Assessing Digital Technology's Impact: Unicorn Groceries Report

This report examines the impact of digital technology on the growth and innovation of Unicorn Groceries, a small business enterprise (SBE) operating in the UK. The study focuses on the firm's current operations, including marketing, data management, and customer relations, to identify areas where digital technology can improve efficiency and reduce costs. The report outlines a project management plan, including aims, objectives, and research questions, and details a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for project execution. It explores research methodologies, data analysis techniques, and provides recommendations for digital technology implementation. The report also addresses risk management, cost control, and communication strategies to ensure project success. Ultimately, the analysis aims to define how digital technology can facilitate innovation and enhance the overall business performance of Unicorn Groceries, providing insights into the digital transformation of small businesses. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the role of digital technology in supporting business growth, offering practical recommendations for implementation and future improvements.

MANAGING SUCCESFUL
BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Aims and Objectives.............................................................................................................1
P2 Project management plan.......................................................................................................3
P3 Produce work break down structure and Gantt chart.............................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Research methodologies........................................................................................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Analysing the data gathered.................................................................................................10
P6 Recommendations................................................................................................................16
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................17
P7 Reflection on research..........................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
This is an era of technological business as stated by different researchers all around the
world. Stating this it can be said that it has become essential for the organisations to take use of
the technological advanced equipments for their operations. It makes the business processes to be
faster as well as effective. This makes the work process faster. It is most important for the
smaller and medium sized organisation to take use of such devices as it increases their business
reach as well as reduces the overall cost of operations (Ackermann, 2012). Since they have
limited amount of resources hence it can be utilised for making business operation to expand into
new horizons. It supports one of the biggest aspect in the modern day business i.e. innovation
without which the growth of any firm cannot be ensured. Unicorn Groceries is an SBE that is
operational in UK. This company follows the flat structure in their management. It is having
business of Grocery, household and body care items with an annual turnover of around 7 million
pounds. This research highlights the influence of digital technology on the business of Small
enterprises as well as on the innovations with an effective project management plan.
TASK 1
P1. Aims and Objectives
Research Title:
The impact of digital technology in supporting growth of small business and innovation.
Firms that are utilising digital technology in their operations are having edge over the
others who are taking use of traditional methods of operations. It provides assistance in many
operations as well as it reduces the overall operational cost. In order to ensure long term success
in the business operations modern technological advancements have to be used. Innovation is
always fostered by the use of technological equipments since it helps in doing advanced research
based on the available resources.
AIM
 This project aims to understand several kinds of problems which is faced by Unicorn
Groceries in various situations which helps to ensure long term growth in future.
 Its main objective is to increase the capacity of consumers so as to reduce the time taken
to complete the task by 10% as well as reducing the cost of operation by 5% which can
be easily achieved by the use of digital technology.
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 One of the aim is to study the influence of digital technology on the operations of the
small enterprises like in marketing, information safety, data management.
 It also aims to define the methods by which innovation is facilitated by the use of digital
technology.
Objectives
 To find the requirement of continuous up-dation in the use of digital technology.
 To evaluate the methods through which cost of operations is minimised by taking the use
of technology especially in the field like marketing.
 To highlights the influence of digital technology in transformation of business activities.
 To analyse various areas of business where technological impact is highest.
Research Question
 In case of digital technology what kinds of up-dations are required by Unicorn Groceries.
 What is the digitally updated techniques of marketing.
 What sort of effect digital technology makes on the transformation and innovations in
business.
 What sort of tools of technology can assist in achieving these activities.
All provided objectives are crucial part of the report. In current case “ Unicorn Groceries” is a
SBE and has a potential of expanding business by taking use of modern day technology. It can
utilise online sites for selling its Groceries products. Using digital marketing small firms can
expand their market reach and can promote their items among larger section of the population.
Other issues which is generally faced by the small business enterprises is handling of data
generated in their daily operations. Company wants to do new innovative business which will be
directly benefited if they use modern digital technology. It minimises the overall operational cost
as well as making work process easier.
