Business Skills Assignment Sample 2024
Title and Introduction
Digital Transformation is defined as the alignment of computer-based technologies within the processes, products and strategies facilitating operations of the organisations. The research will actively focus on the introduction of digital payments through the impact of digital transformation and its possible benefits for UK-based SMEs. Similarly, digital transformation brings a revolutionary change within the digital payment systems within the UK-based SMEs making the modes of payment reliable and easier. In terms of the era of the digital economy, digital transformation helps many small-scale firms gain competitive advantages by promoting digital payment systems as transactions have been done by prioritising safety and security enhancing digital payment usage (Chen et al., 2021). On a broader note digital transformation further helps the SMEs in the UK to be faster and flexible in terms of payments as it has changed the mode of payments. In the earlier times, it was necessary to visit a bank or drop a cheque to send money to another party; however, in the present period payment modes have been convenient by allowing cashless transactions to the SMEs. As per the reports proposed by Statista, annual growth rates of 9% have been identified in digital payments within the UK which may reach an annual projected amount of $724.30 Billion by 2028 (Statista, 2024).
This growth rate will provide scope for the UK-based SMEs to get more convenient modes of payment. The use of digital payment by SMEs has been considered a future growth as customers may get opportunities to easily send their dues online without any challenges (Najib and Fahma, 2020). The introduction of digital payment systems as a part of digital transformation provides numerous benefits, in the form of maximising return on investment as well as improvement in operational efficiency. Digital Payments further reduces traditional methods of bookkeeping for the SMEs as owners of these SMEs easily through the transaction history of these digital recognise any dues left for its customers. The introduction of digital payments through the possible impact of digital transformation has further helped UK-based SMEs to reduce any risks of fraud as tracking of payments may be done by these businesses in real-time. The secured options present in digital payment systems provide possible warnings to the owners of the UK-based SMEs during any transaction from where it has been a bit easier to immediately block the person, to whom the payment is being made. A number of digital payment apps have been actively used in the UK which are PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay as well as Ali Pay which helps to enhance cashless transactions.
The research will further focus on the role of PayPal in changing modes of transaction in terms of money aspect. The widely used electronic payment service appears to be PayPal as it makes transactions easier and more convenient between buyers and sellers through a widely accessible cash management structure that appears to be effective (Nabila et al., 2022). Paypal makes transactions secure and safe, restricting the receiver from getting any sensitive details of the sender such as bank account number or credit card number. However, the company charges a fee from the merchants in the form of the owners of SMEs in case payment is being made with another currency.
Problem Statement
The problem statement associated with the research topic is to identify, what would be the possible issues faced by UK-based SMEs in terms of digital payments in case of no digital transformation. However, the research describes the impact of digital transformation within UK-based SMEs by enhancing the modes of payment digitally, making the transaction more convenient. The research appears to be important as it provides examples of digital payment apps that are actively used by UK SMEs as well as the research is more specific to the UK-based digital payment app PayPal.
Aims of the research study
The main aim of the associated research study based on the specified topic is to identify the impact of digital transformation upon UK-based SMEs through the introduction of digital payment systems as well as the benefits achieved through these modes of payment.
Review of Literature
Al-Qudah et al., (2024) demonstrated that the digital transformation has brought revolution in the four main dimensions, which are digital infrastructure, transformation of core operations such as payments from physical to digital and analytics & information management. However, during any environmental disruption such as the pandemic, the usage of digital payment systems such as Apple Wallet or other wallet systems have been actively used by small-scale businesses. In terms of current digital transformation digital payment systems in the form of wallet apps and mobile payment systems are capable of positively impacting upon the main business aspects of the SMEs, which are value and innovation, data, competition and customers.
The growth of technological development through digitalisation in the UK helps small-scale businesses and consumer’s possible ways of payment digitally, that appear to be flexible, convenient and tailored. The increase in growth of digital payments through the impact of digital transformation has been recognised by the UK government, thus certain programmes have been taken to make the digital payment systems quicker, cheaper and simpler. Thus the enablement of digital payment systems is a bit cheap and provides opportunities for UK-based small-scale businesses to utilise it without any hackles.
Hillberry et al., (2023) opined that the fast-growing digital payment system of PayPal processes payments within a sizable share of the market. The online structure of PayPal is characterised by its functioning in online marketplaces where payments can be made overseas. This provides possible ways for the SMEs of the UK to send or receive payments digitally to other parties domestically or overseas. The digital wallet options that have been provided to the users of Paypal such as the owners of small-scale enterprises provide opportunities to store money in that wallet as it has been linked with debit cards, credit cards and bank accounts.
Kwabena et al., (2019) demonstrated that the possible effects of digital payment systems on SMEs appear to be positive as they provide opportunities to send or receive payments throughout the globe. Certain investment in e-payment methods in the form of PayPal helps to encourage the shift of payment systems from traditional to digital due to the possible impact of digital transformation. On a parallel note, the possible factors such as digital transformation followed by competitive pressure and social influences on the usage of digital patent systems by the UK SMEs.
Methods associated with the collection and analysis of data
Data Collection
The research study will be done by following the elements of secondary data collection that will help to gain in-depth knowledge of the research topic making the topic more valid and authentic. Secondary Data collection is defined as the ways of collecting data from existing sources that appear to be valid and authentic as the data has been already created by other authors. Secondary Data collection in the form of internal and external sources helps to uncover a wide range of sources fulfilling the areas within the research topic by filling out the gaps within the entire research study (Sileyew, 2019). In terms of this research topic, data will be collected from magazines, articles, journals, books and periodicals extracted from Google Scholar, followed by authentic and reliable government and university websites. The reliability and authenticity of secondary data will be critically checked to define whether it relates to the topic or not and after that, it will be finally included within the research study. The technique of secondary data collection may be able to enhance documentation methods by providing valuable insights (Bustani et al., 2021). Secondary Data Collection consumes less costs, thus the research will be completed with less or negligible expenses with minimum time.
Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis will be followed as a data analysis procedure after the collection of data from secondary sources as it is associated with the identification of common patterns and themes within the entire data by critically analysing the data. The involvement of reading will be done based on the analysis procedure of thematic analysis that will help uncover any meanings or additional data based on the specified research topic. The popular way of analysing qualitative secondary data appears to be secondary data analysis, which is flexible, cost-effective and widely applicable to research studies (Herzog et al., 2019). The five steps of thematic analysis will be followed within the entire research study in the form of becoming familiar with qualitative data as the first step and generation of codes as the second step followed by the third step of generation of initial themes as step 3. The further steps of reviewing defining and naming themes will be followed in the research study as of step 4 and at last an initial report will be produced. The epistemological assumptions may be easily defined through the process of thematic analysis as its reflexivity and codebook (Braun and Clarke, 2019).
Research ethics
The important aspects which need to be considered appear to be concerns regarding research quality and reproducibility followed by privacy and confidentiality concerns. In terms of research ethics, ethical consideration will be actively maintained to justify that the research is going to be done based on ethical standards. Thus, end-to-end confidentiality will be maintained while engaging with the research study and the outcome will be kept in an encrypted environment with a strict cybersecurity interface to avoid any unauthorised access of data by any third parties. Ethical Consideration may be actively maintained to avoid any common errors within the research study in the form of unexplained selectivity as well as inaccurate coding (Suri, 2020). The research study will be done according to the instructions provided by the Universities, and nothing extra will be done other than the guidelines. Proper in-text citations will be followed while including data from original authors as well as authentic websites. Other than that, any unreliable or inauthentic data will not be utilised within the study which will act as a threat to the research ethics. The data will not be used for any illegal purpose and will only be certified for research operations. On a parallel note, Grammarly software will be utilised to identify any grammar mistakes within the entire research study followed by the implementation of plagiarism software, from where the percentage of similarity index will be checked. Ethical consideration helps to support reliably safe ethical practices within the research study to avoid any potential risks (Newman et al., 2021). The research outcome will be further taken to the research authorities for publishing and in case of any rejections; the changes will be done as per the instructions and will be further submitted.
References
Al-Qudah, A.A., Al-Okaily, M., Alqudah, G. and Ghazlat, A., 2024. Mobile payment adoption in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Electronic Commerce Research, 24(1), pp.427-451.
Bagale, G.S., Vandadi, V.R., Singh, D., Sharma, D.K., Garlapati, D.V.K., Bommisetti, R.K., Gupta, R.K., Setsiawan, R., Subramaniyaswamy, V. and Sengan, S., 2021. Small and medium-sized enterprises’ contribution to digital technology. Annals of Operations Research, pp.1-24.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2019. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 11(4), pp.589-597.
Bustani, B., Khaddafi, M. and Ilham, R.N., 2022. Regional Financial Management System of Regency/City Regional Original Income In Aceh Province Period Year 2016-2020. International Journal of Educational Review, Law And Social Sciences (IJERLAS), 2(3), pp.459-468.
Chen, C.L., Lin, Y.C., Chen, W.H., Chao, C.F. and Pandia, H., 2021. Role of government to enhance digital transformation in small service business. Sustainability, 13(3), p.1028.
Gov. uk, 2024. Cash and digital payments in the new economy: Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ccb03afe5274a1ac9468dcd/CfE_-_Cash___Digital_Payments_Response_020519_vf_digicomms.pdf (Accessed: 19 April 2024).
Herzog, C., Handke, C. and Hitters, E., 2019. Analyzing talk and text II: Thematic analysis (pp. 385-401). Springer International Publishing.
Hillberry, R., Mahlstein, K. and Schropp, S., 2023. The geography of payment activity on PayPal. Review of International Economics, 31(5), pp.1688-1718.
Kwabena, G.Y., Qiang, M., Wenyuan, L., Qalati, S.A. and Erusalkina, D., 2019. Effects of the digital payment system on SMEs performance in developing countries; A case of Ghana. EPRA International Journal of Economic and Business Review, 1, pp.79-87.
Nabila, A.S.N., Oktavianti, F.T. and Putri, N.L., 2022. Using Paypal As E-Payment In The International Payment System: English. ASIAN Economic and Business Development, 4(1), pp.14-19.
Najib, M. and Fahma, F., 2020. Investigating the adoption of digital payment system through an extended technology acceptance model: An insight from the Indonesian small and medium enterprises. International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 10(4), pp.1702-1708.
Newman, P.A., Guta, A. and Black, T., 2021. Ethical considerations for qualitative research methods during the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergency situations: Navigating the virtual field. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, p.16094069211047823.
Sileyew, K.J., 2019. Research design and methodology (Vol. 7). Cyberspace.
Statista, 2024. Digital payments – UK: Statista market forecast Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/outlook/fmo/digital-payments/united-kingdom (Accessed: 19 April 2024).
Suri, H., 2020. Ethical considerations of conducting systematic reviews in educational research. Systematic reviews in educational research: Methodology, perspectives and application, pp.41-54.
