6.

1 Research methods
Methods are means to solve the existing problems. For this research I choose the
interview method to solve the inventory problems in dairy shop. Interviews were
semi-structured to collect the more information in depth topic. Another method was
Observation to make the data more reliable. There is two type of data involved in my
research, Primary and secondary. Primary data is collected through the interviews
from Manager of dairy shop and employees of other small businesses. Secondary
data is collected from topic related websites, journal, articles and previous research
papers.

6.1.1 Semi-structured interviews

I choose the semi-structured interview method mainly because of data reliability and
in-depth knowledge about topic as it is amixof There are three people included for
interview purpose. I did face to face interview with dairy shop manager and two
employees from other small businesses. Questions in the interview were mostly
focused on Inventory Management, personal experiences and problems faced by
staff in small shops. Questions were like as follows:
1. What are the names of Interviewees?
2. What are the ages of the respondents?
3. What are the designations of respondents?
4. How long they are dealing with the inventories?
5. How frequently they receive inventory?
6. Do they have any knowledge about inventory methods and techniques?
7. Which storage method they use to manage/ store the inventory?
8. Where they store the additional stock?
9. Which kind of goods most demanded?
10. Do they give deals any other way to handle products with limited date of
expiry?
11. What is the inventory turnover?
12. How they manage to price the goods?
13. Who are the supplier of the inventories?
14. How they manage the outlook of the store (displaying attractive stocks in the
front)?
6.1.2 Observation Method

Table of Contents

Page no.
1. 3-7

Introduction...........
1.1
Introduction
to
dairy 3
business..
1.2

Business

culture
1.3
ownership
1.4
Introduction
to

and 4

Immigrant 4
my

own 5

business.
1.5 SWOT analysis. 6-7
1.5.1 Strength.. 6
1.5.2 7
Weakness
1.5.3 7
Opportunities..
1.5.4 7
Threats.
2.

Research 8

Problem..
3.

Literature 8-12

review.....
4.
Aim

of 13

Study.
5.
Scope

of 13

Study.
6. 13
Methodology
6.1 Research methods
6.2 Limitations..
6.3 Proposed Cost...
6.4
Timeline
and

13
14
14
14

Milestone.
7. References

15-16

Abbreviations

JIT Just in Time

NZ New Zealand
ABC A = High price, B = Medium price, C = Low price
VED Vital Essential Desirable
EOQ Economic Order Quantity
SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
ID Identification Detail
PC Personal Computer
SMEs Small Medium Enterprises
RQ Research Question
LIFO Last in First Out
FSN Fast moving, Slow moving, Non moving
FMCG Fast Moving Consumable Goods
etc. - et cetera
1. Milestone
2. Industry placement request
3. Industry placement
4. Meeting with supervisor
5. Meeting with supervisor
6. Draft reflective report
7. Meeting with supervisor
8. Reflective report 1
9. Research proposal 1 draft 1
10. Meeting with supervisor
11. Research proposal 2 draft 2
12. Meeting with supervisor
13. Final research proposal
14. Meeting with supervisor
15. Meeting with supervisor
16. Meeting with supervisor
17. Reflective report 2 draft
18. Meeting with supervisor
19. Reflective report 2 due
20. Meeting with supervisor

Start Date
25/02/2016
01/03/2016
03/03/2016
09/03/2016
14/03/2016
16/03/2016
21/03/2016
21/03/2016
23/03/2016
23/03/2016
30/03/2016
30/03/2016
13/04/2016
20/04/2016
27/04/2016
27/04/2016
04/05/2016
06/05/2016
11/05/2016

Finish Date
25/02/2016
10/06/2016
03/03/2016
09/03/2016
14/03/2016
16/03/2016
21/03/2016
22/03/2016
23/03/2016
29/03/2016
30/03/2016
05/04/2016
13/04/2016
20/04/2016
27/04/2016
02/05/2016
04/05/2016
09/05/2016
11/05/2016

21. Meeting with supervisor

22. Abstract due on Moodle
23. Research report draft 1
24. Draft slides due
25. Meeting with supervisor
26. Presentation due on Moodle
27. Presentation Practice
28. Final Presentation
29. Research report draft 2
30. Meeting with supervisor
31. Final Research Report Due

18/05/2016
20/05/2016
22/05/2016
24/05/2016
25/05/2016
25/05/2016
25/05/2016
27/05/2016
31/05/2016
01/06/2016
03/06/2016

18/05/2016
20/05/2016
22/05/2016
24/05/2016
25/05/2016
25/05/2016
25/05/2016
27/05/2016
31/05/2016
01/06/2016
03/06/2016