MBA Dissertation Proposal: DocuSign Agreement Cloud for Irish SMEs

This MBA dissertation proposal investigates the evaluation of contract agreement alteration processes using DocuSign Agreement Cloud by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ireland. It explores the advantages of the cloud service, its long-term strategic benefits for businesses, and the environmental advantages of a paperless system. The research will analyze research objectives, including the motives behind cloud adoption, customer options, and competitive advantages. The literature review will provide an overview of DocuSign and its benefits, while the methodology section will detail the sampling, data collection methods, and limitations of the research. The study aims to determine the impact of DocuSign on Irish SMEs, identifying advantages, consequences, and the benefits of transitioning to a paperless agreement system. The proposal includes an executive summary, table of contents, introduction, background information on DocuSign, research problem, rationale, objectives, research questions, literature review, methodology, and conclusion.

Running head: MBA DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
MBA DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The aim of this research proposal will be to research about the evaluation of the process of
alteration of Contract Agreements DocuSign Agreement Cloud for Small and Medium
Enterprises of Irish business houses. The advantages of using this particular service along
with the long term strategy surrounding the benefits of the cloud on the businesses of these
organizations will be laid in this paper. Apart from these, the benefits to the environment on
switching to a paperless system of agreement will be analysed in this paper. Research
objectives will help to explain the motives behind switching to the agreement cloud along
with evaluation of options available to the customers within the agreement cloud and
discussion of the ways of getting benefitted by the organizations from this particular
agreement and gaining of the competitive advantage in the market place of Ireland. Literature
review section will include a small brief about DocuSign along with advantages or benefits of
using this service will be discussed. The methodology section will also be discussed, along
with the sample size, data collection method and techniques where small brief regarding the
process to be carried on will be given. Limitations of this research paper will be given, which
will provide the restrictions to carry on the research effectively and efficiently of this paper.
At last, a small conclusion will be given which ill end this paper.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background............................................................................................................................3
About the Company...............................................................................................................4
Research Problem.......................................................................................................................4
Research Rationale.....................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives...................................................................................................................5
Research Questions....................................................................................................................5
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................6
DocuSign, their Strategies and Usefulness............................................................................6
Advantages of using this System...........................................................................................7
Impacts on Small and Medium Organizations of Ireland......................................................8
Research Details.........................................................................................................................9
Methodology..........................................................................................................................9
Sampling and Data Collection...............................................................................................9
Limitations...............................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Background
The main purpose of this research proposal will be to research about the topic, which
is evaluation of the process of alteration of Contract Agreements DocuSign Agreement Cloud
for Small and Medium Enterprises of Irish business houses. In other words, it can be said that
how the small and medium companies are using DocuSign Agreement Cloud to make
changes in contract agreements will be discussed in this research proposal paper (Lunttila
2019). The advantages of using this particular service along with the long term strategy
surrounding the benefits of the cloud on the businesses of these organizations will be laid in
this paper. Apart from these, the benefits to the environment on switching to a paperless
system of agreement will be analysed in this paper. Whether the competitors of DocuSign are
planning to follow any kind of similar approaches or not will also be evaluated in this
research proposal. Research objectives will help to explain the motives behind switching to
the agreement cloud along with evaluation of options available to the customers within the
agreement cloud and discussion of the ways of getting benefitted by the organizations from
this particular agreement and gaining of the competitive advantage in the market place of
Ireland. Literature review section will include a small brief about DocuSign along with
advantages or benefits of using this service will be discussed. The methodology section will
also be discussed, along with the sample size, data collection method and techniques where
small brief regarding the process to be carried on will be given. Limitations of this research
paper will be given, which will provide the restrictions to carry on the research effectively
and efficiently of this paper. At last, a small conclusion will be given which ill end this paper
(Xu and Zhang 2015).

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About the Company
DocuSign, Inc. is an American business entity that helps other business houses to
manage different agreements electronically. Headquarter of this organization is in San
Francisco, which offers eSignature as part of the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, through which
the signatures can be made electronically on various devices. According to the management
of this company, there are more than 500,000 customers, who use their services, and there are
millions of people who use their services in more than 180 nations. The organization was
founded in the year 2003, and is present in 16 locations in the region of the United States.
The service which is offered by the management of this organization is treated as the best
service, which is possible at any device from anywhere and at any point of time. The main
objective or mission of this company is to accelerate the overall process of signing
agreements along with making the lives of the people faster and saving the environment from
usage of papers by making a paperless service around the world (DocuSign 2020).
Research Problem
The service that is offered by the management of DocuSign is based totally on
electronic platforms, where no paperwork is involved. But due to alterations while using the
services of this organization, jobs of many employees are getting affected in the small and
medium business entities in Ireland. Apart from this, proper set up is required in order to use
this set up. They have to face challenges from the employees whose jobs might be lost after
usage of this service. This has been identified as the main research problem for this paper.
Research Rationale
The rationale of this research of this paper is to find out how DocuSign technology is
helping small and medium business houses in Ireland gain superiority over their competitors

