Assessing the Impact of Digital Technology on Small Business Growth

This report examines the impact of digital technology, particularly 360-degree video, on the growth and innovation of small businesses, focusing on Ensoft Ltd as a case study. It outlines the research aims and objectives, including evaluating the impact of digital technology on business growth, analyzing its support for innovation, and investigating obstacles faced during implementation. The methodology section details the research philosophy and design, employing a positivism philosophy and a deductive approach. The literature review explores the use of cloud-based business management systems, business automation platforms, and customer relationship management tools, highlighting both the benefits and drawbacks of digital technology adoption. The report also addresses time and cost management, quality assurance, communication strategies, and risk assessment involved in implementing digital technologies within small businesses. Ultimately, the research aims to provide recommendations for improving the techniques of using digitally advanced tools in small-scale businesses.

Impact of Digital Technology supporting small business growth and innovation
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Table of Contents
1. 0 Introduction...............................................................................................................................3
1.1. Research Aims and Objectives.................................................................................................3
1.2. Scope and limitations of the project.........................................................................................4
2.0. Literature Review.....................................................................................................................6
3.0 Methodology..............................................................................................................................9
4.0 .Data Analysis..........................................................................................................................10
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations........................................................................................17
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1. 0 Introduction
The organizational structure and the operation process of any business organization are in dire
need of technological intervention. The role of digital technology in this context has gained a
worldwide acclamation from different business conglomerates. The use of digital technology has
been successful in opening up successful avenues for all the large origination and now the small-
scale businesses have endeavored to adapt the various tools related to the Digital Technology.
The foundation of any type of business depends upon administration, storage, production and
communication that form the intricate wings of the business.
In order to focus on the impact of the digital technology on small business, a detailed analysis of
an organization like John Lewis has been referred to conduct a successful research. Ensoft Ltd is
a small organization that assists in developing the various aspects related to networking software.
In order to make the research project more comprehensive and easy to access a Project
Management Plan has been developed for the project.
1.1. Research Aims and Objectives
Aim
The aims of this research are to make an analysis of the impact of the digital technology called
360-degree video to enhance sales and create a positive impact on the customers.
Objectives
 To evaluate the impact of the digital technology(360 degree video) on a small
business growth
 To make an analysis of the effect of Digital Technology in support of Innovation
within the organisation
 To conduct an investigation of the obstacles and crisis faced by the small business in
implementing the 360 degree video tool as a part of Digital Technology
 To provide relevant recommendation to the small-scale businesses in improving the
techniques of using the digitally advanced tools
2.2. Rationale of the study
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Ensoft Ltd is a software company that has been an integral part of the small-scale business. In a
software organization, the data being handled by all the employees come from different sources
and the amount of the data is large. The researcher presented few questions in order to
understand the purpose of the project.
What is the issue?
Although the business is small in nature but the origination has to deal with huge databases and
maintain all their digitally advanced systems to maintain their position in the business
Why is the Issue?
The researcher can do an illustration of the various techniques used to keep all their systems
digitally advanced.
Why is the issue now?
The issue has been taken now as the trend for the implementation of digital technology in the
business of an origination has become extremely essential in order get a solid platform in the
competitive market.
1.2. Scope and limitations of the project
The assigned project can undergo various obstacles and issues regarding the successful
conduction of the research. The research will not be successful unless and until, proper resources
and time has been allotted to the researcher.
Project Brief
Project Approach
The project has been undertaken to understand and get an overall knowledge of the impact of
Digital Technology in the small business but there are few criteria or requirements that has to be
maintained in order to carry out the project that can covers various aspects like cost, time,
documentation, quality ,resources and the risk.
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Cost Management
In order to develop and implement new project it is, necessary to invest a definite amount and
hence it is relevant to make an arrangement of the financial support for an effective execution of
the project. The focus of the organization is to make use of the present fund and opt for a back up
financial support. The tools and equipments used in the given project and the conveyance cost
involved in the collection of various data needs to be considered.
Time Management
The research work must be executed within the framework of a definite time. The targeted
deadline for the completion of the project must be followed
Quality
The quality of this research refers to the authenticity of the data and the relevance of the
deliverables, which in turn can determine the standard of the research.
