Impact of Digital Technology on Business Activity: A Case Study

This report investigates the impact of digital technology on small business activities, focusing on a case study of a 'unicorn' organization. It explores the benefits of digital tools like cloud computing and social media, while also addressing challenges faced by SMEs in implementation. The research employs a qualitative approach, using Interpretivism as its research philosophy, and inductive reasoning. Primary data collection involved questionnaires distributed to 20 SME managers, and a thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The report examines research methodologies, including ethical considerations such as confidentiality, and discusses the cost, access, and ethical issues encountered during the research process. The study aims to provide recommendations for SMEs on leveraging digital technology to improve their business operations, addressing research questions about the importance, impact, and challenges of digital adoption.

Research Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Producing research proposal..................................................................................................1
P2 The appropriate research method and conducting primary and secondary research.............4
P3 The cost, access and ethical issues considered while conducting primary and secondary
research.......................................................................................................................................5
P4 Applying analytical tools to research findings.......................................................................6
P5 Communicating research findings:PPT...............................................................................14
P6 Effectiveness of research finding ........................................................................................14
P7 Alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt from outcomes..............................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................16

P1 Producing research proposal
Research title – Impact of digital technology on business activity of small organization : A case
study of unicorn
Research background- The way of operating business to day have gone through a major change.
The organizations are making use of digital technology in order to operate their business. The
major change have been there due to digitization .More and more companies are using this in
order to expand their business across globe. The advantages of using digital technology in the
businesses are numerous. The companies are making use of cloud-computing technology in
order to store the records of customer and employees of their company. This use of cloud-
computing at companies will provide the customer and employees to easily access their data. It is
also cost efficient process as there is no need to purchase any hardware for it. The digital
technology such as mobile technology is also used in business activities in order to make the
communication in business stronger and efficient. Using mobile phones the employees will be
remain in touch with business even after office hours. They can also interact with employees and
customers that are in different locations across globe. Many companies are using social websites
such as Facebook, twitter and blogs in order to promote their product and services among target
customer. The marketing strategy have been made by companies by using these digital
technology. With this more innovative and creative products are developed by company is to
gain competitive advantage and also to generate more customer satisfaction among people. The
use of digital technology such Internet of things and social website will attract customer and their
needs will be fulfilled.
Aims and objective-
Aims – The aim of this research is to find out the impact of digital technology on activities of of
small business organization such as unicorn .
Objective-
 To examine the importance of digital technology on business organizations
 To analyze the impact of digital technology in small-scale organization
 To evaluate the challenges that is faced by SME in implementation of digital technology
 To recommend SME to use digitization in their business
Significance – This research will explore the impact that will be there on day to day activities of
business due to use of digital technology. The benefits of using digital technology in the business
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will be presented and also the issues that is affected by SME organization in order to implement
these digital technology at their company.
Literature review
Importance of digital technology
According FitzgeralD and Welch, 2014. to the use of technology in the organization can
help the business to expand quickly and efficiently. The workplace boundaries have been
removed by using technology such as video conferencing, social network etc. As per the
companies can widen their base of customers by using this technology in the business. The
communication in the workplace can be enhanced by making use of business technology. In
order to communicate with each other the workers that are working in the office are not such
limited to phone calls. As per the workers that are working can make use of electronic mail in
order to send their business. The communication with clients can also be enhanced with business
technology as through multiple channels information can be passed. Today the world is
changing and so the way of operating business more and more organization are making sue of
digital technology in order to fulfill the needs and desires of customers. However on the other
hand, the use of digital technology have made people more dependent on this technology. The
people at office have become dependent on computers and other forms of technology for day to
day activities. For an instance in case if nay machine breaks and a computer crashes then the
employees that are working in the office becomes disable untie the issues solved. The
employees will become less self-reliant due to dependency on technology. On the contrary the
use of digital technology also will reduce the time as the work will be done in less amount of
time. As stated by the less value of human workers is retained which is another drawback for
advancement in technology. As the work of 8-9 people are done by one computer .So, many
companies are not employing more employees as the machine are there to do the work of
employees.
Impact of digital technology on SME
Today more large organizations are making use of digital technology in the business. So,
SME organizations can also make use digital technology in the business. As per Matt, Hess and
Benlian, 2015, the business can make use of digital technology such as cloud-computing in
business. All records and information about employees and customer can be stored in it .Also the
employees and customers can access their data anywhere and at any time. The only need of
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cloud is internet connection. In the manual process that is sued by companies in order to store
records and data there is a high chances of risk in this type of storage. As there backup is not
there and also it is a complex process to do in updating in that records. But with use of this
technology updating can be done automatically and backup is also there. However on other hand,
if there is any internet issues then the employees will not be able to access their records. The use
of digital technology such as social websites can be used by company in order to promote its
product and services among target customer. On the contrary, these sites can also have a negative
impact on the image of the company as customer can give their negative feedback on this
website. There are benefits of using social websites as the follower and its customer will increase
but at the same time any negative review on these websites can have negative impact on
company (Impact of small business on SME, 2017).
Challenges that is faced by SME in implementation of digital technology
According to FichmaN, Dos Santos and Zheng, 2014, the implementation of cloud-computing
will help the SME to store security there data on cloud. Also it is energy-effective as only one