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by the use of the Agreement Cloud platform. The advantages of using this particular service
along with the long term strategy surrounding the benefits of the cloud on the businesses of
these organizations is also an issue for the employees of the organizations who are availing
this particular service from DocuSign. This along with the benefits that the environment will
receive after switching to a paperless system of agreement will be a debatable topic that will
be discussed in this research paper (Yang 2018).
Research Objectives
From the viewpoint of the research problem, the following research objectives can be
derived on order to address the aim of this research:
1. To know about the services or the strategies used and its usefulness that is offered
to the global people by DocuSign and moving to the Agreement Cloud
2. To know the impact on the small and medium based organizations of Ireland are
facing by using this service
3. To know the benefits to the environment switching to a paperless system of
agreement
Research Questions
Based on the research objectives, following are the research objectives that can be
framed that will help to get the answer of the research problem discussed:
1. What are the advantages that the medium and small business entities are facing in
the region of Ireland and gaining the competitive advantage over the rival
institutions?

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2. What are the consequences that these organizations are facing by using this
particular service of DocuSign?
3. What are the benefits that the business environment is facing for switching to the
paperless system of agreement?
Literature Review
DocuSign, their Strategies and Usefulness
As discussed, the management of DocuSign offers digital signature among various
clients who are presented around the world, and it can be noted in this context that they are
the first to create and offer the first agreement cloud, and played the role as a pioneer in
providing eSignature to millions of people around the world. The strategies that are followed
by the management of this American organization helps to offer a paperless agreement
system that helps the organizations to gain the competitive advantage over the rival business
houses across all the business sectors that exist globally. They successfully transformed the
entire agreement process that was once followed by the companies around the world. The
DocuSign Agreement Cloud has successfully transformed the overall process or system that
is performed by the management of different companies digitally. Thus, it can be said that the
advancement in the field of technology has make it easier to deal with different kinds of
agreements that are dealt with various business houses around the world.
There are more than 12 applications along with more than 350 integrations that have
helped to cover as well as transform the agreement process digitally. These help to sign act
and manage the agreements that are required to start and carry on the businesses in this highly
competitive global business market. These have really helped the business entities to make
the flow of the business operations faster along with facing of less risk factor. Apart from

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this, the overall cost of running a business can also be reduced, and the experiences faced by
the customers and the employees can be made further. But, as this overall system is totally
based on paperless approach, it has been identified that it had faced issues regarding the
people who usually looked after the agreements, which were thoroughly based on paper. So,
it can be said that the jobs of these employees might be at stake and they might lose them due
to this paperless digital system (Sacklén 2018).
Advantages of using this System
DocuSign Agreement Cloud possesses several advantages or positive impacts on the
businesses that are performed all over the world. The first and foremost advantage that is
provided by this system is providing paperless work and paper free environment. This has
helped to reduce the amount of pollution that is occurred by usage of papers. Apart from this,
over 12 applications including electronic signature, contract lifecycle management, guided
forms, document generation, clickwrap agreements and many more, which helps to make the
flow of the businesses faster and more effective. Another most important factor that is
provided by DocuSign Agreement Cloud is offering industry and department-specific
solutions, for example, solutions for real estate, financial services, marketing department,
human resource department, sales department, procurement and others (Panda et al 2013).
Over 350 integrations with other integrations like Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, SAP,
Workday, Box and Oracle has helped to cover as well as transform the agreement process
digitally. APIs which have own awards and recognitions help to connect as well as extend the
tools and solutions offered by DocuSign with that which already used by other organizations.
Thus, in one word, it can be said that less time is taken and less amount of money is incurred
in this paperless system of paperwork performed by the companies around the world. This
also benefits the environment, as less paper is used to sign and maintain the agreements.

