Business Research Assignment Part 2

Preparing to Conduct Business Research, Part 1

Cell Phone Usage in the Workplace

Due to rapid technological advancement, the cell phone usage has intensified. Cell phone usage in the workplace has both the negative and the positive impact. But the use of the cell phone has facilitated some conveniences in communication at most workplaces from either the employer, employees, sometimes including the customers. Cell phone usage has facilitated effective communication in the workplace, but as much as it has a positive impact when used appropriately at the workplace, it can be addictive, and in the long run, could reduce the productivity of employees. In our research, we have selected this issue because of its magnitude on its efficiency inside the workplace. The chosen issue for our research gives an opportunity for analysing and outweighing the impact of cell phone usage in the workplace; and whether the employers should encourage the use of the cell phones at work or restrict the usage. After the research sheds light on the issue about cell phone usage, employers can be guided on navigating policies that suit the company as a whole.

Significance

Almost everyone in today’s world has a cell phone. They are convenient and have become essential. In the workplace cell phones are good when needing to be contacted in emergencies from home or family. Many have children who come home from school alone and the parents wait for their children’s phone call when arriving home from school. This luxury and convenience has really become an issue in the workplace. It appears the issue has become more widely spread from year to year. Cell phone usage in the workplace is an issue especially because it is abused. The significance of the issue can get extreme. There are times when workers are not working but instead are using their cell phones. When many people abuse cell phone usage businesses can suffer financial losses due to production being lower. Employees have missed deadlines and companies may have to pay out more money due to paying workers overtime. Loud talking on a cell phone or loud ringing of the phone can be a huge distraction to the surrounding workers. The usage of the cell phones goes beyond just calls. With technology being as advanced as it is, smartphones are like little computers. People surf the web, use downloaded applications, watch videos, and send/receive text and picture messages. Although rules get in place in the workplace concerning the usage, not much changes. The usage of cell phones in the workplace has become a huge distraction for many and increasingly has been an issue.

Justification

There are many reasons why cell phone usage in the work place is a growing issue amongst many companies. With associates being distracted by their phones they are taking away their attention. When an associate is distracted with their cellphone the following may happen; loss of productivity which puts the company behind in tasks the associate is working on, give customers a negative opinion of the company, equipment accidents, and endangering the safety of personnel. Even though policies are set to control such instances, there are still instances of associates and managers who find their phone more important to their task at hand. Researching the issue would build the company’s image, raise productivity, and lessen accidents that may have occurred if someone was distracted on their phone. The issue can be considered through business research, with observation they could see how the associates react to new and old cell phone policies and how managers should approach the situation and learn better ways to enforce the no phone policy. Qualitative Research would be giving the company a more in depth research. Qualitative research draws data from various sources to get results. Examples are, people, organizations, texts setting and environment and events happening. After collecting research, ideas can then be tested through experiments to see if the new idea may be good for the company. If the experiments work, then the company would be growing in the proper direction; and if the experiments were to be unsuccessful, it would mean that the researcher would have to go back to the drawing board to see if anything else could work in keeping the workers, customers, and company safer from the distraction of cell phones.

Reference

Blake, I. A. (n.d.). Ways to Combat Cell Phone Abuse in the Workplace. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ways-combat-cell-phone-abuse-workplace-46932.html