The Impact of Digital Technologies on Retail Operations

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This research project analyzes the impact of digital technology on Marks & Spencer.

Research Project
Student’s Name:
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Abstract
The purpose of the study is to highlight the best practices that the companies in the retail
sector have adopted due to the increase in competition. The organisation that has been
selected in the study is Marks & Spencer. The focus of the study has been to shed light on the
digital technologies used in the retail sector and its corresponding impact. Both secondary
and primary data collection methods have been used for carrying out research. Interview and
survey has been done to collect efficient and genuine data on the matter. About 100
employees of the company Marks & Spencer were selected, along with this; two managers
from different departments were randomly selected as well. The findings and analysis on the
subject signify that majority of respondents view the change as a positive influence on the
performance and productivity of the company. Although, it has raised few negative aspects,
however, still the managers are positive about the future implications.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
LO1............................................................................................................................................5
P1 Based on your chosen business research project, produce a research proposal that clearly
defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a literature review.............................5
P2 In order to carry out the research, examine appropriate research methods and conduct
primary and secondary research.................................................................................................9
LO2..........................................................................................................................................12
P3 Based on your chosen business research project, conduct primary and secondary research
using appropriate methods that take into account costs, access and ethical issues..................12
P4 Having collected your primary research, apply appropriate analytical tools to analyse
research findings and data........................................................................................................16
LO3..........................................................................................................................................26
P5 Now that you have completed your research project, communicate the research outcomes
in an appropriate manner for the intended medium.................................................................26
LO4..........................................................................................................................................29
P6 to help you learn from the research project, reflect on the effectiveness of research
methods you applied for meeting the objectives of your chosen business research project....29
P7 evaluate alternative research methodologies and lessons you have learnt in view of the
outcomes of your research project...........................................................................................30
Conclusion................................................................................................................................31
Reference list............................................................................................................................32
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Introduction
The purpose of the study is to highlight about the impact of digital technology on business
activities. The organisation selected for the illustration of facts and deep insights, is Marks &
Spencer, a well-known retailer in the United Kingdom. The company has implemented
several changes in the internal operations of the company by making investments for
digitalisation of entire operations. This study aims to shed light on the influence that
technology has had on the overall performance and productivity of the company. Research
proposal with specific aims and missions have been prepared in the section below, which
uses different methods and techniques for data collection and analysis.
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LO1
P1 Based on your chosen business research project, produce a research proposal that
clearly defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a literature review
Research aim
The main aim of the research is to analyse the impact of digital technologies on the business
activities of the chosen organisation.
Research objectives
The objectives of the research project have been outlined below as follows:
 To identify the impacts of digital technology on business operations of Marks &
Spencer
 To identify the ways and means by which digital technologies have eased the process
of business operations
 To analyse the increase in opportunities of business in the modern era due to
implementation of digital technologies
Literature review
This section of the research project analyses the topic of the research from a literary point of
view. With the help of this, one can understand the uses of digital technologies in the
business operations of Marks & Spencer.
Positive impact of digital technology on business activities
With the help of digital technologies, companies have been able to conduct their business in
an easier manner. The implementation of digital technology has allowed companies to
revolutionise their business in a huge way. The major impact of digital technology can be
seen in the increased competitive advantage that is gained by the company due to use of
digital technology in the workplace (Oldham and Da Silva, 2015). One of the major positive
impacts of the implementation of digital technology is in regards to the reduction of the
operational costs of the business. Marks & Spencer is able to cut unnecessary costs so that
they are able to make use of the money in their business to enhance their operations. Digital
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technologies allow the company to ensure that some of their functions can be automated in
the workplace so that they do not have to spend extra money. Besides this, the
implementation of such technologies in the workplace ensures that all the vital data and
information are kept under safe and secure environment so that data breach can be avoided in
the workplace (Lai, 2011). Apart from this, companies are able to ensure that they are making
the most of their resources so that the process of business can be developed in a desired
manner.
The increase in productivity of the workplace is yet another major impact of digital
technology on the companies. The higher authorities of the companies are able to install
applications in their computers that help to monitor the performance of the employees in the
workplace. As a result, management authorities are able to understand the change in the
performance of the employees and take necessary measures so that their performance can be
enhanced. With the help of this, the overall productivity of the workplace increases and the
company is able to function in accordance to the requirements of the market. Besides this,
they are also able to cater the needs of the customers in the market and are able to reach the
level of customer satisfaction. If the company is able to satisfy their customers, it helps to
increase their customer base in the market (Fitzgerald et al, 2014). As a result, the company
is able to function in a profitable manner in their market of operation. Digital technology
allows the employees within the workplace to function in collaboration with one another.
