Research Methods for Business and Management

Transcription

1 Research Methods for Business and Management Working title: An investigation on effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in enhancing organisational performance of a restaurant chain: A case study on Pizza Hut, UK. 1

2 Contents 1. Introduction Significance of the study Research aim Research objectives Research questions Literature review Enterprise resource planning Need for ERP implementation in restaurant chains Impact of ERP implementation on operations management Impact of ERP implementation on customer service ERP in Pizza Hut and its impact on performance Conceptual framework Research design and methodology Types of investigation Research philosophy Research approach Research strategy Research design Data collection methods Sampling methods Data analysis plan Accessibility issues Ethical issues Research limitations Time table References

3 1. Introduction In modern business organizations, communication and collaboration between different departments is essential for effective organizational performance. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are used for this purpose in many organizations (Maditinos, Chatzoudes and Tsairidis, 2011). Elragal and Al-Serafi (2011) also observe that ERP implementation helps organizations in improving performance. Halim, Kurniawan and Hartono (2014) on the other hand mention that ERP implementation is a complex endeavour which sometimes negatively influences organization performance. Zeng (2010) also point out that ERP systems are expensive to implement and sometimes increase the complexity of existing process of the organization. From these statements, it can be assimilated that ERP systems can influence organizational performance either positively or negatively based on how it is implemented in the organization. So in the present research, the effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in enhancing organisational performance in Pizza Hut which has used ERP systems on a wide scale in their restaurants will be investigated Significance of the study Pizza Hut has recently rolled out an ERP system to offer superior customer service through social networking channels. As mentioned earlier ERP systems can influence organizational performance either positively or negatively. As ERP implementation is very expensive there is a need to assess its effectiveness in improving organizational performance of Pizza Hut, UK. 3

4 1.2. Research aim The main aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in enhancing organisational performance of a restaurant chain. For achieving this case study of Pizza Hut, UK will be carried out Research objectives To assess the main objectives behind the implementation of ERP system by organisations. To assess the effectiveness of operations management after ERP implementation at Pizza Hut, thereby leading to enhanced performance. To investigate the efficiency in the customer service at Pizza Hut after ERP implementation, thereby leading to enhanced performance. To provide recommendations to Pizza Hut in terms of areas needing improvement in the customer service Research questions This research will also try to answer the following research questions. 1. What were the main challenges faced by Pizza Hut while implementing ERP system in their restaurants? 2. How did ERP system in Pizza Hut influence the performance of employees? 3. To what extent was operations management in Pizza Hut influenced by ERP system? 4. Was Pizza Hut able to improve the customer service in online channels though ERP implementation? 5. How can customer service in Pizza Hut be further improved using ERP system? 4

5 2. Literature review 2.1. Enterprise resource planning Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a system which is constituted of wide range of integrated applications that help an organization in collecting, managing, interpreting and sharing information of business activities across different functions of the firm (Seo, 2013).ERP systems in restaurant chains is mainly used for accounting, purchasing, sales, delivery management, employee management etc., reports Business Wire (2011) Need for ERP implementation in restaurant chains Tsekouropoulos et al. (2014) lists out two main reasons for adoption of ERP systems in organizations i.e. technical gains such as replacement of existing systems and business gains such as improvement in organizational performance.halim, Kurniawan and Hartono (2014) point out that restaurant chains mainly adopt ERP system for reengineering and automating business processes. They also mention that today s restaurants cater to customers through multiple channels and provide diverse products and services. This requires high level of automation in the business processes of the organization. This is achieved through ERP systems. Federici (2009) observes that ERP systems improve information availability and organisational management and also enhance employee collaboration. Reduction in cost and operation time is also expected from ERP systems. Seo (2013) argue that ERP systems lead to information integration in the organization and thus improve organization performance and thereby indirectly help in increasing customer 5

