John Paul Publishers: Analyzing Effectiveness of Training Methods using Analysis of Variance

John Paul Publishers: Analyzing Effectiveness of Training Methods using Analysis of Variance

John Paul Publishers (JPP), a reputed publisher in Hyderabad, was enjoying continuous growth in terms of sales and the volumes of books published during the last 2 years. However, Dr. John Paul (John), Founder of JPP decided to add new teams to improve its sales in December 2015.

An MBA (Marketing) graduate and with a Ph.D, John was driven by his ambition of contributing to the field of academics. At 58, John had to his credit 15+years of teaching and related publishing experience with reputed business schools countrywide. To give a framework to his aspirations, he incorporated JPP in 2013. Since its inception, JPP had consistently published books in the field of business management. These books were available for purchase on the company’s website. John believed in  building an organization with minimal levels of hierarchy, requiring minimum supervision.

John’s team also contributed in establishing JPP as a celebrated name in the field of business management, with more than 1,500 books to its credit.

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Assignment Questions

I. What is ANOVA? What is the relationship between ANOVA and the t-test, and regression? Identify the similarities and dissimilarities between ANOVA and the t-test using the case
context.
II. Discuss how ANOVA would help John improve the sales performance of his sales team.
III. ........

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Trainee Details

Exhibit II: Sales Performance by Trainees (in ’00 INR)

John Paul Publishers: Analyzing Effectiveness of Training Methods using Analysis of Variance

Synopsis

The caselet was used to introduce the concept of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Covariance in marketing research. The caselet gives scope to discuss the  nature of ANOVA and Covariance techniques in the context of John Paul Publishers’ (JPP) Marketing Research problem. Dr. John Paul (John) decided to recruit marketing teams and provide training to them. When approached a training consultancy, John observed that there were two different training methods. Apart from the consultancy training, few trainees who did not participate in the training programs received on-job training from experienced team members of JPP. In spite of such training, the teams showed dismal performance. John called for a team meeting with the team leads, as he wanted to identify the specific reasons for the dismal performance. Most of the team leads were of view that each training method has its own impact on the employee’s performance. John wondered whether the effectiveness of the training methods is identical or different. He wanted to take quantitative assessment of each of the training method to analyse.

Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding

The students/participants should be encouraged to read the following as it would not only broaden the context of learning but would also provide appropriate perspectives on Analysis of Variance and Covariance:

• -Naresh K. Malhotra and Satyabhushan Dash, “Analysis of Variance and Covariance”, Marketing Research an Applied Orientation, 6th Edition, Pearson Education, 2010 – To understand the basics of Analysis of Variance and Covariance

Case Positioning and Setting

This caselet can be used in MBA Program/MDPs/EDPs in Marketing Research Course – To introduce the participants/students to ANOVA and Covariance techniques

Assignment Questions

• I. What is ANOVA? What is the relationship between ANOVA and the t-test, and regression? Identify the similarities and dissimilarities between ANOVA and the t-test using the case context.
• II. Discuss how ANOVA would help John improve the sales performance of his sales team.
• III. Describe Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and its significance in data analysis.

Preamble to this Case Analysis

This caselet is meant to introduce the students/participants to the nuances of ANOVA and covariance in marketing research context. This caselet provides  scope to discuss the ANOVA and covariance techniques procedure. This caselet was used to provide the appropriate analysis to improve the sales  performance of the sales team. Accordingly, this caselet was orchestrated [Exhibit (TN)-I]..................

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