Digital Technology Impact on Small Business: A Case Study Report

This report examines the impact of digital technology on the growth of small businesses, using Continental Consulting Limited as a case study. It outlines the aims, objectives, and a project management plan for implementing digital tools. The report includes a work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, and critical path analysis to illustrate project timelines and stages. It details the application of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including the use of questionnaires to gather primary data. The report further discusses data analysis techniques, recommendations, and the overall value of undertaking research to meet business objectives, providing a comprehensive overview of how digitalization can enhance business operations and competitiveness. The report covers topics like scope of project, cost, time, communication, and quality. The report also discusses the use of primary data through questionnaires, and the application of Gantt charts and critical path analysis.

Managing Successful
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Aim and objectives regarding application of digital technology..........................................1
P2. Project management plan......................................................................................................2
P3 Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart which provide time frames and stages for
completion...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Small scale research by application of qualitative and quantitate methods...........................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P5 Use of appropriate tools and techniques regarding evaluation of research data....................3
P6 Recommendation to draw valid conclusions.........................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7 Value of undertaking research to meet objectives...............................................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Digital technology are the tools which provides ease to a business management and its
operations. These tools have provided various new ways of operating business strategies, which
provides opportunities to organisation to grow and expand their business activities. In this project
report, a research on Continental Consulting Limited is performed in order to identify the impact
of digitalisation on small scale companies. The company which is chosen for the organisation is
engaged in providing consultancy services to small and medium companies. Various aims and
objectives along with management plan is discussed in this project. In order to conduct a
research various information is collected through primary source such as questionnaire which is
further interpreted in this project.
TASK 1
P1. Aim and objectives regarding application of digital technology
Continental Consulting Limited is a small scale company which provides consulting and
staffing services to small and medium manufacturing companies. Primary aim of this
organisation is to appoint appropriate employees for their client companies. This company is
based in London and Greater London. In order to expand their business, quality services are
provided to their clients with the help of efficient management activities and effective plans.
Continental Consulting Limited was established eight years ago and in order to increase their
efficiency and productivity, they have to upgrade their technology and for that they have decided
to implement digital technology in their activities. This up gradation will help the company to
compete with new entrants of the market and satisfy their clients. Digital tool provides various
platforms by which entity can expand and grow their business operations. Digital tool will help
this consultancy company to promote their business using social media (Adzic, 2011).
Topic: Impact of digital technology on the growth of small business activities – a case study on
Continental Consulting Limited
According to current scenario, technology is the most important aspect in managing
business operations. Digital technology helps an organisation to ascertain various elements
which can effect their operations such as competitors, demand, market forces and many more.
Determining future demand using these tools can provide a framework of procedures which can
satisfy the clients' requirements by fulfilling all the demands.

Aim: Effect of digital technology supporting small scale business growth
The primary objective of this research report is to determine how digital tools can assist a
small scale company like Continental Consulting Limited to achieve its organisational goals.
Research objectives
 Enforcement of digital technology tools on small scale businesses
 Service quality improvement using these tools
 Provide variety of related services
Research questions
 Impact of digital technology on growth of small scale company?
 How digital tools can diversify the service range of this company?
P2. Project management plan
Project management plan is a set of activities which are needed to be performed in future
in order to attain main objectives. This plan includes necessary actions which are required to
monitor and control and the execution of the plan. Continental Consulting Limited is a small
scale business enterprise which has decided to use digital technology tools in order to increase
their productivity and satisfactory level of their clients. This company has decided to use digital
tools, so that they can attract appropriate candidates for their client companies. Digital
technological tools such as social media platforms and virtual conferencing helps an organisation
in carrying efficient management practices. This company has decided to implement online tools
for which they have to prepare a business plan which will help in determining costs and time
involvement in this process along with scope and quality of their activities (Cheung, 2012).
Various aspects of this project management plan is discussed below:
 Scope of project: In today's scenario, scope of digital technology is significantly wide as
it includes various tools which can help an organisation effortlessly promote their
business activities using social tools so that they can attract qualified and suitable
candidates for their clients. By using these tools, this company can diversify their
activities and services such as they can advertise their company on various social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram etc. (Pekuri, 2014).
