Quality Control Circle in Organized Retail Sector in UAE - Carrefour

This research proposal aims to study the issues, challenges, and prospects of having quality control circle in the organized retail sector in UAE with special reference to Carrefour. The study will reveal the pitfalls and hurdles that Carrefour may be experiencing and devise solutions to resolve them.

Higher Colleges of Technology
Fujairah Women's Campus
Fujairah (UAE)
201810
A study of issues, challenges, and prospects of having quality control circle in the organized retail sector
in UAE (with special reference to Carrefour, UAE)
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(Assessment I)
Integrative Industry Project
(International Business Management)
BUS 4956
Submitted By: Submitted To:
Name:Dr.Shiladitya Verma
ID No.: Lecturer- Business
Section:
Declaration
1

2

STUDENTS TO COMPLETE THIS SECTION
Project Title/Name:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Student’s Name: __________________________________________________ St.
ID.__________________________
IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS
1. Deadlines for Assessments and Exams
All assessments must be submitted on the deadline at the set time in the appropriate format. Late
submissions will have 5% deducted for each calendar day that they are late. After 7 days, the assignment
will not be accepted and the student will receive zero for that assessment. It is the student’s responsibility
to solve any technical issues before the due date.
If a student is ill and misses a deadline, a medical note must be provided within 3 days. The student will
be given a maximum extension equal to the number of days of documented illness based on teacher
discretion. (For example, if a student is sick for 3 days, she will have a maximum of 3 days extra to
submit her assignment). For assessments, each situation will be considered on its own merits and the
teacher will use their discretion.
If a student misses an exam or a presentation, she will receive zero. If a medical note is provided within 3
days of the exam date, an alternative assessment will arranged between the student and the teacher.
2. Plagiarism/Safe-Assign
To avoid plagiarism, students are required to submit all their assignments to Safe Assign on BB Vista
before final submission. Please remember that HCT has ZERO tolerance policy towards cheating. If you
have any questions related to Safe Assign, please consult with your instructor for clarification.
3

3. Referencing
To avoid, plagiarism it is important for you to apply the APA standard of in-text referencing for any
written work.
STUDENT’S DECLARATION
I certify that I have read and understood the instructions and the work attached is my own work.
Student’s Name: __________________________________ St.
ID.___________________Signature_____________
FOR TEACHERS
MARKS AWARDED
Total Marks Percentage Grade
Task 1 – Research Proposal [10%]
4

Instructions:
 Please follow the instructions provided.
Cheating Statement
I understand that if I cheat, try to cheat, or if I try to help another person to cheat in this
assessment, I will be dismissed from the college.
Students’ Signature: Date:
For Examiner’s Use Only
Marker’s Name Signature
5
Course Name: Integrated Industry
Project ( International
Business Management)
Course Code: BUS 4966
Date: Week 4 Word Count: 800 – 1000 words
Percentage of Total
Grade:
10%
Student’s Name
Student’s ID Student’s Section
LO 1 Propose the application of functional knowledge and managerial insight
through research on complex challenges facing international business .
Section (Question) number TOTAL
Marks Available 100
Marks Earned

Preface
6

Content
S.No. Chapter No. Particulars Page No.
1. 8
2. 9
3. 10
4. 11
5. 12
6. 13
7. 14
8. 15
9. 16
10. 17
11. 18
12. 19
13. 20
Bibliography 21
Appendices 22-23
7

Chapter 1
Introduction of the Topic
Carrefour is a company that was founded in the year 1959 by the French Defforey and
Fournier families as a small supermarket retailer store. Four years later, Carrefour as a group established
its first hypermarket that ultimately made it to become successful. In the year 1969, the firm went global
through the opening of a hypermarket that was located in Belgium. Unbranded products also known as the
produits Libreswere ultimately introduced into the market as a substitute to popular brands and they were
actually dubbed as being good by consumers in the country.
The pioneer idea made the organization to develop its own brand in the year 1985 that resulted
in the establishment of both the hypermarkets and supermarket for the company. Then major idea was in
helping in the creation of extremely lower prices in the markets. This was attributed to the fact that lower
prices were actually one of the major guiding strategies used by the company in order to not only compete
but also buy out or purchase the other chains in the market (Healey, 2018).It is important for all and
sundry to know that the key to success for Carrefour is actually the hypermarket which provides clients
with the “all-in-one” shop which sells to its customers everything right from the baby strollers to bananas
at prices that have been discounted.
8

