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Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise
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Abstract
The report titled “Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise” was
an attempt to explain and describe trends on mobile and wireless technology prevalent in
today’s world, especially with regard to the global business scenario. The various sections in
the report are an attempt to provide a structured frame work to this study. The concepts and
the correlation between mobile and wireless technology makes an interesting study. The past
researches have not really delved into understanding the trends of these technologies that
shape our present and past, shapes our businesses and lives. This study was precisely meant
to do so. The secondary research undertaken by surveying two companies belonging to the
same industry help us to understand the impact of these technologies on the businesses as
well as the project management approaches. It was found that mobile and wireless technology
play a vital role in several aspects of business and employees are generally aware of the these
technological setups in the company make use of these technologies in their day to day job
responsibilities. Overall, this research helped us to understand the rising trends of mobile and
wireless technology within organizations that and showed their impact on every aspect of
human lives including commerce.
2
Acknowledgments
3
Table of Contents
Contents Page
Abstract 2
Acknowledgments 3
Table of Contents 4
1.0 Introduction 6
1.1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
Thesis Statement
Project Aim
Project Scope
Structure of Dissertation
7
7
8
9
2. 0
2.1
2.1.1
2.2
2.2.1
2.3
2.4
3.0
Literature Review
Mobile Technology
Elements, Applications and Trends in Mobile Technology
Wireless Technology
Elements, Applications and Trends in Wireless Technology
Company Profile: Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
Company Profile: Crocodile Garments Limited
Research Methodology
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13
14
16
17
18
19
20
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Research Objectives
Research Questions
Sampling
Research Methods
Rationale for Method Selection
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21
21
28
30
4.0
4.1
4.2
5.0
5.1
5.2
5.3
Analysis, Findings and Discussion
Factor Analysis and Discussion
SWOT Analysis for Mobile and Wireless Technology
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
Recommendations
Limitations of Research
References
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45
52
54
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54
55
57
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Appendix - Questionnaire 63
5
Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise
1.0 Introduction
This section is an attempt to collaborate the thesis statement that drives the research, the
project aim, and project scope. This section introduces the structure of the dissertation, the
description of the mobile and wireless technologies and their trends and also highlights two
organizations whose employees will be surveyed for research purpose.
With the advancements in the fields of mobile and wireless technology, the world is
becoming a smaller place every day. The concept of “information for all” is the latest buzz
word carving the path of mobile and wireless technology’s future. The research titled
“Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise” is an attempt to understand the
various facets that govern the mobile and the wireless technology, making it possible for the
service providers to bring information to every doorstep across the globe. This research will
also be an attempt to understand the future of the mobile and wireless technology in terms of
its role in the success or failure of businesses.
The research project titled “Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise” is one of
the projects that will add another new chapter in understanding the various trends that are
defining how mobile technology and wireless technology are shaping the world of today. The
research for such a topic may not be called comprehensive or complete since it includes the
ever changing dynamics of technological evolution that transforms on a daily basis along
with the highly fluidic business factors that alternate with season, time and demand. The
research is aimed at opening up areas of further investigation into studying how the present
technological trends can affect our future businesses and what role does these technologies
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play in project management scenarios. This research will be an attempt to at understanding
the current technologies and their affect on management of varied projects across various
organizations.
1.1.1 Thesis Statement
The present day scenario of communication, information sharing and media exposure has
been acting as a two edged sword that not only upholds the ‘right to information’ ideology
but has redefined the rights of ‘privacy’ as well. With our everyday life becoming fast and
information oriented, understanding the evolving trends of mobile and wireless technology
might help answer several questions. These technologies have not only changed the way
people interact, share and store information but also the basic concepts of “work from home”
or “working on the move”. The wireless and mobile technology have become the everyday
aspects drive the markets, the customer choices and have led to flourishing as well as failure
of business (4G Wireless Evolution, online) .