6 satisfaction. From this discussion, it can be observed that organizations seek to implement ERP systems for achieving many objectives Impact of ERP implementation on operations management Elragal and Al-Serafi (2011) observe that ERP implementation has positive impact on performance management due increase in collaboration between different departments of the company. Huang et al. (2009) also provides similar views. They mention found that ERP systems reduce costs, facilitate business processes and improve information management and thereby improve operations management. On the other hand, Rao and Mandal (2011) opine that ERP systems sometimes negatively influence productivity in the organization especially when ERP implementation changes the existing process. Federici (2009) asserts that ERP systems positively influence the overall business performance but at the same disrupt some operations of the organization. Esteves (2009) ERP has positive impact on the performance of an organization in the long term but in the short term it keeps performance as-is Impact of ERP implementation on customer service As per Elragal and Al-Serafi (2011), ERP systems help in faster fulfilment of customer orders and thereby improve customer service. Similalry, Halim, Kurniawan and Hartono (2014) observe that ERP systems influence customer experience in restaurants by reducing the time taken for product delivery. This is crucial in restaurants as customers expect products to be delivered faster. Rao and Mandal (2011) asserts that the positive correlation between ERP systems and increase service quality is undeniable even if ERP has no major impact on financial performance of the company. They also point out that over time employees become familiar with ERP and hence are able to provide improved services. Based on these 6

7 observations, it can be concluded that ERP system has a definite positive impact on customer service in organizations ERP in Pizza Hut and its impact on performance Pizza Hut is one of the leading restaurant chains in UK with more than 700 stores. The business model of Pizza Hut has two main revenue streams i.e. restaurant and home delivery. Pizza Hut achieves integration between these two business units using ERP systems (Pizza Hut, 2015). Pizza Hut was one of the early adopters of ERP systems and these systems have contributed greatly in the development of Pizza Hut as a global brand (He, Zha and Li, 2013). About 30% of Pizza Hut s home delivery comes from its website. Due to this Pizza Hut has recently implemented a cloud based ERP that linked its website with other operations and thereby improving the performance of the company (Pizza Hut, 2015). 30 minutes delivery guarantee is an important part of customer experience with Pizza Hut. In order to achieve this high level of collaboration among different business units is necessary. This is also achieved through ERP (He, Zha and Li, 2013). 7

8 2.6. Conceptual framework Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework Source: Created by the author 3. Research design and methodology 3.1. Types of investigation Research philosophy According to Williams (2011) research philosophy is the initial step and an essential segment of research methodology which enable the researcher to obtain information in an efficient and proper way. The three different terminologies of research philosophy are: Positivism, interpretivism and realism. Positivism philosophy relies on highly organized methodology to provide quantifiable observations and to analyse the findings by using statistical tools. Whilst interpretivism is based on believes and meaning of simple phenomenon and appropriate for almost every research issue. On 8

9 the other hand realism is based on the existence of purposive and external reality that affects individual s social behaviour. Justification: The research tries to find out the effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in enhancing the profitability of fast-food industry, taking Pizza Hut, UK as cases study. Thus the research philosophy will be positivism as it helps the researcher to perform the study without biasing it with respect to researcher s judgments (Williams, 2011) Research approach Research approaches are the actions and tactics for a research study (Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). The two types of research approaches are deductive and inductive. In deductive approach, a hypothesis is implemented based on present theory and then a method is designed to test the hypothesis whereas in inductive approach a new theory is formed depending upon the research observations (Mertens, 2009). Justification: The researcher will be opting for inductive approach for exploring past studies from a different perspective (Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). The present research will explore the effectiveness of ERP in increasing the profitability of an organization which has been researched by several scholars from a distinct perspective. Thus the researcher will be using inductive approach in this study Research strategy Research strategy provides a path that lead the research in an organized way towards the research objectives and it can be exploratory, explanatory and descriptive (Kumar, 2010). Exploratory strategy is adopted when the study aims to find out what is happening, to ask questions, to evaluate findings form a different 9

