Impact of Digital Technologies on Tesco's Business Operations

This research project examines the impact of digital technologies on Tesco's business operations. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including surveys and interviews with Tesco employees and managers, the study investigates the digital technologies implemented by Tesco, their impact on business activities, and the challenges faced during implementation. The research provides valuable insights into the benefits and drawbacks of digital transformation in a large retail organization, offering recommendations for Tesco to optimize its digital strategy and gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Managing a Successful Business
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario [P1].................................................3
Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources [P2]....................................................................................3
Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for
completion [P3]..........................................................................................................................6
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................8
Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives. [P4]........................................................8
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................11
Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques [P5].................................11
Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to draw
valid and meaningful conclusions [P6]....................................................................................17
Task 4.......................................................................................................................................18
Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance [P7]...............................................................................................................18
Conclusion................................................................................................................................20
Reference List..........................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
The tough competition in the world market makes every company to get accustomed to the
changes and develop appropriate and effective strategies. For the companies to sustain and
compete in the market full of competition they must accustom themselves to the
technological changes to retain their place in the market. In this assignment, case of Tesco
(Tesco.com, 2018) has been reflected to identify and analyze the impact of digital
technologies on the day-to-day operations carried within the company. For a more detailed
analysis, the utilization of digital technologies and digital strategies has been researched
related to competitive advantage in the market. This assignment consists of small-scale
research in order to understand the impact of digital technologies and the strategies developed
by the organization to cope up with digital changes.
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Task 1
Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario [P1]
Aim:
The aim of the research is to analyze the impact of digital technologies on the business
activities of Tesco.
Objective:
 To investigate the digital technologies that are used by Tesco
 To understand and analyze the impact of digital technologies on the organization and
their activities
 To identify the issues related to the use of digital technologies
 To provide appropriate recommendations in order to mitigate the identified issues
Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources [P2]
Activities Time (in hour) Cost per hour ($) Total cost ($)
Site Surveys 250 30 7500
Conducting surveys
via conferences and
emails
200 20 4000
Carrying out
interviews
50 30 1500
Conducting surveys
by phone calls
400 20 8000
Total 900 100 21000
Table 1: Aspects of time and cost
The table above illustrates the total cost and total time consumed by the researchers in order
to complete the process of the survey that includes site surveys in which several employees of
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Tesco were investigated. The above table also shows the surveys that were carried out
through conferences, e-mails, and phone calls. In this research, the researcher also conducted
personal face-to-face interviews with the managers of Tesco that in return assisted the
researcher to gather information about the organization. It also helped the researcher to gain a
small idea regarding the aspect of time and cost consumed in order to develop effective
digital strategies to cope up with the changes and evolution in digital technologies.
Scope of the project plan:
Scope of the project plan generally highlights the opportunities and chances of the business
plan and its effectiveness. The scope of the project plan is classified into two categories
namely included scope and excluded scope that is mentioned below:
Included scope: Included scope is the scope, which is included in the business management
plan of the project. Included scope assists the researcher to recognize and assess the impact of
changing digital technologies on the company and their day-to-day operations. Moreover,
included scope helps the researcher to understand the market and business environment for
developing effective digital strategies for the organization to cope up with the changes in
digital technologies and gain competitive advantage in the market.
Excluded scope: Excluded scope is the scope that is generally not mentioned in the project. It
helps the researcher to identify the impacts of digital changes and transformation on the
organization and its effect on the business environment of the organization. Similar to
included scope it also helps the researcher to analyze the market and business environment
for developing effective digital strategies for the organization. Excluded scope helps the
researcher to assess the customer satisfaction level provided by the organization and the
expectation of the customers from the organization. It also helps the researcher to identify the
impact of digital changes on the external entities related to the organization.
Quality:
The quality of the project is determined by the responses accumulated and documented. In
order to make sure that the quality of the project is acceptable and the results generated from
the project is related to the situation of the market the researcher ensures that the survey
carried out is not across limited audiences. The researcher has ensured that the close-ended
questions are well structured with proper alternatives to make sure that the responses from the
respondents on the questionnaires are appropriate with research.
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Communication:
The communication of the research work is determined as per the responses and information
gathered by the researcher. The project would focus on the communication process within the
organization. It reflects the communication of the company with the shareholders and
stakeholders of the project. The process of communication contains questionnaires, surveys
and mailing the employees of the company to obtain their views on the plan of the project.
The researcher conducts personal interviews with the managers of the organization in order to
make sure that communication proper and effective. In addition, it is significant to maintain
and keep records of the operations that are carried out within the company on regular basis.
