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I | P a g e

Driving Efficiency throughTechnological Innovations

A case study of McGees POD Father System


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ABSTRACT

The current is designed to explore how organizations derive efficiency by the way of

technological innovations. For this purpose the McGee which is Europes leading and

most trusted Civil, Structural and Demolition Engineering Contractors Company was

explored as a case study. The company has transformed to new technological

innovation and is using PODFather for carrying out their operations. The data for the

current study was collected by quantitative approach by employing questionnaire

which was sent through email. the major variables which were explored are ease of

use, efficient delivery, cost reduction, employee performance, firm performance and

edge over competitors. The first three variables are used as constructs/measures of

technology while the remaining three are the dependent variables. The results of the

study reveal that PODFather has helped the company to achieve better efficiency in

terms of firm performance and employee performance, moreover the technology lead to

cost reduction by eliminating the obsolete ways of operations and created a paperless

environment moreover the company was in a better position to deliver and transfer

logistics on time all these factors provided the company a competitive edge overcompetitors. This is the result of adoption of latest technology which is the life blood of

todays businesses.


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Acknowledgement


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Table of ContentsABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. II

Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... III

List of tables................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

1. Introduction: ..................................................................................................................... - 1 -

1.1 McGee Group ........................................................................................................... - 3 -

1.1.1 McGee Aim ....................................................................................................... - 3 -

1.2 The PODFather system: ............................................................................................ - 4 -

1.3 Aim and objectives of Study: .................................................................................... - 4 -The following are the aim and objectives of the current study: .......................................... - 5 -

1.3.1 Aim of study:..................................................................................................... - 5 -

1.3.2 Objectives: ........................................................................................................ - 5 -

1.4 Research questions: ................................................................................................. - 5 -

1.5 Rationale of Study .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

1.6 Organization of the study: ........................................................................................ - 6 -

Chapter 1: ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -

Chapter 2: ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -

Chapter 3: ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -

Chapter 4: ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -

Chapter 5: ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -

2. Literature Review: ............................................................................................................ - 7 -

2.1 Technology importance ............................................................................................ - 7 -

2.2 Role of innovation .................................................................................................... - 7 -

2.3 Technology is man created innovation .................................................................... - 9 -

2.4 Organization faces problems adapting technological innovations .......................... - 9 -

2.5 Technology dominated world................................................................................. - 10 -

2.6 Technology is human dependent ........................................................................... - 11 -

2.7 Organizations Adapting Technological Innovation for the growth and Survival .... - 12 -

2.8 Logistic, IT(Information Technology) and the organization size............................ - 13 -

2.9 Information & Communication Technology in Logistics ........................................ - 14 -

2.10 Supplier & Customer relationship with logistics services....................................... - 15 -

2.11 PODFather .............................................................................................................. - 15 -


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2.12 The PODFather system ........................................................................................... - 16 -

2.13 PODFather Use in Industry ..................................................................................... - 16 -

2.14 PODFather speedy management at Balfour Beatty ............................................... - 17 -

2.15 PODFather at Oxfam for enhancing working practices .......................................... - 17 -

2.16 PODFather use at BCW Group (UKs premier provider of credit management anddebt recovery services) for high efficiency & real time Solutions ...................................... - 18 -

2.17 Increasing Profitability in logistics .......................................................................... - 19 -

2.18 Service Quality in logistics ...................................................................................... - 20 -

2.19 Theoretical frame work: ......................................................................................... - 22 -

3. Research Methodology: ................................................................................................. - 24 -

3.1 Research Approach: ................................................................................................ - 24 -

3.1.1 Quantitative method: ..................................................................................... - 25 -

3.1.2 Qualitative Research: ..................................................................................... - 25 -

3.2 Case Study: ............................................................................................................. - 27 -

3.2.1 Cross sectional Case study:............................................................................. - 27 -

3.2.2 Multiple Case studies: .................................................................................... - 28 -

3.2.3 Single case study ............................................................................................. - 28 -

3.3 Types of case studies: ............................................................................................. - 29 -

3.4 Instrument Development: ...................................................................................... - 30 -3.5 Questionnaire: ........................................................................................................ - 31 -

3.1 Sampling Technique to be employed: .................................................................... - 32 -

3.1.1 Sample Size: .................................................................................................... - 33 -

3.1 Data Coding and Feeding:....................................................................................... - 34 -

3.2 Ethical Issues: ......................................................................................................... - 34 -

3.3 Summary of Research Methodology: ..................................................................... - 34 -

4. Findings and Analysis: ..................................................................................................... - 35 -

4.1 Socio-demographic Analysis: .................................................................................. - 35 -

4.2 Correlation: ............................................................................................................. - 38 -

4.3 Regression Model: .................................................................................................. - 40 -

4.3.1 Objective1:...................................................................................................... - 40 -

4.1.1 Objective 2: ..................................................................................................... - 43 -

4.1.2 Objective 3: ..................................................................................................... - 46 -

4.1.3 Objective 4: ..................................................................................................... - 47 -

4.4 Question: Give your opinion about PODFather: .................................................... - 48 -


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5. Conclusion, recommendations, limitations of the study and future research: ............. - 50 -

5.1 Recommendations, limitations of the study and future research: ........................ - 53 -

References: ............................................................................................................................. - 54 -

Appendix: 1 ............................................................................................................................. - 55 -

Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. - 58 -

Regression results: ............................................................................................................. - 58 -

Appendix 3: ............................................................................................................................. - 64 -


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Table 1 ............................................................................................................................ - 36 -

Table 2 ............................................................................................................................ - 36 -

Table 3 ............................................................................................................................ - 37 -

Table 4 ............................................................................................................................ - 39 -

Table 5 ............................................................................................................................ - 58 -

Table 5.1 ......................................................................................................................... - 58 -

Table 5.2 ......................................................................................................................... - 59 -

Table 5.3 ......................................................................................................................... - 59 -

Table 6 ............................................................................................................................ - 59 -

Table 6.1 ......................................................................................................................... - 60 -

Table 6.2 ......................................................................................................................... - 60 -

Table 6.3 ......................................................................................................................... - 60 -

Table 7 ............................................................................................................................ - 60 -

Table 7.1 ......................................................................................................................... - 61 -

Table 7.2 ......................................................................................................................... - 61 -

Table 7.3 ......................................................................................................................... - 61 -

Table 8 ............................................................................................................................ - 61 -

Table 8.1 ......................................................................................................................... - 61 -

Table 8.2 ......................................................................................................................... - 62 -

Table 8.3 ......................................................................................................................... - 62 -

Table 9 ............................................................................................................................ - 62 -

Table 9.1 ......................................................................................................................... - 63 -

Table 9.2 ......................................................................................................................... - 63 -

