Digital Technology and Small-Scale Businesses

The assignment discusses the importance of digital technology for small-scale businesses, highlighting its potential to enhance growth and profitability through innovative ideas and increased productivity. A well-structured management plan, including a Gantt chart and work breakdown structure, is presented to facilitate task completion within an effective time frame. The researcher also prepares questions to gather information from respondents about the concept of digital technology and its impact on small businesses.

Unit 6 MSBP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario................................................3
P2 Produce a project management plan..................................................................................5
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart....................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods..9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................12
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques................................12
Theme 1: Concept of digital technology.............................................................................12
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions...............................................................................19
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................19
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives....................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Digital technology is the process to study the utilization of digital resources to
ascertain, create analyse, communicate and use information in a digital matter. These are the
electronic tools, devices, resources and systems that create, store and process the data.
Digital technology includes games applications, social media, multimedia, cloud computing,
mobile devices, etc. Digital technology is most crucial part of small organisations as to grow
the business at large scale and this create business models by innovative ideas, the
technology has a vast impact on small business, as they always creates a better and strong
public and brand image. The present research is about an Trustcall organisation, which is
running a call centre in Harrow (London), this provides customer care services to the
fashion retailer of UK (Ahmed Dine Rabeh, Jimenez-Jimenez and Martínez-Costa, 2013).
The managing director of the organisation has decided to move their call centre business to
the new place or location within the UK, as they want to achieve their upcoming targets.
This report will mainly emphasizes on the aims and objectives which is already given in the
scene. In addition with this, project management plan of the aim along with work
breakdown structure and Gantt chart is also evaluated. Data analysis with different
questionnaire is also been discussed. At last the project report will be ended by
recommending to the organization and evaluating the reflection part for completing the
project report in effective and systematic manner.
TASK 1
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
Digital technology has spread and it is not only an option of technology sector but
this also presents business technology for all the age groups in the wide variety of industries.
For small businesses digital technology is very beneficial as more and more companies are
discovering by integrating the technology, by this they can growing the growth of their
business and enhancing the productivity. Apart from all this, some small-scale organisation
are not taking proper advantage of digital technology as few are utilizing the digital tools for
acquiring new customers and some are personalizing their marketing content and approx
29% of companies are using social media on a regular basis just to interact with their
customer base ( Crane and Matten, 2016). There are many benefits which small-scale

organisations can have using digital technology such as increasing revenue, finding new and
fresh customers, and broader market reach. In the present scenario, the organisation is
having five administrative clerks and four senior managers, who deal and satisfy the
customer in regard with their complaints, cancellation and retention, etc. By the use of
digital technology, the organisation can be able to grow its business and innovate it by
bringing some new innovative products or brands.
Background of research
The Trustcall organisation is running the business of call centre at small-scale, and
wishes to move their call centre business to a new place or location within the UK, the
company is having the target of five core which named as gamification, Unified
communications platform, Virtual trainings, Get real-time and get aligned, and lastly
Remain profitable, which they have to achieved in the upcoming two years. The impact of
digital technology is very vast in small business as this technology helps in improving the
communication processes. The technology is also using by the owner of the organisation in
creating the secure and safe business environment. Digital technology can be helpful in
keeping financial records, payroll and accounting, etc. This can be also beneficial in
expanding in reaching the social media ( Den Hertog, Van der Aa and De Jong, 2010).
Digital technology is having the positive impact which is to helps in accessing the
information of all customers and also that they can be able to interact with the organisation
easily.
Aim : “To identify the impact of digital technology in enhancing business growth by developing
innovative idea...A case study on Trustcall”
Objectives :
 To identify the concept of digital technology
 To analyse different ways by which firm can attain business growth and innovative ideas.
 To analyse the major challenges of complementary digital technology.
Questions:
 What is the concept of digital technology ?
 How to analyse different ways by which company can enhance their business growth and
produce innovative ideas?
 What are the major challenges or issues of complementary digital technology?