cloud all the records of the company will be stored. In case of any fire or theft there will be
backup available as data is stored on cloud. However on other hand implementation of this
technology will be costly for their company as it is a small organization and also it may not
adequate resources that are required for implementation of these technology. The company will
be able to make innovative and creative product by using this technology. However, a lot of
money will be needed for this implementation. The efficiency of screening, hiring potential
candidates will be improved by using technology in the workplace. The internet is used by
business in order to advertise their job openings. By making use of digital technology the hiring
managers can target candidates. Also, a lot of time can be saved as it will speed up the work. The
corrections can be made instantly and the chances of fraud will also be reduce by implementing
this technology. However, as stated by Veit and Spann, 2014, the company can make use of
smart security system in order to reduce any theft at workplace .But at same time as stated by
Leeflang and Freud, 2014 ,the cost of implementing this technology will be costly for this
organization. But the advantages and benefits of using digital technology are numerous and can
help this company to expand its business.
Research question
 How important digital technology in your business organizations?
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 What is the impact of digital technology in small-scale organization?
 What are the challenges that is faced by SME in implementation of digital technology?
 What are some of recommend to SME in respect to use of digitization in their business?
P2 The appropriate research method and conducting primary and secondary research
Research philosophy -There are basically two types of research philosophy and they are as
follows-:
Interpretivism -In this the elements of the study are interpreted .In this the nature of reality
assumptions are based on socially constructed and the goal of this research is understanding.
Positivism – On the quantifiable observation the positivism is dependent .On the natural
phenomena and their properties the positivism research is based. The goals of this research is to
explain the strong prediction.
In this research Interpretivism research will be sued as it is a qualitative approach and the
interpretation need to be done so it is a suitable choice for this research.
Research approach – This is also of 2 types and they are as follows-:
Deductive – This is used when the movement need to be made from general to more specific .It
can also be known as top-down approach. It is used in with testing has it is more narrow in
nature (Royle and Laing, 2014).
Inductive – It is just the opposite of deductive approach .In this from specific observations to
broader generalizations and theories are moved. It is also known as bottom up approach.
In this research the inductive research will be used as for Interpretivism philosophy it bests fits
in that.
Research type – It is also of 2 types and they are as follows-:
Qualitative – This research can be used to gain understanding of underlying reasons ,opinions
and motivations. In to the problem the insight knowledge is proved by this research .The ideas
can also be developed by conducting this research .This make use of unstructured or semi-
structured techniques .The focus groups, individual groups etc are some common methods.
Quantitative – The problem can be quantified by using quantitative research .The attitudes,
opinions, behaviors etc can be quantified by this research .The measurable data area used by
them in this research and uncover patterns in research. The various forms of survey such as
paper,surveys , online survey etc are conducted by quantitative data collection methods.
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In this the research will be done by using qualitative type as data that need to be collected is form
small organization.
Data collection – The data can be collected in 2 ways and they are as follows-:
Primary – In this, the interviews, questionnaires are made in order to gather data from people. It
is the primary source of data. For the first time the data is collected.
Secondary- In this the social groups, websites, internet etc are the sources of secondary data
collection. In this data is collected from before and it is not the primary source of data.
The research that has been done in this primary source of data collection is used in order
to collect data from SME as it is primary source of collecting data.
Selecting sample and size – In this randomly the managers from this SME organization was
selected and questionnaire was distributed to them. The sample size that was taken to conduct
this research was 20 SME managers were selected randomly.
Data analysis – The thematic data analysis is used as it focus on examining themes within data.
For analysis the themes become the categories and in qualitative research it is a common form
of research.
Ethical consideration – The confidentiality was maintained during this research so that no private
information regarding the managers can be leaked. The managers were also not allowed to
discuss the answers withing each other in order to make their research private.
P3 The cost, access and ethical issues considered while conducting primary and secondary
research
In order to conduct this primary research one should take permission of the people who
will be involved in this research. No physical or emotional harm to the subjects need to caused
through this research. The sensitivity to cultural and social differences need to be maintained
through this reach. The confidentiality need to be maintained while conducting reach no private
information about managers need not to be leaked or disclose to another person. The cost of this
research is high in comparison to secondary research has questionnaires that need to be made for
sample size of 20 managers is not a cost-efficient way .These questionnaires were made by
making use of Internet, survey etc .While conducting secondary research the cost is not an issue
as data is available directly on the Internet. In conducting research informed consent is the major
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ethical issue. And also the confidentiality and anonymity need to be respected while conducting
any research.
 Cost – The cost incurred were more in primary research as respondent were asked to fill
up questionnaires. These are required to incur so that outcome of research can be
achieved quite effectually.
 Access to data- The access to the data was achieved easily from journals, articles and
books available on the internet. While, primary data were collected through
questionnaires.
 Ethical issues – All the ethical issues such as consent from employees, confidentiality of
information has been maintained. Furthermore, data security has been maintained as well.
P4 Applying analytical tools to research findings
Question 1: Do you think that the growth in the business can be achieved with digital technology
?
Theme 1: Majority of respondents said that digital technology is important for the growth of
business.
Respondent
s Percentage
Yes 14 70
No 6 30
Total 20
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Question 2: Do you believe that use of cloud-computing can reduce the workload of employees
at workplace?
Theme 2: The majority of respondents said that the workload of employees can be reduced by
using cloud-computing at the workplace.
Respondent Percentage
Yes 13 65
No 7 35
Total 20
7
14
6
Yes
No

8
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14 13
7
Respondent Percentage

Question 3: Is the company has adopted digital technology such as mobile phones,laptops etc in
the office?
Theme 3: Majority of respondents agree that digital technology such as mobile phones,laptops
etc have been used in the workplace.
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Question 4:Do you think that use of social websites in order to promote is products is a good idea
for a company?
Theme 4: The majority of respondents believe that in the promotion of products the company
should make use of social websites.
10
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12 11
9
Respondent Percentage