Table 9.3 ......................................................................................................................... - 63 -

Firm performance ........................................................................................................... - 64 -

Table 10 .......................................................................................................................... - 64 -Table 10.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 65 -

Table 10.2 ....................................................................................................................... - 66 -

Table 10.3 ....................................................................................................................... - 67 -

Table 10.6 ....................................................................................................................... - 69 -

Cost reduction: ............................................................................................................... - 70 -

Table 11 .......................................................................................................................... - 70 -

Table 11.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 71 -

Ease of use ...................................................................................................................... - 72 -


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Table 12 .......................................................................................................................... - 72 -

Table 12.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 73 -

Table 12.2 ....................................................................................................................... - 74 -

Table 12 .3 ...................................................................................................................... - 74 -

Employee performance .................................................................................................. - 75 -

Table 13 .......................................................................................................................... - 75 -

Table 13.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 76 -

Table 13.2 ....................................................................................................................... - 76 -

Efficient delivery ............................................................................................................. - 77 -

Table 14 .......................................................................................................................... - 77 -

Table 14.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 78 -

Table 14.2 ....................................................................................................................... - 79 -

Table 14.3 ....................................................................................................................... - 80 -

Edge over competitors: .................................................................................................. - 81 -

Table 15 .......................................................................................................................... - 81 -

Table 15.1 ....................................................................................................................... - 82 -

Table 15.2 ....................................................................................................................... - 83 -

Table 15.3 ....................................................................................................................... - 83 -

Table 15.4 ....................................................................................................................... - 84 -


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CHAPTER 1

1. Introduction:Over the last few decades, technology has been viewed as a primary source through

which mangers and leaders tend to execute and implement business approaches and

drive innovation (Frery, 2006). Likewise, currently the most exhilarating and disruptive

innovations are happening at the intersection of technology and market insights.

However, many companies which were earlier following the traditional business

approaches are now adopting technology driven strategies to run their business in order

to survive in the competitive environment of today (Salavou et al., 2004). The

companies adopting technological innovations and technology driven strategies have

many implications such as technology really matters if the companies want to grow,

further technology is also very important for companies to be competitive as

technology is being the basis of many innovations in telecom industry, companies

providing household appliances and vending machines, banking sector, companies

providing delivery services etc. (Berman and Hagan, 2006).

According to Gaynor (2002), technological innovation in the competitive environment

of today is a leading and central aspect that helps companies maintain their

performance and compete with the rest of the organizations; moreover it works as a

catalyst or fuel in the growth and expansion of the businesses around the world. It

allows organizations to further maintain their performance with the same forces and can

derive efficiency and success. In the current situation where the technology is boosting

and new discoveries are taking place every day, those companies which adopt and bring

change in the way they conduct their operations by employing latest technological


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methods and shedding the obsolete technological equipments are actually the

companies which succeed, strive and survive in the neck to neck competition and these

are the companies which survive for a longer period of time. However, with the

changing trends of technology the customers are also having priorities accordingly, like

wise customers prefer to get products and services from the company which provide

them the latest products and efficient services. Therefore it has become imperative for

the organization to adopt the latest technology and provide their customers with latest

products and services (Porter and Stern, 2001).

Professionals from all over the world working with technology have identified the need

of adopting technological innovations in all type of organizations and with software

intensive systems. However professionals realized that regarding the knowledge and

different working environments of different organizations the need for technological

innovations and software intensive systems vary from organization to organization.

But irrespective of the type of organization whether it is an aerospace organization or

organization providing delivery services or a government institute a common thing

which is required by all the organization is the change in terms of technology and

business processes. A pervasive lesson to be learned and shared with technology

organizations is that the most predictable aspect of the technology environment is that

it is truly unpredictable and is always in a state of change (Schaer, 2001, p. 2)

The rationale of this study is to investigate the impact the technology has on a business.

However, the major purpose of adopting technology is to update the business

requirements and add a value to the business (Berman and Hagan, 2006). In the same

way, technology has brought a lot of innovation in the field of information technology

which has transformed the world into a global village by the means of internet. Such


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changes when adopted by organizations bring drastic changes and success for them

(Hess, 2005).

The focus of the study will not be a supply-chain perception the study will focus

investigating the more general context of innovation and technology and how this may

work in practice in an organization. For this purpose the current study has targeted

McGee which has adopted innovative technology in its operations such as the PODFather

system for logistic management of goods to be transported to sites for construction

1.1 McGee GroupMcGee Group is one of Europe s leading and most trusted Civil, Structural and

Demolition Engineering contractors. It s a London based group established over 50

years, a large and very well known group that have been awarded many major, national

projects and pride themselves on being innovators in the civil engineering and

demolition sectors as their major core businesses.

1.1.1 McGee Aim

Like other organization the major focus of McGee is to achieve high customer

satisfaction which interns brings customer loyalty toward the selection of organization

and results in customer retention which is organization ultimate goal as the retention of

the customer confirms the organization business success. McGee during its working

tenure has achieved many huge projects and also worked diligently for the best

customer satisfaction. As McGee believes that customer is their fuel for their business

generation so their satisfaction is of first and major priority. Furthermore McGee group

has happily announced that one of their projects, student accommodation project for

Balfour Beatty in Newcastle has won the coveted Specialists Awards 2012. For this

achievement McGee has warmly thanked all their project working staff for their
http://www.mcgee.co.uk/news/mcgee-use-podfather-at-heathrow-t2b/http://www.mcgee.co.uk/news/mcgee-use-podfather-at-heathrow-t2b/


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considerable efforts huge commitment and dedication till the attainment and smooth

completion of the project.

McGee has made a good trusted name during their 50 years business working. McGee

has not reached the success at once they availed this success in a period of 50 years and

strengthen their roots in all sectors of the construction industry and is now regarded as

one of the leading specialist contractors in the United Kingdom.

The winning of the specialist award 2012 has put light on their good expertise, high

level of innovation, their strong capability and the strength of the organization taking

huge projects and performing them really well.

Like other successful organization McGee has also planned to use the PODFather for

combating the mountain of the paper tickets that were used with their large scale

earthworks projects, McGee was earlier following the traditional paper work for their

conveyance notes after the deployment of PODFather for Earthworks system they

replace their traditional paper work. Initially the deployment meant to check the vehicle

and material movement at the civil site. Therefore the company required such a

management system to manage the operation well.

1.2 The PODFather system:

PODFather is another innovation in the field of technology is used to transfer data and

information from one place to another. It is widely used by companies to reduce the

haulage cost and the cost spent on obsolete methods providing the companies with an

efficient solution for delivery of products (Feng & Huang, 2006). Also the

implementation of the PODFather system has reduced the administrative, paper and

printing costs significantly.

