The Impact of the Internet on Business Organisations - Research Paper Example

?An Investigation on the Impact of the Internet on Business Organisations Table of Contents An Investigation on the Impact of the Internet on Business Organisations 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Part 1 2 1.1 Impact of the internet on businesses 2 1.2 Relevance of the questions 4 1.2.1 Manager’s questionnaires 4 1.2.3 Customers’ questionnaires 5 Part 2 6 2.1 Analysis of the data collected in part 1 6 Part 3 7 3.1 Discussion of research findings 7 3.2 Use of the internet among the participants 7 3.3 Application of the internet 8 3.3.1 Managers’ feedback 8 3.3.2 Friends and relatives feedback’ feedback 9 3.4 Use of the Internet to provide convenience to consumers and improve service delivery in business organisation 10 3.5 The impact of the Internet on the financial performance of business organisation 11 Conclusion 13 Recommendations 14 References 15 Close A., (2012) Online Consumer Behaviour: Theory and Research in Social Media, Advertising and E-tail; Routledge Academic 15 Haugtvedt C., Machleit K., and Yalch R., (2005) Online Consumer Psychology: Understanding and Influencing Consumer Behaviour in the Virtual World (Advertising and Consumer Psychology): Psychology Press 16 Joinson A., (2003) Understanding the Psychology of Internet Behaviour: Virtual Worlds, Real Lives; Palgrave Macmillan 16 Windham L., and Orton K., (2000) The Soul of the New Consumer: The Attitudes, Behaviour, and Preferences of E-Customers; Allworth Press 17 Introduction This present paper is a research paper that seeks to investigate how the internet has revolutionised how business is done and what influences the internet has on the performance of business organisation. The paper will mainly answer this research question using data collected from questionnaires that were distributed to a target population of fifteen people that comprised of five managers and ten friends and relatives. It is expected that the mangers will provide feedback from a business perspective while the selected friends and relatives will provide feedback from a consumer perspective. The paper is divided into a three part series with the first part briefly defining the selected research topic as well as explaining the relevance of the questions used in the questionnaire and how it fits to the research project. The second part of the paper will analyse that data that was collected in the first part while the third and final part of the paper will discuss research findings , draw out a conclusion and then spell out a few recommendation that address the research question. Part 1 1.1 Impact of the internet on businesses Jarvenpaa and Todd (2010) described the Internet as a global network that interconnects all computers in the world thereby enabling different computers in different corners of the world to communicate with each other. Bridges et al. (2010) further added that the internet is decentralised by design meaning that it is independent and not a property of any individual thou it relies on other physical infrastructures that taps into other networks. Through the interconnectivity provided by the Internet, the world has become a global village and it is no longer necessary to move physically from one location to another in order to inquire or acquire a good or service since this can be done through the internet and payment as well as delivery can be organised through the same platform. According to Bigne (2005), the internet has had a revolutionary impact mostly in the 21st century on the way people carry on various tasks. For example, it is no longer mandatory to go to work to simply submit or write a report, since the employee can do this at the comfort of his or her own home and then send the report to the manager via the internet. This mode of operating is largely classified under the concept of virtual office, which does not necessarily require workers to work under one physical location. Secondly, Close (2012) noted that it is no longer necessary to visit a physical store in order to inquire about a certain product or service before making a purchase. This is because customers can simply do this via the internet where they will be able to access various reviews about the product or service, which can help them in making a purchase decision. Thirdly, Elliot and Fowell (2010) noted that the internet has enabled the selling and buying of products and services without the buyer and seller making physical contact, and one of the best success story of this business model that is powered by the internet is e-bay, which is an interactive internet site where buyer and sellers trades goods and services. Summarily, from this brief discussion about the research topic it is evident that the internet has greatly changed the way business is done and this has an actual significant impact on the business organisations that applies the use of internet in their business processes. 1.2 Relevance of the questions 1.2.1 Manager’s questionnaires a) Do you apply the internet in your business process? This question is relevant in order to establish first whether the manager selected will make a worthwhile contribution to this research process, and it assists the research in knowing the extent of internet application. b) In what ways do you apply the internet in your business? This question is relevant as it seeks to establish exactly how the internet has revolutionized how business is done. c) Has the use of the internet improved you service delivery? If yes, kindly explain further This question is relevant as it provides a measure of the impact of the internet and fits to the research as it seeks to establish the impact of the internet on the performance of a business in terms of service delivery. d) Has the use of the internet increased the sales of the business? This question is relevant as it provides a measure of the impact of the internet and fits to the research as it seeks to establish the impact of the internet on the performance of a business in terms of sales. e) Has the use of the internet improved the financial performance of the business? If yes, kindly explain further This question is relevant as it provides a measure of the impact of the internet and fits to the research as it seeks to establish the impact of the internet on the performance of a business in terms of service delivery. 