Communication
Communication plays a vital role in the overall execution of the research. In order to ensure an
effective communication it is significant to carry out the research in an ethical and coherent
manner.
Documentation
The documentation of the entire task must be done to keep a proof of the overall research work.
Risk
The risk involved in carrying out this research is to complete the task within the deadline given..
Project Plan
The work breakdown chart of the organization Ensoft Ltd has been formulated and given in the
following structure:
Table 1: WBS of Ensoft Ltd
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Activities Time Span (Weeks) Dates
Planning 1 1.2.2018-8.6.2018
Developing Objectives 1 9.2.2018-15.6.2018
Planning financials 1 16.2.2018-24.6.2018
Managing resources and funds 2 25.2.2018-5.3.2018
Implementation Plan 3 6.3.2018-14.3.2018
Supervising 2 14.3.2018-21.3.2018
Controlling the Project
Submission and Delivery of the
Project
1 21.3.2018-27.3.2018
(Source: Created by Author)
Introduction
The term Digital Technology refers to the implementation of the various electronic equipments
making use of information in the format of a numeric code. The binary code is being used to
send the information. In an organization like Ensoft Ltd there are number of tools that are used to
provide software resolution to their consumers. To provide an ultimate solution to their
consumers the organization has implemented the usage of tools like 360-degree video and other
tools also that can increase the sales as well provide ultimate customer satisfaction.
2.0. Literature Review
In the context of this research, innovation management theory has been implemented by the
researcher to get a detailed knowledge of the impact of technology on the small-scale business.
Digital Technology has created plethora of various avenues for small and growing businesses in
order to create a definite impact on their potential customers. The small-scale business have
restricted budget, resources and investments and must ensure that before the implementation of
these resources it is important to take all this factors into consideration.
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The organisation can make use of various essential tools to bring effective changes in their
business.
According to Taiminen and Karjaluoto, (2015), the implementation of the Cloud Based
Business Management System helps the small-scale business to use network of the remote
server in order to process and manage the data. The entire administration could run on this
management system. The application of business automation platform help the company to
manage various challenges the organization have to face during the day-to-day operation of the
business. In order to manage the finance and Accounts of the organization the Quick Book
Intuits are often used by the business owners to receive payment faster. This software helps in
tracking the financial transactions and managing the customer payments along with sending
numerous invoices. In the current business scenario, innovative and creative ideas become the
oxygen for any kind of business. The information Management System of the organization is
regulated with the help of tools like the pocket app that help in managing information across the
various platforms as well as dashboards. The various innovative ideas can be stored in this smart
application. According to Westerman et al., (2014), a small-scale business cannot allocate budget
for employing professional designers and hence this organization uses the Canva tool to get their
images professionally edited.
According to Fitzgerald et al., (2014), The project management tool keeps tracking the entire
progress done in a project assigned to the employees of the organization. With the aid of
centralized space, the efficiency of the team and the productivity of the business are improved.
The small-scale business uses the Customer Relationship Management tools to maintain a
healthy relation with the customer. Adaptation of a Customer Relationship Management System
an organization can retain their potential customers and coordinate their communication to
receive success in the business. As opined by Mazzarol, (2015), the small-scale organizations use
the online scheduling platform to keep a check on the contents involved in the digital
marketing of the business.
Just like any big organization, the small businesses face the problem of bringing all their
employees on the same page. To bring all the employees under a single roof the small-scale
organization uses the Kapchat to maintain an integrated system for chats among the employees.
The smooth connection between all the employees will initiate more productivity and profit.
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The implementation of the 360-degree video tool helps the small-scale business to develop their
marketing plans and strategies.
The use of digital technology has positive as well negative impact on the small-scale business in
attaining their aims and objectives. In this context, the benefits of the use of technology can be
broadly discussed. The small –scale business provide services and products to their customers
that add a value to lifestyle. The use of online tools like e-mail and instant messenger can assist
in online sharing as well as collaboration. For a small business, the capability to get instantly
connected, get feedback and share the information on the online platform is extremely beneficial
for the business. An online platform for working also helps the employees to get flexibility to
work from office or home or even outside the country. As per the budget of the small business,
the organization can hence do a hiring of talent from any part of the globe and hence get an edge
in the competitive market. The small-scale organization can keep a regular connection with their
customers and get feedbacks instantly with the help of blogs, forums and social networking sites.