Background of the project: There are several things that has to be addressed while making the
business operations effective. It can be done using the technology by implementing proper
communication methodologies and channels so that work can be carried smoothly. Every firm
faces different kinds of conflicting situations that can be result of improper mechanism for
communication (Alshamaila, Papagiannidis and Li, 2013). When management has to deliver
message to the staff members they take use of messaging software which helps in delivering
information without any interruptions or data being missed.
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P2 Project management plan
There is a necessity of project management plan in the company such as Unicorn
Groceries. A plan always reduces the extra efforts that will be needed without it. It brings
smoothness I the whole work process as it makes tasks structured. Planning diminishes the
negative influence of various limiting factors on the whole project completion (Blackburn, Hart
and Wainwright, 2013). It assures that work will be completed of time that too taking use of
available resources in optimum way. Planning becomes essential in case of Unicorn Groceries
which is having limited amount of resources. This plan will cover essential requirements and
several activities that is done in this project completion:
 Scope: In many ways this research has higher scope. It mainly highlights on the different
types of activities inside the firm like data management, customer relationship, data
management. Implementation and Up-dation of digital technology will help in fulfilling
the requirements of human resource. Advanced technology in communication will assist
in checking that the flow of information within the firm is appropriate and hence reduces
all the possible confusions within the firm. This project will help in giving support to
expansion and growth plan for business by taking use of innovation.
 Quality check: The prime focus that will be ensured will be on the quality of research that
will be conducted. In order to get effective results for the firm authenticity of the primary
data has to ensured. It is fact that if researchers fails to record appropriate information
than it becomes impossible for them to provide desired report. Project monitoring will be
conducted in a continuous intervals of time that too on regular basis. It ensures that
mistakes can be eliminated at the point of generation only. Data analysis tool and Gantt
chart will assist in understanding the accumulated content more appropriately.
 Risk management: Different kinds of threats are associated with the project such as
improper collection of data, figures which may result in some probable risk which can be
sometimes hidden. These risks has to be faced properly because any sort of negligence
may result in reduction of efficiency of the whole project. Other than this determining the
authenticity of the collected data can be a serious challenge. Internet always acts as a
source of content whose authenticity is always under the question mark. Over
expenditure on the activities is one of the major risk as researchers cross the budget that
is allotted in the beginning of the project. Delay in the project completion can be another
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risk. If all these risk are not handled properly then their might be chance of project failure
which will ultimately result in failure of Unicorn Groceries in terms of adopting digital
technology successfully which can have negative impact on the growth of the firm.
Another bigger risk that is involved with this is that it may not complete on time and
hence proper strategy in this regard has to be made.
 Cost Control: It is essential for any project to be cost effective. Companies such as
Unicorn Groceries do not have deep pockets hence it becomes essential for the firm to
limit its financial expenses. A budget must be allocated for each activities in the process
that will help in making the overall cost control. Cost checking at every step of the
project completion results in reduction of overall budget which is necessary for the firm.
Due to the Tax hikes and inflation there is always the hence that the monetary value that
is assigned for the project may not be enough. Making a plan can be easier but its
implementation is always harder. In this project completion the estimated budget is
around 1200 pounds. The flexible margin that is set by the firm is 10%.
 Communication: In most cases any project fails because there is lack of proper
communication among the research team. At the time of plan formulation better
communication helps in taking views of managers of different departments on diverse
issues (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2012). Time to time conversation of project managers
and team members can ensure that there is smoothness in the implementation of plans.
 Time: It is essential for the researchers to decide that project is completed in prescribed
time frame. It ensures that firm gets maximum profit out of it. For such a time
management and scheduling Gantt chart can be beneficial. In the earlier estimation
projects will take approx 6 months time. Unicorn Groceries is aiming to improve the
operational performance for achieving targeted goals.
