How can motivation impacts on productivity on insurance sales staff

29 4.6.The influence of compensation on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife Viet Nam .... 31 4.10.The influence of training on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife 33 4.

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Content Format:

TABLE OF CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5

1.1 Research Aim 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 Motivation 8

2.3 Concept of Motivation 9

2.4 Conceptual Framework 13

2.4.1 Compensation 14

2.4.2 Benefit 14

2.4.5 Promotion 16

2.4.6 Training and coaching 16

2.4.7 Taking care of Managers 15

2.5 The Gap in Literature 17

2.6 Conclusion 18

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION METHOD 19

3.1 Introduction 19

3.2.Research design 19

3.3.Target population 20

3.4.Sample design 21

3.5.Research instrument 22

3.6.Validity and Reliability 24

3.7.Data analysis 25

3.8.Ethical consideration 25

3.9.Conclusions 26

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS, FINDINGS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA 27

4.1.Introduction 27

4.2.Distribution of the Respondents by Gender 27

4.3.Distribution of Insurance Sales staff by Highest Academic Qualifications 27

4.4.Distribution of Insurance Sales staff by Age Bracket 28

4.5.Distribution of Sales staff by Experience in Insurance Industry 29

4.6.The influence of compensation on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife Viet Nam 29

4.7.The influence of benefit on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife Viet Nam 31

4.8. The influence of taking care of manager on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife Viet Nam 31

4.10.The influence of training on insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife 33 4.11.Conclusion 34

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS THE FINDINGS 35

5.1.Introduction 35

5.2.Discussion of Key Results 35

5.2.1. Key finding one – salary on insurance sales staff motivation 36

5.2.3.Key finding 3 – taking care of manager on insurance sales staff motivation 36 5.2.4.Key finding 4 – promotion on insurance sales staff motivation 37

5.2.5.Key finding 5 – training on insurance sales staff motivation 38

5.3 Conclusion 40

CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 42

6.1.Introduction 42

6.2.Summary of the Study 42

6.2.1Addressing the Research Question 42

6.2.2Methodology of the Study and Data Analysis 43

6.2.3Key Findings 43

6.3Limitation of the Study 43

6.4Recommendation 44

6.6 Conclusion 45

REFRENCE LIST 46

APPENDIX 52

Successful insurance agent professionals have to maintain a positive attitude that is the way to keep themselves motivated, especially during tough times Keeping insurance sales staff (insurance sales staff) productive is one of the most important tasks at any insurance company because the sales staff are the key force who are going to help the company grow its business

According to research, those factors that motivate the insurance sales staff are important to achieve the business goals The purpose of this case study is to determine the factors affect the insurance agency motivation in the life insurance company

Delivering motivation to the insurance sales staff also help they love their work and engaging for long- term with the company This research focuses on all of insurance sales staff at Manulife Vietnam Total populations will use the number of samples is chosen at random from 500 insurance sales staff of Ho Chi Minh Office – Manulife Vietnam Questionnaires were used to collect data from sales staff The results suggest

an improvement of productivity and recommend that Manulife Vietnam should build motivated policies for insurance sales staff to ensure satisfaction with their jobs

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

When Vietnam delivered open-door policy, many insurance companies are formed and developed with the desire to bring the noble values help to the life of Vietnamese becoming better In current, there are 18 insurance companies Therefore, the competition between companies is becoming fiercer than to gain market share Insurance is a high humane profession because in addition to helping people practice the disciplined savings, it also helps that they can protect solid financial background in the case of occurring unexpected risks in life Meanwhile, demands and expectations

of customers about savings and protection increase more and more and more diversified

At any insurance company, insurance agent is one of the most important factors because the sales staff are the ones who are going to help the company grow its business Insurance Sales staff are the first line operators in the Insurance sector and they play a very critical role in the distribution and uptake of Insurance products They offer the “last mile” connection with the Policyholders where personalized service come handy when closing Insurance contracts Their role is to sell insurance; insurance is sold, not bought!

