Impact of Digital Technology on SME Growth: A Case Study Report

This report examines the impact of digital technology on the growth and innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a specific focus on Continental Consulting Limited. It outlines the background and purpose of the project, detailing the importance of digital technology in modern business operations. The report includes a project management plan, a work breakdown structure (WBS), and a Gantt chart to illustrate the project's scope and timeline. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are applied to analyze data collected on the use of digital technology within Continental Consulting Limited, including its benefits, limitations, and impact on various departments. The analysis includes an examination of the reasons for utilizing digital technology, as well as potential challenges. The report concludes with recommendations for successful digital technology implementation and a reflection on the research process, referencing relevant sources in the bibliography and appendices.

UNIT 6: MSB

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
1. Background and purpose of project.........................................................................................1
2. Project management plan.........................................................................................................2
3. Work Break down structure and Gantt chart...........................................................................6
4. Applying qualitative and quantitative research methods.........................................................9
5. Analyse of research and data collected..................................................................................12
6. Recommendation and conclusion..........................................................................................16
7. Reflection...............................................................................................................................17
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................18
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................19
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Project management plan.................................................................................................3
Figure 2: Work Break down structure.............................................................................................6
Figure 3: Gantt chart........................................................................................................................9
Figure 4: Use of digital technology within all departments..........................................................12
Figure 5: Reason for use of digital technology..............................................................................13
Figure 6: Limitations of digital technology...................................................................................14
Figure 7: Continental Consulting Limited making prevention with use of digitalization.............15
Figure 8: Recommendation of ways in which Continental Consulting Limited could be
successful to implement digital technology...................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Digital technology which is supporting growth and innovation within business units is
very much essential to be implemented in a proper manner (Loebbecke and Picot, 2015). Small
business is mostly a source of innovation, great ideas and creativity as they know how to
implement technology within organisation.
This particular research project deal with impact of digital technology which is
supporting small business growth and innovation especially in company like that of Continental
Consulting Limited. It is a SME firm working in market for past 8 years with having expertise in
their field of research and business consultancy that is headed by Mario Bindas as CEO.
Continental Consulting Limited is a company which deals with process re-engineering and
potential customers of London and Greater London.
MAIN BODY
1. Background and purpose of project
Background of report:
Digital technology is very much influential factor in starting and operating business in
this current era which is known to as time of innovation and use of latest technologies. Digital
technology will include various kinds of applications and electronic equipment which mainly
uses data in form of numeric code. All kind of information that are gathered and used by
companies will be in form of numeric code which will then be converted into analogy so that it is
easy to understand (Scuotto, Bresciani and Del Giudice, 2017). This report will cover
Continental Consulting Limited which is a consultancy firm operating in UK for last 8 years
serving customers of London and utilising digital technology as well. So this report will examine
impact of use of technology on growth and innovation of SME especially in Continental
Consulting Limited.
Background of Continental Consulting Limited:
Continental Consulting Limited is a company which is based on research and business
consultancy and re-engineering and its customers mainly include SME companies which are in
manufacturing business. Innovation and technology plays a very important role within working
and operation of company as there are rapid changes in IT sector of country. Continental
Consulting Limited is having expert and experienced employees in field of consultancy but then
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also company is lacking behind its competitors. There is very much need of up gradation of IT
infrastructure of company as this is their main weakness which is not allowing them to capture
market.
Aims:
Impact of digital technology supporting small business growth and innovation that is
especially tailored to: Continental Consulting Limited UK.
Objective:
 To identify need of innovation within business operations of Continental Consulting
Limited UK
 To analyse impact of digital technology within growth and innovation of Continental
Consulting Limited UK
 To recommend ways in which company is able to successfully implement digital
technology
Research Question:
1. What is the need of innovation within business operations of Continental Consulting
Limited UK?
2. What are the impact of digital technology within growth and innovation of Continental
Consulting Limited UK?
Purpose of project:
The main purpose of this project is to identify needs of innovation within business
operations of company with analysing impact of digital technology into growth and innovation.
As technology is playing very important and essential role in bringing awareness and
information for all aspects of company so it is required to ensure that company is focusing on it.
The impact of technology is there on all business activities of Continental Consulting Limited
including HR, finances, marketing, production and operations.
2. Project management plan
The plan which is used to manage whole project starting from initiation to closure
defining actions that are necessary like that of integrating, preparing and coordinating of all other
activities will be called to as Project Management Plan (Burns, 2016). It will comprise of all
major steps of project which are both important and essential to be included for conducting
