Unit 6 Project: Analyzing Digital Technology's Impact on Burberry PLC

This project report examines the impact of digital technology on Burberry PLC, a luxury fashion brand. It establishes project aims, objectives, and timeframes, focusing on how digitalization has transformed various business activities like marketing, human resources, operations, and accounting. The report includes a literature review exploring the influence of digital technology on business growth and service diversification, supported by secondary data from journals and books. A project management plan is developed, covering scope, cost, time, quality, communication, resources, and risk, considering Burberry's shift to digital strategies. A work breakdown structure and Gantt chart are also provided. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies are applied to analyze the impact, and the report concludes with recommendations based on the project's findings and a reflection on its outcomes. The research questions address the effects of digital technology on business growth and service diversification, providing insights into how Burberry leverages digital tools to enhance its brand and engage with consumers.

Managing a Successful Business Project (Unit 6)
Project code NSAB552B6
Table of Contents
Introduction
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating
knowledge to support the project
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on

meaningful conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis
Findings and Discussions
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance
References
Introduction
About 4 decades ago, in order to meet the ever growing market demands
and expectations and also overcome competitive challenges, organizations
became aware that they needed to increase their efforts across all
departments. With the help of the internet and the online features,
organizations started to gain understanding of the customer demand and
build strong customer relationships. The online features were able to aid
organizations gain great advantages by analysing information, identifying
cost efficiency or managing effective delivery services.
The current business market is almost completely driven by the technological
and digital features.
With the help of the new informational technology and the digital features,
the whole global business environment turned into a barrier-free single
market. This fact does not bring advantages only to businesses, it also
provides benefits to consumers, which are being more understood and meet
their preferences.
In order to achieve success in the nowadays highly competitive market, every
organisation needs to establish their own projects which are based on
effective planning, control and appropriate execution of all business
activities. By grabbing competitive opportunities, organizations manage to
obtain competitive advantage. The main opportunity in the current business
environment is represented by the digital technology, which impacts the
organizations in all its core features: production, administration,
communication, storage and distribution.

This report is based on Burberry PLC, a company founded in 1856, which
represents a global fashion luxury brand with a distinctive British identity
(Burberry, 2018). The scope of this report is to identify how digital
technology has transformed businesses activities such as marketing, human
resources, operations or accounting.
(Source: Forbes, 2017)
The first part of report establishes the aim and objectives of the research,
along with the research questions.
Furthermore, the report produces a project management plan that covers
various aspects, such as scope, cost, time, communication, etc.
Thirdly, a work breakdown structure is identifying alongside with a Gantt
chart that aids in providing timeframes for research completion.
Moreover, the process of project management is evaluated and also the

appropriate methods are applied. In order to obtain this, the report uses
both qualitative and quantitative methodology.
And ultimately, based on the project findings, the report communicates
appropriate recommendations, valid conclusions and also reflects on the
project outcomes.
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen
theme
Research topic: influence of digital technology on business activities in
Burberry
The business model innovation sees an increased attention in both the
business environment and in research. The business model is able to develop
and capture value for consumers and businesses alongside. Advanced
technologies are considered to play a major role in corporate BMI as well as
medium or small sized organizations. Digital features such as social media,
online platforms or huge data have a crucial impact on organization
processes: market research, identifying buying behaviour, targeting
customers, obtaining large customer base and ultimately creating strong
brand image and generating high profits and revenues.
Research aim: the aim of this report is to highlight the impact of the digital
technology on an organization’s processes
Research objectives: in order to achieve its aims, the research will focus on
the following:
 Conduct an analysis which concludes the advantages or disadvantages
of digitalization
 Assess the impact of digitalisation
 Evaluate the decisions of adopting digitalisation
 Expanding activities based on digitalization

 Increase the business scale
Research questions:
 Does the digital technology affect the growth of a business?
 How does digital technology aids in service diversification?
Literature Review
This is a part of literature review that includes secondary data, which will be
gathered from journals, books and many other sources relevant to the topic.
Secondary data will be gathered as below:
Theme 1: The digital technology affects the growth of a business?
According to the Shirinkina and Kelchevskaya, (2019), digital technologies refers to
the systems, tools, resources and devices the process, generate and store
data. There are different types of digital technologies that are essential for
business organisation. These are internet of things, artificial intelligence and
many other. All these are essential for company in improving of its business
performance successfully. Technological change can bring regarding
opportunities and advantages for an organisation. Clearly new technology
can develop innovative services and products, therefore developing entire
innovative marketplace for company. This turn to impact on business growth
by increasing customer base, increasing sales, improving goodwill and so on.
These are effective advantages of digital technologies that will facilitate
company by enhancing its growth at national as well as international
marketplace. With the help of various digital tool business organisation
would able to perform its operations in effective and efficient manner. With
the use of tools such as google analytics, google search console, etc company
would able to measure its performance and can take corrective measures
accordingly. With the help of various popular social media platform the
company would able to attract and engage large number of customers with
the help of visual content. It helps in carrying the marketing activities of
business in most appropriate manner and is beneficial for global
organisations as with the use of quality content they can increase its sales
and profit margins.
Theme 2: How does digital technology aids in service diversification?