Because insurance sales staff sell the intangible products, they are often rejected by their customers, who do not understand about life insurance This leads to the closing ratio of insurance (especially new sales staff who lack of the selling skills) is not high Besides, the insurance agent does not have a fixed salary but receive compensation according to the number of contracts they successfully consulted, this means insurance sales staff will have no income in a month if they do not close any contracts with their customers

No income as expected, customers often refuse, sales target are not always reached… all this makes insurance sales staff do not want to stick with the job Because of this, insurance sales staff need to be motivated, caring, sharing timely and properly

By Remez Sasson, motivation is the inner power that pushes you toward taking action and toward achievement Motivation is powered by desire and ambition, and

therefore, if they are absent, motivation is absent too

Sometimes, insurance sales staff might have the desire to get something done, or to achieve a certain goal, but if the desire and ambition are not strong enough, they lack the push, the initiative, and the willingness to take the necessary action In these cases, they lack of motivation and inner drive According to Kendra Cherry (2016) the instinct theory of motivation, all organisms are born with innate biological tendencies that help them survive This theory suggests that instincts drive all behaviors Instincts are goal-directed and innate patterns of behaviors that are not the result of learning or experience For example, infants have an inborn rooting reflex that helps them seek out a nipple and obtain nourishment while birds have an innate need to build a nest or migrate during the winter

Thus, the motivation for the insurance sales staff will play an important role to achieve the goal of increasing sales

1.3 Context and Relevance

This study is important because there are many insurance sales staff have just come to the office every day without sales and they could not find a job results in their business They think that they have not achieved that what they want They feel that size their endeavor in work has not been of recognized worthy yet When lack of motivation to work, they could not inspire others positively That will cause the insurance sales staff boredom and do not want to come to the office And this will greatly affect the business results of the company

This topic will explore the factors of motivation that affect the insurance sales staff

By highlighting these factors, Manulife Vietnam may make decisions to motivate the agency forces

1.4 Structure

The study has six chapters:

 Chapter 1 will be introduction about study

 Chapter 2 will aims to analyze the literature around the topics of sales staff motivation

 The next section chapter 3 will discuss the research methods that will be used to collect relevant data from the target population who are insurance sales staff at

Ho Chi Minh Office

 Chapter 4 will present results, findings of the primary data collected and presentation of data

 Similarly, chapter 5 will analyze the data and discuss how the results relate to the literature

 Finally, chapter 6 will conclude conclusion about the research, and provide recommendations for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

There are many studies researched the motivational factors for sales staff at different organizations, which may be the motivation for the sales staff in a particular department within an organization Overall, this studies mentioned factors such as compensation, payment package, reward system, benefit, training and development, work situation factors, leadership, relationship between sales staff and managers, and

so on

Base on referring to available literatures in relation to the research question “How can motivation impact on sales staff at Manulife Vietnam Company?” The purpose of chapter two is investigate literatures in regards to determine factors affect to insurance sales staff motivation at Manulife Vietnam And this chapter was accomplished under the following subheadings: Motivation, Concept of motivation, Conceptual Framework, Compensation, Benefit, Taking care of managers, Promotion, Training

Motivation involves a constellation of beliefs, perceptions, values, interests, and actions that are all closely related As a result, various approaches to motivation can

focus on cognitive behaviors (such as monitoring and strategy use), non-cognitive aspects (such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or both For example, Gottfried (1990) defines academic motivation as “enjoyment of school learning characterized by

a mastery orientation; curiosity; persistence; task-endogeny; and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks” (p 525) On the other hand, Turner (1995) considers motivation to be synonymous with cognitive engagement, which he defines

as “voluntary uses of high-level self-regulated learning strategies, such as paying attention, connection, planning, and monitoring” (p 413)

Motivation is the word derived from the word “motive” which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals It is the process of stimulating people to actions

to accomplish the goals In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behavior can be -desire for recognition, success, money, job-satisfaction, team work, etc

One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the sales staff to perform in the best of their abilities Therefore the role of a leader is

to arouse interest in performance of sales staff in their jobs The process of motivation consists of three stages: A felt need or drive, A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused, When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals

Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan

Effectively motivating sales staff has long been one of management's most important and challenging duties Motivation refers to the psychological processes that stimulate excitement and persistence of voluntary actions aimed at some goal Because motivation can be highly individualized, managers use a wide range of techniques to keep their sales staff motivated and happy Therefore, it is essential for managers to understand the psychological processes involved in motivation so that they can effectively direct sales staff towards organizational goals

Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such

as the (1) intensity of desire or need, (2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and (3) expectations of the individual and of his or her peers These factors are the reasons one has for behaving a certain way

2.3 Concept of Motivation

There are many motivation theories, each of which attempts to describe what human beings are and what human beings can become However, Abraham Maslow's needs theory is the theory peaked in identifying the needs of human nature in general So far, there is no better alternative theory of how this theory although there are also plenty of