Chapter 2
Introduction of the Organization& Sector
Carrefour S.A is French based multinational or global retailer which has its headquarters in France at
the Boulogne Billancourt near Paris. Carrefour is thus one of the biggest hypermarket chains across the
world that that has 12, 300 self-service shops which includes 1528 hypermarkets as per the year 2016.
Carrefour has business operations in more than 30 nations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In
French language, the term Carrefour implies to cross roads and it is indeed a component of the “Stoxx 50
Stock Market Index”.Carrefour as a group has developed a policy has developed a policy that is based on
trust, convenience, low prices of its products, and the quality of both its products and services.
Across the world, Carrefour is thus working hard with an aim of bringing the consumer products and
services within the reach and access of lots of individuals. Ultimately, the company is succeeding through
ensuring that it tightly integrates its stores across the world in the local fabric and also through ensuring
that it adapts its product lines as well as services. In addition to that, Carrefour has also continued to
provide professional training to its staff and also took action that is aimed at supporting local sustainable
developments in areas under its operations.
9

Chapter 3
Need & Justification for the Study
The major aim of this research Project is to study some of the issues, challenges, and the prospects of
using quality control circle in an organized retail sector with specific reference to the Carrefour Company
located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In essence, the research proposal will seek to explain how the
quality circles which were introduced by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa who had a believe that the quality circles
should comprise of the employees or workers of a specific work centre as well as their supervisors could
be used in ascertaining the challenges and prospects that are facing Carrefour and seek for possible
solutions that could ultimately resolve them (Gong &Cullinane, 2018).
Justification of this study
Studying some of the issues, challenges, and the prospects that are associated with the use of Quality
Control Circles with special reference to Carrefour in the United Arab Emirates is quite important since
will help in unearthing some of the challenges that the organization or company may be experiencing
(Fazli&Farooq, 2018). The study will thus aim at revealing some if the pitfalls or hurdles that Carrefour
may be experiencing which may include among others the negative attitudes of the employees and
managers in the organization, the lack of ability by leaders in the organization, the lack of the commitment
from the top management, and even the non-implementation of the suggestions put forth by employees to
enhance operations. This will ultimately help in devising solutions that will be aimed at ensuring that these
problems or challenges are resolved effectively at Carrefour in the UAE.
10

Chapter 4
Problem Statement
Most organizations or companies across the world have failed to become successful due to their
inability to successfully apply the use of Quality Control Circles in their operations. It is also quite
apparent that studies on the numerous issues, challenges, and the prospects of applying quality control
circles in most organizations or business firms across the world has been lacking. The researcher thus
believes that a study on the different issues, prospects, and challenges that may be facing companies such
as Carrefour in the UAE in the effective application of quality control circles will thus ultimately help in
ensuring that such challenges or hurdles are resolved once and for all (Vaiman et al.2018). For instance,
this research study is quite important because it will help in ascertaining why some of the employees and
even their managers may have negative perceptions and attitudes to the quality control circles in their
organizations. Being aware why they resist their implementations will thus help in the clearance of such
wrong notions.
11

Chapter 5
Objectives, Research Question & Hypothesis
Objectives
1.To ascertain some of the issues facing Carrefour in the UAE in the implementation of Quality Control
Circles.
2.To determine the challenges facing Carrefour in the UAE in the implementation of Quality Control
Circles.
3.To become aware of the Prospects facing Carrefour in the UAE in the implementation of Quality
Control Circles.
Research Question
What are some of the issues, challenges, and prospects facing Carrefour in the UAE in the effective
application of Quality Control Circles in the organization?
Hypothesis
H0 The significant issues, challenges, and prospects of having quality control circles have not affected the
productivity and profitability of Carrefour in the UAE.
H1 The significant issues, challenges, and prospects of having quality control circles have not affected
the productivity and profitability, and success of Carrefour in the UAE
12

Chapter 6
Definition of Related Terms
Issue: This implies to a vital problem or topic for discussion or debate.
Challenge: this implies to a call to an individual or individuals to participate in competitive situations.
Prospect: This implies to the likelihood or possibility of an event occurring in future.
Quality Control Circle: this implies to a group of employees doing similar work and who regularly meet
in order to identify, analyse, and resolve work related issues or problems (Alawadi, Khanal&mulla, 2018).
13