P2 Produce a project management plan
A project management plan is a formal document which is designed by leaders and
managers, so that they can handle and run the project in effective manner, so that the project will
give them long term profits. There are several aspects which leaders and managers use to
consider while making a project management plans, like size, cost, scope, schedule, risk,
communication factors and cost quantity ( Eckerson, 2010). This formal documentation is a
collection of different functions like, developing, combining, and description of all activities.
While it come to growth of small businesses, digital technology has made a very positive impact
on them. It has helped them in growing their business at different level, by their profitability has
been increased and they also use to develop their business. Therefore, this tool is very much
important for small scale business, by which they can get information that how much these
changes are helpful for them. There are different key factors of project management plan which
are discussed as below-
1. Cost : Cost is the money which is required by a business for buying a new digital
technology, or can say that it is the cost which a business is needed for implementing
some digitalisation in their operations. After that, they have to make their budget and
then have to select the technology which is helpful for them and also that can
increase their business. On average, for a small business of ready made the cost
which is required for adding some digitalisation in their system, is about 1000
pounds, where as the cost of researcher for completing the research is about 200
pounds.
2. Scope : Scope is the term which is defined as the chance of growth, that a business
will get after implementing some digitalisation in their system. For small business of
ready made, the opportunities which are generated after applying some technology in
their operations are the scope which they were finding ( Gebauer, Edvardsson and
Bjurko, 2010). For this, it is very important for the business leaders and managers to
make strategies and plans, which will help them in implementing the change in
effective manner. Implementing new technology with proper planning will help
business in saving their cost and also increase the scope of the change.
3. Time : Time is considered as the duration of period which is required by a researcher for
completing the research and also said to the period in which business is able to

implement the change in their functioning. For researcher the time which is required for
completing the research is about 4 to 5 months. Where as for a small business of ready
made, the time which is required for adopting some digitalisation is about 9 months to 12
months.
4. Quality : Quality is the grade of products and services offered by a business to their
customers ( Incelli, 2013). For a small business, it is very important to maintain the
quality of the products and goods offered by them along with adopting some
digitalisation. This will help them in increasing their profits and also help them in
increasing the number of loyal customers. Along with this, it is important for researcher
to keep in mind that they have to make a good quality research, so that it can help
business in effective manner.
5. Communication : For an organisation, it is very much important to make proper
communication with their employees, so that they can understand their roles and
responsibilities in organisation. For small business who are adopting some digitalisation
in their functioning, it is very essential to explain the change in roles and responsibilities
of them and also have to give detail about the functioning of that adopted change.
6. Risk : Risk is the most essential factor of a business and of it's functioning. There are
ample number of risks, which business have to face while performing their operations.
Small business have very low chance to face any type of risk, as they do not have huge
amount of finance to invest. Therefore, it is very important for them to study about the
risk associated with change they are going to adopt, so that they can make strategies
according to it.
7. Resources : These are the material, which is required by a business for completing
their projects in selected time period ( Jones and Lubinski, 2012). For small business,
it is important for them to manage their resources, so that they can produce good and
services in very effective manner.
Potential Recommendation Theorist :-
Ahmed Dine Rabeh, H., Jimenez-Jimenez, D. and Martínez-Costa, M., 2013. Managing
knowledge for a successful competence exploration. Journal of Knowledge
Management. 7(2). pp.195-207.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

Den Hertog, P., Van der Aa, W. and De Jong, M. W., 2010. Capabilities for managing service
innovation: towards a conceptual framework. Journal of service Management. 21(4).
pp.490-514.
Eckerson, W. W., 2010. Performance dashboards: measuring, monitoring, and managing your
business. John Wiley & Sons.
Gebauer, H., Edvardsson, B. and Bjurko, M., 2010. The impact of service orientation in
corporate culture on business performance in manufacturing companies. Journal of
Service Management. 21(2). pp.237-259.
Incelli, E., 2013. Managing discourse in intercultural business email interactions: a case study of
a British and Italian business transaction. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development. 34(6). pp.515-532.
Jones, G. and Lubinski, C., 2012. Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914–
1990. Enterprise & Society. 13(1). pp.85-119.
Kankaanranta, A. and Planken, B., 2010. BELF competence as business knowledge of
internationally operating business professionals. The Journal of Business
Communication (1973). 47(4). pp.380-407.
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
Work breakdown Structure – This is the process of the project outcomes that
organizes the team's work into small manageable sections. This is not used for a specific
project type, this structure can be used in any type of field. In this, there are critical elements
which are named as tasks of the research project, and this evaluate their relationship to each
other and to the entire project ( Kankaanranta and Planken, 2010). The graphical
representation of work breakdown structure helps the manager of the organisation to
anticipate the results which is based on the scenario.