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Greener environment can be followed by the use of DocuSign Agreement Cloud in various
business entities (Carcary, Doherty and Conway 2014).
Impacts on Small and Medium Organizations of Ireland
The overall impact that DocuSign Agreement Cloud is having on the impact of small
and medium business organizations in the region of Ireland will be identified in this research
paper. It can be stared in this context that usage of this solution by the clients of DocuSign
who are present in other markets except Ireland has helped to improve the overall
productivity and scale the flow of the business operations faster than usage of paper
agreements. Fast decisions can be taken as signing of the agreement papers and other related
documents become faster by using this digitally transformed system (Jones et al 2013). The
workflow progress can also be tracked along with sending reminders to recipients, store the
information on online platform safely and securely and to view the audit trails. It also
possesses empowerment to the employees of the organizations who are using this solution,
but some issues have been faced by the management of the organizations who are using this
solution. Thus, it is necessary to identify the impact on the medium and small business
enterprises in the region of Ireland, along with identification of the impact, whether it is
positive or negative and the amount of impact that has happened on these business entities.
This will help to identify the amount of competitive advantage that will are gained by the
organizations who are using DocuSign Agreement Cloud in their business procedures
(Lukianchuk 2015).

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Research Details
Methodology
It can be stated in this context that research methodology is the procedure which is
used to gather all kinds of information to carry on a research and investigate it efficiently and
effectively in order to obtain the results of this research. This includes frameworks,
instruments and methods which are appropriate for collecting all the information. It can be
said in the context of this research proposal, quantitative surveys will be used to find out the
results that are required to answer the research questions that have been discussed earlier in
this paper.
Sampling and Data Collection
The survey will be performed on the employees of the small and medium enterprises
of Ireland, mainly with the employees who are using this eSignature system or the people
who are associated with the agreements that need to be done to carry on the businesses by a
particular company. The sample that is selected for this research is 500, all of them belonging
from the medium and small business houses of Ireland. The sample will be done through
random selection who are directly involved with the usage of DocuSign Agreement Cloud,
and will involve both female and male employees, irrespective of their designation they hold
in their respective offices.
The research will involve both primary and secondary data collection methods.
Primary data collection method will involve questionnaires, which will involve close-ended
as well as open-ended questions that will be circulated among the sample size that has been
selected. On the other hand, secondary data will be collected from the annual reports of the
medium and small size business houses of Ireland, and from where the employees will be
selected as the sample size.

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Limitations
From the above discussion, it can be seen that questionnaires surveys will be used in
this research paper to identify the possible outcomes. But, it will be difficult to find out the
exact employees who are associated with the identified small and medium business
enterprises in Ireland. The data that will be gathered may not provide ethical outcomes, as the
employees who will be chosen as the sample size may not provide correct answers, which
will automatically manipulate the possible outcomes of the study. Apart from this, the
employees may provide vague data, which will also hamper to reach out to a solution or
solutions. The data collection methods selected for this research may also limit to reach out to
a conclusion, as many offices may not allow entering the office premises to carry on the
survey. This will automatically hamper the flow of this research and it will take a longer time
to end the survey, which will further delay the data collection method and reach out to the
final conclusion (Rath et al 2014).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that impacts has been identified on
organizations around the world who are using DocuSign Agreement Cloud for paperless
agreements. It has benefitted the environment for using paperless systems in performing the
agreements. But recommended steps need to be designed and followed by the management of
the business entities who are following this system. This will help to overcome the barriers
and gain the competitive advantage over other companies, and faster businesses can be
followed by the business houses from small and medium sectors of Ireland.

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References
Carcary, M., Doherty, E. and Conway, G., 2014. The adoption of cloud computing by Irish
SMEs-an exploratory study. Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 17(1),
p.3.
DocuSign. (2020). DocuSign: #1 in Electronic Signature and Agreement Cloud. [online]
Available at: https://www.docusign.com/ [Accessed 3 Feb. 2020].
Jones, P., Packham, G., Beckinsale, M., Durkin, M., McGowan, P. and McKeown, N., 2013.
Exploring social media adoption in small to medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. Journal of
Small Business and Enterprise Development.
Lukianchuk, G., 2015. The impact of enterprise risk management on firm performance of
small and medium enterprises. European Scientific Journal, 11(13), pp.408-427.
Lunttila, J., 2019. Digital signature: adoption, technology, costs & benefits.
Panda, S., Sahu, S.K., Mohapatra, J. and Mohapatra, R.K., 2013. An Application of time
stamped proxy blind signature in e-voting. International journal on computer science and
engineering, 5(6), p.547.
Rath, C., Roth, S., Schallar, M. and Zefferer, T., 2014. A secure and flexible server-based
mobile eID and e-signature solution. In The Eighth International Conference on Digital
Society (pp. 7-12). ..
Sacklén, E., 2018. Achieving competitive advantage by developing contract management?: a
case study.