Answer To: Consent form for participation in a research project Title:_______________________________________...
Sunabh answered on Apr 01 2021
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATION AND BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY IN THE MODERN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF RETAILING INDUSTRY
Abstract
Globalisation allowed businesses to compete at international platform and reach diversified segments of consumers. However, diversified consumer segment presented dynamic consumer behaviour and expectations. Therefore, business sustainability of retailers was threatened because they were not able to fulfil consumer demands. Innovation in existing business processes could allow businesses to overcome such challenges. This dissertation analysed the relation between innovation and business sustainability in retail markets. 4 focus groups were selected each with 3 participants and a designed set of questions were provided in order to direct their response. Obtained was analysed to answer the research questions and specific recommendations were provided.
Acknowledgement
I want to acknowledge the assistance of all the people who had helped me complete this research successfully. I would wish to show my gratitude towards my supervisor who had helped me extensively in this study and without whose support; I would not have been able to finish this research. I would also like thank all the participants of the focus group, who had sportingly participated and cooperated with me in my investigation. Without their support and response, this study would not have been possible. Lastly, I would also express my thankfulness to my friends and family whose encouragement has assisted me during my research.
Thanking you all,
______________.
Table of Contents
Abstract 2
Acknowledgement 3
Chapter 1: Introduction 6
1.1 Outline of Problem 6
1.2 Background of the Research 6
1.3 Rationale of the Research 7
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives 7
1.5 Research Questions 8
1.6 Structure of the Dissertation 8
1.7 Summary 9
Chapter 2: Literature Review 10
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Defining Innovation 10
2.3 Understanding Business Sustainability 11
2.4 Relevance of Innovation for Business Sustainability 12
2.5 Summary 12
Chapter 3: Research Methodology 14
3.1 Research Methods Literature 14
3.1.1 Research Philosophy 14
3.1.2 Research Approach 14
3.1.3 Research Design 14
3.2 Sampling Method 15
3.3 Demographic Data of Participants 15
3.4 Research Strategy 15
3.5 Data Collection 16
3.6 Instruments Used and Reliability & Validity 16
3.7 Analysis Used 16
Chapter 4: Data Findings and Analysis 18
4.1 Results Obtained and Illustration of Findings 18
4.2 Focus Group Questions with Transcripts 18
4.3 Analysis of Results and Interpretation of Data 20
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations 23
5.1 Conclusion 23
5.2 Linking Objectives with Findings 23
5.3 Recommendations 24
5.4 Limitations of the Research 25
5.5 Future Scope of Research 25
References 26
Appendices 28
Appendix 1: Research Plan (Gantt chart) 28
Appendix 2: Qualitative Data Analysis 29
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Outline of Problem
Sustainability is the only business approach, which can assure long-term value. However, taking into consideration the operations of the organisation, economic environment, ecological, social factors and innovation can be considered as the determinants of sustainability. Prajogo (2016) suggested that innovation can be a new thinking, enhanced approach, and efficient working, which several companies may inculcate in order to produce socio-economic benefits and enhanced environmental conditions. Innovation has been reflected as a crucial distinguishing factor segregating ‘leaders’ from the followers.
The concept of sustainability earlier was centred on usual factors and controlling variables such as, reputation, cost savings, risk management, resource efficiency and much more. However, with increasing competition, risks, introduction of technology and globalisation, prior presented factors alone cannot be considered as the determinants of business sustainability. Souto (2015) presented that innovation is now considered as an essential determinant of business sustainability and global organisations such as, Apple, Samsung, and Tesla has supported this view.
Innovation is a process of trial, failure and success or in other words, hit and trial. Innovation can pipeline the human processes, which could be used to generate new ideas. Consumer demands and expectation are dynamic and they may always seek for new products or services, comparable to other options available in market.
Current dissertation will focus upon relationship between the concepts of innovation and business sustainability in modern business environment with special emphasis upon retail industry. The subjective research findings will be used to identify the importance of innovation in retail business sustainability. Data collected from the participants of the retail industry in United Kingdom will be used to identify the challenges in using innovation as a source of inducing business sustainability within retail industry.
1.2 Background of the Research
Globalisation has transformed businesses as well as strategies, which were being used in order to maintain long-term success. Further, more companies and organisations are becoming global, dealing with international firms and customers. Likewise, it would be essential to consider that globalisation has turned modern business environment into a highly competitive platform where traditional sustainability approaches may fail.
Increasing corporate social responsibility, prevalent transparency, and professional approach and consumer demands along with increasing competition has forced companies and organisation to inculcate sustainability. Jajja et al., (2017) suggested that considering the modern business environment, sustainability is driven by meeting consumer needs and expectation. Failure in meeting consumer’s demands leads to business failure and non-sustainable operations. Likewise, retailers have been reported to suffer from lack of innovation because they do not deal with the development of product and services. However, lack of research and strategies with respect to innovation in retail market also placed challenges in front of retailers while competing at international market.
Increased competition has allowed consumers with variable choices and dynamic products and services. Moreover, higher exposure, increased penetration and diversified used of internet has also increased competition for existing businesses. Therefore, consumers or buyers seek for improved or innovated products and services and companies with the ability to provide innovation have been able to reach heights of success.
1.3 Rationale of the Research
As evident from the views presented by Tang, Lai, and Cheng(2016), retail sector is one of the most affected business market due to lack of sustainability. Large number of retailers and businesses has been forced to close their shops, firms, franchise and branches due to lack of sustainability. Further, lack of sustainability in modern world has been linked with the inability to inculcate innovation in business operations as well as products and services.
Therefore, the purpose behind choosing this topic was in line with the prevailing competition among existing as well as new businesses, especially within retail sector. Innovation may have been linked with sustainability; however, lack of research with respect to retail industry made it essential to identify the actual significance of innovation in retail business sustainability.
Present research and statistics may be significant enough in order to justify the relationship between innovation and business sustainability; however, they do not emphasise upon retailers. Likewise, current literature also does not identity and reflects upon the challenges, which retailers may face while inculcating innovation within current operations. Current study will focus upon the prevailing challenged in the retail industry and efforts will be made in order to analyse the need of innovation to counter those challenges. Accordingly, research will also aim to identify the significance or the heightened need of innovation, considering modern retail industry in order to induce business sustainability.
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives
The present research aims to investigate the significance of innovation for inducing or maintaining business sustainability, considering the modern business world environment with special emphasis on retail market. The case of global retail industry would be taken into consideration, in order to pursue the aim of analysing relation between business sustainability and innovation.
Main objectives of this research will be—
· To analyse the need of innovation for continuously countering business challenges in the modern business environment;
· To assess the heightened need of innovation in the modern retail industry for maintaining or inducing business sustainability
1.5 Research Questions
The primary research questions of this study are:
· Why is innovation important for countering business challenges in modern business environment?
· What is the importance of innovation in the modern retail industry for inducing or maintaining business sustainability?
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC,
BACKGROUND,
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY, RESEARCH AIM, QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND SUITABLE RECOMMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER 4: DATA
ANALYSIS
AND
DISCUSSION
CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT OF SUITABLE LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPMENT OF PROPER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
)1.6 Structure of the Dissertation
Figure 1.1: Structure of the Dissertation
(Source: Author)
1.7 Summary
The presented chapter relates with the structure and organisation of entire dissertation. It introduces subject of research, rationale and significance of study and points out the lags in the existing literature, which further adds to the significance of current study.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The internationalisation of the world has transformed the modern business environment into a competitive platform whereby businesses need to actively pursue sources of competitive advantage. The increased competition among businesses due to globalisation of the world’s economy has made it difficult for local or international businesses to capitalise on local comparative advantages (Jones and Comfort 2019). Modern consumers have now access to variety of products and services due to increased penetration level of Internet, higher exposure, and popularity of online shopping. Moreover, a drastic change in the shopping behaviour and consumer preferences has been observed with the emergence of millennials. The modern consumer is relatively more aware about efficient shopping.
Millennials have a higher inclination towards evaluating product value rather than relying on brand loyalty to make repeated purchases. In addition, the changed consumer behaviour between millennials and previous generations has resulted in closure of famous retail chains, such as Beales, Woolworth’s, Toys R Us, Karen Millen and Fred’s. Based on the research conducted by Peterson (2019), more than 9300 different retail stores have been closed owing to lack of business sustainability, as they have been previously successful and part of multinational or large retail chains.
Such evidence regarding the positive relationship between changing consumer environment and lack of business sustainability in the retail industry increases the importance of different sources of competitive advantages for retail businesses (Jones and Comfort 2019). By keeping in view the importance of innovation as the primary source of competitive advantage in the modern business environment, it is essential to evaluate the importance of innovation for maintaining or inducing sustainability for retail businesses.
2.2 Defining Innovation
Innovation is recognised as the leading source of competitive advantage in variety of global industries, such as the information technology industry, consumer electronics industry, automobile industry, financial industry, and manufacturing industry. The importance of innovation as the leading source of competitive advantage has resulted in abundance of research in the academic and research environments. Based on the viewpoint of different authors, innovation has variety of meanings and purposes. For example, Cox (2008) defined innovation as, “the real essence of innovation is fresh thinking that leads to value creation” (p. 202). Similarly, Baregheh, Rowley, and Sambrook (2009) narrated, “Innovation is the generation, acceptance and implementation of new ideas, processes products or services” (p. 1325).
Similarly, another definition of innovation has been mentioned as, “the effective application of processes and products new to the organisation and designed to benefit it and its stakeholders” (Wong, Tjosvold, and Liu 2009, p. 2). The aforementioned evidence regarding the interpretation and explanation of innovation highlights the use of new ideas and processes, which results in value creation. This means one of the primary purposes of innovation is to enhance further the value creation for consumers. This way, innovation allows businesses to offer continuously better value to consumers, which becomes the primary reason for repeated purchases in the modern business environment (Verburg 2019). Similarly, modern consumers are only bound to make repeated purchases in the retail industry, as far as they receive additional value for making repeated purchases. Such evidence from existing literature highlights the relevance of innovation even in the retailing industry; as innovation is majorly used for create value of products and services.
2.3 Understanding Business Sustainability
The sustainability of a business is addressed from various perspectives, as businesses need to be socially, economically, and financially sustainable for generating continuous revenues and profitability in the longer run. Based on the viewpoint of (Dyllick and Muff 2016), business sustainability is achieved “through tangible benefits in the form of reduced costs and risks of doing business, as well as through intangible benefits in the form of increased brand reputation, increased attractiveness to talent, and increased competitiveness” (p. 2). The variety of sources of business sustainability is in line with the type of business sustainability required as well as the industry of operation.
For instance, brand reputation might not be relevant in the manufacturing industry, as statistics on performance; errors, wastage, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness have a higher significance in the manufacturing industry for gaining or maintaining business sustainability. Similarly, it has been concluded, “In a competitive, sustainable environment, entrepreneurship can arise in response to business needs, encourage structural social transformations, and promote emerging sustainable technologies associated with these sustainable initiatives” (Tur-Porcar, Roig-Tierno, and Mestre 2018, p. 261). The popularity of entrepreneurship in the modern business environment also dwells on the rising relevance and significance of innovation on a global level. Accordingly, it is assessed that business sustainability may emerge from variety of sources due to the varying needs and demands of consumers with respect to different industries, products and services.
2.4 Relevance of Innovation for Business Sustainability
An increasingly important relationship has been observed between innovation and business sustainability. Such findings are based on the relevance of innovation for variety of business outcomes. For instance, innovation is a source of not only increasing customer value but is also a vital tool for enhancing the...