Small Business Technology

Applied Research Methods UB01
Thesis Proposal
By
“Technology in Business”

Research Project Proposal for Thesis I &II

Proposal Status:
[ ] Accepted to move onto Thesis I
[X] Revisions are needed; can move to Thesis I
[ ] Not Accepted/Need to meet with professor

_______________________________
Professor’s Signature date: 10/29/2019

Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Acknowledgements 1
Dedication 1
Chapter I – Introduction 2
Background 2
Problem/Thesis Statement 4
Purpose of the Study 4
Hypothesis and Research Questions 5
Variables 6
Chapter II – Literature Review 7
Definition of Keywords 7
Conceptual Framework 8
The Use of Technology in Small Businesses 10
Technology, Competitive Advantage and the Performance of Small Firms 13
Chapter III – Methodology 17
Participants 17
Sample size 18
Procedure 18
Timeline of the Study 18
Limitations and IRB Approval 19
Analysis of Data 19
Discussions, Implications, and Conclusion 19

Abstract
Small businesses are the catalyst of “the American dream”. Unfortunately, big businesses come in and crush their smaller competition. Can technology help small businesses compete or even beat big business? This study is a plan on researching ways technology has helped small business fight this David vs. Goliath type battle.
Acknowledgements

Dedication

Chapter I – Introduction
Topic Statement
Technology, according to Beck, Avital, Rossi, and Thatcher (2017), has substantially revolutionized and transformed human interactions and the ways that businesses operate. The use of technology has changed over the years with the earliest adopters of IT being the present market giants (Beck et al., 2017). The invention of the internet was a major milestone as it created the avenue through which technological gadgets could be used as a link that connects individuals from various regions of the globe (Teece & Linden, 2017). Consequently, most business technologies have in the past been centered around the internet. Teece and Linden (2017) asserted that technology is a growing necessity in business. Modern-firms are rapidly incorporating various elements of tech into the different operations. The central significance of the use of IT in business is that it facilitates growth by increasing the firm’s productivity. The result of increased productivity is the improvement of revenue margins that result in the overall growth of a corporation. The primary goal of the proposed research is to examine the dynamics of technology in small businesses while focusing on the extent to which such enterprises have incorporates IT into their business operations thereby competing with big businesses.
Background
According to Peltier, Zhao, and Schibrowsky (2012), the adoption and use of IT across various regions of the globe has become a substantial area of research in the recent years. Research has also focused on the evaluation of the potential benefits of IT in entrepreneurship and small businesses given that technology can be attributed to the creation of sustainable competitive advantages. The use of technology within the business setup can be traced back to the industrial revolution when electricity was discovered. Various forms of technology such as the telephone and fax machines also dominated the market until the development of the computer that significantly transformed the tech landscape. The earliest massive adopters of technology in business were large businesses due to the associated costs of acquiring the tech infrastructure. Brunswicker and Chesbrough (2018) contended that large firms had the economic might that ensured that there existed an oligopoly in the supply and acquisition of technological equipment. The earliest use of technology within the business landscape was in manufacturing and automation, marketing, and communication. However, the number of players in the tech business increased thereby transforming the market from monopolistic, oligopolistic, to a perfect competitive space. The number of uses of technology also increases as firms could use bid data analytics to understand the consumers after gathering market intelligence and to maintain their systems thereby building a competitive hedge against their competitors.
The capabilities of IT platforms and approaches to increase revenue and expand markets prompted small businesses to incorporate technology into their daily operations. According to Sarkar (2016), the 21st century saw the number of suppliers of technological infrastructures and items increase with a subsequent expansion in the customer base resulting in a reduction of prices. Small firms had the capability of hiring a few experts who would manage their systems as the costs of IT adoption has reduced. However, the adoption and use of technology in such businesses have remained low. The significance of the explored topic is that it affects a significant population of business owners and enterprises in general. Burns and Dewhurst (2016) stated that there is a rapid in the number of small and medium size enterprises being developed in the various regions of the globe. Technology is also becoming a pivotal tool for the attainment of a competitive advantage against large and established firms. Therefore, the goal of the study will be to evaluate the various ways in which small businesses can adopt technology and use it to their advantage against firms with massive resources and customer bases.