1.1.2 Project Aim
The research is aimed at identifying the trends that govern the mobile and wireless
technologies of today. These trends will help us not only understand the direction that these
technologies will take in the future but will help us relate their impact on the business
scenarios of project planning and management. The research would aim to understand the
developments that have led to the present condition of the mobile technology as well as
wireless technology and how these developments have formed the platform that gave us the
present scenario of the 3G technology and Wi-Fi systems. The aims of the research project
can be outlined as below:
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- Identify technological trends of mobile technology and wireless technology that
signify current technological advancements and thereby define a path for the
future.
- Identify trends in mobile and wireless technology that help in project
management.
- Relate the study of the current trends in mobile and wireless technology to its
growth from the past and study the use of such technology to gain competitive
advantage for businesses.
1.1.3 Project Scope
The project scope is based on the limitations of time, geography and information
accessibility. The time scope spans from the early 2000 till 2008. The time scope for the
project is being limited to around 9 years of technological advancements since the rate and
the rapidity of changes to the wireless and mobile technology would otherwise prove to be
difficult and tremendous information overload. The geographical scope is not limited to a
specific territory give the availability of information and includes books and researches
across the globe. However, the data collection for the understanding the relevance of current
trends of mobile and wireless technology on the businesses in general and project
management in particular will be limited to the two companies Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
and Crocodile Garments Limited. The choice was limited to these two companies because of
the availability of their employees for questionnaire administration as well as the similarity of
the business in which both of these companies are in. the choice of similar companies would
help to reduce the error that might result if two different industries are considered for data
collection.
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1.1.4 Structure of Dissertation
This part of the proposal is an attempt to elaborate upon the project details in terms of the
methodology that has been used for data collections as a part of primary research and the
defining the scope for secondary research as well as the tentative flow of the thesis.
The theoretical framework of the thesis covers brief description about mobile technology as
well as wireless technology showing the correlation between the two and tracing back to the
past developments and consists of studying and understanding books and research papers
related to the topic. This is followed by a section that discusses the current technological
trends of mobile and wireless technology and the researches and studies that have led to the
determination the aims of this research.
The research methodology used in this research is a combination of primary and secondary
research methods. In the secondary research, theoretical framework and past researches
related to the topic has been studied and inspiration taken from them to understand and thus
leading to the planning of the secondary research of the project. The secondary research
provided the understanding of the problem being discussed and researched upon and research
objectives or aims being formulated. The primary research helped in the collection of data
through questionnaire method to understand the perception of businesses towards the role
played by mobile and wireless technology trends in helping them achieve competitive
advantage over their competitors as well as the scope of mobile and wireless technology in
project management scenarios. The data collected has been analyzed using factor analysis
method.
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The use of factor analysis was planned since it has several benefits that helped to analyze and
understand the business factors and relate it to the technological trends of mobile and wireless
technology. This analysis method made it possible to predict the effect of a key business
indicator (business impact of mobile and wireless technology on project management) on the
basis of interaction of other related business drivers. It also helped to predict the future
influence of these technologies depending on other business parameters.
The final section of the dissertation includes the discussions about the findings of the data
analysis and also the future and managerial implications for the research and the research
limitations.
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2.0 Literature Review
The section of literature review attempts to understand the various aspects of mobile
technology and the wireless technology, their elements and applications in helping businesses
achieve success as well as grow. This section also looks at trends of mobile and wireless
technology that might pave way for the future days.
The theoretical framework that helped to determine the need for further research into the
subject and also helped determine the research aims and objectives are presented in this
section. In today age, no one technology can remain in isolation from the other. Similarly, the
two ground breaking technologies of wireless and mobile communication has changed the
way the world functions. It will not be wrong to say that one is the precursor of the other. The
impact of these technologies on the way businesses are run, project are managed have been
tremendous. Mobile technology signifies portability. The devices that are commonly used to
ensure information accessibility on the go or the devices that use mobile technology to ensure
information portability are laptop computers, cellular phones and smart phones, palmtop
computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants, mobile GPS (Global positioning systems)
navigators or trackers, wireless debit card and credit card readers and payment terminals, etc.