The use of the 360-degree video provides unlimited possibilities to the viewers and the content
creators of the organization. This type of video encourages engagement and with the help of this
the conversion rate get increased by 3 times in comparison to the traditional videos and this
accelerates the view rates of the products or services that have been projected in the marketing
promotions of the organization.
The negative impact of the use of the digital technology cannot be overlooked by the
organization.
The use of digital technology can make the employees of the small-scale business much more
dependent on the technologically developed tools and equipments. The employees can get
distracted with the free access to different online networking platforms like Twitter, Facebook,
and Messenger. The cost involved in the maintenance of the various tools required is higher and
hence the small- scale business may not be able to fit such technologically advanced tools in
their budget. The use of digital technology kills the innovative and creative skill of the
employees. Moreover, the interpersonal communication between all the employees is hampered
because with the advent of digital technology employees are more engrossed in maintaining their
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status on the social networking sites. The data security of an organization also is endangered
because the security password of the concerned data can be hacked or damaged.
Literature Gap
It is worthy to mention that earlier all the researchers focused on the various theoretical aspects
related to the impact of the digital technology on the small business growth but with the
assistance of this research the different practical aspects of the topic has also been analyzed.
3.0 Methodology
The methodology gives a guideline to the research approaches and procedures. Moreover, the
researcher also gets the knowledge of those sources that needs to be acquired in order to conduct
this research.
Research philosophy
The positivism philosophy has to be implemented, as the researcher has to deal with different
data and evaluation. The researcher must implement their logical reasoning.
Research design
The researcher will take the explanatory design in order to analyze as well as evaluate the given
topic.
Research approach
The researcher will implement a deductive method to get the practical knowledge of the impacts
of the use of digital technology. In order to conduct the research 20 customers have been given 5
sets of sample questions and 2 questions have been given to the Managers of the organization
and interviewed as per the questions.
Sampling technique
The researcher has conducted survey with 20 customers and has conducted interview with 2
managers of the organization based on random selection and gave them a set of questions as per
the topic. Based on the probability technique this can be done.
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Data collection Tool
The researcher will implement both the Primary and the Secondary data collection tool. The
researcher has applied both the quantitative and the qualitative research methods.
Ethical Consideration
The researcher has to consider that no data or the confidential information of the participants has
been leaked. The Data Protection Act has been thoroughly followed by the researcher.
4.0 .Data Analysis
In order to conduct the research the researcher has thoroughly researched the market by applying
the quantitative and the qualitative data collection technique. The researcher has executed the
survey work based on these quantitative questions:
4.1 Quantitative Questions
1. Specify your Gender
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total Number of
Respondents
Male 14 70 20
Female 6 30 20
Table 1: Respondent’s Gender
The research aim is to implement a study in order to make an analysis of the changes digital
technology has brought business to the organization. The analysis of the survey questionnaire as
been presented below:
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Male Female
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Number of Respondents
Number of Respondents
Findings and Analysis: From the above diagram, it can be seen that 70 percentages of the
customers are male and the rest are female. This is asked to the customers as an introductory
question.
2. Specify your Age
Age Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total Number of
Respondents
20 – 25 5 25 20
25-30 7 30 20
30-45 8 40 20
Table 2: Respondent’s Age
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1 2 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Number of Respondents
Age
Findings and Analysis:
It can be shown from the above diagram that the respondents who were involved in the interview
process were from different age groups.25 Percentages were between the age group of 20 to
25.30 percentage of the customers belong to the age group of 25 to 30 years. The rest 40
percentages of customers belong to the 30 to 45 group.
3. Do you agree that e-commerce platforms are more convenient than physical stores?
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total Number of
Respondents
Strongly agree 9 45 20
Agree 8 40 20
Neutral 0 0 20
Disagree 2 10 20
Strongly disagree 1 5 20
Table 3: Preference of online or offline stores
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