Free Custom «Research Methods in Business» Essay Paper

The purposes of this research is to establish whether Walgreens should accept to the terms set by Express scripts and of which Walgreen consider to be unfair because Express scripts will have more advantage and will take control over them. The research is aimed at measuring the repercussions if Walgreen decide to dissolve the partnership. Walgreens clearly understands that if they do not keep the partnership, they would stop getting the pharmaceutical products and other programs supplied by the Express scripts and for this reason, this study is also seeking to establish what would be the results be of dissolving the partnership as well as the effects that this fallout would have on customers. The study also seeks to get information of how the customers appreciates the services Walgreens offers them as well establishing the how frequent the customers shops and how much they spend on purchases at Walgreens per month.

The study also seeks to learn the customers’ preferred payment methods and how soon they receive their orders after they request and the most preferred method of placing an order. Walgreens also wished to know how their customers rated their services.

Research questions

The key question is aimed at enlightening the Walgreens on the best decision to take to untangle their company from this business dilemma. The stakeholders would like to know is, what effects of dissolving the partnership and dropping the services and products given by Express Scripts to their business? What will be the effects on the customers who initially received products and services through Express Scripts? How much do the customers enjoy the services offered by Walgreens? What is the preferred payment method?  How did the customers rate Walgreens services? These questions are important because they would provide answers to the most appropriate decision Walgreens would need to take.

Hypotheses

Null Hypotheses: Walgreens revenue will decline in the areas where Express scripts services were withdrawn dissolving the partnership

Alternative hypotheses: Walgreens average income will increase in areas even after dissolving the partnership.

Study variables

In the research, the analyst considered a number of variables. The most important was revenue because this would enable him establish the impact of separation on the overall revenue. The second equally important variable was the customers’ satisfaction. This is important because it will enable the analyst to know the customers’ reaction to the withdrawal of Express Scripts products and programs.

Hypothesis testing method

The analyst used hypothesis test of mean to test the two hypotheses. For instance, the customer’s level of satisfaction depicted from the way they rated Walgreens services was considered. The information gathered shows the customer’s levels of satisfaction as follows:

Excellent satisfaction = 67/200= 33.5%

Very good = 79/200 = 39.5%

Good = 45/200= 22.5%

Below fair = 9/200 = 4.5%

So the analyst found that 95.5% of all the customers sampled in four different targeted cities were satisfied with Walgreens services. This disapproves the null hypotheses.

Data collection

The data needed for the study included customers response to questions regarding the behavior after the withdrawal of Express scripts products and programs. This is important to establish the impact on revenue. In addition, the analyst wanted to establish the number of times the customers placed orders at Walgreens in a month and for how long the customers had been shopping at Walgreens. The objects put into consideration included sales invoices, among business book-keeping records Walgreens accounts department.

The target population comprised of 200 customers selected randomly from four different cities where both Walgreens and Express Scripts operated. Over 90% of the targeted group was satisfied with Walgreens services and were ready to continue enjoying the services from Walgreens and had noted no change even after withdrawal of Express Scripts’ services.

Challenges

During the study, the analyst encountered various challenges. The analyst sampled only 200 customers only and based his conclusion on the data obtained. This was a very minimal population to base his conclusion and so the information could have been misleading (Deming, 2007). Other challenges included that some customers took too long to respond to questionnaires. In addition, some customers did not respond to some questions while others did not seem to understand the questions for they gave incomplete answers.

Descriptive statistics

Data for this research was obtained from Walgreens services customers in the four selected towns through questionnaires filled by a target population of 200 clients. In addition, Walgreens services records were also analyzed to supplement the findings that demonstrate varied reactions from customers during the period.

The duration which the individual had been a Customers at Walgreens (spending ≤$20000)	5 years	10 years	Others	Total
Number of clients	85	84	31	200
Number of clients %	42.5	42	15.5	100

From the data above it evident that over 40% of the clientele has been enjoying the services offered by Walgreens services for the last five years with a similar percentage having been customers for more that ten years. However, a significant percentage is not within research scope.

	Excellent	Very good	Good	Below fair	Total
Customers rating on Walgreens services (%)	33.5	39.5	22.5	4.5	100
Levels of satisfaction (%)	61.5	25.5	11	2	100
Numbers of clients admitting that the manner of services was similar recently (%)	68.5	21.5	8	2	100

This data indicate that over 70% rate Walgreens services as very good while below 5% rating is below 5%. Furthermore, while Over 80% exhibit high levels of satisfaction on the other hand below 3% are not satisfied at all. In any case 90% of the clientele did not notice any change with the withdrawal of Express Scripts products. Once again the findings disapprove the null hypothesis indicating positive constant results. Therefore, the separation may not adversely affect the performance of Walgreens however; we should not ignore the small percentages recording dissatisfaction. In any case the sample size might not be adequate to lead to a generalization otherwise it might not reflect the reality.

Conclusion

While we realize that Walgreens revenue would not be greatly affected by the withdrawal of Express Scripts products and program in target areas of research, we can not over-look the 4.5% number of customers who felt dissatisfied with Walgreens services and for these reason the null hypotheses may not be holistically be overshadowed by the relatively positive indications in only the selected target group.