Gantt Chart – This is a type of project management tool used to show how a project
will run and operate by viewing the each tasks and their durations. This can be said as
graphical tool which display the task and activities that are performed against time. In this,
the task are broken down and divided into small segments and display them which can be
easier for the researcher to interpret and understand the task ( Lai and Ong, 2010). This chart
can make the project simple to create and view the activities and task of project over a given
period of time.
3rd December 21st December 4th January 17th January 16th February
Research
Design
Production
Sales technique

Launch
TASK 2
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods.
This section of the research will describe about the concept of research methodology
which is used to identify, analyse and process the information about a specific topic. While
conducting a research, it is very much crucial for a investigator to execute it according to the
research methodologies, so that the work can be completed in an effective and sequential
manner ( Lin and Chen, 2012). The purpose of this is to collect the data and information to
take business decisions. This methodology helps the investigator to manage the gathered and
collected data and information in the systematic manner. There are two methodologies
which researcher generally while conducting the research, these are as follows -
1. Qualitative : This research methodology is used to collect and gather the data in
theoretical manner. This method also used in conducting secondary research in which
data is collected from different sources like online web sites, articles, blogs and
other. In this, the data which is collected and gathered by the investigator is already
searched and investigated by someone else and by the help of their thesis researcher
is completing this research. This is an exploratory research which is used to gain the
understanding, viewpoint, underlying reasons and motivations. This research
includes focus groups, observations, interviews, etc. In this methodology, the sample
size is small and responders are chooses to fulfil the given aim.
2. Quantitative : This research methodology is used to collect and gather the
information and data and then analysed that to represent it in numerical format. This
researcher is used to make graph and execute various formulas of mathematics, as by
this the numerical data is systematically delivered to the researcher. Generally this
research methodology is used to collect data and information on the topic of
population and huge numbers of individuals ( Shang, 2012). This is also used to
determine the data and conclude the outcome or results from a sample to the group of
interest. In this the sample size is large which represent the peoples involvement. In
this the statistical data is generally in the tabular form and findings are absolute and

generally descriptive in nature. The quantitative research methodology includes
simulations and survey.
From the above research methodologies, the researcher of present research project
has decided to use the qualitative research methodology to learn more about the concept and
theories, along with this this is also helpful in gathering all data in less time with less
amount or cost.
Data collection : Data collection is the process of gathering and collecting the data
over a specific topic or subject to get an relevant information. This refers with the process of
gathering and measuring on targeted variables in an constituted system, which ensure the
one responder to answer the relevant questions and evaluate the result or outcome. The data
collection in a research is carried out to meet the given aims and set of objectives. This is the
way to describe a process of collecting and preparing data. Therefore data can be collected
for any type of research project. The two methods which researcher will going to use for
collecting the data on the present topic -
 Primary research : This method of data collection is used to answer the different
questions, as this is the new research so this includes surveys, questionnaire and
interview, etc. This research method is more complex and had in-depth exploration .
In this method there is one-to-one talks with existing firm employers and employees.
In this method, the researcher is the first individual who is conducting the research
on this subject or topic (Difference Between Primary and Secondary Data, 2019) .
Along with this, in primary research method the information and data is collected
from direct sources by using different methods like focused groups. This method will
assist in collecting the authenticated information and data, which result in attaining
the aims and objectives and complete the research in effective time frame.
 Secondary research : This method of data collection is easy to conduct and collect
the useful and relevant data, in this the understanding of the researcher is broad. This
can be obtained from the public sources like articles, blogs, new paper, web sites,
books and other sources. In addition with this, this method is useful in collecting the
information from the public sources which already have the information about that
specific topic. This can assist in completing the research in less time and in cheap
cost.

From the above research method, the researcher has decided to use the secondary
research data collection method as this saves a lot of time of the researcher and provide the
useful and accurate relevant information in very low cost.
Questionnaire : The questionnaire is a type of research instrument which include the
list of questions which aim top collect and get accurate information and data from the
responders. In this, the researcher will examine the answers which are responded by the
responders in context to sample targeted size ( Smith, 2011). Through this instrument of the
research, the investigator can easily get the appropriate result and outcome in very less time.
Therefore, in the present research project, Trustcall has selected 30 respondents to answer
their number of questions.
Questionnaire
Q1) Are you aware about the concept of Digital Technology?
Agree
Disagree
Q2) Do you think, digital technology have an positive impact on small businesses?
Yes
No
Q3) What are the main advantages of digital technology in small business?
a) Improvement in skills of employees
b) Attaining goals and objectives of organisation
Q4) According to your perception, which one is the main challenge that will be faced by
companies at the time of providing training and development sessions to their employees?
a) Need huge source of money
b) Time consuming process
Q5) Can innovations in call centre business lead to a sustained competitive advantage?
a) Agree
b) Disagree