1.3 Aim and objectives of Study:


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The following are the aim and objectives of the current study:

1.3.1 Aim of study:

The main aim of the current study is to explore how PODFather which is a new

innovation in technology is deriving efficiency in McGee organization.

1.3.2 Objectives:

To critically analyse the role of technological support innovation for business

success in the exceedingly competitive logistics industry from literature point of

view.

The following objectives will be attained in through primary resources:

To identify to what extent the use of technology (PODFather) has helped

McGee to reduce costs and enhance business performance.

To investigate, in particular, the attribute of 'ease-of-use' of technology

(PODFather) in relation to enhanced employee performance and business

performance.

To explore the claim of efficient delivery through technology (PODFather) and

how this impacts on business performance.

To examine the extent to which technology (PODFather) has provided McGee

with a competitive edge.

1.4 Research questions:

The following research question would be covered in the current study:

What are the characteristics of the software management system PODFather and

how it is making an impact on business operations?


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1.5 Organization of the study:

The current study is comprised of following chapters.

Chapter 1:

This chapter is based on the brief introduction of the subject under investigation and

includes the objectives of conducting the current study; it also contains the research

question of the study and the rationale for conducting the current study.

Chapter 2:The chapter 2 of the current study consists of the detailed literature review which

consists of different studies that are already done on the same subject in past. With the

help of these studies the researcher can develop a better understanding of the selected

topic.

Chapter 3:The chapter 3 of the current study comprise of the research methodology that is

designed in order to collect the data and design a complete methodology with the help

of which the current study will be conducted. Further the research methodology will

contain the technique through which the results of the study will be interpreted.

Chapter 4:This chapter will include the analysis of the data collected through the methodology

explained in chapter 3; further this chapter will discuss the findings in light of literature

and will reveal whether the literature supports the findings of current study or oppose

the findings.

Chapter 5:This chapter of the study concludes the study providing necessary implications for the

managers and also enlisting the limitations of the study and providing the scope for

future research.


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CHAPTER 2

2. L iterature Review:This chapter highlights the previous literature that is already done on the subject of

current study.

2.1 Technology importance

Technology is always a very efficient application of physical forces for the production

of material and services. Technology can best be explained as a tool, a well-made

system, a method or a procedure, a set of knowledge used in the formation of goods and

the provision of services. Technology is usually a set of the hardware, software, and

brain ware (Dauda, 2012).

Hardware is the materials structure i.e. the equipment or the machinery.

Software is the knowledge of using the hardware to carry out the required tasks

Brain ware is the reason for using technology in a particular way.

The dependency of all three is upon the need of the work and its demand for the better

growth and the success of an organization and the operation of that technology.

Organization and nations need to cope up along with the changes in the technological

needs to meet the expectancy and the innovation need of the society and the market.

The status of nation development also plays a vital role here as under develop and

developing nations have not much promoted the technological innovation due to their

under development and poverty nature. So technology is an expensive process that

can t be easily adopted but technological innovations are very important for

organizational performance.

2.2 Role of innovation


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The role of innovation is huge world wide as it plays as a crucial factor in the

competitive world of technology today. Innovation plays as a fuel for the fast growth of

organization and better success of organization. Innovation works as an engine that let

the sustainability and capability of the organization in the huge global economy

(Gaynor, 2002). In the fast world of today organization are under great pressure of

attaining the excellence while focusing on big competitions, reformation, reasonable

cost, with high quality of service and production and customer service are not enough.

Porter and Stern (2001) focuses on the technological innovation needs for the company

growth and sustainability and said that to compete the market industry a company is

always in need of the innovation in their technological advancement that can be in term

of their product or process. According to Peter Drucker (2002) all the organizations are

in need of a capability and that is innovation for their business their growth and their

sustainability. Innovation comes with the introduction of technology in today s world,

technology is a necessity for the growth and the success of any organization (Gaynor,

2002; McDermott and Sexton, 1998). For increasing their service productivity, many

organizations focus on the need of using mechanization more rather than using human

force. However, it has also been observed that the high use of mechanization not

always results in very high quality of productivity and services (Gaynor, 2002;

McDermott and Sexton, 1998).

Almost more than a century the business people consider technology as their huge

mean of working system of the strategies implementation and execution. Today s

improvements are the result of the market needs and the technological information, this

shows that technology is an input that smoothly starts a process many of the companies

that have taken the initiative of working with strategies based on technology (Berman

and Hagan, 2006)


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2.3 Technology is man created innovation

Technology is the result of human s learned and acquired knowledge or the technical

skills individual acquires for doing right things (Khalil, 2000). The acquisition of the

technology its use and the maintenance are the major finding factors for the proper

survival in all the organisations. Technological innovation is considered as the

organization lifeblood, and all this happen due to the human involvement and

intervention (Zahra & Covin, 1994). Quinn (1969) said that it is important for any

organisation to check the technological changes, then training and motivation of

employees to innovate, because technology covers all the aspect in any organization. So

with the introduction of the technology an organization faces problems to like training

that not usually produces results and is cost increasing as well. (Kubbr, 1977) observed

that the introduction of the new technology in any organization changes the operational

procedures of the organization and that cannot essentially be useful it can be positive as

well as negative.

2.4 Organization faces problems adapting technologicalinnovations

The organization have to face many challenges in the global economy especially the

technological change, technological changes determines the organizational

competitiveness. According to Merrifield technology changes includes complete

knowledge, skills and procedures and physical requirement of the innovation

technological tools and machines (Merrifield, 1983). The effect of the rapidly changing

technology has brought about the need for the hiring of high skilled and knowledge

workers and giving them the motivation to cope up with the provided technological

change. These technological innovations is man dependent as proper need of human


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involvement is required for its working and implementation

The advancement of technology affects the effectiveness of the implementation of the

new technology which makes possible the use of service methods that are both more

efficient and more effective. For example, the airline passenger s don t like the airport

check-in kiosks when they were initially installed, but with the passage of the time, this

technology has became more mature, comfortable for the passengers and they get

benefited with this offer. Usually the results of improved efficiency and effectiveness is

because of the technological innovation and improvement (Baily and Lawrence 2001;

Meuter et al. 2000; Meuter et al. 2005), the result of improved technological innovation

also improves the service quality provided by the organizations

2.5 Technology dominated world

Logistics and supply chain innovation are becoming a topic high on the international

research agenda as well as in practice. New business models based on new ways of

designing logistics flows and supply chains have emerged during the past couple of

decades. Companies such as IKEA, Dell and the Spanish apparel retailer Zara are


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renowned in the global business world for their innovative thinking in logistics and

supply chain solutions for reaching their customers. Logistics and logistics innovation

are, however, not only about industrial production and products. Recently, firms and

organizations from other sectors such as healthcare have started working with practices

and programs to increase the flow of production. (Bartlett, 2009; Su et al., 2009). In

today's information technology dominated world, equipment and machineries have

become as complicated as they are made up of many different technologies and tools.