"candidate" intend to replace Abraham Maslow's theory, natural needs of human beings are divided into different hierarchies from the "bottom" up to "peak", reflecting the "base" of it for the existence and development of people as a natural creature, both as a social entity Maslow’s Theory

The psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory that suggests we, humans, are motivated to satisfy five basic needs These needs are arranged in a hierarchy Maslow suggests that we seek first to satisfy the lowest level of needs Once this is done, we seek to satisfy each higher level of need until we have satisfied all five needs

While modern research shows some shortcomings with this theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory remains an important and simple motivation tool for managers to understand and apply The Hierarchy of Needs is as follows:

1 Physiological Needs (basic issues of survival such as salary and stable employment)

2 Safety Needs (stable physical and emotional environment issues such as benefits, pension, safe work environment, and fair work practices)

3 Social Needs (social acceptance issues such as friendship or cooperation on the job)

4 Esteem Need (positive self-image and respect and recognition issues such as job titles, nice work spaces, and prestigious job assignments.)

5 Self-Actualization Needs (achievement issues such as workplace autonomy, challenging work, and subject matter expert status on the job)

How to Apply Maslow’s Theory to the Workplace

With Maslow’s theory, an employee’s beginning emphasis on the lower order needs

of physiology and security makes sense Generally, a person beginning their career will be very concerned with physiological needs such as adequate wages and stable income and security needs such as benefits and a safe work environment We all want

a good salary to meet the needs of our family and we want to work in a stable environment

1 Physiological Needs

Abraham Maslow realized that people need to deal with the survival needs before they move on to any other level of needs If they do not have the necessary food, clothing, water, shelter — or comparable elements to survive — they are not likely to be concerned about learning new skills to qualify them for future jobs In the workplace, simple things like snacks, clean water (such as that from the water-cooler) and coffee will go a long way in meeting your sales staff’ basic physiological needs

2 Safety Needs

To address this level of the hierarchy, you must consider physical as well as psychological safety and security As a supervisor you can do common sense things

like make sure that the environment contains no safety hazards You can also provide mental security by explaining how to become more effective and efficient in the workplace, helping them feel safer in their position with the company

Sales staff whose lowest level needs have not been met will make job decisions based

on compensation, safety, or stability concerns Also, sales staff will revert to satisfying their lowest level needs when these needs are no longer met or are threatened (such as during an economic downturn)

This places an extra obligation on managers to act humanely when difficult organizational decisions such as staff reductions have to be implemented Callous implementation of difficult decisions will cause the remaining sales staff in the organization to feel threatened about the ability or desire of the organization to continue to meet their physiological and security needs

3 Social Needs

This level of Maslow’s theory deals with love, acceptance, friendship, and companionship As a supervisor, you can address the need that many people have to socialize and feel part of a group by creating a work environment that harbors opportunities for participation and interaction with others Start networking sessions before or after work Happy hour can be a fun networking time — and it doesn’t need

to be at a bar It could be at Starbucks or a restaurant

Once these basic needs are met, the employee will want his “belongingness” (or social) needs met The level of social interaction an employee desires will vary based

on whether the employee is an introvert or extrovert The key point is that sales staff desire to work in an environment where they are accepted in the organization and have some interaction with others

This means effective interpersonal relations are necessary Managers can create an environment where staff cooperation is rewarded This will encourage interpersonal effectiveness

Ongoing managerial communication about operational matters is also an important component of meeting employee’s social needs Sales staff who are “kept in the dark” about operational matters and the future plans of the organization often feel like they

are an organizational outsider (This last point is especially important for virtual sales staff whose absence from the office puts an extra obligation on managers to keep these sales staff engaged in organizational communications.)

