations and references. Your textbook does not count as a peer-reviewed source. Your three peer-reviewed journal articles must come from journals that appear on the List of Approved Peer-Reviewed Journals.

Step Five: Write Paper
When writing the paper, use the structure provided in the Rubric & Grading section. In addition, be sure to use APA style when citing and referencing sources, which appears in the Guide to APA-Style Citations & References section.

Overview of the Company

Mission Statement: At BusinessIQ, we aim to make the world a better place by providing data-driven insights to ever-evolving problems.

Core Values:
• Communication: We’re not your typical data-analytics and -management company. We know how to translate complex findings into comprehensible and effective actions.
• Knowledge: Businesses change and analytics evolve. Our employees engage in continuous knowledge building to keep up with the times and to envision the future.
• Respect: We treat employees like family and customers like friends. Respect is the name of our game.
• Fairness & Inclusion: Everyone deserves a great place to work. We use our diversity and equity goals as our compass.

History:
BusinessIQ develops and provides off-the-shelf and custom data-analytics and -management platforms for small, medium, and large companies. Currently, its clients include retail giants like Target and Wall-Mart, as well as successful startups like Lob and Momentum Machines. BusinessIQ was established in 2009 by two sisters, Sandra and Susan Miller. Initially, the Millers developed data-analytics and -management software programs from Sandra’s home in Southeast Portland, but by 2010, their client base had grown to the point that they required additional support and office space. Between 2010 and 2012, BusinessIQ moved into a renovated building in McMinnville, Oregon, and grew the total workforce to about 250 employees. Prior to 2014, customers downloaded software from the company’s website for a one-time fee and received very limited customer support. That approach came to an end in 2014 when the company shifted to a software as a service (SaaS) model. Using the SaaS model, BusinessIQ began to offer annual software licenses through a subscription-based approach. That is, rather than allowing customers to download the software to their own servers and computers, BusinessIQ now hosts the software via the cloud, and as a welcome change for customers, provides robust customer support. With this new model in place, the Customer Service Representative job has become increasingly important to BusinessIQ’s success. To that end, the company created 50 new Customer Service Representative (CSR) positions in the first year, and as of October 1, 2017, there are 85 CSR positions.

Current Strategic Initiative:
In an effort to differentiate BusinessIQ from its competitors, the executive team has decided that the company should strive for unrivaled customer support and service. Their logic is as follows: Many companies offer data- analytics and -management products and services, but few have a diverse group of CSRs who know how to effectively explain complex data-analytics and -management concepts and findings to customers. The current 85 CSRs, however, lack the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high-quality and highly-technical customer support. Further, a recent engagement survey revealed that a large proportion of the CSRs are highly dissatisfied and unmotivated, and find the work environment to be very distracting. Moreover, the company must recruit and hire an additional 170 CSRs to meet the needs of the growing customer base. As such, the

executive team is ready to invest heavily in job design, recruitment, selection, and training for the CSR job. The HR department is up to the challenge and plans to complete the following tasks:
• Job Design: Redesign the CSR job to make it more motivating and satisfying for employees, and redesign the work environment to reduce distractions.
• Recruitment: Design a recruitment system to fill the applicant pool with a diverse and talented group of individuals.
• Selection: Design a selection system to hire high-potential applicants for the CSR job.
• Training: Train existing CSRs on the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver high-quality and highly- technical customer support.
You are only responsible for completing one of the four tasks, and other professionals in your HR department will complete the other tasks.

Job Analysis:
Fortunately for you, a team of job analysts has already performed a recent and rigorous job analysis for the CSR job. Using the task-KSAO analysis framework, the job analysis team collected information regarding required tasks and KSAOs from O*NET (www.onetonline.org), archival information, interviews with subject matter experts (e.g., job incumbents, supervisors), and task and KSAO surveys. Based on the findings, the job analysis team created the job description and job specifications for the CSR job.

Job Description
Job: Customer Service Representative (CSR)
Job Identification Number: C221
Date Job Analysis Completed: October 2, 2017
Job Analysts: Tara Green & Manuel Hernandez Garcia

Tasks

Task Criticality Response Scale: 1 = Not Important, 5 = Very Important
Task Frequency Response Scale: 0 = Never, 5 = Very Often

Mean Criticality Mean Frequency

5.0
5.0 Answers customer questions using telephone and electronic chat platform in order to provide customers with detailed information about data-analytics and –
management software.