The combination of the optics and the electronics created optoelectronics, that has

given birth to the optic-fiber communication system same as the combination of

mechanical and electronic technologies has given rise to the mechatronics revolution,

which has changed many industries. These all are the result of much improved

technological innovation that are in many developed and some developing countries of

the world.

2.6 Technology is human dependent

Technology from its birth has worked great in the improvement of human resource and

their organisational performances. However human resource management are still

occupying a very critical position in the complete setup of any organisational settings.

It is the human resources whose innovation brings about the huge change and had

promoted the technological development in all nations and industries. The major reason

of the Japanese success in the technology and different sciences was because of the

high level literacy rate among their citizens; their traditional systems of business

management follows the technological awareness and also use them in their daily

routines for better awareness and improvement (Deming, 1986)


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Pagiani (1997- Pg 8) corroborated this and said " We are in the midst of a new wave of

knowledge management, knowledge has emerged as a critical factor of production, as

important and sometimes more important than capital ". According to him

engineering need is crucial at all aspects, maintenance improvement, motivation,

trainings and development of engineers and scientists for improved technological

innovation is very important. Pagiani studies shows that technology is human

dependent innovation so alone its nothing.

Galbraith (1988) stated that all organisations are in need of innovation that are helpful

for their survival that is, innovation regarding their management structure, management

practices, rewards and introduction of new technology required as market need of

innovation.

2.7 Organizations Adapting Technological Innovation for thegrowth and Survival

Due to the dynamic market the high need of the innovation is the first requirement of an

organization. Organizations have to face changes as the demand of client changes with

the passage of time so organization are in need of innovations the most and that

innovation is usually the introduction of the required technology for the improvement

and the requirement as a result of changing need. Technological improvements are

meant for time saving and efficient working. As long ago as 1950, Schumpeter said that

organizations are in need of innovation in order to work and survive.

According to Bessant et al. (2005) the role of innovation is very important in success

and growth of an organization. He called it as renewal process in any organization as

the changing demands and organization have to cope up for survival.


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Organization needs to be up-to-date

According to Kelley and Littman (2006) organizations have to value all types of the

innovation, they need to focus on the changing demands and adaptation accordingly.

They explained the importance of innovation at every point of the organizational

development, in business and among every team member. If organization failed to

value innovation it loses its market worth. Market adapts changes and technology

brings those changes.

An organization need to develop more value and efficiency than its rivals as this shows

the competitive level of any organization (Porter, 1985; Brandenburger and Stuart,

1996).

2.8 Logistic, IT(Information Technology) and theorganization size

IT has bring about a revolution in food selling and delivering etc specially the logistics

related operations (Smith and Sparks, 1993) and IT has also played an important

function of cooperating ware house operations with logistic in organization (Davis,

1995). Though, earlier studies have specified that there is a strong association amongst

the logistic volume and the IT system. Pokharel (2005) explained according to the

findings of his studies that the IT system improves with the with the improvement in

size of the logistics organization. Contrary to Pokharel, Morrell and Ezingeard (2002)

concluded from their studies that small organization are under greater influence of

facing problems then huge organizations after introduction of the IT, this is due to

weak economy and organizational ability. According to Smith and Sparks IT has grown

huge importance in retail section (Smith and Sparks, 1993). The logistics approach of

any organization is based on its logistic capabilities (Fabbe-Costes and Colin, 1999),


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while IT approach provides organization with the new ways to do better than rivals and

also reducing down the cost of the organization (Porter and Millar, 1995).

2.9 Information & Communication Technology in Logistics

Customer satisfaction is an important and necessary for an organization as only

satisfied customer brings business. Customer loyalty and customer satisfaction are two

different definitions. The customer satisfaction comes with meeting the customer s

need and expectation while customer loyalty assesses about the buying and the re-

buying of the customer. Satisfaction is necessary and sufficient condition for gaining

customer loyalty without satisfaction (Richheld, Markey & Hopton 2000; Anne, 2003).

The logistic services in a supply chain involves the proper arrangement, designing,

executing and running the resources, and the information exchange in order to support

functions as procurement and manufacturing. The logistics companies adopt customer

service as their strategic feature rather than their cost feature and this is for gaining their

strategic management the logistics companies use high class logistics tools and

procedures (Bowersox and Closs, 1996) among which the information and

communications technology (ICT) is the most important.

ICT plays a very positive role on the working and performance of a company (Byrd

and Davidson, 2003). ICT requires a need of restructuring of logistics processes (Rizzi

and Zamboni, 1999). ICT also provides helpful role in the organizations for improving

organizational efficiency and efficacy (Cohen et al., 2002). ICT helps to carry out the

activities faster, support independent decision-taking processes, and also allow

distributive operations (Huang and Nof, 1999). The use of ICT makes the processes

more transparent to the stakeholders, which in turn, could lead to adoption of better

business practices to meet the customer service levels (Bharadwaj, 2000; Yazici, 2002;

Andersen, 2001) and increase in organizational ability to respond to a vibrant


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environment (Monteiro and Macdonald, 1996) thus decreasing the rate of operation to

half as that of the traditional business practices (Gattorna and Berger, 2001).

2.10 Supplier & Customer relationship with logisticsservices

According to Bloemer and Kasper (2004); Oliver (1999) there is a positive relationship

between satisfaction and loyalty, i.e., higher the satisfaction level of customers the

higher the loyalty they show in result to the services provider (Carter, 2008). Fader and

Schmittlein found a positive relation among market share and loyalty (Gianmario &

Emanuela, 2002). Many researchers conclude that the services quality is by far a

critical determinant of product quality perception. Logistics outsourcing consists of an

association among a provider of logistics services and a customer to whom the provider

offers his range of offering services. It is usually a long-term connection and a

relationship with some shared benefits (Murphy and Poist, 1998). According to Morphy

and Poist customer and the service provider have some shared benefits, the relationship

generally grows deeper in search of the mutual profits that working together can

provide (Murphy and Poist, 1998).

2.11 PODFather

PODFather is a tool that provides completely incorporated support office traffic and it

is a mobile PDA system that is having a huge ease of use separately or completely iwith

some existing IT systems, The PODFather designed to cope with haulage and logistics

operations of all the types and the sizes no matter how difficult they are.