Wireless technology on the other hand signify ‘not being tied down’ due to ‘absence of
wires’. These two technologies together enable the process of amalgamation of a number of
other current technologies including a spectrum of communication technology gadgets such
as smart phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GSM, GPRS, and VPNs etc (Zheng and Ni, 2005).
These two technologies combined together help to manage businesses around the world
without the barriers of distance, time zones or even information availability.
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The research papers of Coyle (2001), Beaulieu (2002), and Phillips (2002) have gone on to
discuss the trends and the affects of wireless and mobile technology. They have highlighted
not only the technological aspects but the commercial aspects of these technologies and the
effect that these technologies have in the way a business of today functions. Ancar and
D’Incau (2002) in their paper talk about their findings of the perception of consumers
regarding the value proposition of mobile technology. They highlight the perceived values of
the consumers as against other technological initiatives at commerce. The paper also tries to
relate the current trends in mobile commerce with the future of commerce. Kenyon and
Perkins (2000) in their research paper titled “China: Data in the Air” try to highlight the role
played by mobile and wireless technology in the everyday lives of the people in the most
populated country in the world, thereby trying to throw light on the depth of technological
imprints in human lives. In another extensive research in China, conducted by Zhang (2001),
titled “The road of Developing CDMA Mobile Networking in China”, the researcher had
endeavored to understand and study the effects of cellular CDMA technology that affects the
business, social and cultural aspects of the multibillion population of China. This research
also tries to put into perspective the extent penetration of various technologies within the
range of mobile and wireless technology and how each plays a role into the future of these
technologies.
Goldman (2000), Dorman (2001) and Burnham (2002) in their respective research papers
mentions the applications of mobile and wireless technologies especially in terms of
communication and how these technological advances can even help in project management
for business. Similarly, Ostermiller (2001) in his paper titled “Mobile Commerce” also
undertakes the study of the benefits and future of mobile commerce and how these
technologies will change the face of business in years to come.
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The studies and reports that have been instrumental in promoting the understanding of the
future of mobile and wireless technologies have been the studies by Abramowicz et al (2004),
Srivastava (2005) and Varshney and Vetter (2001). The studies and reports by these authors
among many others have inspired researches into what the future holds for these
technologies, the businesses using these technologies and for the human race in general. The
trends of today that affect the future of tomorrow for both mobile technology and wireless
technology have been discussed providing further impetus to understanding the role of these
technologies in shaping the social, cultural, political, and commercial aspects across the
globe.
Macker, Park and Corson (2001) studies the drawbacks of these technologies in their research
titled “Mobile and Wireless Internet Services: Putting the Pieces together”. They bring up
several questions that tend to point in the direction of justification required for unabashed
utilization of these technologies. Even though the benefits of these technologies are manifold,
yet one cannot disregard the drawbacks that these technologies have brought forth. The costs
involved in implementing and using these technologies is immense. It is creating a new
divide of haves and have not’s. It has led to unauthorized access of confidential and critical
data to be misused by people. It has threatened our privacy and invaded our private spaces.
The question also arises as to what is the future, how far will these technologies grow, when
can we invest in human beings more than investing in technologies?
2.1 Mobile Technology
As the name suggests, mobile technology is the technology that transportable and
manageable, in short portable. This type of technological advancements has helped to provide
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people with the liberty to use information technology without the need to be tied down to a
solitary location or place. Businesses that use the concept of telecommuting are reaping the
benefit of this technology along with sales forces that are constantly on the move trying to
reach customers, away from their office desks (Merwe and Brown 2006). This technology
has ensured seamless onsite and offsite connectivity between businesses and customers and
though there might be opposition to outsourcing, mobile technology has indeed made it
possible to transcend the barriers of geography and time zones to increase profitability for a
business, among other things. Laptop computers, mobile phones and smart phones, Global
Positioning Systems (or GPS), palmtop computers, PDAs (or personal digital assistants),
wireless debit card or credit card payment terminals are all examples of IT devices using
mobile technology (Ling, 2004). These devices use an assortment of communication
technologies that help to provide mobility with connectivity, and include the technologies
such as:
- Wi-Fi or wireless fidelity (that helps to access internet and intranet connections
using the technology of wireless local area networks)
- Data networking services such as dial up connections that use modem and
telephone lines to connect to internet.