Risk:
Number of
Weeks
Dates
identified
Identification of risks
and problems faced
Impact Effect on the project
1 1.05.18 Barriers of
communication within
the employees
moderate The cost and time
required for carrying
out the project got
increased because of
communication
barriers.
4 21.05.18 Problems regarding
Information
accessibility
high The Information
Protection Act
restricted the reach to
several information of
the organization.
7 12.06.18 Technological
malfunction and loss of
data
low The progress of the
research got restricted
due to the loss of
information
accumulated and
other technological
failures
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Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion [P3]
Task
Number
Activity name Starting date Duration Ending date
Analyzing the impact
of digital technologies
on the operations of
Tesco
1-05-18 90 1-08-18
1 Reflecting the aim,
objectives and
timeframe of the
project
2-05-18 20 22-05-18
1.1 Identifying the aim of
the project
3-05-18 2 5-05-18
1.2 Identification of
objectives of the
project
5-05-18 5 10-05-18
1.3 The aspects of cost
and time
10-05-18 15 25-0518
1.4 Reflecting the scope of
the project
15-05-18 5 20-05-18
2 Ways for conducting
surveys
25-05-18 60 25-07-18
2.1 Selecting the size of
the sample
25-05-18 5 30-05-18
2.2 Preparing the
interview questions for
the survey
30-05-18 10 10-06-18
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2.3 Conducting site
surveys
10-06-18 15 25-06-18
2.4 Conducting survey
through emails,
conferences and phone
calls
25-06-18 10 5-07-18
2.5 Conducting face-to-
face interview
5-07-18 5 10-07-18
2.6 Data accumulation 10-07-18 7 17-07-18
2.7 Analyzing the data
accumulated
17-07-18 8 25-07-18
2.8 Obtaining the result 25-07-18 1 26-07-18
3 Finalizing the project 27-07-18 10 6-08-18
Table 2: work breakdown structure
Gantt Chart
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Task 2
Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research
methods appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives. [P4]
In this research, the researcher has utilized quantitative and qualitative methods in order to
accumulate data. Quantitative method reflects the measurements of objective and the
numerical, arithmetical, and statistical analysis by conducting questionnaires, surveys, and
polls. Quantitative analysis focuses on collecting data and evaluating the data collected
within the targeted audience in order to describe a specific phenomenon. Qualitative method
highlights the aim and objective of the project by carrying out personal interviews with the
HR managers of the company to collect data and to recognize their perception of the subject
matter.
Quantitative Analysis:
In this method, researchers asked several questions to the employees of Tesco while
conducting the survey and the questions asked by the researcher are as follows:
Q1. Please specify your age
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total numbers of
students
18-25 30% 30 100
25-30 35% 35 100
30-35 15% 15 100
35 and above 20% 20 100
Table 1: age of the respondents
Q2. Please specify your gender
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
students
Male 45% 45 100
Female 55% 55 100
Table 2: gender of the respondents
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Q3. Which digital technologies among the given list, your company has implemented?
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
EMV chip cards 25% 25 100
Emails 20% 20 100
Digital assistants 15% 15 100
Cloud computing 25% 25 100
Some other 15% 15 100
Table 3: digital technologies implemented by Tesco
Q4. How far do you agree with the point that digital technologies have positive impact
on the business operations of Tesco?
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
Respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly agreed 30% 30 100
Agreed 25% 25 100
Neutral 15% 15 100
Disagreed 20% 20 100
Highly disagreed 10% 10 100
Table 4: impact of digital technologies
Q5. How far are you satisfied with the implementation of digital technologies in the
company?
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly satisfied 15% 15 100
satisfied 25% 25 100
Likely 20% 20 100
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Dissatisfied 20% 20 100
Highly dissatisfied 20% 20 100
Table 5: Satisfaction level of employees after the implementation of digital technologies
in Tesco
Q6. Do you think that implementation of digital technology has helped the human
resource department of Tesco?
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly agreed 35% 35 100
Agreed 25% 25 100
Neutral 10% 10 100
Disagreed 20% 20 100
Highly disagreed 10% 10 100
Table 6: Digital technology influencing Human resource activity of Tesco
Q7. Do you agree with the point that implementation of digital technology would help
Tesco in gaining competitive advantage?
Particulars Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly agreed 30% 30 100
Agreed 30% 30 100
Neutral 15% 15 100
Disagreed 15% 15 100
Highly disagreed 10% 10 100
Table 7: implementation of digital technology to gain competitive advantage
Qualitative analysis:
To accumulate further information and details three human resource managers of Tesco have
been interviewed by the researcher and the questions asked during the interview process are
as follows:
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Q1: Has the implementation of the digital technology improved the performance of the
human resource department?
