The Influence of New Technology: A Case Study of H&M Intranet

This report investigates the influence of intranet technology on the organizational growth and development of Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). The introduction outlines the aim, objectives, questions, and rationale for the research. A literature review defines the concept of intranet, exploring its role in H&M's growth, and identifies associated issues. The methodology section details the research philosophy, approach, method, design, data sources, and sampling techniques used. Data analysis is presented through a questionnaire-based survey of H&M employees, with findings categorized into themes such as intranet's assistance in growth, benefits of intranet use, challenges faced by managers, and factors to consider for implementation. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and offers recommendations for improving intranet usage and its contribution to H&M's success.

Digital Skills and
Research Methods

Table of Contents
TITLE:.............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Aim:.............................................................................................................................................1
Objectives....................................................................................................................................1
Questions.....................................................................................................................................1
Rationale.....................................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3
The concept of Intranet:..............................................................................................................3
Role of intranet in growth and development of H&M:...............................................................3
Issue arise while using Intranet at H&M:...................................................................................4
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................5
DATA ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

TITLE:
“To analyse the influence of new technology over organisational growth and development.” A
case on H&M.
INTRODUCTION
Technology refers to the use of systems, methods and device which are result of scientific
knowledge and used for practical purpose. These days, there are many changes which are taking
place in external environment such as use of social media, cloud computing, intranet, etc. While
performing business activities, there is positive impact on business operations with using new
technology at work place. In this research, there is discussion about Hennes & Mauritz AB
(H&M) which is one of the leading brand in clothing sector. This organisation deals in fashion
sector of men, women, teenagers, children. H&M organisation has head quarter in Sweden.
H&M is big organisation, hence there is good use of intranet in collecting information
and keep data under authentic and reliable manner. It is tough to stealing data from organisation's
site. With using intranet, it is easy for workers to collect information of their use, so it is easy to
collect data from one to another within organisation (Barron and et. al., 2014).
Aim:
“To analyse influence of Intranet as new technology over organisational growth and
development.” A case on H&M.
Objectives
 To understand the concept of Intranet.
 To identify the role of intranet in growth and development of H&M.
 To determine the issue arise while using Intranet at H&M.
Questions
 Do you understand the concept of Intranet?
 What is the role of intranet in growth and development of H&M?
 What are the issue arise while using Intranet at H&M?
Rationale
Reason behind conducting this research is to understand concept of technology. With this
research importance of intranet in organisation can be analysed. This helps to understand
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changes which are place in use of technology. Researcher have interest in changes taking place
in technology.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
The concept of Intranet:
As per Vangie Beal, 2019, It states that intranet is a private network based on the the
different TCP/IP protocols associated with an organisation which can only be used by the
members of that organisation. The purpose for which intranet is developed is because of the
sharing of information in different departments of H&M and computing the information of
employees of H&M in the server. It can only be used by the authorised groups,that is, employees
of H&M or specific departments with the only purpose to share information and lessen the
workload. Intranet can host more than one private website at the same time. It includes the
concept of information technology for the private use. It provide services such as data storage, e-
mailing, and search option for the H&M employees at the same time. It is protected from
unauthorized sources so that the private information related to H&M can't go in the hands of
wrong person and is only flowed in the circuit of trusted employees.
Role of intranet in growth and development of H&M:
According to Hanna P. korhonen, September 14, 2016, intranet performs many
communicational functions for the development of an organisation,like, providing support to the
employees, working magnificently and helps in flowing of information. Intranet in H&M serves
as a “one stop shop” for the employees. There are various roles performed by the Intranet for the
growth & development of H&M. Some of them are:
Decision Support: There are two types of decision support provided by Intranet to
H&M,that is, Push Support and Pull Support. Pull Supports is when the top Management of
H&M actually go out to seek information. And, push support is when information is transmitted
to top management in order to make correct decisions.
Innovation: Intranet connects all the departments within an organisation. And as H&M is
a global organisation with some really innovative products going on and intranet provides a
platform to all the employees to give their brief in any project they find interesting and provide
some new and creative suggestions.
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Learning: H&M created a new level of leaning for their employees via Intranet. As on
Intranet there are various courses put up by the H&M through which employee can learn a thing
or two at some spare time (Flewitt, Messer and Kucirkova, 2015).
Employee engagement: In H&M, Intranet plays a role of source where employees can
engage, see their performance, learn some interesting content and connect to one another. It
serves as a platform for the employees to get engaged in.
Issue arise while using Intranet at H&M:
According to Michael Marchionda, 2019, in an organisation, everyday many projects are
undertaken and proper time is not allotted to them and they either run out of funds or ruin the
reputation of the group because of the miscommunication of portal. Even H&M is not unfamiliar
to certain issues they face because of H&M. Some of them are:
Minimal User support: when a new software is updated, it comes with bugs that limits
the speed of the data. And not every worker of H&M knows how to solve these technical issues
and when support staff address the issue every time it adds to the lots of cost and time
boundation.
Low intranet Usage: the bigger problem that intranet faces is of users. H&M employees
are well habituated with use of internet rather than intranet which creates a problem of audience
fir intranet.
Cost: the everyday usage and maintenance of intranet is very costly and that cost to the
overall expenses of H&M which results in either low profit or high prices, both can end up in
loss of some potential customers (Forrester and Sullivan, 2018).
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METHODOLOGY
It is in form of blueprint which consist of various plans, procedures or techniques to
analyse the answers to a specific problem. The information can be derived from various sources
like questionnaire, surveys or interviews.
Research philosophy: The research philosophy used in this research is Pragmatist
Philosophy. This philosophy states that the research question is the most important determinant
to analyse research problem.
Research Approach: The research approach chosen in this report is deductive. Deductive
research Approach is a process of arranging and classifying the important information in the
report.
Research method: Research Method chosen here is Qualitative Research. Qualitative
research states that the information recorded would be in the qualitative format, like, it should
contain answers in the language form rather than in numerical form.
Gantt Chart: In order to evaluate the period in which project will be undertaken, the
technique used will be Gantt chart. It is a sort of bar chart that shows the schedule needed by the
project for the completion of project (Gallardo-Echenique and et. al., 2015).
Research design: The research design selected is descriptive design. Descriptive design
shows the behaviour of a respondent in the subjective way without influencing any
characteristics.
Data source: There are two ways to collect data., Primary data and secondary Data.
Primary data is the raw information collected for the first time for the aspect of report, and,
secondary data is the type of information available to the researcher from other sources. In this
report, both the data ,that is, primary data and secondary data is used.
Research Sampling: The Sampling method used in this research is Random Sampling.
Random Sampling refers to selection of respondents randomly as the chance of occurrence of
every element is equal. Research Sampling for this report is 20 respondents, who are employees
of the H&M.
This research is based on the aspects of the research provided and has been ensured that
the work of the report is ethical and relevant according to the need of the researcher. This report
would be confidential and will only be used for the internal use of H&M. This research
encountered various limitations and of the main limitation is of cost. The cost was not sufficient
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to lead the whole project. But, the information gathered is reliable and valid as the questionnaire,
that is, primary data was circulated among the respondents and the information collected is
accurate and the true feelings of respondents (Griffin and Care, 2014). Other than that, the
budget of the research is £450.
DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis is the process in which information is collected and then analysed for the
purpose of interpreting and concluding recommendations.
Questionnaire
Designation:
Employee Id:
Q1. Do you think intranet assist in growth and development of H&M?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2. What are the benefits with using intranet to H&M?
a) Proper transfer of information
b) Security of data
c) Achieving competitive advantage
Q3. What are the challenges faced by managers of H&M with use of intranet?
a) Costly approach
b) Lack of workforce engagement
c) Frequent up-gradations in technology
Q4. What are the factors which have to be considered in implementing intranet to H&M?
a) Proper training program
b) Security measures
c) Expertise knowledge
Q5. Recommend the ways through which intranet technology can be implemented to H&M?
Theme 1: Assistance of growth and development
Q1. Do you think intranet assist in growth and Frequency
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development of H&M?
a) Yes 12
b) No 8
Interpretation- As per above graph, it is clear that 12 candidates favours that with use of
intranet there is positive impact on growth and development of organisation. While remaining 8
candidates says no there is no impact. Hence it is interpreted that with implementing technology,
employee's efficiency gets improved. This also assist in maintaining long term relations with
workers.
Theme 2: Benefits of using intranet
Q2. What are the benefits with using intranet to H&M? Frequency
a) Proper transfer of information 8
b) Security of data 5
c) Achieving competitive advantage 7
7
a) Yes b) No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
12
8
Frequency