 Cost: Technology up gradation involves a lot of expenditures and requires huge
investments. In order to implement digital tools, companies need to revise their policies
and engage several employees which has suitable skills to perform such kind of tasks.
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Appointing skilled employees and promoting the organisation requires ample of money
as the operational cost of the entity will rise rapidly. Contributing such cost will result in
long term profitability of the company (Doherty, 2012).
 Time: Implementing digital tools and upgrading technology of the company is not an
easy task. It requires a lot of time involvement as in order to implement new
technologies, the above mentioned consulting company has to provide training to their
employees so that they can get familiar with the new techniques. By contributing ample
of time towards implementation, new technology will help this company in earning
profitability and satisfaction of their clients against services.
 Communication: Here, communication refers to the interaction between the above
mentioned company and the candidates which are considered suitable. In order to
develop efficient project management plan, communication aspect required to be
cleared. Effective communication will help the organisation in providing clear line of
order and responsibility (Nicholas, 2017).
 Quality: Quality is the most important element in service industry when it comes to
preparing project management plan. Every aspect which can improve the quality of
company's services should be included in the plan. Use of digital technology will help
this consultancy firm in approaching suitable skilled candidates for their client
companies which will improve their quality and satisfactory level of their clients
(Drucker, 2012).
P3 Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart which provide time frames and stages for
completion
Work breakdown structure refers to the decomposition of the work which is done under
the research into manageable sections. The aim of breaking the work of whole research into
smaller segments is to ensure that every segment is executed efficiently. This structure includes
various steps which are required to be done to conduct the research. Here, the project team of
Continental Consulting Limited has created this project break down in order to identify
functional systems. This structure represents various task lists of the activities which are needed
to be done and what measures should be considered while performing those tasks. This process
will improve the decision making ability of the company and will provide clear vision about the
tasks and targets. The work breakdown structure benefits an organisation by providing an
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opportunity to identify customers' preferences and demands (Duffield, 2015). This procedure
will also assist the company to achieve their primary goal and that is business expansion and
development. Here, the above mentioned company is implementing digital tools in their business
operations due to which their work structure of the research report is divided into several
subdivisions which are mentioned below:
 Main aim and objective if the research
 Literature review
 Issues faced by the company
 Purpose of research
 Selection of target respondents
 Preparation of plan
 Data analyses and evaluation
In order to conduct a research, it is very important to consider all the above mentioned
elements as they have their own importance in the process of research work. Continental
Consulting Limited is a small scale company which is preparing a plan to implement digital
technology tools in their company to compete in the market. In order to develop a effective plan,
research has been conducted using primary sources of research. Researcher of this company has
prepared a questionnaire which has few questions regarding impact of digital technology on their
business practices, these questions are asked from around 35 individuals. Respondents were
selected by the organisation by using random sampling method, where researcher got feedback
against usage of digital technology (Morris, 2011).
Work breakdown structure defines involvement of personnel which helps in carry out the
plan. This structure is developed below in order to determine number of employees which will
manage this project:
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This research provides important information to the company and to the project managers
so that they can plan efficient strategies. Every task and activity of research requires a specific
time frame in which they can complete their tasks. In order to list these tasks, company has
chosen primary source of research and that is questionnaire (Fisher, 2011). Time frame which is
required to conduct all the activities and task are described below:
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According to the above time frame, whole research will be completed within 63 days.
Project manager and researcher of this company has allotted maximum time of 20 days to data
analyses as this process requires a lot of attention and efforts. Activities such as preparation of
research topic and submission of report has allotted time of 1 day as they requires less efforts.
There are 8 activities in total which are needed to be completed in 63 days.
Gantt chart is a type of bar chart which is prepared to illustrate research schedule of
Continental Consultancy Limited. Gantt chart which is based on above time frame is presented
below:
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The Gantt chart is portraying that all the activities of this plan can be performed by
personnel of this company in 10 weeks. Activities such as literature review, aims, methodology
and many more can be done in 10 weeks that is from 20 July 2018 to 30 Sept 2018.
