Examining the Role of Digital Workplace Transformation for Employees during Covid-19: A Study on ASDA

This research aims to examine the role of digital workplace transformation for employees in terms of performing their roles and duties during Covid-19 pandemic. The study focuses on ASDA, one of the leading retail industries in the UK. The research objectives include understanding the conceptual framework of digital workplace transformation, identifying its importance for employees, and discerning the challenges faced by ASDA during Covid-19. The research methodology includes a quantitative approach with a survey strategy and probability sampling. Ethical considerations are also addressed.

Unit 11

Research Proposal Form
Student Name: ______________________
Proposed Title: To examine the role of digital workplace transformation for employees in
terms of performing their roles and duties during Covid 19 pandemic.
Section One: Title, objective, responsibilities
Title: Workplace transformation within a company
Introduction:
Workplace transformation is the business strategy which helps the organisation to carry out their
operation in smooth manner. In the current age various companies is focusing on transforming their
working space by adopting digital technology. Workplace transformation is considered as one of the
priority aspects in recent time in order to fight with competitors in the age of digitalization. With the
help of digital workplace employee are being developed in such a manner which helps them to
perform their job in more effective and efficient manner (Fenech, Baguant and Ivanov, 2019).
Workplace transformation is defined as rethinking a business which provide flexible business
operation in order to enhance overall organizational performance. with the help of digital working
uncertainty can be predicted in better way which helps them to gain competitive edge. Under this
research, ASDA is chosen as the company which is one of the leading retail industry in United
Kingdom.
Research objectives and aim:
Research aim
To examine the role of digital workplace transformation for employees in terms of performing their
roles and duties during Covid 19 pandemic: A study on ASDA.
Research objectives
 To understand the conceptual framework of digital workplace transformation introduced in an
organisation
 To identify importance of digital workplace transformation for employees of ASDA in
performing their roles and duties during the pandemic COVID-19
 To discern the challenges faced by ASDA during Covid 19 which forces them to adopt the
business strategy of digital workplace transformation
Research question:
 What is the conceptual framework of digital workplace transformation introduced in an

organisation?
 What is the importance of digital workplace transformation for employees of ASDA in
performing their roles and duties during the pandemic COVID-19?
 What are the challenges faced by ASDA during Covid 19 which forces them to adopt the
business strategy of digital workplace transformation?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
The major reason behind the current research is to gather information related to workplace
transformation which helps in enhancing the knowledge and also add various skills. This investigation
will also cover the issue which company can face in absence of digital workplace transformation
strategy during crisis. This research has great interest in me because it helps in attaining dual objective
that are personal and professional. In terms of personal objective, it will increase various skills which
are communication skills, analytic skills, research skills and many more. Using these skills in research
will helps in completing the investigation in more systematic manner. In contrast to that with
professional perspective, the existing research will provide detailed information on the topic. This will
help in building cooperative future in sound manner.

Section Three: Literature sources searched
What is the conceptual framework of digital workplace transformation introduced in an
organisation?
According to Rani and Furrer (2021), workplace transformation has gain more importance at the
time of global pandemic Covid 19. At that time, it forces the business to adopt the strategy of digital
workplace transformation in order to manage and work with more productive manner. Digital
workplace transformation is the business strategy of rethinking a working space which is flexible. In
order to gain competitive advantage in the market organisation thinks of new business strategy
which helps them to operate their business in productive way while sitting remotely. At the time of
pandemic communication between the employee become easier which helps in performing their role
and duties in sound manner.
What is the importance of digital workplace transformation for employees of ASDA in performing
their roles and duties during the pandemic COVID-19?
As per the view of Papagiannidis and Marikyan (2020), there are various importance of digital
workplace transformation for the employee of ASDA in order to perform roles and duties in
pandemic. The foremost importance is ease in communication so that information is shared to the
employee in timely manner which helps them to execute their work with more enthusiasm. It also
helps in taking right decision at the time of Covid 19 which is most important for the company.
Another importance of digital workplace transformation is executing the work with the use of
application and software which helps in reducing the stress and work hour of the employee.
What are the challenges faced by ASDA during Covid 19 which forces them to adopt the business
strategy of digital workplace transformation?
As per the view of Pandita and Ray (2018), there are different challenges that would be encounter by
the companies in absence of digital workplace transformation during Covid 19. The first issue is
delaying in achieving the business goal because executing work in Crisis becomes difficult which
impact the organisational goal and objective. Another challenge is managing employees so that they
can perform their duty in good manner.
Section Four: Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the research project (e.g research,
development and analysis of ideas, writing, data collection, numerical analysis,
tutor meetings, production of final outcome, evaluation, writing the report):
Introduction
Aim and objectives
How
long
this will
take:
2 days

Literature review
Research methodology
Submission of research proposal
Data collection
Data analysis
Conclusion and recommendation
Reflection
Submission of final report
Milestone one: Literature review
Target date (set by tutor): 04-
04-22
Milestone two: Research
Methodology
Target date (set by tutor): 13-04-22
4 days
9 days
7 days
2 days
25 days
18 days
7 days
7 days
2 days

Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
Research methodology
It is one of the vital chapter in the research which helps in gathering and analysing information in
accurate way. There are some components of research methodology which are discussed below:
Research philosophy: They are divided into two parts which are positivism and interpretivism. In
existing investigation positivism philosophy will be selected by researcher to obtain quantitative
information in more valuable manner (Mukherjee, 2019).
Research approach: It is classified into two approaches which are inductive and deductive
approach. As per the present investigation, researcher will be selecting deductive approach to test the
hypothesis from quantitative data.
Research strategy: There are various types of research strategy which are survey, literature review,
focused group. Experimental and many more. In existing research survey strategy will be used to
obtain numerical information from the wider population size. It is also one of the cost effective
approach (Eisend and Kuss, 2019).
Research choice: There are two types of research choices that are quantitative and qualitative.
Under the existing investigation quantitative research choice will be chose in order to gain statistical
data which are in numbers or figures.