5.0
5.0 Verifies that customer questions have been fully addressed using the customer relationship management system in order to ensure customers leave the call
with high satisfaction.

4.8
4.9 Keeps records of customer complaints, questions, personal information
changes, and transactions using the customer relationship management system in order to create detailed and comprehensive customer profiles.

4.8
3.6 Explain data-analytic and -management concepts and findings to customers
using telephone and electronic chat platform in order to provide superior customer support compared to competitors.
4.6 1.2 Refers unresolved customer complaints and problems to direct supervisor using
complaint form in order to provide a higher-level perspective.
4.5 2.7 Resolves billing complaints using the customer relationship management
system in order to bill customers the proper amount for their software license.
4.2 0.3 Submit product error reports to software engineers using the product
development system in order to improve software products.
4.0 1.8 Sell new or add-on products and services to customers using the point of
service system in order to increase company revenue.

Job Specifications
Job: Customer Service Representative (CSR)
Job Identification Number: C221
Date Job Analysis Completed: October 2, 2017
Job Analysts: Tara Green & Manuel Hernandez Garcia

Knowledge:
• Knowledge of administrative and transactional systems (e.g., word processing, managing files).
• Knowledge of computer hardware and software.
• Knowledge of enterprise resource planning software.
• Knowledge of database management software.
• Knowledge of mathematics and statistics.
• Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language.

Skills:
• Skilled at active listening.
• Skilled at oral communication and speaking.
• Skilled at written communication.
• Skilled at reading comprehension.
• Skilled at service orientation.
• Skilled at critical thinking.
• Skilled at data analysis.
• Skilled at explaining and communicating mathematical and statistical concepts and findings.
• Skilled at explaining data management concepts and systems.

Abilities:
• Ability to understand oral communication.
• Ability to understand written communication.

Other Characteristics:
• High in conscientiousness.
• High in extraversion.
• High in agreeableness.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, statistics, and/or computer science.
• 2 years of experience in customer service role.

Additional Information on the Job and Organization
Location of BusinessIQ:
BusinessIQ is headquartered in McMinnville, Oregon. The town of McMinnville is nestled in the Willamette Valley between the Cascades and Coast Mountains, and it is a 1-hour drive from Portland, Oregon. The city has a population of approximately 35,000 people. For more information on McMinnville, check out the Visit McMinnville and Census Viewer.

Reward System for CSR Job:
Across organizations in the state of Oregon, the median annual base pay for CSRs is $32,910, and those at the 75th percentile of the pay distribution earn $50,800. Given that leadership at BusinessIQ expects CSRs to have a Bachelor’s degree and expertise in data analytics and data management, the median annual base pay for CSRs at BusinessIQ is $55,300, the minimum possible base pay for CSRs is $45,300, and the maximum possible base pay for CSRs is $65,300, respectively. BusinessIQ also offers an attractive profit sharing program, which is something that CSRs at competing organizations do not have access to. BusinessIQ also offers a number of benefits and perks. For example, new CSR employees receive 20 days of paid time off (PTO) their first year, and after each additional year of employment, they receive 2 additional days of PTO. BusinessIQ offers subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance coverage through reputable companies. In addition, the company offers tuition reimbursement and the opportunity for flexible scheduling. Finally, it is important to note that those working as CSRs at BusinessIQ are exempt employees, which is extremely unusual for CSRs at other companies. Due to the advanced job responsibilities of Business IQ’s CSRs, the job meets the legal definition for being exempt. This means that BusinessIQ CSRs receive an annual salary (as opposed to an hourly wage) and are not eligible for overtime pay. Further, BusinessIQ CSRs often work in excess of 50 hours a week to meet the needs and demands of a growing customer base.