(www.thepodfather.com )

The PODFather is designed in away to track all the jobs from the mian office and

assign to the drivers and then back again to office through the mobile networks. An
http://www.thepodfather.com/http://www.thepodfather.com/http://www.thepodfather.com/http://www.thepodfather.com/


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electronic Proof Of Delivery tickets (PODs) are received by both the office and the

staff and by the valuable customers aswell within few seconds of the task and delivery

being done, where it is automatically archived so there is no manual work.

It provides a hassle free paper work that is cost cutting, time saving, fast, reliable,

accurate and very simple to follow.

It helps in :

Good cash flow: no pending invoices as no paper work hassle and real time entry

No Administration : has reduced the manual involvement

Good Customer Services: customer are satisfied as receiving real time solution and as

organization knows that customers are the asset for any organization.

Increased sales: real time solution brings out customer satisfaction and organization

feel the comfort of staying ahead from competitors

2.12 The PODFather system

PODFather is a simple Proof Of Delivery system that helps providing data and

information from the working sites to the receiving office of the company the directly

encoded data reduces the logistics cost of the company (Feng & Huang, 2006). The

PODFather system has proved helpful in reducing the administrative, paper and

printing costs significantly.

2.13 PODFather Use in Industry

PODFather is a tool a system that is helping companies to reduce the burden of

paperwork. Many companies have installed the PODFather s handheld solution for the

elimination of paperwork which resulted in cost efficient solution. The PODFather is a

top integrated system for proof of delivery and is deployed by many organizations like


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keep track of the activities like order taking, marketing and sale of goods, order taking

and the process of shipment of goods (Mentzer & Williams, 2008). According to the

Andrew Flintoff, the transport Manager of Oxfam Wastesaver adds, the implementation

of the PODFather has changed their collection practices. It has the technology that

remotely captures information and helps make scheduling and collection operations the

more cost effective for an organization. The PODFather is helping alot in enhancing the

working procedures and working practices at Oxfam and the organization is very much

happy with the PODFather successful implementation. They consider PODFather as the

best logistic solution.

2.16 PODFather use at BCW Group (UKs premier provider ofcredit management and debt recovery services) for high efficiency & realtime Solutions

Supply Chain Management activities consist of traditional purchase function along with

several other activities needed to maintain the relationship between suppliers and

distributors (Bowersox, Closs, & Cooper, 2002). In the recent years the logistics

services has been observed improving its functions and associated activities by

implementing information technology and automation with consistency keeping the

business characteristics as core objectives (Kasper, 1997).

Logistic firms should apply and use knowledge professionally and resourcefully so that

long-term objects are met and the competitive advantage is achieved and they become

innovation based logistic company (Kasper, 1997). BCW Group is the UK s premier

provider of credit management and debt recovery services. The company seeks to

secure the maximum recoverable net return for its clients. This can involve providing


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assistance to trace debtors, arranging payment plans and helping to recover monies

owed in a sensitive, pragmatic and ethical manner. The use of innovative technology

underpins the working practices of the company thanks to a robust IT system designed

by the company s development team. The company operates a team of field agents

called as Debt Investigation Officers , who work to seek the re covery of unpaid debt

from different sources BCW Group work with debtors to establish payment plans and

help customers to apply for state benefits, returns, markdowns and releases which they

are entitled to, but are unaware of their entitlement and in hardship. Tom Kay the IT

Manager at BCW Group said that BCW manages its debt collection service by using a

software system called Caseflow . The system assigns 25 visits per day to each DIO

(Debt Investigation Officer). Until recently, this was done on a paper based system,

which is time consuming and hassle. According to BCW Group the introduction of

PODFather has transformed the working practices of BCW Group and has condensed

all their paper based work. Work completion that takes weeks are real time and efficient

and cost saving. BCW Group considers PODFather as a very helpful tool for Logistics

operations.

2.17 Increasing Profitability in logistics

It s a common practice that excellence highly effects on revenue and profitabi lity of

any organization. Improving logistics operation firms have remarkably increased their

value in the market and have created a competitive difference with marketing offerings

of the most successful organizations (Mentzer et al., 2002). The technology innovation

helps organizations explore the relationship present in the logistics services quality and

customer loyalty. Knowing this fact and with the help of performance analysis, the


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customer preferences and loyalty increases with the increase in betterment of logistic

service quality (Yu-Kai et al., 2009).

2.18 Service Quality in logistics

Globally in the logistics market, service quality management has become a very major

and a crucial issue to deal with the competitiveness in logistics and timely delivery.

There are many definitions and explanations about the satisfaction of customers (Hess,

2005). During the last decade, researches have conducted several researches concerning

the theoretical working for quality services in business, especially the quality of

logistics services and the logistics industry should be taken as service industry (Feng &

Huang, 2006; Harding, 2001; Joseph & Elliott, 2005; Kahn, 1995; Mentzer et al.,

2002).

I For increasing the customer satisfaction the need of quality logistic services with good

performance factors the marketing and the organizational objectives can be easily

achieved and that will in return helps creating the high customer satisfaction (Mentzer

& Williams, 2001). Logistics plays a crucial role in any organization, organization

reaches excellence on the basis of their logistic operation and excellent logistic services

provide competitive difference which influences this industry, for this logisticsmanagers should work in coordination with marketing department (Fornell, 1992).

However, there is huge need for much more work to be done on the domain of retail

delivery especially for the online business environment. Internet has also played an

excellent role as it found very helpful and has increased the flow of information

between the chain members in retail industry (Mentzer et al., 2000). The integration of


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IT and logistics operations is a critical issue, as firms employs information technology

systems to deliver on logistics information needs (Fitzgerald and Willcocks, 1994).

Literature Summary

Summarizing the overall literature it is concluded that innovation of technology plays

an important role for increasing the efficiency. Technology gives rise to high service

quality which increases profitability and provides efficient and real time solution. The

use of technology improves the working practices of an organization it provides cost

reduction with the ease of use and the smart and efficient solution. Technological

innovation affects positively the collection and management procedures. It has also

been observed that with the innovation both the advantages and disadvantages are

associated with the firm size (Maylor, 1997). It has concluded from the studies that

small business may be more innovative they often have trouble bringing innovation to

market (Abbernathay and Utterback, 1978 ) and the large firms faces more problem

more trouble innovating because they are more formal and bureaucratic. From the

studies it has also been observed that the organization faces hiring of skilled labor and

trainings which indirectly increases the cost of the firm and if technology didn t work

well the organization faces huge financial loses. Technology also brings about the

change in the operational setup of an organizational setup which is not always favored

and well adopted by the organization. Organization always needs to be updated to meet

their customer expectation and for the survival of their business. Technology reduces

the human interference but still it is human dependent.