- Bluetooth technology that helps to connect different mobile devices wirelessly.
- Virtual Private Networks (or VPNs) which provides a secured right of entry
(access) to a private network.
- The data networking technologies for mobile phones such as the ‘third generation’
(or 3G) technology, the global systems for mobile communication (or GSM)
technology and the general packet radio service (or GPRS) technology.
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These devices and technologies are what comprises the gamut of mobile technology and
helps an individual or a group of individuals to connect with each other or to an office or the
internet even while on the move (Goggin, 2006).
Though there are several advantages and benefits of the mobile technology, it has its own
share of disadvantages as well. One of the most important issues with mobile technology is
the cost associated with the installation, implementation and maintenance aspects of this
technological setup. The cost of the training required for using and maintaining the mobile
devices and the cost associated with upgrades of this ever evolving technology makes it one
of the most expensive initiatives for an organization. The biggest drawback that threatens the
proponents of mobile technology however is the security of the data and information which
when in wrong hands can have catastrophic results (Kupper, 2005).
2.1.1 Elements, Applications and Trends in Mobile Technology
Rheingold (2002) points out the importance of mobile technology in putting together the
aspects of social revolution including mobile and remote schooling. Irrespective of the time
or geographic distance, mobile technology in the form of third generation (or 3G) or smart
phones, virtual private networks (or VPNs) or Wi-Fi, etc. help the employees and the
management of an organization to stay connected with each other and with the customers,
making productivity the buzzword. The gamut of devices that form a part of the mobile
information technology domain, have changed the way a business is conducted and can help
the way a business is carried out (Schneiderman, 2001). The mobile technology of today have
started to mold the way things work within a business setup, empowering businesses to reach
out to their customers with newer products and services ever so often. This technological
wave have brought in the ability of the businesses to diversify, expand and grow beyond what
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could have been imagined even 20 years ago. The benefits of mobile technology
encompasses a list of unending possibilities that not only includes customer service, remote
business, mobile sales force connectivity, RFID (radio frequency identification) for retail
business, teleworking or telecommuting, work from home, work on the move, manage project
spread across continents, use of virtual money in the form of credit cards or debit cards
(Kraut, Brynin and Kiesler, 2006).
The elements of mobile technology in a nutshell consists of the devices and the ability to
connect remotely that enables to access data and information from anywhere and anytime
without being limited to one space and having the ability to do things while on the move
(Godwin-Jones, 2008). According to Mehul Patel, the innovation lead for Accenture’s
product soft-wave group, points out the eight trends that typify present day mobile
technology and that is set to govern the coming years, include:
- ‘Wireless memory’ on demand in the form of Unified – Memory – as – a –
Service.
- Powerful device interface through the use of mobile surface computing.
- Enhanced mobile user experience through use of self contained widgets.
- Seamless integration between different mobile technologies, applications and
devices to maintain constant connectivity between users and provide them with
enhanced performance and user experience.
- Management of risks associated with the contents in mobile devices and
applications through mobile content management framework and services.
- Simplification of user interaction with the mobile internet through use of unified
user profiles and biometric technologies.
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- Enhancement of mobile security to ensure data and information security against
hacking and viruses and provide high quality interconnectivity even for large
quantities of sensitive information.
- With stress on environmental sustainability, the mobile technology is going green
too. ‘Green Computing’ is becoming a trends soon to be reckoned with, thereby
contributing to providing a cleaner environment for the future.