10 perspective. Descriptive strategy aims to find out answers to what, where, who and how of the research topic whereas explanatory strategy aims to develop accurate theory which will be adopted to describe practical generalizations. Justification: The researcher intends to use exploratory strategy as the study aims to build up new proposals for future studies (Kumar, 2010). As the present study investigate the effectiveness of ERP in increasing profitability from a new perspective, exploratory research will help the researcher to investigate and elucidate the situation in the research in a more detailed way Research design According to Carsrud and Brannback (2014), research design is a detailed outline of how a study will be performed and it can be an experiment, survey, action research, case study, narrative enquiry, grounded theory and ethnography. Justification: The research will be using survey design as it is highly efficient in gathering precise information from a large population in a time and cost efficient manner (Carsrud and Brannback, 2014). Moreover, as stated by Mertens (2009), the data gathered through survey will be simple to analyze and will enable the researcher to understand the staff s opinion on the effectiveness of Pizza Hut s ERP in enhancing profitability of the firm Data collection methods Data collection is the most important process in a research and it includes two types: primary and secondary data collection methods (Lim and Ting, 2013). Secondary data collection method evolves the collection of data which are source materials previously obtained by some other researchers for the study purpose. Secondary 10

11 data s are collected quickly through referring sources like online articles, books, journals etc. As per stated by Khan (2011) primary data collection methods helps the researcher to do more efficient analysis of the research through collecting fresh information related to the research matter and it can be qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative research is an objective and organized process that evaluates the relationship between variables and translate data into digits for statistical evaluation. Methods such as case studies, surveys, interviewsetc; used to collect quantitative information. Justification: The researcher will be using both primary and secondary methods for exploring the research topic. Secondary data collection method will enable the researcher to collect information related to ERP and profitability that has already been gathered by any other researchers for any other purpose. The researcher will be referring secondary sources such as books, websites, journals etc; to get secondary information. The researcher will be using qualitative and quantitative methods for gathering primary information. Qualitative method will explore the research matter in a subjective way whilst quantitative method will explore the research subject from an objective perspective (Lim and Ting, 2013). The researcher will be using qualitative method interview which will enable the researcher to recognize the viewpoint of mangers of Pizza Hut related to the companies ERP and profitability as they are highly aware about this. The quantitative method survey will be adopted by the researcher to collect big amount of information from the staffs of Pizza Hut and also will help to know about their perception about the research matter. 11

12 3.3. Sampling methods Sampling methods are adapted to choose a group of representative units from a population, observes Lim and Ting (2013). Probability and non-probability are the two sampling methods used in research studies. In probability sampling each individual in the population has equivalent chances of being included in the sample whereas in non-probability sampling individuals do not have identical chances of being included (Levy and Lemeshow, 2013). Probability sampling is divided into simple random, cluster, systematic and stratified random sampling. On the other hand, non-probability sampling is classified into convenience, quota and purposive sampling. Justification: The researcher will be adopting stratified random sampling method for interviewing 4 managers and 60 staffs of Pizza Hut, UK. As observed by Levy and Lemeshow (2013) stratified sampling will extend the scope of the study by collecting distinct opinions of the participants on the research topic and also will reduces the chances of unreliable sample from large population Data analysis plan Both primary and secondary methods will be adopted by the researcher to gather research data. The researcher will be acquiring secondary information by referring data sources like articles, journals, books etc; related to ERP, current online ordering channels and their effectiveness in increasing the profitability of fast food organizations. This analysis will enable the researcher to create proper questionnaires for primary data collection. The primary data will be gathered using qualitative and quantitative methods. Analysis of qualitative data will be carried out manually and the analysis of 12

13 quantitative data will be performed with the help of pie charts, tables and bar charts as this will help the researcher in presenting obtained information in a simple and understandable manner. Moreover, Microsoft-Excel worksheet will be using for entering quantitative information Accessibility issues In this research, the researcher will be facing constraints related to the accessibility of both primary and secondary information. The issue in primary data accessing will be related to interviewing managers and surveying staffs of Pizza Hut. Since, Pizza Hut is a multinational organization; it will be difficult for the researcher to obtain access to the managers and staffs as they will be busy in peak hours. This will in turn affect the preciseness of data and in such cases the researcher will conduct primary data collection at a faster rate with respect to participant s convenience Ethical issues The researcher will strictly follow the research ethics and will respect and give equal importance to all the participants in the research. Prior to the commencement of the research, the researcher will be providing a detailed outline of the research and will not force any person to participate in the analysis. Moreover, the researcher will also keep the confidentiality and privacy of collected data as well as details of the participants Research limitations According to Denscombe (2010), constraints related to time and cost are frequent in any research. Due to lack of cost and time, the sample size is reduced and there is a possibility to miss the viewpoints of entire Pizza Hut s functioning on a global scale, which will in turn impact the accuracy of information. Since the research focus on 13