Q2: What are the issues faced by the organization while implementing digital
technologies?
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Task 3
Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques [P5]
18-25 25-30 30-35 35 and above
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35% 30%
35%
15%
20%
Figure 1.1: age of the respondents
Findings and analysis:
From the above table, it can be observed that respondents belonging from the age group 18 to
30, which shows their will of participating in the survey and most of the responses, came
from them and rest of the respondents were quite inactive in the survey as their responses are
almost negotiable.
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45%
55% Male
Female
Figure 2.1: gender of the respondents
Findings and analysis:
According to the above figure, it can be observed that there is a slight difference in the gender
of the respondents. Fifty-five percent of the responses came from males and 45% of the
responses came from female. However, the number of male participants was greater but the
female participants were also active in the survey conducted among 100 respondents.
EMV chip cards Emails Digital assistants Cloud
computing Some other
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
25% 20% 15% 25% 15%
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Figure 3.1: digital technologies implemented by Tesco
Findings and analysis:
According to the above graph, it can be clearly seen that Tesco has implemented Cloud
computing and EMV chip cards as most of their digital technologies. Twenty-five percent
cloud computing technology and Twenty-five percent EMV chip cards have been
implemented by Tesco. This shows the importance and dominance of cloud computing and
EMV chip cards in digital technologies in Tesco as compared to other digital technologies
such as emails, digital assistants and other related technologies. Digital technologies like
cloud computing and EMV chip cards are emerging in the market at a rapid pace and this
might be one of the main reason that Tesco implemented these digital technologies.
30%
25%
15%
20%
10%
Highly agreed
Agreed
Neutral
Disagreed
Highly disagreed
Figure 4.1: impact of digital technologies
As per the details provided in the graph, it can be clearly seen that 30% of the respondents
highly agree with the fact that implementation of digital technologies have a positive impact
on the organization and the operations that are carried on daily basis. From the graph, 25% of
the respondents agree with the point that the digital technologies have positive impact on the
business organization whereas 15% of the respondents are neither agreeing nor disagreeing
with the point that digital technologies influences the business organization. On the other
hand, 305 of the total respondents are disagreeing with the point of digital technologies
having positive impact on the business organization.
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Highly satisfied satisfied Likely Dissatisfied Highly
dissatisfied
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
15%
25%
20% 20% 20%
Figure 5.1: Satisfaction level of employees after the implementation of digital
technologies in Tesco
Findings and analysis:
According to the information provided in the above graph, it can be seen that only 15% of the
respondents are highly satisfied with the implementation of digital technologies in the
business organization. While according to the survey, 25% of the respondents are satisfied
with the implementation of digital technologies in the organization. On the other hand, 20%
of the respondents are likely satisfied and 40% of the respondents are dissatisfied with the
organization implementing digital technologies. Thus, it can be concluded that majority of the
respondents are dissatisfied and believe that implementing digital technologies will help the
organization to improve and have competitive advantage.
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35%
25%10%
20%
10%
Highly agreed
Agreed
Neutral
Disagreed
Highly disagreed
Figure 6.1: Digital technology influencing Human resource activities of Tesco
Findings and analysis:
From the above graph, it can be observed that 35% of the respondents highly agree with point
that digital technologies influences the activities of human resource department of Tesco.
Twenty-five percent of the respondents agree with this point and 10% of respondents are
neutral. On the other hand, 20% of the respondents are disagreeing with the point that digital
technologies influences the human resource activities of Tesco and 10% of the respondents
highly disagree with the point of digital technologies influencing the human resource
activities.
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30%
30%
15%
15%
10%
Highly agreed
Agreed
Neutral
Disagreed
Highly disagreed
Figure 7.1: implementation of digital technology to gain competitive advantage
Findings and analysis:
As per the details provided in the above graph, it can be said that implementation of digital
technologies in an organization does gives them competitive edge in the market. According to
the graph, 305 of the respondents agree with the point that implementation of digital
technology helps an organization to gain competitive advantage. Thirty percent of the
respondents agree with this point and 15% of the respondents are neither agreeing nor
disagreeing with the point of digital technology helping the organization to gain competitive
edge in the market. On the other hand, 15% of the respondents disagreed with the fact that
digital technology helps an organization to gain competitive advantage and 10% of the
respondents are highly disagreeing with this point. Thus, it can be said that majority of the
employee are in favour of implementation of digital technologies.
Q1: Has the implementation of the digital technology improved the performance of the
human resource department?
Manager 1: According to the viewpoint of first manager, the implementation of digital
technologies improved the performances of human resource department as it provided them
with facilities to keep track of the progress of the activities within the organization. The
utilization digital technologies help the organization to keep record of the employee
attendance diminishing the traditional way of keeping attendances.