Job Design Task Description
A recent engagement survey revealed that 76% of CSRs are highly dissatisfied and highly unmotivated with the work that they do. Further, in an open-ended section of the engagement survey, 22% of survey respondents wrote that they found it difficult to concentrate at work due to the large amount of noise and distractions, such as interruptions from coworkers, the sounds of people talking, ringing phones, and beeping noises that occur each time a customer imitates the online customer chat platform. To that end, CSRs at BusinessIQ work in an open office environment – meaning, there are no walls separating the workspace of one CSR from another CSR. Understandably, your team is concerned that the work environment is negatively impacting CSRs job performance. Given these concerns, as the job design team, your overarching objectives are (a) to redesign the Customer Service Representative (CSR) job to make it more motivating and satisfying for employees, and (b) to reduce the amount and intensity of distractions in the work environment. To get you started, job analysts completed a rigorous job analysis on October 2, 2017, which resulted in an up-to-date job description. The job description provides you with information regarding what CSRs currently do on the job (or at least what they should do) in terms of the critical tasks. All of the current tasks that appear in the job description are essential and must be performed by job incumbents, and thus you must figure out a (creative) way to increase the perceived meaning, responsibility, and knowledge of results for those who perform the CSR job, as well as figure out a way to decrease the distractions that they face.

To view the grading rubric, please refer to the end of this document.

Recruitment Task Description
To meet the demands of a growing customer base, BusinessIQ must increase the number of Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) by 170 individuals. You recognize that you must design a new recruitment system in order to generate a large pool of diverse and talented applicants who fit the job and who are likely to accept an offer if selected. To get you started, job analysts completed a rigorous job analysis on October 2, 2017, which resulted in an up-to-date job description and up-to-date job specifications. The job description provides you with information regarding CSRs current job responsibilities in terms of the critical tasks, and the job specifications outline the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics required for performing CSR job responsibilities, as well as the work conditions. You have a great deal of freedom when it comes to designing the new recruitment system. With that said, you must design a recruitment system that fills the applicant pool with as many diverse and qualified applicants as possible, and with as many applicants who fit the position and who are likely to accept a job offer.

To view the grading rubric, please refer to the end of this document.

Selection Task Description
To meet the demands of a growing customer base, BusinessIQ must increase the number of Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) by 170 individuals. You recognize that you must design a new selection system to hire high-potential applicants for the CSR job. Fortunately for you, another person has designed a new recruitment system that will yield a large, diverse pool of (hopefully) qualified applicants. Thus, your overarching objective is to create a new selection system aimed at identifying the best applicants from the applicant pool. Further, you must ensure that the new selection is fair and legally defensible. To get you started, job analysts completed a rigorous job analysis on October 2, 2017, which resulted in up-to-date job specifications. The knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that appear in the job specifications document should be used for developing selection tools and procedures. You have a great deal of freedom when it comes to designing the new selection system.

To view the grading rubric, please refer to the end of this document.

Training Task Description
All 85 current Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) at BusinessIQ lack the knowledge and skills necessary to provide unrivaled customer support. As such, your overarching objective is to train existing CSRs on the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver high-quality and highly-technical customer support. To get you started, job analysts completed a rigorous job analysis on October 2, 2017, which resulted in an up-to-date job description. The job description provides you with information regarding CSRs current job responsibilities in terms of the critical tasks. In addition, another HR team conducted a person analysis, and found that the 85 current job incumbents need at least some amount of training on all of the tasks that appear in the job description. You have a great deal of freedom when it comes to designing the new training system. With that said, you must develop a training system designed to train job incumbents on some (or all) of the tasks listed in the job description.

To view the grading rubric, please refer to the end of this document.

Rubric and Grading

Total Points: 50

Length: 5-6 pages (not including reference section)

Audience: Imagine that your audience is a team of executives at the company who potentially know little about Human Resource Management. At the same, take into consideration that one or more executives might be quite knowledgeable about Human Resource Management, and that you will also have HR professionals in the audience. As such, communicate to the audience using simple, understandable language but also provide enough technical detail (e.g., key terms and concepts) to satisfy the more knowledgeable executives and HR professionals.

Format & Structure: As described above, the paper should be written in APA format, and it should use the structure outlined below. That is, the paper should include the sections with the following section headings (i.e., titles): Introduction, Background, Interpretations & Recommendations, Evaluation, Executive Summary, and References.

