Chapter 1: Business Background

CHAPTER 1: BUSINESS BACKGROUND

Objectives
The objectives are:

• Select the type of questionnaire to best suit a business’ needs.

• Describe questionnaire methods and processes.
• Identify the advantages gained by applying questionnaires in a
business context.
• Identify the points of the questionnaire interaction with other
modules in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Introduction
This section presents an overview of the questionnaire functionality in Microsoft
Dynamics® AX, and explains various professional applications for electronic data
collection, such as:

• Surveys
• Feedback systems
• Tests
• Measurements
• e-learning

This chapter also explores the advantages of having data collection functionality
as an integral part of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)system.

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Questionnaires in Business
Gathering accurate information about a business is crucial for it to operate
effectively, and requires tools and procedures that can be used to transform raw
data into reliable decision support information.

Many systems can track transactional data that answers questions about the:

• Staff turnover rate

• Customer profitability index
• Annual gross profit
• Stock replenishment cycle time

However, these examples are retrospective and are often influenced by incidents
or circumstances that affected the people, processes, customers, or tangible assets
(such as machines or storage facilities) that produced the results. Transactional
data shows what happened, but does little to describe why it happened.

A company must examine the causes behind the results to truly identify those
results. The ways a company can examine these causes involves:

• A company that listens to its customers and employees

• A manager that identifies what motivates employees
• Professional units (Human resources, Sales, and Marketing) that
recognize the value of the services and processes they provide

There is more to know about a business than what the transactional systems can
deliver. Decision makers must identify the intangible factors and challenges that
face their people. They can gain this knowledge by asking the right people the
right questions.

Information gathered and managed in the Questionnaire section of the Microsoft

Dynamics Navigation Pane is grouped into four main focus areas:

Focus Area Examples Scenarios

Surveys Customer satisfaction
Employee satisfaction
Market research
Customer satisfaction with
the new service introduced.
Employee satisfaction with
working conditions.
Current demand for new
products or services.

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Focus Area Examples Scenarios

Structured 360 degree feedback Evaluation of employee
feedback Project performance appraisals performance.
Course evaluations Evaluation of the strengths
and weaknesses of a project
Employee development dialog
or training course.
Evaluation of new skills an
employee can acquire to
improve professional
abilities.
Testing Knowledge testing An employee's knowledge
Certification tests about the product or service.
Product testing An employee's capability of
performing a particular task.
The performance of a
product or service.
Learning & Concepts Description of new business
Guidance Methodologies concept, process, or product.
Processes
Systems

The first three areas are about collecting, validating, and analyzing data. The
Learning and Guidance section focuses on passing information to a receiver in a
structured manner.

Using questionnaires to support learning or provide guidance is possible because

questionnaires:

• Are interactive tools that manage output, input, and validation of

data.
• Support multiple file formats such as text, graphics, video, audio,
and hyperlinks.
• Allow a designer to build a sequence of incidents into a structured
flow.

Because questionnaires are an integrated part of Microsoft Dynamics AX, a

business can collect data from all people that are already registered in the system
(such as customers, vendors, or employees). Users can cross-reference master
data, typically demographic, with responses by using the unique identification of
each respondent.

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Questionnaire Design and Components

Capturing information from respondents requires a structured approach and a
good command of the language in which the questionnaire is designed. Imprecise
answers provide imprecise information and worthless data. Therefore, it is
important for a person designing a questionnaire to:

• Formulate precise questions that call for precise answers.

• Define the respondent group accurately.
• Determine how many questions to ask.

A company can also involve specialists when designing questionnaires, such as:

• Market analysts, to perform a customer satisfaction review.

• HR specialists, to design employee surveys.
• Functional specialists, to conduct process or systems knowledge
testing.

Specialists can help increase quality in the questionnaire, and by extension,

increase quality in the data harvested.

FIGURE 1.1 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN AND COMPONENTS

The questionnaire process is divided into five phases:

• Design - Designers determine the type of questionnaire to

implement, and how to analyze results after respondents complete
and return the questionnaire.
• Test - Ensure that the questionnaire is executable, that it produces
useful data, and that respondents have a positive experience.

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• Plan - Specify when and by whom the questionnaire is executed.

• Execute - Respondents complete the questionnaire.
• Analysis - Use the reports and statistics tools to examine results.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Questionnaire supports the gray processes shown in the

preceding figure. The white processes are managed outside the system, and as the
figure shows, much of the design work is done outside the system.

Primary Components of Questionnaires

The following figure shows the primary components of questionnaires in
Microsoft Dynamics AX.

FIGURE 1.2 PRIMARY COMPONENTS OF QUESTIONNAIRES

The following table describes each of the primary components of a questionnaire.

