ASDA Plc: Tech Innovation's Impact on Strategic Performance (UK)

This report assesses the impact of technological innovation on the strategic performance of ASDA Plc within the UK retail sector. It aims to understand strategic management concepts, identify factors affecting strategic performance, and analyze how technological innovation influences firms in the retail sector. The research uses a qualitative approach, incorporating both primary data collected through surveys of ASDA employees and secondary data from existing literature. The findings will provide recommendations for ASDA on strategically adopting technological advancements to enhance its strategic performance and maintain a competitive edge. The research methodology includes literature review, data collection, and thematic analysis to address research questions related to strategic management, influencing factors, and the effect of technological innovation. The timeline outlines key activities, from proposal drafting to final report submission, ensuring a structured approach to the research.

CORPORATE STRATEGY
AND GOVERNANCE

Table of Contents
TOPIC..........................................................................................................................................3
Background of the study..............................................................................................................3
Aims and objectives.....................................................................................................................3
Research Questions......................................................................................................................3
Rationale......................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................4
Research Methodology................................................................................................................5
Timeline (Gantt Chart).................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

TOPIC
To evaluate the impact of technological innovation over the strategic performance with
reference to retail sector of UK – A study on ASDA Plc.
Background of the study
A new dimension has been provided by the technology in retail sector. Large set - ups
can be managed in a better way due to the introduction of innovative technologies such as bar
codes, Point of sale equipment & huge storage capacity as facilitated by advance DBMS for
storing billing and payments (Sabahi and Parast 2020). The researcher will evaluate how
technological innovation is affect the strategic performance of ASDA which is providing for
both opportunities and threats. ASDA is known for and having reputation of adopting innovative
practices from long back.
Aims and objectives
Aim
The study aims to determine how technological innovation is affecting the strategic
performance of UK retail sector by taking the case of ASDA plc.
Objectives
 To understand the concept of strategic management & performance with reference to
retail sector.
 To identify the factors affecting strategic management and performance.
 To analyse how technological innovation is affecting strategic performance of firms
within the retail sector.
 To recommend ASDA on how they should strategically adopt technological advancement
for better strategic performance.
Research Questions
1. What is meant by strategic management and strategic performance and how it is relevant
for the retail sector?
2. What are the factors affecting strategic management and performance?
3. How strategic performance within the retail sector has affected as a result of
technological innovation?
4. What strategies could be recommended to ASDA with regard to the adoption of
technological innovation for better strategic performance?

Rationale
The researcher is interested in studying the effect of technological innovation over
strategic performance of retail sector firms in order to recommend strategies to ASDA on what
their strategies should be with regard to the adoption of advanced technologies. The study is
important for other retail firms along with ASDA to understand how proactive they need to be in
adopting advanced technologies (Soto-Acosta, Popa and Martinez-Conesa, 2018). Furthermore,
the reason behind conducting this research is to understand how strategic performance gets
affected when peer firms resort to more innovative practices. At last, this study will recommend
ways to improve strategic performance with the help of technological innovation, therefore it is
important for all who are responsible for framing strategies and other managerial personnel.
Literature Review
Theme: 1 - Concept of strategic management and performance
As per the view of Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez (2018), Strategic management refers to
planning, evaluating and executing a strategy within the business context. Matching resources of
business and opportunities prevailing in the market is the essence of strategic management. It
begins with framing goals, setting objectives and developing procedures in an attempt to make
an organization more competitive in the market.
As identified by Yunis, Tarhini and Kassar (2018), there are various drivers of strategic
business strategic performance which involves conditions, collection of people and information
that are needed to support and initiate competitive activities within the business in order to define
and attain their goals. Better strategic performance could be possible with the help of improved
methodology for measuring, monitoring and achievement of overall objectives of the
organisation.
Theme: 2 – Factors affecting strategic management & performance
There may be internal or external factors both that are responsible for influencing
strategic management and performance of the business such as managerial expertise and
experience, technological innovation, competition, socio-economic factors and laws applicable
on the industry.
According to Chen, Yin and Mei (2018), when there is a change in board composition
there may be changes in strategy introduced by new board members and accordingly, strategic
performance gets affected. Also, competition is another big factor contributing to the strategic

performance of a business because competition forces undertaking strategic review, so that
competitive advantage can be enhanced.
Theme: 3 – Effect of technological innovation on strategic performance
Strategic performance also gets affected with the changes in strategies made due to the
lack of adequate availability of technological capabilities to sustain and compete in the market.
With the changes in strategies, automated and advanced capital resources are acquired which
results in higher production and sales accordingly to satisfy customer needs and expectation in a
better way. Accordingly, strategic management gets affected which leads to better performance
as a result of competitive and updated strategies.
As identified by Schilling and Shankar (2019), management personnel resort to adopting
innovative practices as a strategy to gain competitive advantage over and above other players of
the industry.
Research Methodology
Research type: There are two types of research that is quantitative and qualitative. To assess the
impact of technological innovation on strategic performance of an organization, the researcher
will carry out qualitative research to investigate this theoretical aspect.
Research approach: The researcher will adopt inductive approach to undertake the qualitative
research with respect to the effect of technology on organizational strategy.
Research philosophy: To evaluate the qualitative data pertaining to this research, interpretivism
philosophy will be applied (Bogers and et.al., 2019).
Data collection: Data from both primary and secondary sources will be gathered. For secondary
data, existing literature, books, journals and articles will be evaluated. For primary data, survey
will be conducted on 30 employees of ASDA plc with the help of questionnaire.
Sampling: Random sampling will be done to choose the sample for the research to address the
research issue.
Data Analysis: Thematic analysis will be done to analyse qualitative data of this research in an
effective manner.

Timeline (Gantt Chart)
ACTIVITIES WEEKS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Review and discussion of chosen
company with tutor
Drafting of proposal
Submission of the proposal in week 4
(11 March 2022)
Development of aims and objectives
Evaluation of existing literature for
secondary data collection
Determination of research
methodology
Drafting questionnaire
Collection of data
Analysis of data
Presentation of findings
Concluding the findings
Made recommendations for further
growth on the basis strategic issues
identified
Consulting with tutor regarding the
outcome of the research
Made modifications as the tutor's
comment
Submission of final report in week 12
(11 May 2022)

REFERENCES
Schilling, M. A. and Shankar, R., 2019. Strategic management of technological innovation.
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chen, J., Yin, X. and Mei, L., 2018. Holistic innovation: An emerging innovation
paradigm. International Journal of Innovation Studies, 2(1), pp.1-13.
Yunis, M., Tarhini, A. and Kassar, A., 2018. The role of ICT and innovation in enhancing
organizational performance: The catalysing effect of corporate
entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Research, 88, pp.344-356.
Moutinho, L. and Vargas-Sanchez, A. eds., 2018. Strategic management in tourism, cabi tourism
texts. Cabi.
Sabahi, S. and Parast, M. M., 2020. Firm innovation and supply chain resilience: a dynamic
capability perspective. International Journal of Logistics Research and
Applications, 23(3), pp.254-269.
Soto-Acosta, P., Popa, S. and Martinez-Conesa, I., 2018. Information technology, knowledge
management and environmental dynamism as drivers of innovation ambidexterity: a
study in SMEs. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Bogers, M., and et.al., 2019. Strategic management of open innovation: A dynamic capabilities
perspective. California Management Review, 62(1), pp.77-94.
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