In the next chapter i.e. Chapter 3 a detailed research methodology is explained which is

employed to collect the data with the help of which we can calculate that how the


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McGee can drive the efficiency and the reliability by using technology and innovation

(PODFather)

2.19 Theoretical frame work:

From the above discussions the following theoretical frame work could be designed:


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CHAPTER 3

3. Research M ethodology:

The Research methodology is an integral part of any research study, as it is a

philosophical approach that could be used to design a strategy with the help of which

the objectives of the study under investigation could be achieved and it provides a

support to the study as well (Saunder et al., 2007). The current chapter contains all the

necessary steps which will help in attaining the objectives of the study and have taken

into account all the necessary concerns in order to shape and finalize the methodology

to conduct the current study practically. The current chapter will highlight the approach

to be adopted both ontological and epistemological, further sampling technique and

instrument development will be discussed. Further a proper justification is provided for

selecting the approach, method.

3.1 Research Approach:

For conducting a research, it is essential to select the research approach to be adopted

for the study; in the same way it is important for the researcher to select either

quantitative research or qualitative research approach. As both these methods are

unique in their own characteristics and are suitable to the nature of the study

accordingly. Similarly Bryman and Bell (2003) refers to the decision of the researcher

that the choice of researcher to select either quantitative or qualitative research depends

upon the nature of the study he/she is planning to conduct and also upon the suitability

of the approach for the study.


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3.1.1 Quantitative method:

Many researchers have defined and explained quantitative research but concisely it

could be described as a research adopted to gain numerical data or the data that could

be transformed to numbers in order to have a statistical review of the data gathered. The

data in quantitative research is commonly collected by the way of questionnaire or

survey.

Another important characteristic of quantitative research is the advantage its provides to

the researcher in terms of numbers over words but at the same time it has the

disadvantage as numbers may lose the richness of meaning which the researcher

intends to convey and the researcher may not adopt this method due to its

inappropriateness. But if the researcher aims at explaining the variables and to

investigate the relationship between different variable, and to find the cause and effect

relationship (what effect independent variable has on dependent variable), then

quantitative research is the right choice as quantitative researc h enables use of

sampling techniques (such as consumer surveys) whose findings may be expressed

numerically, and are amenable to mathematical (statistical) manipulation enabling the

researcher to estimate (forecast) future events or quantities (Creswell, 2003, p. 75).

Burns and Grove (2005) also say that quantitative research involves a formal and

systematic process to get data in statistical form about the issue the researcher is

investigating.

3.1.2 Qualitative Research:

According to Babbie (2004), qualitative research deals with words not with numbers

and the data collected for this kind of research is mostly through interviews, as the data

is obtained through verbal recitation this may make the meaning of information very


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subjective leading to unclear declaration and can distract the researcher from his/her

main subject which he/she is investigating. Therefore the researcher needs to be much

focused in asking the correct questions from the respondent and also interpret the

answer correctly while narrating the results. In the same way, few of the important

aspects which could not be neglected while selecting either qualitative or quantitative

approach are the factors in course of role of the theory with the research in terms of

inductive and deductive approach, epistemological or ontological approaches (Miles

and Huberman, 1994).

For the current study as the researcher aims at finding how efficiency is driven through

technological innovations by evaluating the PODFather system adopted by McGee.

Further the study aims to explore the impact of adopting PODFather system on the

performance of the organization. As in this study the researcher is aiming at

investigating the relationship of technology and innovation with the performance of the

employees and overall organization s performance, therefore for such kind of study

quantitative approach would be appropriate. The reason for selecting quantitative

research is that the nature of this study is consistent with the characteristics of this

method as it provides to investigate the relationship of different variables. Similarly

deductive approach is being implemented as this approach allows the testing of existing

theory instead of developing new theory as in case of inductive approach (Saunders et

al., 2007). The reason for not choosing the qualitative research is the limitation of the

cost and time constraint, as it was costly to visit McGee personally to conduct

interviews and for telephonic interviews the staff was not willing to share much

information due to the reason of confidentiality and this activity was time consuming as

well due to which the employees availability was not possible. Due to these reason the

qualitative research was not possible to conduct, few other reasons that does not


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support qualitative research are the social desirability and in this situation the

respondent may not provide the researcher with the accurate information in presence of

his fellow colleagues and mostly in such situations the respondent speaks good about

the organization leading to incorrect information. In the same way, as qualitative

research is based on the sequential flow of the information or events that occur thus the

researcher should be capable of retrieving the meaningful information from the

interview according to the purpose of the research but this requires great competency of

the researcher to interpret the information in the same way as the respondent intended

and further this is a very time taking activity as well.

3.2 Case Study:

A case study is referred as an in depth study involving different approaches in order to

investigate or observe an issue or subject matter under exploration and it further

involves the different variables of the subject. The purpose of a case study is to capture

the intricacy of the subject under investigation. Generally a case study is of three

different types possessing different characteristics according to its nature and

requirement. The different case studies that are adopted by researchers are cross

sectional case study, multiple case studies and single case study (Bill, 2001).

3.2.1 Cross sectional Case study:

The cross sectional case study usually involves in depth study of more than one case or

subject at a specific point in time. This study investigates different patterns of

associations of different variables of the subject/case under investigation without

considering the time frame. Further this case study investigates different organizations

at one time but it focuses on a special or particular aspect/ issue of the selected

organizations and does not study the whole organizations.


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3.2.2 Multiple Case studies:On the other hand multiple case studies tend to investigate the subject under research

by the way of replication strategy (Yin, 1994). The replication strategy performs a

number of separate experiments on the related subject. Usually the replication process

is based on two stages such as:

Literal replication stageTheoretical replication stage

In the literal replication stage the subject is selected in order to get similar outcomes

and in the theoretical stage the subject is selected to investigate, approve or negate the

patterns which were discovered in the beginning. However, if the results of all the cases

or majority of the cases present are alike then there would be enough support for

developing a preliminary speculation in order to explain the subject/ study under

investigation (Eisenhardt, 1989).

3.2.3 Single case study

The single case study tends to conduct an in-depth investigation of the phenomenon

under study of the selected organization (Mathew et al., 2007). According to Yin

(1984), single case study captures the density and nature of the subject to be explored.

In the same way, Yin (1984) has also highlighted some of the external issues about the

validity of a case study that some of the cases are critical in nature and require

additional understanding, however in such cases usually a hypothesis is determined in

the beginning and later the case is developed in order to test the hypothesis in order to

accept it or reject it.

In case of the current study, as single organization that is McGee is selected therefore

the current study falls in the category of single case study. Further the subject to be

investigated in depth is the implementation of PODFather to check whether the form

has gained any efficiency or not particularly in the logistics department. As stated


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study. As there is sufficient literature available on the topic under investigation and the

researcher does not aim at only developing the as well therefore exploratory case study

does not match the requirements of the current case study, further descriptive case

study also does not fulfil the requirements of the current study therefore this type of

study is also not adopted however, the characteristics of explanatory case study are

consistent with the requirements of the current study as the researcher aims at

investigating the relationship of different variables such as firm performance, cost

reduction efficient delivery, ease to use, employee s and edge over compe titors with

technology and innovation and the researcher also aims at investigating the subject in

depth therefore the current study id explanatory in nature (Franklin, 1997).