4 Esteem Needs

At this point of Maslow’s hierarchy, the focus shifts to the personal ego; self-respect, achievement and receiving recognition for efforts given Sales staff want to be respected and appreciated by their coworkers and their bosses In a learning environment, you can address this need by deferring to someone’s expertise or knowledge, recognizing accomplishments, and otherwise providing an environment where learners can feel the satisfaction of having others applaud accomplishments You can also build in little accolades during training in which participants cheer or applaud the efforts of someone who accomplishes something, offers a solution, or otherwise does something worthy or group recognition A simple round of applause for a good response might be appropriate from time-to-time to meet this need

5 Self-Actualization

Think of the Army slogan of “Be all you can be” The premise was “Join us and we will provide you with the tools and support you need to reach your maximum potential.” To this effect, as a supervisor, it’s important that you identify where your sales staff hope to go as it relates to the level of achievement in your company and help them get there

The key to successfully applying Maslow’s theory in the workplace is to remember that what motivates one employee does not necessarily motivate another

With these needs satisfied, an employee will want his higher level needs of esteem and self-actualization met Esteem needs are tied to an employee’s image of himself and his desire for the respect and recognition of others

Even if an individual does not want to move into management, he probably does not want to do the same exact work for 20 years He may want to be on a project team, complete a special task, learn other tasks or duties, or expand his duties in some manner

Cross-training, job enrichment, and special assignments are popular methods for making work more rewarding Further, allowing sales staff to participate in decision making on operational matters is a powerful method for meeting an employee’s esteem needs Finally, symbols of accomplishment such as a meaningful job title, job perks, awards, a nice office, business cards, work space, etc are also important to an employee’s esteem

The important consideration for managers is that they must provide rewards to their sales staff that both come from the organization and from doing the work itself Rewards need to be balanced to have a maximum effect

With self-actualization, the employee will be interested in growth and individual development He will also need to be skilled at what he does He may want a challenging job, an opportunity to complete further education, increased freedom from supervision, or autonomy to define his own processes for meeting organizational objectives At this highest level, managers focus on promoting an environment where

an employee can meet his own self-actualization needs

2.4 Conceptual Framework

The below framework shows the key factors affect to insurance sales staff motivation

by applying Maslow’s theory Based on the framework, the Management of Manulife Vietnam can determine the necessary factors of motivation that impact effectively on insurance sales staff’ productivity in order to carry out their tasks and excess the Target:

Compensation: This is providing input for insurance sales staff Compensation becomes a motivation only when it meets the physical needs for sales staff, giving them peace of mind about their earnings

Benefit: At Manulife Vietnam, insurance sales staff receive many rewards in addition

to the commission regime from supporting the sales tools (Ipads or laptops), telephone bill, bonus for elite sales staff, bonus for agency recruiting and team building, bonus for agency leaders, travel programs in many countries, pension, etc

Promotion: This is recognizing members for excellent contributions, and upgrade to

next level to meet esteem needs

Training and coaching: This is training about new skills, knowledge and attitudes that will improve on their works, in order to develop professional career to meet self- actualization needs

Taking care of manager: this is taking care of agent leaders and sales managers for insurance sales staff regarding their tasks to meet social needs

2.4.1 Compensation

The reviews of literatures have shown that salary benefits related to attitude, and performance of sales staff Therefore, the salary is a popular topic when researching the issues related to the satisfaction of the sales staff

According to Imrab Shaheen, Mushtaq A.Sajid, Qudsia Batool (2013), he carry out organizations focus on incentives and reward policies including salary benefit for getting better performance of their sales staff because rewards and incentives affect the motivational level of the sales staff Many sales staff thought that they received less salary as compare the work they done Beside, their salary was not sufficient to meet the finance needs of their family So they thought that their present salary should be improved

As Sarah O Akali mentioned (2010), salary is a key factor affecting motivation and performance of the sales staff The insurance sales staff can-not help comparing their salary with the work they do and their contemporaries It can only motivate if viewed

as commensurate to the work done and fairly close to that of contemporaries in other professions A clear job analysis, description and evaluation would help the sales staff come up with an acceptable and harmonized salary package to satisfy these sales staff and motivate them to higher performance

2.4.2 Benefit

According to Yiming Yang (2015), this thesis analyzes different types of compensation influence the motivation The results show that no compensation negatively influences employee’s motivation and all compensation types have a positive impact on motivation Monetary compensations are increased compensation,

bonuses, sales campaigns, restricted stock It is important for employers to use fair and justifiable compensation, especially monetary compensation, for individual sales staff the category of non-monetary compensation is divided into three different types: 1) holiday/flexible time, 2) tangible non-monetary compensation (e.g Flower, Dinner, coupon, etc.) that use “gift” for short and 3) other non-monetary compensation (e.g recognition, promotional opportunities, praise, etc.) that covers all non-monetary compensation not mentioned in category 1 and 2 and are mostly intangible compensation