2.2 Wireless Technology
Wireless communication has been used since a really long time in the form of radio waves to
transfer information over a distance without really using any solid or interconnected medium
such as wires, and other electrical conductors. Today the simple techniques used earlier has
taken the shape of wireless technology and have seen waves of changes one after another
(Dornan, 2001). The wireless technology is in fact one of the aspects of mobile technology
and vice versa. The use of devices such as cellular phones, pagers, fixed, portable and mobile
two way radio services (e.g. Family Radio Service or FRS, Citizens band or CB radios, and
General Mobile Radio Service or GMRS), Marine Very High Frequency (or VHF) radios,
personal digital assistants (PDAs), Global Positioning Systems (GPS units), satellite
televisions, cordless telephones, remote controlled devices, radio transmitters and receivers,
wireless or cordless computer peripherals, keyboards, mouse, printers and headsets, land
mobile radio (LMR), specialized mobile radio (SMR), Amateur radio service (or Ham radio) ,
wireless gaming systems and wireless networks, etc. all form and enable the wireless
technology which in turn results in mobile technology (Burnham, 2002). It is wireless
technology that actually makes it possible to transfer data and information over long
distances which would have otherwise been impossible.
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2.2.1 Elements, Applications and Trends in Wireless Technology
The benefits of wireless technology have been felt in every walk of life from simple
communication situations to complex military operations. The main benefit of wireless
technology ranges from mere mobile and telephonic conversations, to providing backup
communication links in case of failure of normal network services, to situations where
cabling is financially impractical or difficult. The various applications of wireless technology
are listed below (Phillips, 2002):
- Cellular telephony which includes cordless phones, mobile phones, modems,
personal digital assistants, smart phones, pagers, etc.
- Security systems for office buildings and homes, which replace the conventional
hardwired security systems.
- Wireless fidelity or Wi-Fi, (which uses the Local Area Network or LAN
technology) for devices such as laptops, PDAs, etc.
- Remote controls for television and other electronic systems.
- Wireless energy transfer without the use of wires.
The various trends, standards and elements of wireless technology are listed below (Webb,
2001):
- Wireless sensor networks using technologies such as Zigbee, personal area
networks, Ultra wideband, Bluetooth, EnOcean, Transferjet, etc.
- Wireless computer networks using technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi,
HiperLAN), Wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), Wireless local area
network (WLAN), and Broadband fixed access (BWA) such as HiperMAN,
LMDS, WANKA and WiMAX.
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- Radio communication system such as Broadcasting, Amateur radio,
Communication radio, Ham radio, etc.
- Digital enhanced cordless telecommunication or DECT technology which
provides the cordless telephony capabilities.
- Cellular systems using the 0G, 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G technologies.
- Short range point to point communication using the technologies such as Remote
control, IrDA, Radio frequency identification (RFID), Near field communication,
Dedicated short range communication (DSRC), EnOcean, Wireless USB, IrDA,
Wireless microphones, etc.
- Professional mobile radio or Land mobile radio using the technology of P25,
OpenSky, dPMR, EDACS, TETRA, and DMR, etc.
2.3 Company Profile: Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
Club 21 is a leading international luxury lifestyle company. Club 21 Hong Kong Limited, the
Hong Kong branch of Club 21 and is one of the leaders of branded fashion company in Hong
Kong. With over 500 employees managing a wide range of operational activities such as
wholesale distribution, brand guardianship, sourcing and vertical retail accurate corporate
governance has become a way of sustenance and success. According to Club 21’s Hong
Kong website, “A strong sense of partnership” is the underlying foundation for all their
business relationships. Thus, working closely with their partners to astutely develop and grow
markets along with protecting the core principles of the partner brands. “In this way Club 21
continues its core mission: to deliver stylish and progressive solutions to modern luxury
requirements while retaining integrity in everything we do” (Club 21 company website).