Chapter 7
Anticipated Limitations of the Proposed Research
In undertaking the research, numerous challenges were encountered and these included but were not
limited to:
 Slow internet access which prevented the researcher from quickly accessing relevant information.
 The lack of knowledge and information from the Carrefour employees and other stakeholders
regarding the importance of using Quality Control circles in their company.
 There was limited time for the researcher to effectively gather all the relevant information in the
research.
 The researcher encountered financial problems in purchasing the stationeries required to conduct
the research.
 Some of the respondents were not honest in revealing the challenges that were facing them.
14

Chapter 8
Basic Assumptions
The first basic assumption is that there are several issues, challenges, and even prospects of having quality
circles in retail stores and more specifically in the Carrefour Company in the UAE.
The second assumption was that the management and the employees of most companies lack the basic
knowledge on how best quality control circles can be implemented in their organization. This thus could
ultimately be the major reason why such organizations are unable to achieve high profitability.
Another significant assumption is that having knowledge of the benefits of embracing Quality Control
Circles among all the Carrefour stakeholders will increase its productivity and profitability.
15

Chapter 9
Review of Literature & Research Gaps
Research Gaps
A research gap is defined a s problem or a research question which was not fully addressed by the
researcher in the research study. This allows the publisher to publish the research since there is sufficient
proof that the research was conducted and the gap was filled. I am confident that the completion of this
study will quite ultimately provide stakeholders in the retail business with more information regarding the
benefits that are associated with embracing quality control circles in their organizations.
16

Chapter 10
Proposed Research Methodology
This implies to the method which will be used in collection of the relevant data and information. This
includes the use of both primary and secondary data.
Research Design
This implies to the manner and the tools which will be used in collecting required data and information.
Qualitative data will be used for data collection.
17

Chapter 11
Expected Outcome
 The research will address issues facing Carrefour in implementation of Quality Control Circles.
 Information will be provided that will help organizations to embrace Quality Control Circles and
increase productivity and profitability.
18

Chapter 12
Discussion
Based on the above information, it is quite evident that most of the companies across the world have been
failing to increase their productivity and profitability due to their inability to embrace Quality Control
Circles in their midst. As a company, there is great need for Carrefour to embrace the use of Quality
Control Circles so that it enhances its profitability.
19

Chapter 13
Relation to Previous Courses Learning Outcomes
Linking the research to the learning outcomes of the following specialization courses:
Year 4, Semester 7
1. BUS 4313: Employee Relations & UAE Labour Law
CLO1: asjsdjkfhsddlfgj
2. BUS 1111: jkasbckshkdfhk
CLO1:
CLO3:
Year 4, Semester 8
20

Bibliography
Alawadi, K., Khanal, A., &Almulla, A. (2018). Land, urban form, and politics: A study on Dubai's
housing landscape and rental affordability. Cities.
Fazli, S. F., &Farooq, A. (2018).Organisational Effectiveness of Private Enterprises and Diversification in
the Gulf Countries.In Economic Diversification in the Gulf Region, Volume I (pp. 137-162).
Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Gong, S., &Cullinane, K. (Eds.). (2018). Finance and Risk Management for International Logistics and
the Supply Chain.Elsevier.
Healey, N. M. (2018). The Optimal Global Integration–Local Responsiveness Tradeoff for an
International Branch Campus.Research in Higher Education, 59(5), 623-649.
Vaiman, V., Sparrow, P., Schuler, R., &Collings, D. G. (Eds.). (2018). Macro Talent Management in
Emerging and Emergent Markets: A Global Perspective. Routledge.
21

Appendices
Time Table of the Research Project
Project Title: Period / Time Needed(In
Days)
Project Due Date
Start working on Proposal/Detailed Plan for the Research
Choosing a company
Set a Timetable
Identifying a retention issue
Working on overview of the company and concerned
stakeholders
Interviewing manager at ………….. Company
Finishing the proposal details
Submitting the Proposal
Start working on Secondary research – Literature review
Do some researches on journals, books and internet on
articles related to retention issues
Write an abstract/ overview
Asking the teacher to check the Literature review
Submitting Primary and Secondary research – Literature
review
Starting on Primary and Secondary research – Data Analysis
22

Prepare Questionnaire
Distribute Questionnaire
Collecting Questionnaires
Analyze Secondary Data
Submit Data Analysis
Start working on Discussion, Findings, Recommendations,
Conclusions
Searching on solutions
Work on SWOT Analysis
Writing the project Abstract
Writing the Recommendations
Submitting Discussion, Findings, Recommendations,
Conclusions
Start working on Final Research Paper
Collecting all the project parts together
Asking the teacher to check the final project
Submitting Final Research Paper
23