With the help of this, the company is able to achieve their business objectives in a hassle free
manner.
Increased communication within the organisational context
Communication is considered one of the most important aspects of business. If the
management authority of the company is able to communicate with the employees, it will
help them to know the progress of the work that they are performing. With the help of proper
communication within the workplace, the higher authorities of the company are able to
understand the issues and challenges that are faced by employees while addressing their job
roles and responsibilities in the workplace (Wood et al., 2012). It is important for the
managers and leaders to ensure that they are able to provide suitable solution to the
employees and resolve their challenges and issues so that they are able to perform their job
roles in a flawless manner. Besides this, the management authorities of the company should
look to provide the employees with regular feedbacks about their performance in the
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workplace. This will help them to rectify their mistakes in the process of business operations
and reduce the chances of future errors. Moreover, the increase in the sales of the company is
a result of the increased communication in the workplace. If the company is able to convey to
the customers about the products and services they are offering in the market, they will be
able to gain their attention and will help to increase the sales of the company.
The importance of communication within the workplace is also understood in terms of the
use of digital technology to convey important message from one department to the other.
With the help of communication, the management of the company is able to make the
employees aware about the changes that are taking place in the workplace of the company
(Bell et al., 2015). This allows the employees to take all the necessary measures so that they
are able to adapt to the situations easily and achieve the business objectives. The use of
mobile devices in the workplace is an important source of communication with the
employees. In case of an emergency, the employees are able to communicate with one
another so that they are able to take all the necessary measures to overcome the situation and
function in a smooth manner. Therefore, it is quite evident that the use and implementation of
digital technologies within the workplace of the companies has increased the level of
communication and enhanced the overall process of business operations (Waycott et al.,
2010).
Increased profits with the implementation of digital technologies
The major purpose to implement digital technology within the workplace of the company is
to increase the level of profit generation in the market. With the help of this, the management
of the company is able to ensure that all the functions of their different departments are being
done in the right manner so that they are able to satisfy the employees and increase their
revenue generation in the market of operation (Dominick, 2010). The use of digital
technology has allowed companies to gain competitive advantage over the other companies
so that they are able to meet with the level of customer satisfaction in the market. With the
help of digital technology implementation, companies are able to ensure that they increase the
revenue by reducing the operational costs. Besides this, Marks & Spencer should focus on
their business objectives so that they are able to provide better customer experience in the
market. This will allow them to retain customers in the market and they will be able to
increase their sales. The management authority of the workplace is able to make the
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customers aware about their new product launch in the market so that they are gain the
customer attention (Dar et al., 2010).
If Marks & Spencer is able to increase their generation of profit in the market, they will be
able to enhance their process of business operations and increase the quality of their products
and services in the market. Another method by which the company is able to increase their
profit generation in the market is with the help of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace
(Gungor et al., 2011). With the help of this, they are able to ease their business process and
are able to earn huge profits by catering the customers’ needs. They should look to provide
the customers with certain free services so that the customers use their services frequently.
This will help to increase the overall profit generation in the market.
Negative impacts of digital technology in the workplace
Despite the positive impact of digital technology in the workplace, there are certain negative
impacts that cannot be overseen. Some of these impacts have a negative effect on the morale
of the employees. With the implementation of digital technologies in the workplace, the
employees feel that they are not being trusted in the workplace (Horst and Miller, 2013). As a
result, they feel low on confidence in the workplace and this reduces the overall productivity
in the workplace of the organisation. Allowing the employees to work in a responsible
manner helps to boost their self-confidence and increases the overall productivity in the
workplace. Another major negative impact can be seen in terms of the business relationship
in the workplace. With the increase in the usage of digital technology, Marks & Spencer
conducts their meeting through online medium. As a result, the impact of the meeting is
much less than expected. Besides this, the company gets too many spam messages in their
emails that are considered time consuming for the business (Van House, 2011). Apart from
this, it affects the business in a negative manner reducing the efficiency of the workplace.
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P2 In order to carry out the research, examine appropriate research methods and
conduct primary and secondary research
Research methodology is a core part of the entire research project, this is because the entire
findings and analysis and in addition, the conclusions drawn from the findings depend upon
it.
Research philosophy
Research philosophy is the method by which data and facts are collected, evaluated and put in
use. It enables the researcher to do research in a proper way. Research philosophy is four
kinds like, pragmatism, positivism, realism and interpretivism.
