Research design

A Research Design is a blue print of any research. Since it’s a systematic and methodological attempt to
approach a research problem, it becomes the heart of the research process.

Since one needs to understand and map gaps in business processes with respect to “content” and
technical infrastructure/ architecture, the nature of research is a combination of exploratory, capturing
the gaps and Descriptive to describe the solutions offered by vendors for SME industries. The
methodology for which is Qualitative, as one has to conduct an in depth analysis.

An appropriate Research Instrument is used for collecting the Primary Data with the help of
observations which is structured / unstructured data and Interviews, which again is structured/
unstructured data, in depth.

Since one needs to establish a relationship between the overall satisfaction and various attributes
affecting the overall satisfaction in ERP and eCommerce project implementation, as mentioned earlier,
the Nature of Research is explanatory, a.k.a Causal for which the objective is converted into the
necessary hypothesis.

In the given objective i.e to establish relationship between variables, the variables are quantifiable and
measureable. As well as the reach of the study is of a concern, hence the methodology adopted is
Quantitative in nature. An appropriate Data Collection tool in form of a Questionnaire is designed with
most close ended questions in form of rating the concerned variables, on a 5 point Likert scale.

Thus Primary data is derived from the above given research instruments such as observations, indepth
interviews by Qualitative methods as well as with the help of Questionnaire by Quantitative methods.

The Secondary data is used with regards to the choice of SME sectors chosen for the research, which is
collected from various resources such as reports published by several consulting firms, refereed
journals, Trade association magazines and data published by government bodies/ agencies.

Sampling Design

The population under study is the implementation of ERP and eCommerce projects in Small and Medium
Enterprises. 4 SME sectors have been chosen as a sampling frame namely: auto-ancilliary, components
and sub-assembly manufacturing, process and pharmaceuticals. SME industry contributes almost 65% of
GDP. This is very vital for economic growth of the country. Well managed SME means better scales of
economy to combat global pressures on competitiveness. SME sectors support large industrial sectors in
cost reduction. SME sector also contributes significantly towards large scale employment – genuine
need of society. SME sectors need to be protected and empowered through successful ERP and
eCommerce project implementation.

Sampling Methodology:

One needs to look at the 4 sectors for details. Relevant sampling methodology to be adopted is Cluster
Sampling. Since each of these sectors have differences in its very nature of business, but internally they
are same within each sector, to a large extent. Cluster sampling will help to address each sectors with
great consistency and reliability.

Sample Size:

The relevant sample size of 10 organizations is taken into consideration for each of the 4 SME sectors.
Project implementations are of Standard ERP and eCommerce products. With this strategy, hence one
expects almost nil levels of customizations and enhancements. A relevant sample size of 10
organizations is a seen as a good fit.

Data Analysis:

Since one needs to understand and map gaps in business processes with respect to “content” and
technical infrastructure/ architecture, the nature of research is a combination of exploratory and
descriptive. The methodology for which is Qualitative, as one has to conduct an indepth analysis. The
data analysis for such a qualitative data will be conducted with the help of Content analysis.

Since one needs to establish a relationship between the overall satisfaction and various attributes
affecting the overall satisfaction, the Nature of Research is explanatory, a.k.a Causal for which the
objective is converted into the necessary hypothesis. In the given objective i.e to establish relationship
between variables, the variables are quantifiable and measureable, hence the methodology adopted is
Quantitative in nature. The data Analysis of this quantitative data would be conducted with the help of
statistics- both descriptive as well as inferential. Statistics such as mean, standard deviation, as well as
Multivariate Analysis such as Multiple Regression would be conducted , since one has to establish a
relationship between one Dependent variable, overall customer satisfaction and many independent
variables all numerical in nature.
Interpretation

The initiative is to establish the dependencies and the share the impact of various variables on the
successes in ERP and eCommerce project implementation. Further to develop a reliable road map to
enhance successes and better quality delivery.

Work Plan
I plan to complete my thesis work over the next 10-12 months, which shall broadly cover the following:

1. Title and AbstractII. Chapter

2. Introduction and Review of Literature
3. Chapter 2: Selection of Technology Option
4. Chapter 3: Setting Up of Pilot Study
5. Chapter 4: Data Collection & Interpretations
6. Chapter5: Data Analysis, Hypothesis Testing and Discussion of Findings
7. Conclusions
8. Suggestions/Recommendations
9. References / Bibliography
10. Appendix