Research Report: Analyzing COVID-19 Impact on SME Operations in the UK

This research report investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business operations of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. The study employs a quantitative research method with an interpretivism philosophy and a deductive approach, utilizing online interviews for data c...Read More

RESEARCH REPORT
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on business operations of SME’s In
the UK

Table of contents
 Introduction
 Introduction to problem and research question
 Research methodology
 Findings
 Conclusion
 References

INTRODUCTION
 The presentation includes the introduction to the problem based on the report
to investigate the impact of pandemic on operations of SME’s along with the
research questions.
 along with the research questions.
 The different methods and approaches adapted for completion of the research
successfully.
 Evaluation of the effectiveness.
 Major findings of the investigation.

INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM AND
RESEARCH QUESTION
 The motive is to find out the impact of COVID-19 situation on the UK’s
small business operations and performance.
 50% of the revenue of the UK relies on SME's and COVID-19 pandemic
situation affected the business of SME's.
 The life and livelihoods of the people as well as of the industries get
impacted by the pandemic situation.
 Q How the COVID-19 pandemic situation affecting the operations of
Small businesses in the UK?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHOD (Quantitative method)
 Gathering of current, readable and accurate data is an advantage of
Quantitative method.
 The key Drawback of the method is limited outcomes and more time-
consuming.
RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY (Interpretivism philosophy)
 High level of validity of data is one of the key advantages of interpretivism
philosophy.
 No generalisation of facts and subjective nature of data is one limitation of the
philosophy.

CONTINUE
RESEARCH APPROACH (Deductive approach)
 Efficiency and accuracy of data is an advantage of the deductive approach.
 The accuracy of the facts relies on the transparency of the system which is a
Drawback.
DATA COLLECTION METHOD (Online Interview)
 Gathering of data in a faster and cheaper way is an advantage of the online
interview method for data collection.
 The possibility of gaining subjective data is more which is a Drawback.

CONTINUE
SAMPLING METHOD (Convenience method)
 Easy accessibility to people and convenience process is one advantage of the
method.
 The generalisation of the acquired data is not possible through Convenience
method.
DATA ANALYSIS METHOD (Descriptive method)
 In-depth findings of the outcomes is an advantage of the descriptive data
analysis method.
 Time consumption and no statistical presentation of facts is a Drawback.

MAIN FINDINGS
The research is conducted with 3 financial managers of different companies and the
analysis of the outcomes is as follows-
 The hospitality sector is facing the issues of decrement in tourist due to pandemic that
affecting the profit and performance of the industry.
 The recruitment sector industries are facing the challenge of performance degradation
due to the termination of most of the staff rather than the recruitment of new staff.
 The online financial sector has no adverse impact of the pandemic on business
operations due to business digitalisation and online services.
 As per the evaluation of the findings of technology and online services adaptation is a
suggestion the companies can adapt for business operations and performance
improvisation.

CONCLUSION
 From the research, it is observed that different sector has a different
impact of COVID-19 pandemic on business operations.
 Hospitality and recruitment sector are facing adverse challenges whereas
the online businesses are less impacted by the pandemic situation.
 Adaptation of technology and business digitalisation is an option every
sector can adapt to minimising the negative impact of Pandemic.

REFERENCES
 Lemi, K., Bogale, M. and Mengesha, W., 2020. The Effect of COVID-19 on Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises’ Operation in Ethiopia. Journal of Business and
economics, pp.10-17.
 Rutberg, S. and Bouikidis, C.D., 2018. Focusing on the fundamentals: A simplistic
differentiation between qualitative and quantitative research. Nephrology Nursing
Journal, 45(2), pp.209-213.
 Apuke, O.D., 2017. Quantitative research methods: A synopsis approach. Kuwait
Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 33(5471), pp.1-8.
 Kumar, M. and Harris, I., 2020. Enterprise-wide diagnostic in the UK SME: focus
beyond tools and techniques. Production Planning & Control, pp.1-17.