successful project. This plan will be including components such as cost, scope, time, quality,
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communication, risk and resources. But will be having 5 steps which are need to complete the
whole project.
Figure 1: Project management plan
[Source: 5 Phases of Project Management, 2018]
Project initiation- This is starting phase of any of project at which goal and aims of project will
be set including wider phase of level as well. Due diligence on part of stakeholders will be done
in this phase so that they could decide over when to start the planning of project.
Project planning- Under this step manager of project will focus on which plan to be followed in
each of the part and section of project with setting up of SMART objectives 5 Phases of Project
Management, 2018). This step will have scope statement, work breakdown structure, milestones,
Gantt chart, communication plan and risk management plan as well.
Project execution- This will be actual starting of project at which tasks will be divided among
employees as per their task and assigning of resources. Execution will be done based on aims
and objectives with given budget allotted to each team so that whole assignment could be
completed within given timeframe as well.
Project monitoring- Under this stage measurement of project present steps with the set aims and
objective is done so that it could be analysed that whether work is going according to planning or
not (Uyarra, Shapira and Harding, 2016). Key Performance Indicators are used by managers of
project so that they could determine progress and measure performance also.
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Project closure- The last step of any project which is its closure part will be representing that all
activities and task related to aims and objective of project is been concluded successfully.
Table 1: Scope and time duration
Scope/ stage Expected timeframe
Project initiation 7 days
Project planning 7 days
Project execution 9 days
project monitoring 2 days
Project closing 3 days
Table 2: Resource and cost budget
Activities Budget (£) Expenditure (£)
Project budget 20000
Material purchase:
Printer, paper and other materials 5000
Labour & service cost:
Expert for planning and research (6 persons) 2000
Expert for project implementation 4000
Internet service (28days) 4000
Others 5000
Total 20000 20000
Table 3: Quality control plan
Quality issues Stage Impact Control
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Incorrect project objectives Planning High Review by expert/ supervisor
Unrealistic cost allocation Planning Medium Recording of each expenditure
Wrong project design Planning High Discuss with team members
before implementation
No training to employees Execution Medium Trial before execute
Weak data collection Execution High Review by expert/ supervisor
Incorrect respondents Execution Medium Ensure right person before
data collection
Incorrect data analysis
procedure
Project
monitoring
High Discuss with supervisor before
starting
Insufficient reporting Project closure High Sharing results and ideas with
supervisor
Table 4: Communication plan
Stakeholder Description Frequency Format Week of the
timeline
Participants Initial communication Initially Email 5th week
Respondents Meeting for data
collection
Once In person 7th- 8th week
Project
manager
To show progress Every two
weeks
In person, email Entire period
Team
members
Help for data analysis Once in week In person, email Entire period
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Table 5: Risk management plan
Risk Impact Mitigation
Unrealistic timeline Medium Amendment with detail explanation
Absence of commitment High Focus on the Gantt chart
Weak cost control Medium Balancing cost between activities
Less support from experts Medium Seek support from management
Withdrawal of participants Medium Add extra respondents
Misuse of collected data High Follow ethical issues of the project
3. Work Break down structure and Gantt chart
WBS:
Figure 2: Work Break down structure
[Source: What is Work Breakdown Structure in Project Management, 2018]
WBS within the project management is that structure which breaks whole complete
project into simple and smaller components so that working and handling of whole team is done
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accordingly (What is Work Breakdown Structure in Project Management, 2018). A WBS is the
main component which organises whole working and efforts of team into one particular
direction.
Table 6: Project management plan
Task
mode Task name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
scheduled Preparation phase of project 7 days Thu
9/13/18 Fri 9/21/18
Auto
scheduled Choosing a theme or subject 1 day Thu 9/13/18 Thu 9/13/18
Auto
scheduled
Defining project scope and
objectives 2 days Fri 9/14/18 Mon
9/17/18 2
Auto
scheduled
Select subject or problematic in
carrying out installation 2 days Tue 9/18/18 Wed
9/19/18 2,3
Auto
scheduled Identifying aims and objective 2 days Thu 9/20/18 Fri 9/21/18 3,4
Auto
scheduled Project planning 7 days Mon
9/24/18 Tue 10/2/18 5,1
Auto
scheduled
Application step of
development 3 days Mon
9/24/18
Wed
9/26/18 5
Auto
scheduled Budgeting for project 2 days Thu 9/27/18 Fri 9/28/18 5,7
Auto
scheduled
Communication plan 2 days Mon
10/1/18
Tue 10/2/18 7,8
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Auto
scheduled Project execution 9 days Wed
10/3/18
Mon
10/15/18 8,6
Auto
scheduled Dividing task 2 days Wed
10/3/18 Thu 10/4/18 9
Auto
scheduled Literature review 3 days Fri 10/5/18 Tue 10/9/18 9,11
Auto
scheduled Data collection 4 days Wed
10/10/18
Mon
10/15/18 12
Auto
scheduled Project monitoring 2 days Tue
10/16/18
Wed
10/17/18 13
Auto
scheduled Key performance indication 2 days Tue
10/16/18
Wed
10/17/18 13
Auto
scheduled Project closure 3 days Thu
10/18/18
Mon
10/22/18 15
Auto
scheduled
Conclusion and
recommendation 2 days Thu
10/18/18
Fri
10/19/18 14,15
Auto
scheduled Submission of project 1 day Mon
10/22/18
Mon
10/22/18 15,17
Gantt chart:
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Figure 3: Gantt chart
4. Applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
Research approach-
There are mainly 3 types of approach towards which whole project and its aims are based
on formulating under planning and procedures which is consisting of broader assumptions of
methods to be used in collection and analysis of data (Dodgson, 2018). Deductive approach is
aimed to test the theory which is applied and inductive will be forming a new theory throughout
its use of data and interpretation as well. Whereas abductive will be inference of logical
reasoning with observing complex stage to simplify it in parts. So in this particular research
which is dealing with impact of digital technology on growth of company inductive approach is
chosen. Which will not include any sort of hypothesis and only focus on research questions an
objective to get the aim fulfilled.
Research philosophy-
Any belief or way in which data is collected, interpreted and aims are accomplished will
mean research philosophy. There are many types of philosophies that are used within any type of
researches but only 2 of them are main which are interpretivism and positivism. Interpretivism is
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