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Manager 2: As per the viewpoint of second manager, implementation of digital technologies
improved the performances of human resource department by providing different kind of
technologies to help the managers to keep check on the employees and their performances
within the organization.
Manager 3: As per the view of third manager, implementation of digital technologies
improved the performances but also made the managers capable to face the challenges
efficiently and to overcome them.
Q2: What are the issues faced by the organization while implementing digital
technologies?
Manager 1: As per the viewpoint of first manager, the issues that are faced by the
organization while implementing digital technologies are most of the time regarding the cost
it consumes to implement the digital technologies.
Manager 2: According to the viewpoint of second manager, one of the biggest issues that is
faced by any organization while implementing digital technologies is regarding the safety and
security related to digital technologies. With the evolution of digital technologies, hackers are
also improving their hacking skills and can cause significant damage to the organization if
they are able to hack the technology.
Manager 3: As per the view of third manager, the main problem while implementing digital
technologies is that it consumes a lot of time for proper implementation of the technology.
Time is one of the vital factors that must be considered by the organization as giving too
much time for the implementation of digital technology would create problems for the other
day-to-day activities that are carried within the organization. Thus, the organization while
implementing new technologies must assign specific time slot for that particular purpose.
Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions [P6]
According to the research and analysis, it can be observed that digital technologies are useful
for a business organization. Although, it is beneficial for the organization there are some
issues with the implementation of digital technologies. As per the views of managers it can be
figured out that, the issues must be considered by the organization. The organization must
prepare a proper budget while planning to implement new technologies as it would help them
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to implement the technologies with minimal amount. Organizations with digital technologies
must create a strong security set up in order to protect the privacy of the employees within the
organization. Lastly, the organization must develop proper and effective strategies so that
they will be able to cope up with the evolving digital technologies and sustain in the
competitive market (Kane et al., 2015).
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Task 4
Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own
learning and performance [P7]
This research was a great experience in my life. While performing this research I have
performed critical investigation on the use and importance of digital technology in the
business of Tesco Plc. In order to perform the investigation, I have conducted a survey with
some employees of Tesco plc. This survey was completely a new experience in my life and
while performing survey, I came to know how Tesco Plc is using digital technology in its
business. This has enhanced my knowledge regarding the practical business world.
While starting this project, I had four key objectives related to impact of digital technology,
use of digital technology, issues that Tesco Plc is facing while using digital technology and
providing recommendations to the company in respect to the use of digital technology. After
performing the survey, I think that all the objectives have been achieved. I have identified
that currently Tesco Plc is using digital technology in different ways like, Emails, Cloud
computing and EVM Chip cards. At the same time, I have also found out that most of the
employees in the organization believe that digital technology has positive impact on the
growth of the business. These findings are indicating that the company is using digital
technology effectively. However, I have also identified that the company is facing some
issues while using digital technology in the business. These findings have enhanced my
knowledge regarding the use of digital technology and at the same time, it has also helped me
understanding the problems that companies generally face while adopting digital technology.
While conducting the survey, I have learned many other things like I have learned how to
communicate with the managers in large organizations, which has improved my
communication skill. Improved communication skill is very important to manage a business
effectively. It means this improved communication skill will help me in future when I will
enter in the practical business world for employment purpose.
At the same time, I must mention that this project has also indicated the areas where I am
lacking behind. In order to analyze the survey data, I have used quantitative data analysis
technique. However, performing quantitative data analysis was not easier for me. I faced
trouble in several times, which indicates that I need to learn more about quantitative data
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analysis. I have to learn more about qualitative data analysis technique also. Though I have
learned how to critically analyse the research data, I need to know more about qualitative data
analysis technique so that in future I can analyze the research data more critically. If I
comment on my performance, I must mention that I need to improve my performance in
project management. I could not manage time effectively, which was another fault. However,
I hope in the coming years these areas will be improved.
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Conclusion
In the assignment, case study of Tesco has been used to assess the implementation and impact
of digital technologies on the organization and its activities. As per the research, it might be
concluded that implementation of various digital technologies has helped the organization to
improve their business process, compete in the market efficiently and sustain their position
and to gain competitive edge over their rivals. However, there are still some issues regarding
the implementation of digital technologies that must be solved by the organization and must
train the employees to enhance the operational process of the organization.
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Reference List
Kane, G.C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A.N., Kiron, D. and Buckley, N., 2015. Strategy, not
technology, drives digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte
University Press, 14.
Tesco.com. (2018). Tesco - Online Groceries, Homeware, Electricals & Clothing. [online]
Available at: https://www.tesco.com/ [Accessed 9 May 2018].
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