Problem/Thesis Statement
The central research problem that the researcher hopes to address is the large number of small businesses failing annually due to poor market survey, inadequate adoption of technology, and the inability to cope with the dynamics of the market. According to SBA (2019), the US had 30.2 million small businesses that represented almost 99% of all enterprises. The small firms employed 58.9 million individuals as of 2018 that translated to half of the workforce. However, the rate of failure of small businesses was high and was quantified as 1 million enterprises every year. Burns and Dewhurst (2016) argued that 66% of start-ups failed within their first year of operation. The number of failures witnessed in present day firms are 33.33% more than they were 25 years ago when technology was not as diversified as it is today. While technology has provided a platform through which enterprises can enhance their productivity and increase their profit margins, a significant percentage of small businesses that are massive adopters and users of IT still fail.
Purpose of the Study
The central goal of the proposed research will be to examine the dynamics of technology is small businesses while focusing on the extent to which such enterprises have incorporates IT into their business operations thereby competing with big businesses. The attainment of this central research goal requires the realization of specific research objectives that include:
• To explore the rate of penetration of technology in small businesses
• To examine the significance of IT in small and medium size enterprises
• To investigate the types of IT techniques and the potential benefits of technology to small businesses.
• To analyze the hindrances to 100% adoption and use of technology in small firms.
• To evaluate the approaches that small businesses can adopt to successfully compete with large and established enterprises.
Hypothesis and Research Questions
The study will be based on two main hypotheses that include: The adoption and use of technology in small businesses has revolutionized their operations resulting in increased revenue and small businesses can use technology as a tool of attaining a competitive advantage against large enterprises.
Research Questions
The primary question that the researcher will seek to solve is to what extent can small businesses incorporate IT into their operations to compete fairly against large firms? Some specific research questions that will aid in exploring the research concept include:
• What is the rate of technology penetration in small businesses within the US?
• How significant is technology in small businesses?
• What specific types of technology tools are currently being used by small businesses and how do they benefit the enterprises?
• How can small businesses maneuver through the hindrances to 100% adoption and use of technology?
• What unique approaches can small businesses adopt, to successfully compete against large and established enterprises?
Definition of Keywords
Technology- Technology refers to the body of knowledge that encompasses the application of scientific tools to human life (Mosey, Guerrero, & Greenman, 2017).
Small businesses- Enterprises or establishments that have less than 50 employees working towards the attainment of organizational goals (Burns & Dewhurst, 2016).
SMEs- Independent non-subsidiary firms that employ not more than 500 employees (Burns & Dewhurst, 2016).
Competitive advantage- refers to a business attribute, situation, of condition that places a firm in a superior position thereby outpacing its competitors (Boichuk, Menguc, & Auh, 2015).
Technology penetration- The rate in which a given innovation or technological tool is embraced and integrated into the operations of firms and the livelihoods of their consumers (Mosey et al., 2017).
Globalization- a rapid process through which companies, societies, and countries become integrates and interact. Globalization allows businesses to develop international influences (Ambrose & Sternberg, 2016).
Customers- A customer or a consumer is an individual who willingly purchases a service or product from a business or company (Boichuk et al., 2015).
Marketing- Well-defined and organized sets of activities that a company undertakes to expand the customer base and promote the purchase of the goods and services that they produce or provide (Boichuk et al., 2015).
Variables
The main independent variables will include size of the firm and the demographics. However, the study will have six dependent variables that will include the income of the firm, the types of IT tools and approaches used, the number of uses of IT in the small business premises, the number of employees per firm, the perception of technology use among employees, and the rate of adoption of technology.
(Please separate the independent variables from dependent variables on a list and explain what each are important to this study).
Independent Variables
Sociodemographic areas:
Age
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Dependent Variables (spell each one out and define)