Setup Description
Questionnaire Used to gather questionnaires into manageable groups.
type Grouping questionnaires by type can make it easier for a
designer to locate the questionnaire that best suits the
current need.
Form template Used to supply visual support for questionnaires executed
in the client.

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Setup Description
Question type Used to gather questions into manageable groups.
Question types are useful when searching and retrieving
questions from earlier questionnaires for reuse.
Questionnaire The questionnaire contains the framework, logic, and
purpose behind how and what information to gather.
Question Questions are independent from questionnaires, and are
only linked to them so that the same question can be used
on several questionnaires. The system supports
conditional hierarchies of questions, which enable
questionnaire designers to branch questions depending on
the response given.
Instruction A question can contain text-based instruction in case an
explanation is needed before answering. Providing
instructions for questions is optional.
Result group Used to capture points for the following:
• Those defined for answers by the questionnaire
designer.
• One point for a correctly answered question. In this
case, the designer defines which answer is correct, but
does not assign points.
Capturing points is useful for evaluating the results of a
questionnaire. By default, the system evaluates at the
questionnaire level so that statistics can be generated on a
question by question basis, and questionnaire by
questionnaire. However, it is often useful to evaluate
similar questions or questions about a particular subject in
result groups.
Answer Answers are response options for closed questions and are
always created in an answer group. For example, a
customer asked to rate a service might be given five
options:
• Excellent
• Exceeds expectations
• Meets basic expectations
• Fails to satisfy expectations
• Unacceptable
Each option is an answer. Answers can be allocated
points, and an answer can be marked as a correct answer.
Answers can also be linked to form a conditional question
hierarchy. Conditional question hierarchies are described
in the section titled “Enabling Responses.”

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Setup Description
Answer group Used to create fixed groups of answers that can be
assigned to closed questions. The answers above, from
Excellent to Unacceptable, can belong to an answer group
named ex-to-unacc-5L (Excellent to Unacceptable, 5
levels). The ex-to-unacc-5L answer group can be reused
each time a question needs one of these five answers. The
system also allows users to supply response options in an
answer group in a random order.

Internet Support
Respondents can execute all questionnaires by using the client, provided that the
respondent has access to the system. However, there are certain advantages to be
gained by allowing respondents to execute a questionnaire using the Enterprise
Portal. Microsoft Dynamics AX Questionnaire provides full Internet support
executing questionnaires and can deliver automated feedback. How to enable
questionnaires on Enterprise Portal is described in the section titled
“Questionnaires on Enterprise Portal.”

Summary
Depending on what a business wants to gain knowledge on, it can use
questionnaires to gather valuable information about a wide variety of tangible
and intangible subjects from several different groups of respondents.
Questionnaires can be used to test knowledge of a specific subject, and to gather
input to evaluate a product, service, or employee.

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Test Your Knowledge

Test your knowledge with the following questions.

1. List and describe the four primary ways to use questionnaires in a business
context.

2. Explain the five phases of the end-to-end questionnaire process.

3. Name and briefly describe the primary components of a questionnaire.

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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from this
chapter:

1.

2.

3.

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Solutions
Test Your Knowledge
1. List and describe the four primary ways to use questionnaires in a business
context.

MODEL ANSWER - Surveys - Questionnaires that ask for ratings or

opinions, such as customer and employee satisfaction surveys, and market

research. Structured feedback - Questionnaires that ask for evaluations or

appraisals, such as 360° feedback analyses, course evaluations, and employee

development dialogs. Testing - Questionnaires that test knowledge of a given

subject, such as certification tests, or product knowledge tests. Learning and

Guidance - Questionnaires that are informative, and support learning in an

organization.

2. Explain the five phases of the end-to-end questionnaire process.

MODEL ANSWER - The five phases are: Design - Determine the type of

questionnaire to implement, and how to analyze results after the

questionnaire is completed. Test - Ensure that the questionnaire can be

executed, and that it produces useful data. Plan - Specify when and by whom

the questionnaire is executed. Execute - Respondents complete the

questionnaire. Analyze - Use the reports and statistics tools to examine

results.

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3. Name and briefly describe the primary components of a questionnaire.

MODEL ANSWER - Questionnaire type - Use to gather questionnaires into

manageable groups. Form templates - use to supply visual support for

questionnaires. Question type - Use to gather questions into manageable

groups. Questionnaire - The questionnaire contains the framework, logic, and

purpose behind how and what information to gather. Question - Text

designed to elicit information from a respondent. Instruction - Difficult or

complicated questions can be supported by text-based instructions. Result

group - Use to capture points assigned to answers, or for correctly answered

questions. Answer group - Use to create fixed groups of answers that can be

assigned to closed questions. Answers - Use to provide response options for

closed questions.

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