2.4.3 Promotion

As Sarah O Akalian (2010), she noted that the major factors affecting motivation and performance of the trainers, one of them is promotion at the work place Trainers would be more motivated if their position was upgrade This is a long way in motivating and improving the performance Promotion should be handled well so that trainers do not stay in one grade for too long and the criterion of merit would yield better results than automatic mass promotion that lacks individual recognition of a trainer's effort

The study of Teresa Kemunto Nyakundi (2012), also found that many sales staff indicated that perceived promotional opportunity where else influences job satisfaction Lack of promotion opportunities, sales staff had poor work attitudes

2.4.4 Training and coaching

The finding of Greenwich University (2013) showed that there is a significant relationship between receiving training of sales staff and challenging work The manager mentioned that colleagues had opportunities to move up the career leader further such as they have the opportunity to become the area manager On the other hand, sales staff confirmed that providing quality training to support their skills as an employee that helps me increase my capabilities/ productivity” However, other sales staff liked more in-house training to develop myself

With Sarah O Akalian (2010), training affects motivation and performance in that results showed that when training was recognized by the employer in form of perks or higher grades, subjects were motivated and performed better With the sales staff'

acknowledgement of availability of opportunities for staff development, communication of these opportunities to trainers and granting them study leave to pursue them would enhance their motivation and performance

As Igara Growers (2010), he noted that high productivity depends on the level of motivation and effectiveness of the workforce The staff training is indispensable strategy for motivating sales staff A high quality employment relationship is of great importance for both sales staff and firms Therefore, firms need to invest in staff training And staff training is an important instrument for increasing productivity of sales staff and hence the quality of the match In this competitive world, training is economically meaningful and investment in training is efficient Training has led to increased competence thus improving sales staff That training expresses new skills, knowledge and attitudes that will improve on its performance thus enhancing high productivity and profits within the organization In many organizations, training promote culture of excellence and competence in that when it is effectively conducted

it will outcompete the external environment and also competitiveness against the sales staff thus enhancing high levels of performance

2.4.5 Taking care of Managers

The study of Greenwich University (2013) showed that the managers need to respect sales staff’ work instead of complaining about the works what they done Managers also had to give positive feedback than negative sometime This was expressing about taking care of managers And the sales staff wanted to increase their relationship with some of the managers The results were the sales staff thought that they had a friendly environment It made motivation to work for them

In study of Caroline Njambi Gichure (2014), she note that a good managerial relation

is an important factor in fostering employee motivation Those who act to maintain good relations with their sales staff exhibit the following behaviors: help with job related problems, awareness of employee difficulties, good communication, and regular feed-back about the performance so that sales staff always know where they stand Sales staff want to have input into decisions that affect them, to feel important and appreciated They want to be informed and involved at work place When a job

brings recognition and respect, sales staff are motivated with it This is an easy condition to create with feedback All things belong to the leadership It indicated that the leadership style of managers within the organization affects employee motivation levels

2.5 The Gap in Literature

Although literature reviews mentioned about the factors that affect the motivation for sales staff, so that sales staff feel a strong motivation to work and engage with the organization for long term, but target people in each research refers to the different jobs, in different department, in different organizations, and in each organization has the different remuneration benefits for sales staff, so it can be the same a motivational factor, but this organization is important, while other organizations do not

Thus, the purpose of reference from topic researches is only finding the most relevant factors to the researcher can identify the factors that motivate insurance sales staff at Manulife Vietnam Company From there, it helps Manulife Vietnam make sales strategy

2.6 Conclusion

In conclusion, based on literature reviews in this chapter, the authors has identified the importance of motivation for sales staff Since then, it helps them work with long-term commitment in organization Beside, each literature review examines the motivational factors to justify the motivational theories that the author mentioned Literature reviews gave a variety of motivational factors, but in general, we have two types of motivational factors, one was related to monetary benefits and one was related to non- monetary benefits The authors also make the limits of the research process And they also give recommendations for the next researches regarding topics that researchers should do to be more complete By studying in this field, it will provide more knowledge and better understanding level about motivation theories for sales staff So that, it can make the motivational factors for insurance sales staff and it is really suitable for the current situation of the Manulife Vietnam Then sales staff are more

committed, and peace of mind when working at Manulife Vietnam

And the next chapter will present the required methodology that will be used to conduct research