Chapter II – Literature Review
Globalization significantly impacted the spread of IT throughout the globe thereby having a positive impact on businesses. Ambrose and Sternberg (2016) asserted that the concepts of globalization and technology are inseparable. Businesses thrive whenever the technologies that they use have the capability of making them to explore global markets. However, small businesses lack the technologies that would allow them to exploit opportunities outside their localities thereby resulting in the increased chances of failure. The goal of this chapter is to analyze the existing pieces of literature to gather facts that would assist in the exploration of the central research concept. The principal literature concepts that will be examined in this chapter include the use of technology in small businesses, the rate of tech penetration in these enterprises, the types of technologies that are common in small businesses, Hindrances and barriers to technology adoption, and technology and competitive advantage. The five concepts will be merged into two themes that will be the use of IT in business and Technology, competitive advantage and the performance of small firms.
Conceptual Framework
The significance of technology in business has prompted various scholars to explore the dynamics of IT in enterprises of different sizes. The conceptual framework below provides a clear guideline for research on the central problem.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Chart
The significance of the proposed study is that it will not only investigate the adoption and penetration of IT in business but also provides a set of recommendations on how small enterprises can use tech to their advantage and as leverage against the large and influential firms. Therefore, the principal concept to be analyzed in the literature review in technology in business. Different types of tech are currently employed in various business settings. The literature review emphasizes on the various technology tools that are currently used in small businesses and the hindrances for 100% adoption of these IT tools. The examination of the various types of IT in small enterprises paves the way for the evaluation of the penetration rates of technology in small businesses. The final concept that will be derived and explored in the reviewed pieces of literature will be the link that exists between technology and the competitive advantage of a firm that will aid in answering the final research question.
The Use of Technology in Small Businesses
According to Alford and Page (2015), the internet and other technology platforms have the potential of transforming the operations of small and medium enterprises. The target of most technological tools used by businesses is on marketing as it allows the enterprises to connect with customers and advertise their products and services. Alford and Page (2015) asserted that the main areas that technology adoption and use has been significant include the co-creation of products with consumers, access to new markets, customization, customer relationship marketing, improving the efficiency of internal processes, and collaborating with other businesses. The results obtained from the study by Alford and Page (2015) demonstrated that corporations that have a solid web presence grew twice as those with minimal or zero presence thereby demonstrating the significance of tech to businesses. Alford and Page (2015) also found technology to be a vital tool in small enterprises and businesses due to its potential of creating awareness, aiding in the understanding of market orientation and facilitating the process of communicating with customers.
Similarly, Peltier et al. (2012) asserted that the use of technology in the business platforms has become a significant study area due to the perceived benefits of IT in enterprises. Peltier et al. (2012) argued the technology adoption and use is essential in the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage within the firms in addition to providing the tools and avenues for adapting to the rapidly changing business landscape. The use of technology in small corporations has also been attributed to enhanced business corpora ration. The final use of technology in small but growing firms is to perform customer-centric marketing that aims at the identification of the needs of consumers and tailoring services that would meet the desires. Peltier et al. (2012) further argued that the rate of penetration of IT in small corporations is relatively high. Corporations with less than 50 employees have a structured decision-making model that has seen most managers being the sole deciders of how the firm would be steered. The use of IT in small firms was also found to be limited to the management of customer relationships, strategic planning, and inventory management. Peltier et al. (2012) further admitted that there exists limited knowledge regarding the various ways in which small businesses employ technological elements to manage the knowledge that exists within the firms.
The central strengths of the arguments of Peltier et al. (2012) and Alford and Page (2015) is that they demonstrated that the use of technology in small firms has numerous benefits and provide extensive pieces of evidence to support their ideology. The sources further demonstrated that the use of IT in small businesses is limited to a given set of operations with the managers of the firms being responsible for making decisions that would impact the performance of the enterprises. However, the primary weakness of these pieces of research is their failure to perform a comparative analysis of how the use of technology varies from one firm to another basing on factors such as size and the breadth of market demand. Firms of different sizes have varying capabilities that makes them to have different forms of technology to streamline their operations. The evidence provided by the two sources of information would have an immense weight if the rate of technology penetration in big multinational firms could have been compared with the small enterprises that are a target for the proposed study. Additionally, the studies failed to analyze the use of technology in firms from different industries thereby failing to provide a clear picture of how different corporations in the various industries use technology to handle their business operations.