Q 6) Do you think, adoption of Digital technology will help small business in enhance their
chances of growth?
a) Agree
b) Disagree
Q.7) Which one is the best alternative technique that will help small scale company in growing
faster?
a) Social media
b) Online web sites
Q8) Provide recommendation to Nestle by which they can provide effective training and
development sessions to their employees, so that they can improve their skills.
TASK 3
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques
Theme 1: Concept of digital technology
Q 1) Are you aware about the concept of digital technology? Frequency
a) Agree 25
b) Disagree 5

Interpretation : Digital technology are the technologies which use high speed
internet and connect ample number of people by just one click. This also include use to
computer system, mobiles and iPads in functioning of system. From the above graph it can
be easily interpreted that out of 30 respondents, 25 are aware about the concept of digital
technology and know it's use in business, where as 5 are not aware about it and also do not
that how it is helpful for a business. The people who are aware about the concept of digital
technology belongs to middle class or higher class and also have their business, where as the
people who are not aware about this are either from lower class or do not have any
connection to business.
Theme 2: Impact of digital technology on small businesses.
Q 2) Do you think, digital technology have an positive impact on small
businesses?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Agree Disagree
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Column B

Interpretation : There are ample number of positive impacts of use of digital
technology in a business. As this help business in performing their operations in effective
manner, and also help in performing the complex tasks in very easy way. This also give
ample number of opportunities to businesses so that they can grow and develop their
business in the manner they want. By this the profitability and market share of business get
improved and also business can achieve their goals and objectives in very effective manner.
From the above data, it can be easily interpreted that out of 30 respondents, 20 believes that
yes digital technology has posses positive impact on small business and also plays an
important role in growth of them, while on other hand, 10 of them think that no there is no
impact of digitalisation which can said as positive for small businesses.
Theme 3: Benefits of digital technology in small business.
Q3) What are the main advantages of digital technology in small business? Frequency
a) Increase market share 15
b) Reduce the complexity of system 15
a) Yes b) No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
10
Column B

Interpretation : There are ample number of advantages which a small business can
attain by adopting digital technology in their functioning. This include, reduction in complexity
of working system of organisation, also give advantage by increasing the market share and also
enhance profitability of organisation. Also it help organisation in gaining knowledge about the
trends of market, so that they can change themselves according to it, it also provide opportunities
of providing their products and services across the boundaries. From the above information, is it
very much clear that out of 30 respondents, 15 says that the main advantages of digital
technology to small business is reduction in complexity of system operations, where as 15 thinks
that the main advantage of digital technology is increase in market share and also increase in
profitability.
Theme 4: Main challenge that will be faced by small business at the time of making
some digital change in their functioning.
Q 4) According to your perception, which one is the main challenge that will Frequency
a) Increase market share b) Reduce the complexity of system
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15 15
Column B

be faced by small business at the time of making some digital change in their
functioning?
a) Need huge source of money 25
b) Time consuming process 5
Interpretation : While implementing digital technology in any small business, there
are ample number of problems which business have to face. This include, lack in source
funding, very lengthy and time consuming process, change in technology and other. From
the above information, it is clearly said that 25 respondents out of 30 think that, for adopting
digital technologies huge source of fund is required and that is the biggest challenge that a
small business have to face. Where as 5 of them think that time is biggest challenge for
them, as adopting digital technologies need huge time.
Theme 5: Innovations in call centre business lead to a sustained competitive advantage.
a) Need huge source of money b) Time consuming process
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Column B

Q.5. Can innovations in call centre business lead to a sustained competitive
advantage?
Frequency
a) Agree 20
b) Disagree 10
Interpretation : Innovation is very important for a business, as this help them in
making changes which are very unique and can new in market. This help them in increasing
their profitability and also help them in gaining some competitive advantages. From the
above given data, it is interpreted that 20 out of 30 respondents says that yes innovation help
call centre in gaining some competitive advantages. Where as 10 think that there is no
advantage which call centre can get by making some innovation in their operations.
a) Agree b) Disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
10
Column B