Structure of the Final Paper
Introduction (1/2 page): Briefly describe and/or summarize the task you are completing, including the challenge(s)/problem(s) faced by the organization. Use this section to describe
what you will be covering, interpreting, recommending, and evaluating in your paper.
Background (1/2 page): Briefly describe relevant factual, situational, and contextual details about the organization and job as they relate to the task you are completing. Remember to draw upon the information provided in these instructions, which includes information about the
organization, job, and task.
Interpretations & Recommendations (3 – 4 pages): Interpret the challenge(s)/problem(s) faced by the organization that are associated with your task, and make recommendations to the organization for addressing these specific challenge(s)/problem(s). You have a great deal of freedom when it comes to determining what specifically you will focus on. Use findings/ideas from three peer-reviewed journal articles (from the approved list) to inform your interpretations and recommendations. You are only permitted to use at most two cited direct quotations (of no
more than 40 words each) in the paper.
Evaluation (1/2 page): Briefly describe how you plan to evaluate and measure the initial and sustained success of your recommended actions/changes; in other words, how will you know if your actions/changes make a difference? Be sure to apply relevant methodologies/metrics from
the course.
Executive Summary (1/2 page): Briefly summarize the information the information contained
in your Introduction, Background, Interpretations & Recommendations, and Evaluation sections.
References: At the end of the paper, include a section that contains references for the three peer- reviewed articles you cited throughout your paper. Relatedly, be sure to use APA format for the references and the in-text citations found in the main text of the paper. In this document, I provide information about citing and referencing peer-reviewed journal articles using APA
format.

Grading Rubric: See below.

Grammar, Style, & Format
5 Points 2.5 points 0 points
Paper is free of errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure; follows APA requirements, is double-spaced, has 1-inch margins, and uses 12-point Times New Roman font Paper has some (moderate) errors in mechanics, usage and sentence structure; mostly follows APA requirements, is double- spaced, has 1-inch margins, and uses 12-point Times New Roman font Paper has numerous and serious errors in word choice, mechanics, usage and sentence structure; does not follow APA requirements; is not double- spaced, does not have 1- inch margins; does not use 12-point Times New
Roman font.

Organization of Content
3 Points 1.5 points 0 points
Content of paper follows the structure described in the instructions, and uses the same section headings provided in the instructions (e.g., Introduction, Background, etc.). Content of paper incorporates some aspects of the structure described in the instructions, and uses some of the same section headings provided in the instructions
(e.g., Introduction, Background, etc.). Content of paper does not incorporate the structure described in the instructions, and does not use the section headings provided in the instructions
(e.g., Introduction, Background, etc.).

Introduction Section
3 Points 1.5 points 0 points
Clearly and concisely describes and/or summarizes the task, including the problem(s)/challenge(s) faced by the organization. Uses the section to describe what will be covered, addressed, implemented, applied, and/or handled in the rest of the paper. Incompletely describes and/or summarizes the task, including the problem(s)/challenge(s) faced by the organization, or does so in an unclear manner; uses the section to describe what will be covered, addressed, implemented, applied,
and/or handled in the rest of the paper. Missing Introduction section.

Background Section
3 Points 1.5 points 0 points
Clearly describes relevant factual, situational, and/or contextual details about the organization and job as they relate to the selected task. Describes some relevant factual, situational, and contextual details about the organization and job as they relate to the selected task,
but omits some critical information. Missing Background section.

Interpretations & Recommendations Section
24 Points 12 points 0 points
Reviews and cites 3 peer- reviewed journal articles (from the approved list of journals) to inform interpretations and recommendations; describes relevant findings or contributions of each peer-reviewed article and does not include irrelevant information; interpretations and recommendations use sound logic and are based in ideas from peer-reviewed journal articles and from the course; uses no more than 2 cited direct quotations (of no more than 40 words each) in the
paper. Reviews and cites 1-2 peer- reviewed journal articles (from the approved list of journals) citations to inform interpretations and recommendations; describes relevant findings or contributions of 1-2 peer- reviewed articles but includes irrelevant information; interpretations and recommendations use sound logic and are based in ideas from peer-reviewed journal articles and from the course; uses no more than 2 cited direct quotations (of no more than 40 words each) in the paper. Missing Interpretations & Recommendations section, does not review or cite any peer-reviewed journal articles (from the approved list of journals), or uses more than 2 cited direct quotations or 1-2 cited direct quotations of more than 40 words each in the paper.