However, Mahony, T., Myers, T., Low, D., & Eagle, L. (2018) argued contrary to Peltier et al. (2012) and Alford and Page (2015) by stating that the rate of technology penetration and use among small business remains low compared to large corporations. Mahony et al. (2018) focused on small businesses in Australia and stated that despite the fact that technology provides an excellent tool and powerful opportunities for the transformation of small businesses, its uptake in such businesses has been lower than expected. The low penetration of technology in the small enterprises can be attributed to the lack of digital readiness and other intrinsic and external conditions within the firms. According to Mahony et al. (2018), the conditions that make the use of technology inevitable include the presence of tech support infrastructure, cost-efficiency of the IT tools and networks, and perceived ease of use. Mahony et al. (2018) also responded to the second research objective by stating that technology, particularly the use of social media, is highly significant in small businesses as it enhances customer engagement. The first customer engagement dimension is the creation of brand influence. Mahony et al. (2018) stated that the use of social media technology increases brand influence by encouraging the collection of suggestions and comments. Additionally, technology use in small businesses encourage brand passion by motivating enterprise owners to become affectionate about their businesses. Technology has a connecting role in that the IT tools provide a platform where businesses can interact and connect with the online community that serves as the biggest market presently. The fourth engagement dimension is “helping” that refers to the capability of the various technology tools and platforms to encourage interaction amongst the different stakeholders within business. Small businesses benefit from the like-minded discussions regarding similar products and services that are made on social media forums. Mahony et al. (2018) stated that the forums allow small enterprises to assess the strengths and limitations of expanding specific product and service lines and the associated costs of doing so. In summary, Mahony et al. (2018) established that small business owners have the capacity to incorporate tech into their operations but are reluctant due to the prevailing of existing situations that bar them from exploiting the full potential of IT tools.
Technology, Competitive Advantage and the Performance of Small Firms
Despite the existence of numerous benefits that can be derived from technology use in small enterprises, Bhattacharya (2015) observed that cyber insecurity remains a significant risk in hindering the successful embrasure of IT in these corporation. The rapid rise in the incidences of cyber insecurity resulted in the division of small businesses into three broad categories. The first group is the “mom and pop” enterprises that have a single computer that serves as both the PC for the manager and business gadget. The businesses rely on the protection of basic antiviruses and rarely engage professional expertise on the matters of technology. The second category comprises of enterprises with several employees and a single dedicated IT expert who manages all the technology work in the firms. The final group of small businesses outsource the services of an IT expert from third party agencies. The central benefit of outsourcing is its economic viability. Bhattacharya (2015) further stated that the security issues in small enterprises has been a significant factor that has hindered them from attaining a competitive advantage and increasing their performance to match that of large enterprises.
Similarly, Harris and Patten (2014) stated that modern businesses under the banner of SMEs are susceptible to immense security risks due to the nature of the technology that they use. According to Harris and Patten (2014), business mobility abilities have become crucial to the everyday environment of enterprises. Mobility provides businesses with the freedom of collaborating and making business transactions outside the traditional setups. Technology and the rapid penetration of mobile devices have changed the business landscape by providing the mobility that is required to engage consumers thereby earning their trust and loyalty. Harris and Patten (2014) asserted that the mobile devices that are common in business enterprises include e-readers, personal digital assistants, tablets and smartphones. The growth of business mobility has immensely increased the performance of enterprises and provided a platform through which small enterprise can compete against large businesses in the globalizing world. However, security risks continue to rise as mobile technology evolves.
The central strength of the two reviewed sources under this theme is that they respond to the third and fifth research questions by arguing that the use of mobile technology in business enterprises have increased thereby providing a platform for fair competition among big and small firms. However, the central limitations of Harris and Patten (2014) and Bhattacharya (2015) is their failure to demonstrate how such technologies would enhance the performance of small firms and scale them up to the extent that they can compete against big corporations.
Gaps in Research
The use of technology in business is not a new phenomenon as corporations across the globe have been embracing tech over the past century. However, the incorporation of the internet and information technology into enterprises became popular from the 1970s with the number of enterprises increasing rapidly to over 30 million in the US alone. The literature review above demonstrates that the adoption of technology in small enterprises has been massive despite some sources illustrating that there is low IT penetration in SMEs. However, the main gap in the explored studies is their inconsistency regarding the pros of IT adoption versus its cons.
The second gap in the literature is the lack of a comprehensive explanation of the various types of technology used by small businesses and the outcomes of their utilization. Mahony et al. (2018) argued that business technologies exist in different forms and are used to attain various results. The use of social media in businesses has been rapid and extensive as a significant percentage of consumers use these online platforms. Mahony et al. (2018) attempted to explain how social media results in engagement with the users thereby making it an effective tool but failed to explain what results firm obtain after the extensive customer engagement. Additionally, big data has found its way into the business landscape due to its immense uses and ability to transform unstructured information to meaningful data that organizations can explore and understand market trends. According to Johnson et al. (2018), big data analytics allows corporations to know and understand their client bases, to understand the effectiveness of their business processes, and to gather market intelligence that would allow them to strategize business operations.
The explored studies and sources of information failed to mention the trends in big data analytics and other types of technologies that are tremendously transforming the business landscape. The failure to incorporate the thoughts and contentions of employees was the third gap in the explored pieces of literature. The employee population plays a significant role in the embrasure of technology is small and medium sized corporations. Moreover, the workforce also has a better understanding of the dynamics of tech than the managements of small businesses. Therefore, the proposed research will fill the gap by incorporating the thoughts and ideas of both customers and staff in an attempt to understand the extent of use of technology in small businesses.

