Introduction
Doing business is always associated with determining and addressing the occurring needs. According to the definition, the concept of needs is viewed “as the difference or gap between what is and what should be” (“Needs assessment,” 2018, para. 2). With regards to the operation of a particular company, the needs assessment often arrives as a part of a business plan aimed at the improvement of individuals’ performance. The results one receives from this assessment can significantly improve the prioritization of the company’s limited transition resources, which, in its turn, would lead to company’s higher competitiveness and its faster growth on the market.
Needs Assessment. Steps and Methods
The needs assessment plays a significant part in the operation and development of an enterprise. As stated in the research, it can be a valuable tool for identifying the activities, training, and resources that companies require to exercise their business strategies (“Conducting a needs assessment,” 2014). The appropriateness of the needs assessment is often determined by companies’ intentions to utilize their working assets effectively. For the concept to be successfully implemented the following steps need to be taken: the analysis of the organization’s performance, identification of priorities, finding opportunities, and developing possible solutions. Regarding the ways of its implementation, scholars distinguish the four major methods: focus group, face-to-face or telephone interviews, community meetings, and surveys (“Conducting a needs assessment,” 2014). Each method has its strong and weak sides, and choosing the most suitable one is always a matter of company’s capabilities and market integration.
Focus Group. Pros and Cons
Focus group is a useful method of examining individuals’ opinions and desires, allowing one to discover the needs of the entire community. As Carey and Asbury (2016) point out, “the purpose of using focus groups is to collect rich, detailed data” (p.15). The diversity of answers this method provides creates a favourable environment for a complex analysis of the studied issue (Silverman, 2016). Among the other advantages of its use one may highlight the opportunity to improve the relationships between community and stakeholders, a close contact with a large number of participants, ability to engage in discussions, and the possibility to collect detailed answers. Also, the method appears to be less time consuming than interview or survey.
Alongside the advantages, there are, however, limitations that the focus group is subject to. To begin with, dominant individuals can seriously influence the study results. People who demonstrate prominent leadership qualities usually tend to alter the opinions of the rest of participants (Krueger, 2014). To add more, some responses could be misinterpreted or not taken into consideration at all, thus, provoking an interpersonal conflict. The given occurrence may only take place if a moderator has an intention to change the outcomes, which can also be treated as the major drawback of the method. Finally, the costs involved could be too high, and it might create additional obstacles for the method’s proper implementation (Stewart and Shamdasani, 2014).
Conclusion
Summarizing the research outcomes, the needs assessment is the efficient and reliable tool for defining and evaluation of community needs. Organizations, however, can take different approaches to the implementation of this procedure. Focus group arrives as the most versatile and informative of the four methods of data retrieval. Nevertheless, it is not deprived of limitations, which proves that it cannot be characterized as the only acceptable means of collecting the required information.
References
Carey, M. A., & Asbury, J. E. (2016). Focus group research. New York, NY: Routledge.
Conducting a needs assessment. (2014). Web.
Krueger, R. A. (2015). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (5th ed.). New York, NY: Sage Publications.
Needs assessment. (2018). Web.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research (4th ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.
Stewart, D. W., & Shamdasani, P. N. (2014). Focus groups: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.