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION METHOD

3.1 Introduction

Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis D Slesinger and M Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research

as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.”3 Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement It is the persuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem

is research The systematic approach concerning generalization and the formulation of

a theory is also research As such the term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method 1 The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1952, p 1069 2 L.V Redman and A.V.H Mory, The Romance of Research, 1923, p.10 3 The Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Vol IX, MacMillan, 1930 2 Research Methodology consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either

in the form of solutions(s) towards the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some theoretical formulation

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem It may

be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them It is necessary for the researcher

to know not only the research methods/techniques but also the methodology Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests, how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation or chi-square, how

to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and indicate and why Researchers also need to understand the assumptions underlying various techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they can decide that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain problems and others will not All this means that it is necessary for the researcher to design his methodology for his problem as the same may differ from problem to problem

The purpose of chapter three is describing the procedures that were used in this study

to collect and analyze the data This chapter will evaluate the chosen sample for research investigation, which consists of research design, target population, sample design, research instruments, validity and reliability, and data analysis Besides, it includes ethical considerations Firstly, this chapter will discuss the research design because it allows researcher to examine the detail worked plan base on framework

3.2 Research design

A research design is not just a work plan A work plan details what has to be done to complete the work plan will flow from the project's research design The function of a research design is to ensure that the obtained evidence enables us to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible Obtaining relevant evidence entails specifying the type of evidence needed to answer the research question, to test a theory, to evaluate a program or to accurately describe some phenomenon (Dr Ahmad Shahrul Nizam, 2015)

Research design is different from the method by which data are collected Many research methods texts confuse research designs with methods It is not uncommon to see research design treated as a mode of data collection rather than as a logical structure of the inquiry But there is nothing intrinsic about any research design that requires a particular method of data collection Although cross-sectional surveys are frequently equated with questionnaires and case studies are often equated with participant observation (e.g Whyte's Street Corner Society, 1943), data for any design can be collected with any data collection method How the data are collected is irrelevant to the logic of the design

This design would be useful in investigating the relationship between the Compensation, Benefit, Taking care of manager, Promotion, Training and sales staff motivation

3.3 Target population

A research population is generally a large collection of individuals or objects that is the main focus of a scientific query It is for the benefit of the population that researches are done However, due to the large sizes of populations, researchers often cannot test every individual in the population because it is too expensive and time- consuming

According to Wilson Mizner (2016), a research population is also known as a defined collection of individuals or objects known to have similar characteristics All individuals or objects within a certain population usually have a common, binding characteristic or trait Target population refers to the entire group of individuals or objects to which researchers are interested in generalizing the conclusions The target population usually has varying characteristics and it is also known as the theoretical population The target population for study was all insurance sales staff in Ho Chi Minh Office There are 500 insurance sales staff in Ho Chi Minh Office

well-3.4 Sample design

A sample is simply a subset of the population The concept of sample arises from the inability of the researchers to test all the individuals in a given population The sample must be representative of the population from which it was drawn and it must have good size to warrant statistical analysis The main function of the sample is to allow the researchers to conduct the study to individuals from the population So that the results of their study can be used to derive conclusions that will apply to the entire population It is much like a give-and-take process The population “gives” the sample, and then it “takes” conclusions from the results obtained from the sample (Wilson Mizner, 2016)

A sample is expected to mirror the population from which it comes, however, there is

no guarantee that any sample will be precisely representative of the population Chance may dictate that a disproportionate number of untypical observations will be made

Sampling is the process of selecting a number of individuals for a study in such a way that the individuals represent the large group from which they were selected All insurance sales staff in the Ho Chi Minh Office were studied Simple random sampling technique was used to sample The advantages was easy to conduct, high probability of achieving a representative sample and, it meets assumptions of many statistical procedures According to Uma Sekaran in Research Method for Business 4th Edition, Roscoe (1975) proposed the rules of thumb for determining sample size where sample size larger than 30 and less than 500 are appropriate for most research, and the minimum size of sample should be 30% of the population A total 150 respondents were targeted by the study In this case, the samples collected being 30%

of insurance sales staff at Ho Chi Minh Office There were 100 insurance sales staff responded giving a response rate of 100%

Sampling was shown in Table 3.1

Target Population

Number of Insurance Sales staff

Size of Samples

A questionnaire is a mean of eliciting the feelings, beliefs, experiences, perceptions, or attitudes of some samples of individuals As a data collecting instrument, it could be structured or unstructured