Theme 6: Adoption of Digital technology will help small business in enhance their
chances of growth.
Q 6. Do you think, adoption of Digital technology will help small business
in enhance their chances of growth?
Frequency
a) Agree 25
b) Disagree 5
Interpretation : The organisations which use to adopt different digital technologies,
get ample number of opportunities so that they can grow their business and also get chance
to develop themselves. This help in reducing the complexity of system, also help in
providing products and services in different nations, and also help in increasing the market
share of organisation. From the above data, it is clear that out of 30 respondents, 25 says that
yes adopting digital technology is good for small business, and this also increase the chance
of growth for them. Where as out of 30 respondents, 5 thinks that there is nothing given by
digital technologies which can be said as chance or opportunity of growth for small
businesses.
a) Agree b) Disagree
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Column B

Theme 7: Best alternative technique that will help small scale company in growing
faster.
Q.7. Which one is the best alternative technique that will help small scale
company in growing faster?
Frequency
a) Social media 20
b) Online web sites 10
Interpretation : There are ample number of benefits which an organisation can get
by adopting digital technologies, but rather then this, there are ample number of platforms
which can help small businesses to grow themselves and also help in increasing their market
share. This include social media, online marketing, online web sites and other. From the
above graph it is interpreted that, from 30 respondents 20 use to say that social media
another tool which small business can use for enhancing their performance and also for
improving their market share. They says that it is platform which a good alternative of
digital technology which will help them in gaining growth opportunities. Where as, out of
a) Social media b) Online web sites
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
10
Column B

30, 10 says that online web sites are powerful alternative which a small business can use or
getting opportunities of growing the business.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions
From the above mentioned research, it can be said that, digital technology is one of
the important factor for businesses, as this help them in growing and developing their
business in different parts of world. Small business have very low fund available with them
for investment, therefore, it is very essential for them to get opportunities of development
where they do not have top invest much the return remain high. Digital technology is one of
biggest factor which an organisation love to adopt, as the fund required in this is very low,
and the rate of return from this is very high. Along with this, it is recommended to small
business that they can use different mediums of digitalisation, that can help them in
increasing their business and also will help them in increasing their market share. Along
with this digitalisation, they also can adopt some different online mediums which are very
much popular and easy are, social media, online web sites. These sources are big and have
capability to make connection with ample number of people in a single time. Therefore, this
will help business in providing information about the products offered by them to numerous
people. Also it is recommended to them that they have to keep a continuous over view of
products and services offered by their competitors and technologies used by them. This will
help them in gaining knowledge that how far behind or forward are they from their
competitors.
TASK 4
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives
While conducting the Trustcall research, I have learned by having many experiences
during research, which gave me knowledge , motivation, encouragement of doing
something, and some things demotivated me in between the research which result in
negative outcomes of my performance. To conduct this research, firstly I had gone through
for the research about the concept of digital technology. Through this, I cam to know that

this technology is very helpful and plays the crucial role in the business field. As, I the
present organisation is a call centre and the owner decided to move their business of call
centre at other and new location, which help them to grow their business and
innovativeness. So then I had gone through the project management plan in which I evaluate
the cost, scope, risk and required resources in conducting this research and for moving the
business in new place. Therefore, later on I came to know that different methods and
methodologies are also going to be used in the present research for collecting the accurate
and relevant information and data. I also prepared the questionnaire for the responders to
gather and collecting the useful information and to meet the needs of customers. Apart from
all this, I had also gone through various issues and the difficulty face by me was that my
communication skills was not good and proper while asking the questions from the
respondents, that's why I failed to collect the relevant information. Along with this, it was
very difficult for ,e to complete this research in given time frame and the cost which was
expected by me in conducting this research was not satisfactory. Lastly, this is to reflect that
I had learned many things from the entire research. Along this, I had gone through various
experiences which will helpful to me in conducting the better research in the future ahead.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned research project, it has been concluded that Digital
technology is very essential for the small-scale companies to enhance the growth of their
business and increase the profitability by creating innovative ideas. On the other hand, For
small businesses digital technology is very beneficial as more and more companies are
discovering by integrating the technology, by this they can growing the growth of their
business and enhancing the productivity. In this research project, the researcher has gone
through different things so that the chosen firm can be able to accomplish their aim and
objectives which are mentioned in the above project report. The present report has described
about the well-structured management plan along with the Gantt chart and work breakdown
structure through which the task can be easily performed in effective time frame. The set of
questions has also been prepared to ask the respondents about the concept of digital
technology and its impact on small businesses. Lastly, the project report has end up by
recommending many suggestions to the researcher as well as the company for achieving this
aim and objectives in more effective way.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal