Research Proposal Sample

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kasi March 18, 2017

Project Title: Relationship between perceived organizational ethics and effectiveness of e-

business: A case of SMEs in UK.
Introduction: Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) constitute an integral part of
the economic development and sustainability in United Kingdom. It has been noted that in
2012, there were approximately 4.8 million SMEs operating within the country (Business
Innovation and Skills, 2012). Furthermore, SMEs contribute to the 99.9% of business
related processes within the private sector of the economy. The factors that determine the
success of an SME are attributed to the ability of the management to capitalize on the
strengths and opportunities. However, the role of consumers or customers as central
stakeholders can’t be overlooked. Technological advancements have also changed the
outlook of the business environment for SMEs within UK. An increasing number of
organizations have integrated e-business or e-commerce as a part of their operations to
fulfill the demands of the consumers in an effective manner (Taylor & Murphy, 2004). The
SMEs as well as large scale corporations have perceived e-business as a profitable
opportunity, thus leading to the integration of e-business models in SMEs.

Consumers in today’s world engage in decision making process which involves the
consideration of various factors. The increased awareness of corporate social responsibility
as well as the organizational ethics displayed through the firm’s interaction with the online
consumers determines the level of success of SMEs. Creyer (1997) have stated that failure
to understand the potential of consumer’s perception about organizational ethics can have
negative implications for an organization. This area has also been relatively unexplored as
most of the scholars have focused on the impact of corporate social responsibility on the
overall performance of SMEs in UK (Spence, Schmidpeter, & Habisch, 2003; Castka,
Balzarova, Bamber & Sharp, 2004; Baden, Harwood & Woodward, 2009). Based on this
background, the researcher has proposed to investigate the role of perceived
organisational ethics by consumers as a factor that has significant impact on the
effectiveness of electronic mode of business for SMEs operating within UK (Daniel, Wilson
& Myers, 2002).

Literature Review
Various researchers have analyzed the factors that encourage the consumers to engage in
online transactions with an organization (Gefen, 2000; Close & Kukar-Kinney, 2010;
Kardes, Cronley & Cline, 2011). Such positive online behavior is expected to be facilitated
by a wide array of reasons. Limayem, Khalifa and Frini (2000) have used the theoretical
framework of planned behavior to identify the factors that result in increased participation of
online transactions by the consumers. It was found that the perception of the consumers
about the repercussions of their use of internet and the subsequent purchase was the main
factor which determined their future internet based purchase behavior. Taking this view into
consideration, the ethical behavior of the organisation can support the online consumers in
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establishing feelings of trust towards the company. According to Kracher and Corritore
(2009) the businesses operating in the online world apply similar ethical rules as the
businesses that have physically established set ups in the market. Therefore, the presence
of trust and credibility holds equivalent importance within e-business context.
Most of the organizations engaging in electronic business use the financial output as a tool
of identifying the degree of effectiveness. However, the return on investment seems to
offer limited scope of understanding the notion of success. As proposed by Walker and
Brown (2004), the SMEs can utilize non monetary criterion to identify their capability to
maintain effective level of performance. The same criterion can be applied within the online
arena as customers’ decision to purchase a product or avail a service from an SME is
determined by a wide array of non monetary variables.

So and Sculli (2002) have identified the presence of trust as one of the key elements that
promotes online consumer behavior. A consumer is likely to develop trust on a business if
they underlying perception is supportive of the ethical conduct of the company. It has been
further asserted that firms that are not able to maintain positive perception among the
target market are likely to face significant loss. The overall ethical outlook of a company is
linked with the maintenance of consumer privacy and confidentiality of the data. McKnight,
Choudhury and Kacmar (2002) have demonstrated the role of positive perception of the
business in the consumer base. It has been stated that in order to facilitate a potential
consumer to become an actual consumer of a company, the firm needs to establish
validated feelings of dependability. This proposition is further reinforced by the persistent
display of moral and ethical choices by the company.
One of the dimensions related to ethical conduct of a business has been identified by
Culnan and Armstrong (1999) who regarded the sharing of information with customers as a
means of establishing goodwill among them. The consumers who were informed about the
company about the nature and scope of use of their profile information were able to view
this as a reflection of organizational ethics. On the other hand, firms that collected and used
consumer related information, but were reluctant to provide knowledge about the process
were perceived with suspicion and low credibility. The tendency of a company to display
ethical behavior in the online communication and transactions with the consumers develops
a low risk profile of the business in the market (Kim, Ferrin & Rao, 2008). This indicates that
the variables of perceived risk and perceived organizational ethics are significantly related
to each other.

Ferrell and Hartline (2010) have suggested that the quality of relationship of a company
with its external stakeholders can have a strong influence on the pace of logistics and
operations. Similarly, in the online context, positive relationship with online consumers can
result in increased sales and profitability. The perceived ethical conduct of the firm in this
case tends to play a mediating role in the consumer purchase decisions. Boatright (2003)
also supported this notion by asserting that e-business success of an organisation in terms
of customer retention and loyalty is dependent upon the perception it generates in the mind
of the consumers. Organizations that focus on acting in morally responsible ways establish
the foundation of long term trust in the consumers. On the other hand, management that
keeps its own vested interest central is likely to develop an ethically damaged perception in
the market. This in turn has negative implications for the sales, profitability and revenue.

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Research Objectives and Research Questions
The behavior of consumers is not only guided by available information about the features of
products or services. The rising participation of consumers in online transactions and e-
business activities indicates that the customer’s perception about the degree of
trustworthiness of a business also play an important role. The consumer’s perception about
trustworthiness of an organization is based on their view about the adoption of ethical
business practices by the firm. If an organization is deemed as valuing the ethical and
moral principles, the consumers automatically attribute the features of trustworthiness and
credibility with the firm. As a result, they are more likely to retain their loyalty with the
business entity (Kracher & Corritore, 2009). Based on this assumption, the researcher has
established a central question “What is the relationship between perceived organizational
ethics and effectiveness of e-business of SMEs in UK?”

The main focus in this domain will be to investigate the linkages between consumer’s
perceptions of a firm’s ethical behavior. The researcher will also explore the perception of
consumers about the moral principles upheld by organizations and their willingness to
engage in e-business activities with these firms. The research objectives identified for the
study are as follows:

1. To understand the perception of organizational ethics among the online consumers of

SMEs.
2. To explore the factors developing perception of organizational ethics among online
consumers.
3. To investigate the impact of perceived organizational ethics on effectiveness of e-
business for SMEs.
The study will be based on the following questions:
1. What is the perception of organizational ethics among the online consumers of SMEs
in UK?
2. What are the factors which develop the perception of organizational ethics among
online consumers?
3. What is the impact of perceived organizational ethics on effectiveness of e-business for
SMEs in UK?

Research Design
The researcher intends to use qualitative research design for conducting the study.
Qualitative research is deemed as suitable for seeking information about the areas that are
relatively unexplored. The present study is aiming to understand, explore and investigate
the role of perceived organizational ethics on success of e-business of SMEs. Considering
this context qualitative approach will be provide access to in-depth and detailed information
which can be used to develop a comprehensive framework in this regard. The researcher
can therefore establish findings which support in enhancing the knowledge and
understanding about the phenomenon of perceived organizational ethics. The use of
qualitative research is aligned with the deductive approach which is based on the
underlying principle of moving from general information to the development of a specific
theoretical concept (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Since the context of present study is an under
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researched area, the use of qualitative approach is more appropriate. Secondly, perception
can be explored and analyzed with a greater degree of effectiveness through the use of
subjective accounts and narration from the participants.

The researcher will be using grounded theory as a strategy of qualitative research. Glaser
(2008) has stated that grounded theory helps a researcher in establishing a clear
framework out of the generalized information. Critics have outlined the limitations
embedded in the use of grounded theory and qualitative research by asserting that they are
based on subjective data only. The researcher can gain insight into the thoughts and beliefs
held by individuals; however the observable behavior and objective information are
significantly overlooked (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Furthermore, the process of theoretical
construction can be time consuming as well. Belk (2006) on the contrary has argued in
favor of the use of grounded theory for investigating the various themes related to
consumer behavior, as the development of new theory is needed to understand the
complex phenomenon of consumer perception.

Data Collection and Analysis

[large]Data collection in a research can be based on primary or secondary sources of
information. For this study, the researcher will be collecting primary data which entails
collection of first hand information from the sample of study as well as secondary data from
peer reviewed journals and books. There are various methods that can be used for
gathering primary information. The researcher will be using focus group as it provides
access to the perception underlying the behaviour of the participants. Various scholars
have used focus groups to obtain information from the consumers about an area of interest
(Grunert, 1997; Joseph, Sekhon, Stone & Tinson, 2005; Becken, 2007). The choice of
focus group is further facilitated on the grounds that it offers adequate flexibility and validity
to the researcher. Moreover, the collection of information is less time consuming as
compared to other means of qualitative data collection. Another important benefit of focus
group is that the researcher is likely to gain access to unexpected aspects of data. The
respondents in the focus group can bring out some information which the researcher wasn’t
aware of, thus creating significance of focus group in developing theory (Babbie, 2012).

The data will be collected from 8 individuals who have indicated that they have engaged in
online purchases in the last 2 months (from SMEs located in UK). These participants will be
required to respond to the semi structured questions developed by the researcher. The
nature of data will be based on direct responses to questions as well as the discussion
generated responses. The focus group session is expected to last from 60 to 90 minutes.
The session will be recorded by the researcher after obtaining informed consent from the
participants. Later on it will be transcribed and coded to identify the various themes
discussed by the participants. The analysis of the data will provide an overview of the
various factors that have emerged during the focus group discussion. The data from
secondary sources will be utilized to develop an understanding about the impact of
perceived organisational ethics on the effectiveness of e-business. Peer reviewed journal
articles and books will provide content in this regard which can be analyzed to evaluate the
validity of this notion.

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Time Scale
In order to represent the process of initiation, conductance and completion of research, I
have used a Gantt chart. The chart will illustrate various stages of research and the time
allocated for each of the research activity. As demonstrated in the chart given below, the
research project will be initiated in February in the form of development of proposal. The
next step in this regard will be literature review which will last up to 2 months. It will provide
the researcher with an understanding of the theoretical constructs that can be used for
formulating the questions for participants. Once the questions have been formulated the
researcher will conduct a pilot study of focus group to gauge the degree of reliability and
validity of the questions. In addition to this, the pilot study will also help the researcher in
identifying any problems in the question structure and formatting. After the pilot study, the
next phase will be focused on collection of actual research data which will also be done in
June. The researcher will collect data through focus group as well as from the plethora of
researches conducted by other scholars. The analysis of data will be carried out in July.
The last 2 months of the research process will be dedicated for the write up draft and final
submission of the dissertation.

Conclusion
The research is focusing on the impact of perceived organizational ethics among the online
consumers on the performance of SMEs in terms of their e-business domain. The expected
findings in this regard can be summarized on the basis of the three research objectives.
The consumers who engage in online purchase and transactions are likely to hold positive
perception about the ethical conduct of those businesses. Another expected outcome of
the study is that the participants will attach low risk and high trust with organizations that
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are perceived to be ethical. Moreover, the degree of privacy and availability of information
about the use of customer data by firm will also be associated with an indication of
organizational ethics. Lastly, the study is also expected to provide information about the
impact of organizational ethics on effectiveness of e-business for SMEs through exploration
of pertinent secondary data. The secondary literature will show significant relationship
between consumer perception of organizational ethics and the sales and profitability of the
e-business activities.

References
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Belk, R. W. (2006). Handbook of qualitative research methods in marketing. UK: Edward
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