As per the view presented by Sordi Schiavi and et. al., (2020) following digital
technologies helps business organisation in improvement of its performance
and productivity. Digital technologies help company in diversification of its
services at marketplace. There are different platforms of digital technology
including social media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. These platforms
help company in promoting of its services effectively. For example: Amazon
provide their services on its website that attract large number of customers
towards the brand. Burberry is also used to diversified their services on their
website that has positive impact on their business performance and
goodwill. Burberry is dealing in clothing industry as in this dynamic world
people are shifting from offline channels to online channels. With the help of
its website it will be able to attract large number of potential customers
across the globe. Moreover with the help of various popular social media
platforms it can give information regarding new arrivals, discounts, sales, etc
to its customers. This strategy will help in attracting more customers and it
will be able to increase its sales and profit margins. Moreover also help in
maintaining the goodwill and position in the market place.
Project management plan
It is crucial for an organization to develop an effective management plan
considering various aspects, such as cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, resources and risk. By adopting an effective management
plan, organizations manage to direct and execute their processes in an
efficient manner, therefore achieve higher results.
About 10 years ago, Burberry was struggling in the high end fashion industry
and was not able to maintain competitive advantage in the market.
In 2006, in order to be at par with its peers, Burberry decided to reinvent the
brand and switch the main focus of the business, by targeting younger
consumers and going digital. The company understood that digital
technology provides help in increasing awareness of the brand globally.
When evaluating the decision of adopting digital technology, Burberry
needed to consider various aspects, such as:
 Scope: by implementing digital technologies within a business’s
processes, organizations are able to perform efficient and effective and
also to develop successful strategies. In the case of Burberry,

digitalization manages to identify the most effective digital channels
that aid in consumer engagement and strong relationship building.
Moreover, by creating a consumer database, Burberry manages to
identify market trends, consumers’ needs and wants and target the
market segment accordingly. Burberry is the well-known image of the
checked trench coat, and before it adopted the digital technology as a
core feature, the company target market was the middle aged
customers. By analysing the trends and engaging with customers, the
company changed its focus to young consumers. In order to create
awareness among this type of consumers, the company needed to
employ a firm social strategy within the digital space, a strategy that
would target the desired segment.
 Cost: digital technologies require large amount of investments,
therefore organizations need to analyse and plan effective strategies
that involve minimum costs. Burberry’s extent of advertising campaign
was centred around social media platforms such as Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter. The company maintained a constant theme
across all these platforms, however the content was optimized for
each platform, such as: live streaming and product illustration on
Facebook, visuals on Instagram and consumer engagement and
interaction on Twitter. By using and optimizing these specific channels,
Burberry managed to keep cost at minimum and increase maximum
awareness among its new market segment.
 Time: adopting digital technologies can imply a great amount of time.
In order for the digital process to be effective, organizations need to
schedule and develop time frames for the desired goals, which will not
only be able to provide positive results, but will also bring a clear view

of the mission and objective within the company and furthermore to
its employees. By having a clear view of the desired goals, employees
feel more confident and motivated and are able to perform better.
Also, Burberry needs to identify the channels that are less time
consuming, in order to decrease costs and reach their objectives in a
timely manner.
 Quality: As Burberry is a renowned luxury brand, the company needs
to design strategies that will continue to maintain their product quality
and furthermore improve it. By implementing digitalization in the
production or marketing processes, Burberry manages to enhance the
quality of work, the quality of product delivery and moreover in the
quality of the product.
 Communication: nowadays, digital technologies provide the most
important way of reaching consumers and building strong
relationships. Burberry needs to create and develop various
techniques and tools in identifying and fulfilling consumers’
preferences, ultimately creating brand loyalty. With a continuous
presence on social media platforms, Burberry can positively engage
with consumers, in order to attract brand fidelity.
 Risk: the current business environment is filled with various
ramifications and uncertainties, which imply major challenges to
business activities. These challenges can relate to switches in
preferences or taste of consumers, switches in current trends,
implementation of new economic or political policies or non-accepting
of price policies. The risks implied by various challenges can be
identified and undertaken with the use of digital technologies by
conducting continuous market research, trend analysing and also by