14 evaluating the subject matter from a distinct perspective, the scope of the research will also be limited. 4. Time table No. Works/ April- May- June- July- August- Septemb Duration er Weeks Selectin g appropri ate research topic 2. Researc h proposal preparati on and submissi on 3. Chapter 14

15 1: Introduct ion 4. Chapter 2: Literatur e review 5. Chapter 3: Researc h methodo logy 6. Chapter 4: Data collectio n 7. Chapter 5: Data analysis 8. Chapter 6: Conclusi 15

16 ons and recomm endation s 9. Creating table of contents, abstract, acknowl edgeme nt and referenc e 10. Review and submissi on References Bridge, S., Topping new look planned by Pizza Hut as restaurant chain makes a loss. Financial Mail, [online] 14 June. Available at: 16

17 [Accessed 18 March 2015]. Business Wire, KFC and Pizza Hut select Acumatica to replace aging JD Edwards Accounting Software at subsidiaries. [online] Available at: Select-Acumatica-Replace-Aging#.VUBvgdKqqko [Accessed 29 April 2015]. Carsrud, A. and Brannback, M., Handbook of research methods and applications in entrepreneurship and small business. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Crowther, D. and Lancaster, G., Research methods: a concise introduction to research in management and business consultancy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Denscombe, M., The good research guide for small-scale social research. 2nd ed. Open University Press. Elragal, A.A. and Al-Serafi, A.M., The effect of ERP system implementation on business performance: an exploratory case-study. Communications of the IBIMA, 2011, p.20. Esteves, J., A benefits realisationroad-map framework for ERP usage insmall and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Enterprise Information, 22(1/2), pp Federici, T., Factors influencingerp outcomes in SMEs: a post- introduction assessment. Journal ofenterprise Information, 22(1/2), pp

18 Halim, E., Kurniawan, Y. and Hartono, H., Business intelligence modeling for increasing company value and competitive advantage in franchise restaurant business in Indonesia. Advances in Intelligent Systems, 53, pp.35. He, W., Zha, S. and Li, L., Social media competitive analysis and text mining: A case study in the pizza industry. International Journal of Information Management, 33(3), pp Huang, S.Y., Huang, S.M., Wu, T.H and Lin, W.K., Process efficiency of theenterprise resource planning adoption. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 109(8), pp Khan, Research methodology. 2nd ed. APH Publications. Kumar, R., Research methodology, a step by step method for the beginner. London: Sage. Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., Sampling of populations: methods and applications. NY: John Wiley & Sons. Lim, W. and Ting, D., Research methodology: a toolkit of sampling and data analysis techniques for quantitative research. Munich: Grin Verlag. Luncean, L., Dumitrescu, L. and Fuciu, M., Internet and E-commerce tools for creating value in the E-marketplace. Marketing From Information to Decision, 4, pp Maditinos, D., Chatzoudes, D. and Tsairidis, C., Factors affecting ERP system implementation effectiveness. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 25(1), pp

19 Mertens, D., Transformative research and evaluation. New York: Guilford. Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut builds web testing programme with PMC. [online] Available at: [Accessed 18 March 2015]. Rao, M.P. and Mandal, P., Linking the impact of IT investments to productivity and profitability. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems (IJEIS), 7(2), pp Seo, G., Challenges in implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in large organizations: similarities and differences between corporate and university environment. MBA thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tsekouropoulos, G., Andreopoulou, Z., Seretakis, A., Koutroumanidis, T. and Manos, B., Optimising e-marketing criteria for customer communication in food and drink sector in Greece. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 9(1), pp Williams, J., Research paradigm and philosophy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 17 April 2015]. Zeng, Y., Risk management for enterprise resource planning system implementations in project based firms. Ph.D. thesis. University of Maryland. 19

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