Time horizon: Cross sectional and longitudinal are the two-time framework. According to the
present study, cross sectional time horizon will be used to gather information in shorter time period
(Lai, 2018).
Data collection: Data collection is the technique which is used for collecting information in the
research. It is divided into two parts which are primary and secondary. In the recent research, both
primary and secondary will be chosen for collecting data. For collecting primary information,
questionnaire will be used and for secondary data books, online sites and different articles is study
(Davidavičienė, 2018).
Sampling: Probability and non-probability are the two sampling technique and in current research
probability sampling is chosen for selecting sample in equal and fair manner. The sample size will
be 30 employee from ASDA (Whicher, Philbin and Aronson, 2018).
Comments and agreement from tutor: The learner has understood the requirements and
have made an appropriate selection.
Agreed: __________
Tutor Signature: ___________
Date ______________
REFERENCES
Davidavičienė, V., 2018. Research Methodology: An Introduction. In Modernizing the Academic
Teaching and Research Environment (pp. 1-23). Springer, Cham.
Eisend, M. and Kuss, A., 2019. Research methodology in marketing. Cham, Switzerland: Springer
International Publishing.
Fenech, R., Baguant, P. and Ivanov, D., 2019. The Changing Role Of Human Resource Management In
An Era Of Digital Transformation. Journal of Management Information & Decision
Sciences. 22(2).
Lai, P.C., 2018. Research methodology for novelty technology. JISTEM-Journal of Information Systems
and Technology Management. 15.
Mukherjee, S.P., 2019. A guide to research methodology: An overview of research problems, tasks and
methods. CRC Press.
Pandita, D. and Ray, S., 2018. Talent management and employee engagement–a meta-analysis of their
impact on talent retention. Industrial and Commercial Training.
Papagiannidis, S. and Marikyan, D., 2020. Smart offices: A productivity and well-being
perspective. International Journal of Information Management. 51. p.102027.
Rani, U. and Furrer, M., 2021. Digital labour platforms and new forms of flexible work in developing
countries: Algorithmic management of work and workers. Competition & Change. 25(2). pp.212-
236.
Whicher, D., Philbin, S. and Aronson, N., 2018. An overview of the impact of rare disease characteristics
on research methodology. Orphanet journal of rare diseases. 13(1). pp.1-12.

Research Ethics approval form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the use of data collected
form human participants are required to gain ethical approval before commencing their research.
Please answer all relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor:
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully with your
unit tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research project is due to
commence.
Section 1: Basic details: Project title: To examine the role of digital workplace transformation for
employees in terms of performing their roles and duties during Covid 19 pandemic: A study on ASDA
Student name:
Student ID
number:
Programme:
College Name:
Intended research start date: 15-03-22
Intended research end date:07-07-22
Section 2 Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as a part of your project:
 Interviews Yes No
 Questionnaires Yes No
 Observations Yes No
 Use of personal records Yes No
 Data Analysis Yes No
 Action Research Yes No
 Focus Groups Yes No
 Others (Please specify) :

Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where
necessary. Will your research involve human participants?
YES
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16: Young people aged: 17-18 Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified an
approached)?

Participants will be chosen by probability sampling. 50 employers of Marks and Spencer will
be recruited from probability sampling.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
By adopting written and oral communication methods, researcher could easily inform all
information about the research to their respondents.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be made clear to
participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?
By giving valid information to the research respondents, investigator can easily obtain consent
from participants. This will be in form of written.
Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of omitting questions that do not
wish to answer?
Yes No
If no please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e give them a brief explanation of the
study)?
Yes No

Will participants be given information about the findings of your study?(This could be a brief summary
of your findings in general)
Yes No
Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act
(1998)
Yes No
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
Researcher

During the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
In USB storage and laptops
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be
used Yes No
If Yes, please provide further details:
After the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
In USB storage and laptops
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format?
May be 6 months in computer
Will data be kept for use by other researchers? Yes No
Section 5 : Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work, which may raise ethical concerns? If so,
please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise because of your
research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may include, but are not
limited to the following :
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
 Sensitive topics
 Risk to participants and /or researchers
 Confidentiality/anonymity
 Disclosures/ limits to confidentiality
 Data storage and security, both during and after the research (including transfer,

sharing, encryption, protection).
 Reporting
 Dissemination and use of your findings.
Section 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and Ethics Policy: Yes
No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit
Tutor: Yes No
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
The above information is correct, and this is a full description of the ethical issues that may arise

in the course of my research
Name: Date:
Please submit your completed form to your supervisor and also attach to the Research Proposal
when submitting to Turnitin.
14