observing the business environment. Resources: Burberry needs to use resources effectively in order to
achieve maximum return. In adopting digital technologies, the
company develops strategies that are meant to identify effective ways
of using resources, such as online platforms, company website or
company stores, in order to obtain and maintain target customers.
Work breakdown structure:
In order to identify and analyse market trends and consumers’ perception,
organizations need to engage in research.
Research is the tool that helps organizations to gather information about the
business climate, information that furthermore provides a basis for the
organization management to formulate and develop successful business
plans. Research aids in viewing clear direction and providing appropriate
guidance to the company and its employees towards business goals.
Effective research is able to provide better knowledge about the economic
environment and obtain competitive advantage, for example identifying
competitors’: strategies, market share, product quality and placement,
pricing policies or usage of new technologies.
On the basis of competition and market research, Burberry may be able to
decide whether the implementation of digital technology would provide
growth and may also identify the risks involved and whether the company
will be able to overcome these risks.
In the process of conducting research, the following factors are identified:
 Research content
 Research purpose
 Literature review
 Identifying and overcoming issues that may appear in the process of
performing pre-planned activities

 Research project objective
 Questionnaire design
 Respondent selection
 Analysing gathered information
 Formulate strategies according to findings
In order to achieve the aim of the research project, a timeframe has been set
and is illustrated in the Gantt chart below:
Planned task Week
1
Wee
k 2
Wee
k 3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Selecting topic
and company
Formulate aims
and objectives
Literature review
Preparing
questionnaire
Collecting and
analysing data
Findings,
summary,
recommendations
Furthermore, a work breakdown structure has been outlined in the scheme
below:

Burberry research project work breakdown structure
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data
collection, generating knowledge to support the project
The research methodology is characterized by a set of fundaments and
policies that are utilised in order to collect, elect and evaluate information
related to a certain research problem. Collecting, electing and evaluating the
information is obtained by using the quantitative method, the qualitative
method, or both of them. There are various research methods that can be
used, but the most effective methods are: questionnaires, interviews,
surveys, observations, etc. In accordance with the proffered topic, certain
frameworks need to be set and relevant approaches need to be used.
Choosing the appropriate method is crucial, in order to gain the research
purpose, as this fact will directly impact the research results accuracy.
Data collection: There are two important methods of data collection, which
are primary and secondary. For gathering primary information, there are
number of research instruments including questionnaire, interview,
observation and fourth on. All these are essential but according to the
present study, questionnaire is more valuable and essential method because
it helps in gathering of quantitative information within less time. In order to
collect secondary information, there are also various sources that are books,
articles, publication research etc. These sources are only used for literature
review that facilitate in attaining of project aim and objectives in successful
and effective manner.

Sampling size
In order to achieve comprehensive information, this research will be
conducted on 40 Mont Rose college students, as respondents.
The objective of the research cannot be achieved if the sample size is not
appropriately identified and it will not present reliable evidence due to the
fact that it will not draw precise conclusions.
Sampling method
For accuracy of content, simple random sampling has been chosen. All
respondents, in this case Mont Rose College students, hold the same
possibility to be participants, by random selection. The proper sample
method is important to reach the outcome and to avoid bias of the results
(Saunders, et al., 2016).
Data gathering methods
Information can be obtained by using several methods. For the purpose of
this report, the questionnaire has been chosen, due to the fact that it has
been already established that it is an efficient tool. The questionnaire is
based on a set of on questions that are meant to emphasize relevant
information about digital technology.
Therefore, 40 respondents have been selected as a sample size, in order to
reach the objective of research, with the help of a questionnaire as a primary
data (Dawson, 2009).
As a secondary data, the research collects information from various sources
such as online or printed journals, books or market reports. However, the
secondary data is less specific to the topic and lacks a certain level of
reliability.
Questionnaire design
For the purpose of achieving reliable information, certain factors were taken
into consideration while designing the questionnaire. The plan of the
questionnaire and the questions were designed in such a way that was able
to accomplish the aims of the research (Saunders, et al., 2016). Furthermore,
the questions are defined and systemized in a clear and precise way, which is
able to follow a logical continuance.
The questionnaire involves a certain focus to details, as all respondents need
to interpret the questions in the way that they are meant to be, in relation to