3.4 Instrument Development:

Instrument development is an important area where the researcher needs to focus, as a

section of reliable and valid instrument results in valid measurements and findings of

the study. For a researcher, it is difficult to develop a new questionnaire as it requires

broad and extensive research which is too time consuming, and in case of developing

new questionnaire, its validity is also not assured therefore it is recommended to take

on such a questionnaire whose scales has been developed, in this way there will be no

issue regarding the reliability and validity of the scale as it has been already used by

researchers previously. However the researchers who have adopted already developed

scale include Covin and Slevin (1989), Wong and Shoal (2002) and Panagopulous and

Avlonitis (2005). In case of the current study, such studies were found which contained

the variables that are being adopted in the current study as well therefore different

constructs were adopted from different researches. However the details of the scale

adopted is given below:


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The scale for the variable of firm performance was adopted from the study of

Carmeli and Tishler (2005) and (Mentzer et al., 2002). The questions related to

this variable are annexed in appendix.

The scale for the variable of Cost reduction were adopted from the study of

Cordella (2001), Brynjolfsson and Malone (1645) and Alchian and Harold

(1972). The questions related to this variable are annexed in appendix.

The scale for the variable of efficient delivery was adopted from the study of

Bowersox, et al., (2002) and (Kasper, 1997).

The scale for the variable of ease of use was adopted from the study of Rose and

Fogarty (2006) and Ehrhart (2005). The questions related to this variable are

annexed in appendix.

The scale for the variable of Employee s performance was adopted from the

study of Dauda et al., (2011). The questions related to this variable are annexed

in appendix.

The scale for the variable of Edge over competitors was adopted from the study

of Porter and Millar (1985). The questions related to this variable are annexed in

appendix.

3.5 Questionnaire:

The questionnaire that is developed for the current study comprise of close ended

questions as respondents feel easier to answer close ended question relatively open

ended. However, only one question in the questionnaire is open ended that is to inquire

about the opinion of employees about the usage of PODFather. The questionnaire was

sent to Mr. Michael Kelly (IT Project Manager) at McGee and he was requested to

forward the questionnaire to concerned departments such as IT and Logistics in order to

fill the questionnaire. In the beginning the questionnaire was aimed to be filled by 100


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respondents but only 35 responses could be gathered. However the head of departments

(HODs) (both IT and logistics) were asked to fill the questionnaire as well along with

the questions in the questionnaire Mr. Michael Kelly other HOD was asked to give their

opinion about the overall performance of PODFather in the company. The

questionnaire contains variables such as cost reduction, ease of use, efficient delivery,

firm performance, employee performance and edge over competitors. Among these

variables three variables such as cost reduction, ease of use, efficient delivery, are being

used as attributes/constructs of technology, moreover these variables are used as

measures the of technology and are independent in nature where as the remaining three

variables are used as measure of organizational performance and are dependent

variables.

3.1 Sampling Technique to be employed:

The respondents selection is one of the critical area which the researcher needs to select

very carefully as the selection of correct respondents can lead to accurate and valid

results, a little negligence at the part of researcher in selecting the respondents can lead

to ambiguous and incorrect results as it is very important to target the such respondents

who are directly related to the research study as selecting such sample of respondents

who does not know much about the subject cannot generate comprehensive and

accurate results which can lead to failure of the research study and objectives. For the

same reason for the current study, only those employees of McGee were targeted who

were fully aware of the functions and characteristics of PODFather and who practically

used PODFather. For this Mr. Michael Kelly was requested to hand over the

questionnaires to the employees who are fully aware of the application of PODFtaher

and also to complete is the questionnaire as well. The sampling technique employed

through which the data was collected is non probability sampling. The Non-probability


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sampling is a sampling technique where the samples are gathered in a process that

does not give all the individuals in the populat ion equal chances of being selected

(Catillo, 2009;8) . This kind of technique could be employed for any kind of research

such as organizational or social sciences. As the researches are limited by the resources

such as time, money and workforce therefore it becomes difficult for the researchers to

go for random sampling which is very difficult to obtain, in such cases the researchers

prefer non probability sampling technique, as this technique in contrast to probability

sampling is easier to achieve as it is not a product of randomized selection procedure,

and in case of non probability sampling the subjects are chosen on the basis of their

ease of access or by the way purposive judgment done by the researcher. The type of

non probability sampling employed is the convenience sampling. It is the easiest of al

the sampling methods. As it provides to select the sample with the ease of its access to

the researcher. This technique is considered to be less time consuming and is also quite

cheap. In the current study the researcher has close correspondence with Mr. Michael

Kelly and due to this correspondence the researcher was able to interact with rest of the

employees and collect the required information.

3.1.1 Sample Size:

The sample size for the current study was chosen and selected to be 70. However, the

questionnaire was shared with Mr. Michael Kelly, to get it filled from Information

Technology (IT) and Logistics department by the way of e-Mail. The questionnaire

made was easy and explanatory therefore there was no need of explaining any point. In

case of any doubt and uncertainty the employees were requested to contact the

researcher. The employees were given a period of one week for filling the

questionnaires keeping in mind their occupied and busy timetable. However after a

week only 20 questionnaires could be received, after a soft and friendly follow up


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further 05 questionnaires could be received in second week and finally 10 more

questionnaire forms could be received in the beginning of third week. A final sample

size of 35 respondents could be gathered and the employees were send a thank you e-

mail for taking time out from their busy schedules and sending the questionnaire

documents.

3.1 Data Coding and Feeding:

The data collected by the way of questionnaire was entered/fed into SPSS (Statistical

package for social sciences) which is a software used for to get regression and

correlation results. The options of likert scale were recorded from 1-5 as 5 is for

Strongly Agree, and 1 for Strongly Disagree.

3.2 Ethical Issues:

The respondents who were contacted for the purpose of filling the questionnaire were

informed well about the purpose of conducting the current research that it is beingconducted primarily for academic purpose and the information shared will not be used

for any wrong purpose. Further the voluntary participation of respondents was

encouraged. The names and identity of the employees of McGee was absolutely

optional and if anyone mentioned it was kept confidential. The respondents who were

interested in getting a copy of the current study were requested to share the email

addresses so that a copy of the study could be sent to them.