1.2.3 Customers’ questionnaires a) Do you use the internet for business or transacting purposes? This question is relevant since it seeks to identify whether the participant will be of value to the research or not. b) In what ways do you use the internet for business or transacting purposes? The relevance of this question is to establish whether there is correlation with the way in which businesses as well as customers use the internet and it fits into the research since it will denote the revolutionary impact of the internet. c) Is the use of internet for business or transacting purposes convenient for you? This question is relevant, as it will seek to affirm managers’ assertion that the internet improves service delivery and it fits into the research since it will also denote the impact of internet on the performance of businesses. d) What are some of the aspects of internet that at times can discourage you from using it for business or transacting purposes? This question is relevant since it will seek to establish whether use of internet has a positive or negative impact on the business and it fits into the research since the feedback will help in devising recommendations. e) In what ways do you think businesses can improve their internet applications to encourage you to use if further? This question is relevant since it will enable researcher to provide recommendations that are actually relevant and helpful for both parties. Part 2 2.1 Analysis of the data collected in part 1 In part one, the main data that were collected were secondary data pertaining to the research topic and it was noted from the data that the internet is merely an application that interconnects computers around the world thereby creating a web of interconnectivity that enables interactions without making physical contact. Equally, it was established that businesses as well as people have taken advantage of the capabilities provided by the internet and they have integrated it into their daily routines and tasks in order to eliminate certain inconveniencies that were previously encountered before the advent of the internet technology (Bauer et al. 2005). Summarily, the internet provided an avenue for short cuts that saved time for consumers and money to the business organisation that had implemented it in their business processes (Haugtvedt et al. 2005). The secondary research noted that the internet has revolutionised the manner in which business is conducted since it enable emergence of virtual workplace, online marketing, and online selling (Rossiter, 2012). Part 3 3.1 Discussion of research findings It is of essence to first note that the researcher targeted a sample population of fifteen participants but only four managers responded and eight friends and relatives; this information is summarised in the chapter below. However, the response rate was above the recommended average. Target population 15 participants Managers questionnaires filled 4 Friends & relatives’ questionnaires filled 8 Response rate 80% The four managers who agreed to fill in the questionnaire represented Tesco supermarkets, Sainsbury supermarkets, McDonald’s and Auto Traders. 3.2 Use of the internet among the participants All of the four managers stated on the questionnaires that they use the Internet in their various business organisations while friends and relatives also indicated that they use the internet for business and/ or transacting purposes. This positive feedback by the participants confirmed that the Internet has become an integral part of life and most importantly, their insights into the research topic will be worthwhile and credible since they can authoritatively answer the research questions. 3.3 Application of the internet 3.3.1 Managers’ feedback The table as well as the chart below presents the feedback given by the managers pertaining to this question. It can be clearly noted that in all of the four business organisations the internet has wide application that include marketing functions, positing of news, and interacting with customers. However, due to the nature of McDonald’s business it cannot sell or buy anything via the internet unlike Auto Traders who business mainly involves the buying and selling of cars. Additionally, Tesco and Sainsbury websites only allow for customers to makes purchases. Tesco Sainsbury McDonald's Auto Traders Advertising 1 1 1 1 Promotion 1 1 1 1 Selling 1 1 1 Buying 1 Interaction 1 1 1 1 News 1 1 1 1 Summary of the managers’ feedback Graphical representation of managers’ feedback 3.3.2 Friends and relatives feedback’ feedback All thirteen friends and relatives indicated that they use the internet for socialization purposes and this is substantiated by the fact that over the past few years, social sites such as Facebook and Twitter have gain worldwide prominence that has seen the number of users on the sites soar up significantly. Secondly, at least ten participants indicated that they use the internet to purchase items thus confirming that Auto Traders, Sainsbury, and Tesco also use the internet effectively to increase their sales. At least a significant number of the participants indicated that they use the internet to check for the latest news posted by various sites including the sample businesses, they also interact with retailers online by asking questions or positing reviews, they sell items through sites such as e-bay, and they check for latest promotions or offers from retailers. Summarily, it can be noted that the way friends and relatives who are representing consumers use the Internet is the same way managers stated that they use the internet and thus there is a correlation with how businesses use the internet and how consumers use the internet. Socializing Checking on News Interacting with retailers Purchasing items Selling items Checking for promotions 13 7 5 10 8 7 Summary of how friends and relatives responded Graphical representation of how friends and relatives responded 3.4 Use of the Internet to provide convenience to consumers and improve service delivery in business organisation All friends and relatives who are representing consumers stated that the internet accords them great conveniences since they can perform various tasks at their own convenient locations. For example, Davidow (2010) stated that through the internet, consumers are able to check out the items they are planning to purchase and read reviews about the items from other consumers who have used the items whilst comparing prices from different retailers. In regards to the managers, they stated that the use of the internet in their various business processes has improved their level of service delivery. Joinson (2003) stated that this could relate to the fact that the Internet enables business to operate 24 hours a day even thou their physical stores could be operating for only 12 hours. Secondly, the Internet enhance service delivery by enabling customers’ inquires or questions to be answered promptly. 