Interpretation- There are some benefits of using intranet at workplace of H&M. As per
above graph, it is clear that according to 8 candidates, proper transfer of information can be
done, 5 personnel says that with using intranet is security in storing data as external party can not
access it. Remaining 7 individuals says that H&M is able to achieve competitive advantage.
Hence it is interpreted that with using intranet technology growth and development of
association is possible.
Theme 3: Challenges faced by managers in implementing H&M
Q3. What are the challenges faced by managers of H&M
with use of intranet?
Frequency
a) Costly approach 9
b) Lack of workforce engagement 4
c) Frequent up-gradations in technology 7
8
a) Proper transfer of information
b) Security of data
c) Achieving competitive advantage
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
5
7
Frequency

Interpretation- As per above graph, as per view of 9 respondents implementing intranet
is costly approach, 4 says that there are possibilities that employees does not give importance to
it, while remaining 7 candidates says that due to frequent changes in technology here is up
gradation which is challenge for implementing intranet. Hence it is concluded that due to these
measures there are issues in implementing these measures.
Theme 4: Factors to be considered
Q4. What are the factors which have to be considered in
implementing intranet to H&M?
Frequency
a) Proper training program 6
b) Security measures 9
c) Expertise knowledge 5
9
a) Costly approach
b) Lack of workforce engagement
c) Frequent up-gradations in technology
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
9
4
7
Frequency