Chapter III – Methodology
The proposed study will adopt the quantitative research method and descriptive research design. According to Brannen (2017), quantitative research is an approach that investigates a phenomenon systematically using computational, mathematical, and statistical techniques. Quantitative research methods are linked to increased objectivity and the accuracy of findings as they provide findings that support generalizations using a few variables. A benefit of the adopted research approach is its potential of eliminating personal bias by keeping a reasonable distance from the participants
Data collection will involve the use of questionnaire surveys that will be sent to specific individuals to gather an accurate depiction of how the adoption and use of technology have influenced the operations of small enterprises. Questionnaires are beneficial in research as they assist researchers in gathering multiple pieces of information from large populations within short durations (Patten, 2017). Therefore, the rationale for choosing questionnaires is that it will assist the researcher in gathering the objectives of all participants within the shortest durations. However, the expected challenge with the use of questionnaires to gather information is that it may result in dishonest answers, with some respondents returning the questionnaires without answering the questions. The final limitation of closed-ended questionnaires is that it limits responses to the options that are provided by the researcher. Consequently, the opinions and thoughts of the participants cannot be gathered in depth.
Participants
The study will focus on employees from small local businesses and friends and family who own an SBE. The target firms will be those that have incorporated some type of technology to manage their inventories and assist in running the daily activities of the firm. The participants will also be required to have some basic knowledge on the use of technology within the business set-up.
Sample size
The target sample size will be about 30-50 people with in-depth knowledge in the dynamics of small business operations due to their experience or positions that they hold. Additionally, the sample size is expected to increase substantially when online tools and platforms such as social media will be used in the identification of the sample. Large samples provide comprehensive data that can be generalized to the entire population to test a given hypothesis (Pan, Liu, Miao, & Yuan, 2018). Therefore, the researcher will survey more than 30 local organizations to sample an appropriate number of people who will aid is solving the main research problem.
Procedure
The research will begin with the formulation of a 20-item questionnaire that will be designed to address all the elements of the research problem. The next stage will be the issuance of the questionnaires at an agreed and convenient location. Data will be collected, analyzed, and the results presented in the form of a report.
Timeline of the Study
The research will span over eight to ten weeks. The first stage will be the development of questionnaires and research questions. Sampling will be done over the first few weeks since the target sample comprises of a significant number of persons. The next step in research will be data collection and data analysis that will last for 2 weeks for each stage. The final 3 weeks will be dedicated towards compilation and presentation of the final report.
Limitations and IRB Approval
The principal limitation of the study will be the identification of the sample that could provide data for the survey as most small businesses within the researcher’s locality had more than ten full-time workers. Additionally, not all the identified sample will be willing to engage in the research. The final limitation is the use of the study is bias that will result from the purposive sampling technique. The researcher will not need IRB approval since the questionnaire is not invasive and is merely for general data collection.
Analysis of Data
Data analysis is essential in research as it entails the extraction of meaningful information from unstructured data. The researcher will be utilizing Google forms to aid the formulation of all the collected data.
Discussions, Implications, and Conclusion
The proposed study’s central goal will be to examine the dynamics of technology in small businesses while focusing on the extent to which such enterprises have incorporates IT into their business operations thereby competing with big businesses. Therefore, the expected outcome of the study will be that technology provides a fair platform for the competition of both small and large corporations thereby accepting the hypothesis that small businesses can use technology as a tool of attaining a competitive advantage against large enterprises. The study is also expected to respond to address all the research objectives and questions.

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