3.5 The impact of the Internet on the financial performance of business organisation Managers stated that the use of internet in their businesses has lead to an increase in sales as well as an improved financial performance, which infers to the bottom line of their organisations. According to the writings by Clarke et al. (2009), they substantiate this fact by stating that the use of internet in a business increases sales because it enables businesses to remain virtually open for 24 hours thereby allowing customers to make orders while the physical store is actually closed. Additionally, customers are able to review the products and services that are offered by a business late at night without having to travel to the physical store that could probably be closed. In this regard, the Interactive Media in Retail Group (2010), state that retailers cannot lose business if they maintain an online presence. Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick (2010) state that by establishing an online presence a business is able to serve more customers as in those who are able to visit the physical stores and those who can only transact via the internet. In regards to the impact of the Internet on the financial performance of a business organisation, Windham and Orton (2000) stated that the internet first lowers the cost of operations since it eliminates the need of opening more branches because the additional market share can be covered through the online site of the business. Secondly, Bridges et al. (2010) noted that cost is reduced because of the fact that the internet can be used to perform certain functions such as address customers’ queries and therefore, there is no need to employee a customer care representative. Thirdly, internet marketing is cheaper and therefore, enables business organisation to save a lot of cost. Besides reducing cost, the internet provides another avenue to generate more sales in a much wider market share than previously covered by the physical stores and hence it enable business to generate more revenue, thus improving profitability. The table below is graphical representation of the relationship between the increased use of internet in a business and the financial performance of a business. The table indicates that with increased use of the internet there is also an increase in the financial performance of a business organisation. Conclusion From the onset of this research paper, it was noted that the advent of the Internet has continued to shape up human life and how they conduct their routine activities. The prevailing technological environment enabled what was formerly provided through the traditional brick and mortar to also be made available via the online platform and in some instances or industries there has been total eradication of the traditional mode of conducting business through brick and mortar or in physical stores. In conclusion, it is evident that the Internet has provided benefit to both the consumers and business organisations. In regards to consumers, it is evident that the Internet has accorded them with greater convenience and it has made their life much easier. As for business organisations, it has provided them with another avenue through which they can reach their customers. This has reduced their cost of operations as well as increases their sales revenues thereby positively affecting the performance of business organisations. Recommendations The recommendations stems from the feedback given by friends and relatives pertaining to what discourages them from using the Internet and what they think should be implemented as a corrective measure. The main factor that was listed as a discouraging factor is the fraud or security concerns associated with the Internet arising from the fact that customers issue out their confidential information while transacting through the internet and fraudsters can use these confidential information to cause harm to the unsuspecting customers. The friends and relatives who participated in this research recommended that for businesses to have increased online customer or users they should put in place tight measures that will guard unauthorized persons from accessing their confidential information such as bank or credit card details. References Bigne, E., (2005). "The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on Consumer Mobile Buying Behaviour" Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 6 (3) Bauer, H. H., Barnes, S. J., Reichardt, T. and Neumann M. M. (2005): Driving consumer acceptance of mobile marketing: A theoretical framework and empirical study; Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 181-192 Bridges E., Coughlan, A. T., and Kalish, S., (2010) New Technology Adoption in an Innovative Marketplace: Micro-and Macro-Level Decision Making Models; International Journal of Forecasting 7(3):257-270 Close A., (2012) Online Consumer Behaviour: Theory and Research in Social Media, Advertising and E-tail; Routledge Academic Clarke. I, Bennison. D, and Guy. C., (2009). International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management. The Dynamics of UK Grocery Retailing at the Local Scale,. 22 (6), pp 11-20. Davidow W. H., (2010) Marketing High Technology: An Insider‘s View. New York; The Free Press Doherty, N.F. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2010) 'Internet retailing: the past, the present and the future'. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. 38 (11/12), pp.943 - 965 Elliot S., and Fowell S., (2010) "Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing", International Journal of Information Management 20: 323–336 Falk, L. 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