Critical path is the sequence of activities which are required to be performed by the
company in order to execute and complete their research work. This path represents the longest
route of sequence of activities. The major aim of determining this path is to ascertain maximum
time which can be involved in performing those set of tasks. Critical path for the research work
of Continental Consulting Limited is presented below:
According to the above critical path, it has been observed that all activities requires
reasonable time to be completed.
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TASK 2
P4 Small scale research by application of qualitative and quantitate methods
Small scale research is a direct and comprehensive research which is conducted to attain
desired results. This research can be done by qualitative and quantitate methods. These methods
helps an organisation in collecting accurate information and data which is reliable so that the
data can be interpreted in order to serve trusted research results. These research results helps an
organisation to tackle their competitors and prepare strategies which can result in profitability for
the company (Hillson, 2017).
There are mainly three methods which are used to conduct research, but here
management of the company has advised the researcher to use only two of those methods and
they are (Introducing Research Methods, 2018):
 Qualitative method
 Quantitative method
In order to conduct a research, researcher has to collect information from various sources
which are discussed below:
 Primary source: Primary sources provides direct and new information which is
unpublished by any author and has evident proof for the data. These sources includes
questionnaire, surveys, interviews etc. which helps an researcher to analyse first hand
information which is not used by anyone before. These sources involves personal
observations in order to conduct experimental research. In this research, questionnaire is
used to conduct research which is a primary source of collection (Kowalkowski, 2011).
This questionnaire includes 10 questions about impact of digital technology and its tools
on Continental Consulting Limited which are given below:
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QuestionnaireName
Age
Gender
Q1. Does digital technology impacts consultancy companies?
 Yes
 No
Q2. Is digital technological tools helps in efficient management of an organisation?
 Yes
 No
Q3. Does digital technology helps in diversify the services of consultancy companies?
 Yes
 No
Q4. Does digital technology helps a business to grow and expand their operations?
 Yes
 No
Q5. Does digital technology levy negative impact on organisation's profitability?
 Yes
 No
Q6. Does use of digital technological tools benefits an organisation in efficient communication
and improved quality?
 Yes
 No
Q7. Does Continental Consulting Limited is able to upgrade their technology and implement
digital tools?
 Yes
 No
Q8. Is implementing digital tools in company can result in profitability?
 Yes
 NoQ9. Does digital technology helps a consultancy company to attain competitive
advantage in market?Yes
 No

Q10. Recommendations of Continental Consulting Limited regarding implementation of digital
tools and technology?
 Secondary source: Secondary sources provides information which are already published
in newspapers or other sources. Some of these sources are newspapers, journals,
magazines etc. The information which is procured by these sources are less reliable and
accurate and does not have any evidence. These sources are appropriate for the researches
where the availability of time is less (Jeston, 2014).
Case study: The vision of the organisation is to expand their small business operations
and acquire large market share. For this objective, they have to start usage of online sources to
advertise about vacant posts in different companies and select qualified candidates. This helps in
saving time and reduce operational cost. This method is similar to adding up an additional
feature to their services in the process of recruitment and selection.
TASK 3
P5 Use of appropriate tools and techniques regarding evaluation of research data
It is important to analyse data gathered through conducting research through different
methods and techniques. Such gathered data will be more helpful for management of Continental
consultancy Ltd. to make an effective plans and decisions regarding expansion of business
operations. But before that, it is important to interpret the data and on the basis of that, draw a
valid conclusion which determines whether the decisions of expansion of business brings
profitable outcomes to company in near future or not.
Information which is gathered through primary survey using questionnaire is further
analysed and interpreted using analytical techniques and tools such as trend analysis and coding.
Trend analysis – It is a technique which helps a company to analyse their data using
trends of market. This analyses can be done using past experiences of a company and predicted
future trends of a market. Using this technique information about digital technology can be
analysed in order to ascertain its reliability.
Coding – This is an analytical process which helps an organisation to interpret data
(whether qualitative or quantitative). Using this technique, this company can attain reliable result
about the performance of digital tools in their business operations.
Q1. Does digital technology impacts Frequency
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