P3 Produce work break down structure and Gantt chart
Any project can get competed on time in a case if they break down their work in
appropriate number of parts. It will assist in focusing on each crucial sub part of the project. It
helps firms in gaining optimum results. This can also be understood in ways that most of the
errors done by the managers is due to the fact that they do not follow the idea of solving one step
at a time. An action plan provides details related to several activities which is done so as to
complete assigned project. Some of the steps in this regard is as follows:
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 Find the problem: A firm makes changes in themselves as per the need of theirs as well
as the environment that is forced by external factors. These alterations are always done
when present system is incapable of providing desired results. In this action plan the
major issue is the impact of technology supporting the growth of small business
enterprise and innovations (Sundararajan, 2014). It is essential for the organisations to
find out influence which it makes on business of the enterprise. For achieving so hey
have to learn about many kinds of technological alterations which can help in achieving
their business goals. Postponing the implementation of digital technology in the process
may lead to business failures. Primary research will assist firms in accumulating
authenticated and reliable informations and on other hand secondary data helps in
searching more related informations.
 Location of literature review: One of the crucial source of information in modern day
researches is Internet. It helps in availing the data at cheaper cost which was previously
investigated by other researchers. Along with it Questionnaire can be beneficial for
understanding the mindset of the participants. Here are various authors that have
mentioned this topic in their blogs and content writing pages. Books and journals are also
helpful in collecting authenticated data relevant to this topic.
 Meeting: There will also be the planning of timely meetings with different members will
ensure that there is no misconception or confusion that can occur at the time of project
execution (Rayna and Striukova, 2014). At the time of collecting primary data a schedule
will be considered so that participants do not have to face any issue while the interview is
being conducted.
 Location of data gathered data: This will be done at several places of Manchester that too
at the workplaces only. Team mates are crucial part of the research apart from the experts
from this topic.
 Process of analysing data: Many statical tool and analysis of questionnaire is completed
which will enhance the effectiveness of the results.
 Review Project: In order to make required changes which is necessary for achieving
better outcomes all the information that is gathered have to analysed by the managers.
Project managers ensures that he or she is reviewing the process from time to time.
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TASK 2
P4 Research methodologies
It is essential for completing the research carefully that researcher chooses the best
possible approach which is going to be used at the time when research has to be conducted (13
Biggest Challenges When Moving Your Business To The Cloud. 2017). Selecting an approach
always depends on the resources and time they have. There are two types of data:
 Primary data: This kind of data is something that has been gathered for the first time and
hence it is raw and fresh. This is more authenticated data and can be highly reliable in
terms of research that has to be conducted. Questionnaires, Observing activities and
personal interview are some of the ways using which this kind of data is collected. In
some cases researcher do not use this as a major source of information collection as it
takes significant amount of time as well as it is costly (Cavalcante, Kesting and Ulhøi,
2011).
 Secondary data: This is a type of data which is already available on several sources and
researchers just utilises it to conduct their own research. This can effective in case when
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larger data has to be collected in shorter time period. Online journals, Books, Media
sources, other online researchers, blogs could be excellent sources for such kind of data.
Research methods
 Quantitative: All the data collected is in numeric figures. Question which is close ended
can be essential and generally starts with how many and how much (Laforet, 2013). It
provides assistance in accumulating appropriate informations which is necessary for
making plan more effective. Participants does not face problems as questions are short
and precise and hence their time also gets saved. Filling questionnaire is easier.
 Qualitative: This is the type of research that is linked with finding opinions of the
correspondents. Questions are open ended in nature as well as there is no relation with
numeric figures (Lambert and Davidson, 2013). It is essential part of the research
methodology. Personal interview and subjective questionnaire can be some of the
methods that can be used while gathering of data.
Questionnaire for gathering primary data
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Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Q1. Do you consider that there is need of new software for data handling and sharing in various
units of organisation?
A. Yes
B. No
Q2. Do you feel “unicorn Groceries” can adopt latest technology for marketing?
A. Yes
B. No
Q3. Can implementing digital technology may assist in reduction of miscommunication?
A. Yes, but not so much
B. No.
Q4. Cloud technology may reduce problems associated with data management?
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Not agree
Q5. How can effective marketing of products can be done using digital technology?
A. By doing mobile advertisements
B. TV advertisements
C. Promotion on social media.
Q6. Do you feel that advancements in digital technology will foster growth of “Unicorn
Groceries”?
A. Yes
B. yes but limited growth
C. No.
Q7. Can “ unicorn Groceries” make use of artificial intelligence inside their workplace?
A. Yes, as it is future of technology
B. No, it can be risky
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