Evaluation Section
5 Points 2.5 points 0 points
Describes how the recommended actions from the Interpretations & Recommendations section will be evaluated in order to measure initial and sustained success; applies relevant methodologies/metrics from the course. Describes how the recommended actions from the Interpretations & Recommendations section will be evaluated but uses vague, imprecise, or incorrect language and/or measurement approaches; or, does not apply relevant
methodologies/metrics from the course. Missing Evaluation section.

Executive Summary Section
3 Points 1.5 points 0 points
Summarizes the key points and contributions of the paper; provides a brief summary of the content presented in the Introduction, Background, Interpretations &
Recommendations, and Evaluation sections. Incompletely summarizes the key points and contributions of the paper; provides an incomplete summary of the content presented in the Introduction, Background, Interpretations & Missing Executive Summary section.

Recommendations, and

Evaluation sections.

References Section (and In-Text Citations)
4 Points 2 points 0 points
Includes the references for 3 peer-reviewed journal articles (from the approved list of journals) that were cited in the paper; includes in-text citations in the paper that correspond to the references for the 3 peer- reviewed journal articles included in the reference section. Adheres to APA style guidelines.
Includes the references for 1-2 peer-reviewed journal articles (from the approved list of journals) that were cited in the paper; includes 1-2 in-text citations in the paper that correspond to the references for the peer- reviewed journal articles included in the reference section. Misses some
important APA style citation and reference features, such as author last names, year of publication, journal name, etc. Does not include a References section or fails to include references or in- text citations.

Guide to APA-Style Citations & References
Remember to provide an in-text citation whenever you express an idea that was developed, proposed, or stated by someone else. Please use American Psychological Association (APA) style for your citations and references in this paper. Purdue Owl has a wonderful website that provides tutorials on how to write in APA style: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/. In addition, our library has a very helpful webpage designed for HRM students: https://guides.library.pdx.edu/HRMML.

Here are some sample APA-style in-text citations:

Example 1: According to Devine and Caughlin (2014), defendant physical attractiveness exerts little influence on jurors’ verdicts.

Example 2: A healthy mistreatment-reduction climate is associated with employee outcomes such as higher job satisfaction and fewer emotional strains (Yang, Caughlin, Gazica, Truxillo, & Spector, 2014); accordingly, we recommend that the organization train direct supervisors how to improve employee perceptions regarding their unit’s mistreatment climate.

Example 3: A meta-analytic investigation by Devine and Caughlin (2014) found that jurors who are high in authoritarianism are more likely to render guilty verdicts.

Example 4: Yang, Liu, Nauta, Caughlin, and Spector (2014) found that employees who experienced higher levels of social burden from coworkers and supervisors tended to report lower job attitudes.

Here are some sample APA-style references:

Example 1: Caughlin, D. E. (2014). Enhancing your teaching experience: Developing your teaching philosophy, course syllabus, and teaching portfolio. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(2), 94-99.

Example 2: Yang, L.-Q., & Caughlin, D. E. (2017). Aggression-preventive supervisor behavior: Implications for workplace climate and employee outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(1), 1-18.

Example 3: Yang, L. Q., Caughlin, D. E., Gazica, M., Truxillo, D. M., & Spector, P. E. (2014). Workplace mistreatment climate and potential employee and organizational outcomes: A meta-analytic review from the target’s perspective. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(3), 315-335.

List of Approved Peer-Reviewed Journals
Your three peer-reviewed journal articles must come from one of the following approved peer-reviewed journals. These journals are accessible through the university library and GoogleScholar. I recommend using the Advanced Search feature in GoogleScholar to constrain your keyword search to a specific journal.
• Academy of Management Journal
• Academy of Management Review
• European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology
• Human Relations
• Human Resource Management
• Human Resource Management Journal
• Human Resource Management Review
• Journal of Applied Psychology
• Journal of Business and Psychology
• Journal of Management
• Journal of Management Studies
• Journal of Managerial Psychology
• Journal of Organizational Behavior
• Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
• Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
• Journal of Vocational Behavior
• Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
• Organizational Dynamics
• Personnel Psychology

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