RESEARCH CONSULTANCY AND ADVISORY DECEMBER 2021 PAST PAPER

FRIDAY: 17 December 2021.                                                                                                       Time Allowed: 3 hours.

Answer ALL questions. Marks allocated to each question are shown at the end of each question.

QUESTION ONE

1.         Explain the meaning of the term “consultant”.                                                                                                     (2 marks)

Discuss five roles played by consultants in an organisation.                                                                             (10 marks)

2.        The first step in the consulting and advisory process is the discovery phase.

With reference to the above statement:

Explain the term “client discovery”.                                                                                                                    (2 marks)

Summarise four categories of discovery techniques.                                                                                           (4 marks)

3.           Explain the term “advisor”.                                                                                                                                                  (2 marks)

(Total: 20 marks)

 

QUESTION TWO

1.           Examine five attributes necessary in building effective client-consultant relationships.                    (10 marks)

2.          Explain the following facilitation tools and techniques:

Ice breaker.                                                                                                                                                          (2 marks)

Energiser.                                                                                                                                                            (2 marks)

Debrief.                                                                                                                                                               (2 marks)

3.          Distinguish between “coaching” and “counselling“.                                                                                                            (4 marks)

(Total: 20 marks)

 

QUESTION THREE

1.           Discuss the following steps in the consulting process:

Entry and contracting.                                                                                                                                          (2 marks)

Feedback and action.                                                                                                                                           (2 marks)

Extension or closure.                                                                                                                                           (2 marks)

2.          Consultancy firms nowadays leverage on information technology to market professional services they offer.

With reference to the above statement:

Explain the term “lead generation”.                                                                                                                      (2 marks)

Assess five ways of driving traffic to a consultancy firm’s website.                                                                 (10 marks)

3.            With reference to pricing professional services, explain “value based method”.                                                                 (2 marks)

(Total: 20 marks)

 

QUESTION FOUR

1.          Examine five components of a research problem.                                                                                                                (5 marks)

2.         Explain the term “research methodology“.                                                                                                           (2 marks)

Analyse seven characteristics of the scientific method in research.                                                                      (7 marks)

3.         With reference to determination of sample design, describe the following sampling methods:

Systematic sampling.                                                                                                                                           (2 marks)

Stratified sampling.                                                                                                                                              (2 marks)

Cluster sampling.                                                                                                                                                 (2 marks)

(Total: 20 marks)

 

QUESTION FIVE

1.          After considering research, a researcher is expected to write a report.

With reference to the above statement, evaluate four parts in the main text of the report that should be included.   (8 marks)

2.         Measurement should be precise and unambiguous in an ideal research study.

In the context of measurement scales:

Distinguish between “validity” and “reliability”.                                                                                                 (4 marks)

Assess four sources of errors in measurement.                                                                                                   (8 marks)

(Total: 20 marks)