The research philosophy used in this study is positivism. The process of collecting data in
positivism is a structured way of gathering statistics and figures (Lewis, 2015). It is a process
in which the research is carried out in an independent way. For the research of huge samples
and quantitative analysis of data, positivism plays a vital role. The interest of human beings is
not considered to be relevant and huge amount of data can be sampled in this method of
research. The other facets of research philosophy are phenomenology, ontology, axiology and
epistemology. This method of research uses inference and theory. The elements of evaluation
must be lessened to simplest conditions.
Research approach
Research approach is a strategy that focuses on the process of collection of data or statistics.
The data so gathered is then analysed or evaluated and lastly inferred. The process of research
approach is categorised into two categories like collecting the data and analysing the data.
The process of analysing the data is of two types namely, inductive, deductive and abductive
type. Qualitative data or the data collected by conducting interviews use inductive approach
in order to research. While, quantitative data or the data collected through surveys use
deductive approach so as to analyse the data. In case the data is collected through both
interviews and survey questions then the approach used for analysis the data is abductive
type. It mainly focuses on to explain the incomplete data (Vaioleti, 2016).
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The approach for the analysis of data used in this case is deductive. The data so collected
from the sources are inferred. This approach is used so as new ideas have not been induced in
this research project rather the ideas of already published data has been inferred.
Research design
Research design is the process of collecting data and analysing the procedures that are used to
deal with the problems specified in the research. There are two methods used for research
design namely, the collection of data and the analysis or evaluation of the data so collected.
The research design is mainly divided into two parts, exploratory research and conclusive
research. The purpose of exploratory research is to have a general view about the situation
and the data so collected is vague. The process of collection of data is flexible and the process
of data analysis is informal and qualitative. The purpose of conclusive research is specific;
the data collected is clear and the sources of data defined well (Lushey and Munro, 2015).
The purpose of collecting data is rigid while the process of data analysis is formal and
quantitative.
The research design used in this case is exploratory research. A general view has been
presented and researched in this project as, this method is flexible way of collecting data.
Sampling size
Sampling is used to choose associates from a huge number of people, the number of people
so chosen are used for conducting the research and study. Since, the number of people is
large therefore it is not possible for the researchers to consider everyone for the research,
henceforth, the researchers consider a sample of the population in order to research. The steps
used to sample the data so collected includes describing the population that is being targeted,
selecting the frame of sample, deciding the size of the sample and choosing the method of
sampling (Clandinin et al., 2017).
In this research project, the size of the sample is 100 employees of Marks and Spencer and 2
managers of the Human Resource Department and the Operation Department. The data is
collected from the selected employees and the data so collected is then analysed. This process
enables to give a brief idea of the data that concerns the total population.
Data collection
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Data collection is the process of gathering the information and statistics. The data is gathered
from various sources and is used to figure out the solutions of the research problems. It
enables to analyse the result of the research. There are two methods used for the collection of
data, that is, primary method of data collection and secondary method of data collection.
Secondary method of data collection is the process of gathering the data from magazines,
books, articles, journals, online portals, newspapers, etc. According to Vaioleti (2016), the
availability of data is huge in this method while, the primary method of data collection has
two methods of gathering the data like, qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative method
of gathering data includes the process of collecting data by conducting interviews while
quantitative method of data collection involves the collection of data through questionnaires
and surveys.
In this research project, the mixed process of collecting data is used which includes both
primary method and secondary method. The data so collected for research in this project is
collected through both surveys and interviews.
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LO2
P3 Based on your chosen business research project, conduct primary and secondary
research using appropriate methods that take into account costs, access and ethical
issues
As mentioned in the above portion, both primary and secondary methods are used in the
study. For this, qualitative and quantitative analysis both has been done here. However, few
important aspects have been kept under consideration to successfully implement the
activities.
Ethical Issues
The researcher will try his or her best to maintain proper flow of the project with suitable
methods and approaches. In the process, high importance will be given to Data Protection
Act. The researcher will make sure that not all the personal details of the respondents are
used for unethical purposes, rather the respondents will be ensured that all their details will be
kept confidential. Along with this, the data so collected will be strictly used for the project
purposes only. The researcher will present all the statistics and figures in its original form,
without any kind of manipulation and errors.
Costs Involved
In order to conduct the survey and interviews, the researcher will use online survey forums
for conducting it, this enable him or her to be far more effective in its approach and in
addition, the process will be convenient for respondents to participate. This will help to
reduce costs. As per reports, little amount of nominal fees will be required for conducting the
online survey. Other costs involved in the project are mentioned below:
Activities Number of hours
involved
Cost per hour ($) Amount
Collecting data and
information from
different sources
25 20 500
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