According to James P Key (1997), the questionnaire is most frequently a very

concise, pre-planned set of questions designed to yield specific information to meet a particular need for research information about a pertinent topic The research information is attained from respondents normally from a related interest area A clearer definition: A questionnaire is a written or printed form used in gathering information

on some subject or subjects consisting of a list of questions to be submitted to one or more persons

It has many advantages such as economy, uniformity of questions, standardization About economy, expense and time involved in the interviewers and sending them to insurance sales staff are reduced About uniformity of questions, each respondent receives the same set of questions phrased in exactly the same way Questionnaires may, therefore, yield data more comparable than information obtained through a respondent About standardization, if the questions are highly structured and the conditions under which they are answered are controlled, then the questionnaire could become standardized

The questionnaires were divided into different sections where section A contained data on the background information of the respondents, section B contained items on Compensation information, section C contained items on Benefit information, section

D contained items on Taking care of manager information, section E contained questions on promotion information, and section F contained items on training information Likert scale was used in questions which were testing on the degree of the respondents’ agreement with particular variables of the study

The researcher distributed the questionnaires to the selected insurance sales staff and gave them thirty minutes to respond The respondents had thirty minutes to finish questionnaire

Personally, the researcher had to show the research instrument for both the pilot and the main study to the insurance sales staff at the Ho Chi Minh Office on the agreed date The researcher gave instructions on how to fill the questionnaires, gave respondents time to fill them After two weeks the respondents returned back the questionnaire and depending on their response analysis had been made Secondary data such as use of sales reports and on webs was incorporated

Validity and Reliability

According to Martyn Shuttleworth (2008), Validity encompasses the entire experimental concept and establishes whether the results obtained meet all of the requirements of the scientific research method Internal validity dictates how an experimental design is structured and encompasses all of the steps of the scientific research method

Even if your results are great, sloppy and inconsistent design will compromise your integrity in the eyes of the scientific community Internal validity and reliability are at the core of any experimental design External validity is the process of examining the results and questioning whether there are any other possible causal relationships

The idea behind reliability is that any significant results must be more than a one- off finding and be inherently repeatable

Other researchers must be able to perform exactly the same experiment, under the same conditions and generate the same results This will reinforce the findings and ensure that the wider scientific community will accept the hypothesis Without this replication of statistically significant results, the experiment and research have not fulfilled all of the requirements of testability This prerequisite is essential to a hypothesis establishing itself as an accepted scientific truth Reliability is a necessary ingredient for determining the overall validity of a scientific experiment and enhancing the strength of the results

It is important to ensure that validity and reliability do not get confused Reliability is the consistency of results when the experiment is replicated under the same conditions, which is very different to validity These two evaluations of research studies are independent factors, therefore a study will be both reliable and valid

3.6 Data analysis

The study was using the quantitative methods Selected descriptive statistics was used

to analyze data Descriptive statistics is the method involves the collection of data, summary, presentation, calculation and describes the different characteristics to reflect

a general object of study Data analysis mentioned the variables such as compensation,

benefit, taking care of manager, promotion, and training After that, researcher will computed and used to establish the difference between the means

3.7 Ethical consideration

Ethical considerations in research are critical Ethics are the norms or standards for conduct that distinguish between right and wrong They help to determine the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors They are very important in research because of some reasons First, ethical standards prevent against the fabrication or falsifying of data and therefore, promote the pursuit of knowledge and truth which is the primary goal of research Ethical behavior is also critical for collaborative work because it encourages an environment of trust, accountability, and mutual respect among researchers This is especially important when considering issues related to data sharing, co-authorship, copyright guidelines, confidentiality, and many other issues Researchers must also adhere to ethical standards in order for the public to support and believe in the research The public wants to be assured that researchers followed the appropriate guidelines for issues such as human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law, conflicts of interest, safety, health standards and so on The handling of these ethical issues greatly impact the integrity of the research project and can affect whether or not the project receives funding (Farouq Ayiwworoh, 2013)

According to Saul McLeod published 2014, the researcher must ensure that the information provided by the respondent is kept confidential, e.g name, address etc This means questionnaires are good for researching sensitive topics as respondents will be more honest when they cannot be identified Keeping the questionnaire confidential should also reduce the likelihood of any psychological harm, such as embarrassment Participants must provide informed consent prior to completing the questionnaire, and must be aware that they have the right to withdraw their information at any time during the survey

3.8 Conclusions

Chapter Three has presented the research methodology that was used in analyzing the