Research Proposal: Organisational and Employee Efficiency

This research proposal explores the critical link between organisational and employee efficiency transformations and competitive advantage, specifically within the context of the UK retail sector, using Sainsbury as a case study. The research aims to examine the impact of digital workplace transformation on Sainsbury's ability to gain a competitive edge. The proposal outlines the research objectives, questions, and the rationale for selecting this topic, highlighting the importance of digital technologies in improving organisational and employee performance. The methodology section details the research philosophy (positivism), approach (deductive), strategy (survey), and choices (quantitative) to be employed, including data collection methods (primary and secondary), analysis techniques, and sampling strategies. The proposal also includes a review of relevant literature, ethical considerations, and a timeline for the research activities.

Research Proposal
(Why linking organisational and
employee efficiency transformation is
critical to remain competitive?)
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Research Proposal Form
Student Name: ______________________
Proposed Title: ______________________________________________
Section One: Title, objective, responsibilities
Title or working title of the research project
Why linking organisational and employee efficiency transformation is
critical to remain competitive?
Background of the study
Digital workplace transformation is focus on integrating digital technologies in all
over the areas of business in order to change their operation as well as deliver best value to
their potential customers. It help company in order to increase their business productivity
by linking their all business operations with digital technology (Vallicelli, 2018). The
current research is conduct to examine the impact of linking employees and organisation
with digital workplace transformation in order to gain competitive advantage. The selected
organisation for the current research is Sainsbury. It is a multinational retail organisation of
United Kingdom that provide effective service to their potential customers.
Research objectives (e.g what is the question you want to
answer? What do you want to learn how to do? What do you want
to find out?):
Research aim
To examine the impact of linking employees and organisation with digital
workplace transformation in order to gain competitive advantage in context of UK retail
sector. “A study on Sainsbury”
Research questions
 What is the concept of digital workplace transformation within UK retail sector?
 What are the digital technologies used by Sainsbury to link employees and
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organisation in order to improve productivity?
 What is the impact of linking employees and organisation with digital workplace
transformation in Sainsbury to gain competitive advantage?
Research objectives
 To understand the concept of digital workplace transformation within UK retail
sector.
 To identify the digital technologies used by Sainsbury to link employees and
organisation in order to improve productivity.
 To examine the impact of linking employees and organisation
with digital workplace transformation in Sainsbury to gain
competitive advantage.
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
Reasons for choosing the project (e.g links to other subjects you
are studying, personal interest, future plans, knowledge/skills
you want to improve, why the topic is important):
The reason behind for the selection of this research topic is to gain
knowledge regrading digital workplace transformation for improving
organisational and employees performance. The research will help
company to gain competitive advantage in order to transform their
workplace by using digital technology (Ifenthaler, 2018). There are mainly
two important objectives of researcher in order to conduct the current
research. First one is personal objective where researcher wants to
gain detailed and accurate information about the digital workplace
transformation. On the other hand its, second objective is professional
where researcher wants to apply its knowledge in professional career.
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Section Three: Literature sources searched
Use of key literature sources to support your research question,
objective or hypothesis:
The concept of digital workplace transformation within UK retail sector
According to the view of April and Dalwai (2019) the digital workplace is describe
the concept that the business should use digital transformation for aligning their technology,
employees and business processes for improving operational efficiency as well as meeting
organisational goals. Digital workplace transformation is a broad term that includes any
software, device or platforms that are used by the employees in order to execute their jobs in
effective manner. Effective workplace transformation make company in order to attract
more talent, increase productivity of their employees as well as increase employee retention.
The digital technologies used by Sainsbury to link employees and organisation in order to
improve productivity
As per the view of Li, Dai and Cui (2020) there are many digital technologies that
help company to transform their workplace so, their employees perform their task in better
manner. It also help company to link their employees with the organisation for improving
productivity and probability of their business. The digital technologies are Chatbot, Internet
of Things, Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented reality and many more. It is important
for every organisation to select best digital technology and implement it better manner while
transforming their workplace. It also save cost and time of the company for improving their
organisational productivity.
The impact of linking employees and organisation with digital workplace transformation in
Sainsbury to gain competitive advantage
In the opinion of Chin, Jiao and Jawahar (2019) linking employees and organisation
with digital workplace transformation provide positive impact on the company that help
them to gain competitive advantage. Digital workplace transformation focus on changing
working the environment of organisation so, the employees feel good and safe in order to
work in the organisation and help company to gain more competitive advantage. Digital
workplace transformation align employees with the new and latest technology so, they
perform their task more effectively.
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Section Four: Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the research
project (e.g research, development and analysis
of ideas, writing, data collection, numerical
analysis, tutor meetings, production of final
outcome, evaluation, writing the report):
How long this
will take:
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Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
What type of research approach and methodologies are you likely
to use and why? What your areas of research will cover:
Research philosophy- Both positivism and interpretivism philosophies are important to
conduct research but the researcher uses positivism research philosop
hy in order to conduct
current research (Aidley, 2018). Advantages of selecting this research philosophy is it allow
researcher to collect quantitative and objective data.
Research approach- Inductive and deductive are two types of research approaches,
researcher selects deductive research approach for the current research (Ryser, 2021). It will
help researcher to develop hypotheses based on pre-existing theory as well as then
formulate the research approach in order to test it.
Research strategy- Survey research strategy is use for the current research in order
to collect primary data from the respondents (Singer, 2019). This strategy is cost and time
effective that help researcher to collect data easily.
Research choice- Quantitative research choice is select by the researcher as it helps
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in collecting numerical information for the current research (Pisani and Micheletti, 2020).
This research choice is tends to reach large number of people within a shorter period of
time.
Time horizon- Cross-sectional time horizon is select for the current research as it
help researcher to conduct research in less period of time (Savela, 2018). It makes
researcher to focus on current situations for collecting data for the current research.
Data collection- Both primary and secondary data collection method is selects by
the researcher to collect data for the current research (Mertens, 2019). Primary data
collection method allow researcher to collect first hand data where as secondary data
collection method allow them to collect data from the published sources.
Data analysis- Frequency distribution analysis is selects by the researcher for
analysing and measuring collected data (Thomson, Kennelly and Toohey, 2020). This
analysis help researcher to visualise and illustrate the data that are collected from the
sample.
Sampling- Random sampling is uses by the researcher for selecting respondents for
the current research (Cook, 2021). For the current research, researchers selects 20
respondents in order to collect accurate and relevant data for the research.
Comments and agreement from tutor: The learner has
understood the requirements and have made an appropriate
selection.
Agreed: __________
Tutor Signature: ___________
Date ______________
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Vallicelli, M., 2018. Smart cities and digital workplace culture in the global European context:
Amsterdam, London and Paris. City, Culture and Society, 12, pp.25-34.
Ifenthaler, D. ed., 2018. Digital workplace learning: Bridging formal and informal learning with
digital technologies. Springer.
April, K. and Dalwai, A., 2019. Leadership styles required to lead digital
transformation. Effective Executive, 22(2), pp.14-45.
Li, Y., Dai, J. and Cui, L., 2020. The impact of digital technologies on economic and
environmental performance in the context of industry 4.0: A moderated mediation
model. International Journal of Production Economics, 229, p.107777.
Chin, T., Jiao, H. and Jawahar, I.M., 2019. Sustainable career and innovation during
manufacturing transformation. Career Development International, 24(5), pp.397-403.
Aidley, D., 2018. Introducing quantitative methods: a practical guide. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ryser, G.R., 2021. Qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessment. In Identifying Gifted
Students (pp. 33-57). Routledge.
Singer, J.D., 2019. Reshaping the arc of quantitative educational research: It’s time to broaden
our paradigm. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 12(4), pp.570-593.
Pisani, E. and Micheletti, S., 2020. Social capital and rural development research in Chile. A
qualitative review and quantitative analysis based on academic articles. Journal of Rural
Studies, 80, pp.101-122.
Savela, T., 2018. The advantages and disadvantages of quantitative methods in schoolscape
research. Linguistics and Education, 44, pp.31-44.
Mertens, D.M., 2019. Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating
diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage publications.
Thomson, A., Kennelly, M. and Toohey, K., 2020. A systematic quantitative literature review of
empirical research on large-scale sport events’ social legacies. Leisure Studies, 39(6),
pp.859-876.
Cook, R.M., 2021. Addressing missing data in quantitative counseling research. Counseling
Outcome Research and Evaluation, 12(1), pp.43-53.
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Research Ethics Approval Form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or
the use of data collected from human participants are required to gain
ethical approval before commencing their research. Please answer all
relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor.
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed
research fully with your Unit Tutor. Please complete this form in good time
before your research project is due to commence.
Section 1: Basic Details
Project title: Why linking organisational and employee efficiency transformation is critical to remain
competitive?
Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
Center Name:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
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Section 2: Project Summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as part of your project:
• Interviews:
• Questionnaires:
• Observations:
• Use of Personal Records:
• Data Analysis:
• Action Research:
• Focus Groups:
• Other (please specify): ..............................................................................................
Research Ethics Approval Form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or
the use of data collected from human participants are required to gain
ethical approval before commencing their research. Please answer all
relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor.
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed
research fully with your Unit Tutor. Please complete this form in good time
before your research project is due to commence.
Section 1: Basic Details
Project title: Why linking organisational and employee efficiency transformation is critical to remain
competitive?
11

Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
Center Name:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
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Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary. Will your research
involve human participants?
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply
Ages 12-16:
Young People aged 17–18:
Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified and approached)?
By using probability sampling, 20 employees of Sainsbury will be selected
randomly.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
E-mail and questionnaire will use to inform participants regarding the work.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be
made clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at anytime?
By providing accurate information regarding the research to the participants,
informed consent will be obtained from the respondents.
Studies involving questionnaires: Will participants be given the option of omitting questions
they do not wish to answer?
Yes No
If No please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from
this.
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e. give them a brief
explanation of the study)?
Yes No
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Will participants be given information about the findings of your study?(This could be a
brief summary of your findings in general)
Yes No
Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data
Protection Act (1998) Yes: No:
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
Myself Supervisor
During the research:
Where will the data be stored?
In my computer
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be
used?
Yes: No:
If yes, please provide further details:
After the research:
Where will the data be stored?
On USB
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format?
Until I don’t need them anymore.
Will data be kept for use by other researchers?
Yes: No:
If yes, please provide further details:
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Section 5: Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work which may raise ethical concerns? If so,
please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise as a
result of your research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns
may include, but are not limited to the following:
• Informed consent.
• Potentially vulnerable participants.
• Sensitive topics.
• Risks to participants and/or researchers.
• Confidentiality/anonymity.
• Disclosures/limits to confidentiality.
• Data storage and security, both during and after
the research (including transfer, sharing, encryption,
protection).
• Reporting.
• Dissemination and use of your findings.
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