The Core of the study
The focus of the study is the analysis of the human resource practices that are common in dairy farm organizations. The effect of these practices on the general behavior of employees is in focus. Major elements of the employees’ behavior that is examined include the level of commitment to the farms they are working in, their views on the kind of work they are doing and the relationships they have with the owners of these farms. A range of human resource practices are examined with a view of pointing out the most and least effective ones.
Strengths of the way the study was conducted
The effectiveness of a study has a deep connection to the way the research is carried out. In this particular research, there are two major strengths that are evident (Alreck & Settle2004, pp.23-24). First, there was sufficient time allowed for filling the questionnaires or interview forms that were sent to employees and owners of these dairy farm organizations. Sufficient time means that the employees as well as the employers had the required time to provide the required responses in a proper manner in terms of detail and scope. The employers and the employees returned the forms after they were done with filling them. Secondly, this study was comprehensive and balanced in that both sides of the farm organization were taken into account. The inclusion of both the employees as well as their employers is a good way of ensuring that the two points of view are obtained and examined before conclusions are drawn. If the research had focused on the employees only or the employers only, it is possible that only one point of view would have been obtained. This would have meant that the report would not have been balanced. What about the presentation of the report?
Two Strengths in the way the study is presented
Presentation is equally a major area of facilitating the understanding of the elements of a report. In this particular study, two major strengths in presentation are evident. First, the presentation of the report of the study through questions as subheadings and the analyzed results as reposes to the questions make understanding the report easy. This is something that would not have been achieved if the report was given the usual presentation of statements and explanations.
The other presentation strength that is evident in this report is that important elements such as human resources practices are clearly defined. This makes it easy for even someone who is new to the element of human resources to understand the study as well as the report. Are there any difficulties that can be pointed out in this report?
Difficult Parts and How it different presentation would have made a difference
The report has a few areas that are hard to understand due to the nature of presentation or the amount of information availed. The first part is the one that addresses the human resource practices that were related to organizational commitment. Here, the human resource practices that were pointed out by the employees are discussed but the numbers of employees who pointed out specific human resource practices are not given (Department of Dairy and Animal Science, College of Agricultural Sciences 2005, p.2). The second difficult part is the one addressing the human resource practices that were strong enough to predict organizational commitment. Again in this category the specific numbers of people supporting specific human resource practices are not given. Doing it differently to facilitate understanding would have included the inclusion of the percentages of the employees in support of specific human resource practices.
References
Alreck, P & Settle, R., (2004).The Survey Handbook, (3rd ed.).New York: McGraw Hill.
Department of Dairy and Animal Science, College of Agricultural Sciences., (2005). Special Research Report: Human Resource Management and Dairy Employee Organizational Commitment. Web.