3.3 Summary of Research Methodology:

The methodology employed for the current study is employed with the objective of

getting comprehensive and accurate results and importantly in order to obtain the

objectives of the study. However, quantitative approach with questionnaire was applied

to the current study. The questions for questionnaire were adopted from the earlier


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studies done on the same subject. The data was fed in SPSS to obtain regression and

correlation.

Chapter 4

4. F indings and Analysis:

This chapter has been designed to present the findings of the data which was collected

with the help of methodology employed in chapter 3 by the way of quantitative

approach through a questionnaire. This chapter is categorized into two sections, first

comprising of socio demographic analysis of the respondents such as their age,

education and gender. In the second section, a detailed analysis of the variables

employed is given. The variables ease of use, efficient delivery and cost reduction are

used as constructs of technology and innovation and thus are independent variables.

These variables are regressed with firm performance, employee performance and edge

over competitors in order to know the relation between technology and organizations

as how they drive efficiency. For this purpose SPSS was run in order to have linear

regression model and correlation. Before running the regression and correlation, the

mean of each variable (containing answers to all the questions against each variable in

the questionnaire) was taken, and then each dependent variable was regressed with

independent variable.

4.1 Socio-demographic Analysis:

The table 1 listed below represents the gender table showing that out of 35 respondents

at McGee, 22 respondents were male and 12 respondents were female.


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Table 1

Gender

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid Male 22 62.9 62.9 62.9

Female 13 37.1 37.1 100.0

Total 35 100.0 100.0

The table 2 shows the different age group the respondents belong to. From the table it

is evident that 6 respondents belonged to the age group of 16-24, 8 respondents are

from age group of 25-34, 10 respondents belong to age group of 34-44, 3 from 45-54

and 8 respondents were from the age group of 55 or above.

Table 2

Age


Cumulative

Percent

Valid 16-24 6 17.1 17.1 17.1

25-34 8 22.9 22.9 40.0

35-44 10 28.6 28.6 68.6


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45-54 3 8.6 8.6 77.1

55 or above 8 22.9 22.9 100.0

Total 35 100.0 100.0

The table 3 presents the education level of the respondents of the current study, 5

respondents were from the education level of high school or lower, 14 respondents

belonged to further education and 16 respondents had higher education.

Table 3

Education


Cumulative

Percent

Valid High School or Lower 5 14.3 14.3 14.3

Further education 14 40.0 40.0 54.3

Higher education 16 45.7 45.7 100.0

Total 35 100.0 100.0


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4.2 Correlation:

Correlation is employed in order to determine the relation between different variables

and coefficient of correlation r is employed to determine the strength of two variables.

In the current study the three constructs of technology and innovation that are cost of

reduction, ease of use and efficient delivery are hypothetically liked with the

technology and innovation (Berenson et al., 2009) With respect to the hypothetical

relation between technology and innovation and the three constructs the table for

correlation shows positive relation among the variables. However, the strong relation

subsists between efficient delivery and technology and innovation i.e. 0.615, as it is

more close to 1 therefore it shows strong relationship among the variable technology

and efficient delivery, moreover positive sign shows that as the value of one variable

changes, the second variables also changes in value. The remaining constructs such as

cost reduction and ease of use also tend to have positive relation; however they exhibit

week relation with technology and innovation. The Pearson Correlation of cost

reduction is 0.359 and that of ease of use is 0.274.

On the other hand, the dependent variables such as firm performance, employee

performance and edge over competitors also tend to have positive relation with the

constructs of technology and innovation. Among the three dependent variables the


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variable edge over competitors sows the strongest relation i.e. Pearson correlation is 1

which means that changes in variable technology and innovation is strongly correlated

with the changes in variable edge over competitors. In the same way the remaining two

variables firm performance and employee performance also show positive correlation

with technology and innovation. The Pearson correlation for firm performance is 0.458

and that for employee performance is 0.518. Thus, from the correlation results it could

be summarized that the variables firm performance, employee performance and edge

over competitors tend to have positive relation with technology and innovation.

Table 4

Correlations

Mean_Cost_red

uction

Mean_Efficie

nt_delivery

Mean_E

ase_of_

Use

Mean_fir

m_perfro

mance

Mean_Em

ployee_pe

rfromance

Mean_Edge

_over_comp

etitors

Mean_Cost_reduction Pearson

Correlation1 .158 -.074 -.046 .089 .359 *

Sig. (2-tailed) .363 .674 .791 .613 .034

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

Mean_Efficient_delivery Pearson

Correlation.158 1 .297 .522 ** .466 ** .615 **

Sig. (2-tailed) .363 .083 .001 .005 .000

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

Mean_Ease_of_Use Pearson

Correlation -.074 .297 1 .038 .206 .274

Sig. (2-tailed) .674 .083 .830 .236 .111

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

Mean_firm_perfromance Pearson

Correlation-.046 .522 ** .038 1 .053 .458 **

Sig. (2-tailed) .791 .001 .830 .762 .006

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

Mean_Employee_perfromance Pearson

Correlation.089 .466 ** .206 .053 1 .518 **


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Sig. (2-tailed) .613 .005 .236 .762 .001

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

Mean_Edge_over_competitors Pearson

Correlation.359 * .615 ** .274 .458 ** .518 ** 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .034 .000 .111 .006 .001

N 35 35 35 35 35 35

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

4.3 Regression Model:The data collected through questionnaire was examined by running regression model to

get ANNOVA, t-test in order to analyze the results and show the relationship between

different variables individually.

4.3.1 Objective1:

The first objective of the current study is regarding the impact of technology in deriving

better performance of the organization. The objective is to identify to what extent the

use of technology (PODfather) has helped McGee to reduce costs and enhance business

performance. The results for this objective were obtained by taking the mean of the

answers of both the variables and then cost reduction which is taken as a measure of

technology is regressed with the variable of firm performance. The results of the

regression model are found significant as the p value i.e. 0.001 in table 5.3 which

indicates that due to technology the firm performance has enhanced. Further looking at

the individual results it is evident that 54 percent employees agreed to the statement,

that I believe by using POD father the firm performance has increased. 28 percent

employees strongly agreed to the statement five. Hence it is proved from the result that

PODFather has helped McGee improve its firm performance. Moreover, the value of R


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square is 0.040 at 33 degree of freedom which has very good descriptive power and it

means 40 percent of the variation in the dependent variable is because of independent

variable that is cost reduction. In the same way, the value of t-statistic at 33 degree of

freedom should be bigger than 1.96 and the value of coefficient of beta should be .385,

then the results are found to be significant. In case of the current study the results reveal

that t statistics is 0.267which is positive and greater than 1.96 and is 0.046 which is

also positive and greater than .385 which further affirms the significance of the results.

For the second question 51 percent of the employees strongly disagreed with the

statement. Regarding the cost reduction ques

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