2.4 Company Profile: Crocodile Garments Limited
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Crocodile Garments Limited came into existence in 1952 with its headquarters based out of
Kowloon, Hong Kong. It operates in the retail garments industry, manufacturing and selling
garments and associated accessories along with other business ventures such as investment
and property holdings. Crocodile Garments Limited also has its business spread across
Mainland China. Over the years, Crocodile Garments limited has expended from just selling
its manufactured clothes to owning one of the largest chain of garment stores in Hong Kong
and exporting its clothing and accessories to several countries all over Asia including Japan,
and Singapore. It has also started to operate a second line of garments business in California,
USA under the brand name of Cal-Thomas. Its garments ranges from men’s wear branded
Crocodile, to women’s wear branded Crocoladies, to children’s wear branded Crocokids to
sportswear branded Crocosports, along with leather shoes and leather goods. Crocodile
Garments Limited also undertakes distribution of Lacoste branded line of apparel. Currently,
the company has more than 1000 stores (self operated and franchisees) in various parts of
Hong Kong, Macau and China. Crocodile (China) Limited, Dackart Trading Company
Limited, Zhongshan Crocodile Garments Limited, Crocodile Garments Limited, Crocodile
KT Investment Limited, and Guanzhou Crocodile Garments Commercial Limited are the
company’s wholly owned subsidiaries. Lam Kin Ming is the present Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Crocodile Garments limited. The group employs 905 employees. With a
statement like “When you want to buy the shirt, you will think of Crocodile”, the company
has launched into aggressive marketing and promotional activities to boost its sales all across
the continent of Asia (Crocodile Garments Limited corporate website).
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3.0 Research Methodology
This section elaborates on the methodology used for the research. It talks about the objectives
that guide the research, the questions that help to address these objectives, the discussion on
the sample and the sample size being considered, the methods used for data analysis and the
rationale for selection of the sample size and method of analysis (Pedhazur and Schmelkin,
1991). The aim of selecting a specific research methodology for this project is to understand
the objectives of the research, how to advance the research and what can be considered as a
successful research. Since the main focus of this project was to understand the trends of
mobile and wireless technology and study the impact of these trends on businesses in general
and project management in specific, the cases of Club21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile
Garments Limited have been considered to collect data for primary research. A literature
review was conducted as a secondary research and a primary research was done using a
questionnaire to collect data. Methods of factor analysis and correlation investigation
techniques were used for data analysis. The target population consisted of the employees of
Club21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited.
The primary data has been collected by administering a structured questionnaire to the
customers. The questionnaire was undisguised in the sense that questions would directly refer
to the objective of the study. The secondary data has been collected from books by various
authors, articles and information appearing in different publications, company sources and
internet.
3.1 Research Objectives
The objectives of the research can be outlined as below:
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- Identify technological trends of mobile technology and wireless technology that
signify current technological advancements and thereby define a path for the
future.
- Identify trends in mobile and wireless technology that help in project
management.
- Relate the study of the current trends in mobile and wireless technology to its
growth from the past and study the use of such technology to gain competitive
advantage for businesses.
3.2 Research Questions
The research questions that were designed were arrived at based on the understanding gained
while performing the secondary research and the literature review and aimed at helping us
understand the aspect of project management for businesses with the help of wireless and
mobile technology. The questionnaire used for the study had a judicial mix of structured and
un-structured questions to get into the depth of the problem area.
3.3 Sampling
Sampling can be described as a method of getting a representation in the form of a sub group
from the target population. A sampling error (Issac and Michael, 1995) occurs when the
sample digress from the true nature of the target populations by a definite amount because of
the possible variations of drawing a small number of cases from several possible cases. The
matter of calculating the optimal sample size comes up due to the researcher’s aim of
obtaining the sample statistic (generally the simple mean of the sample data) within a pre-
calculated distance from, or as near to the true statistic (mean) of the target population as
possible. The appropriateness of a sample size is dependent on the size of the target
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population. Martin and Bateson (1986) suggested that up to a certain value, the greater is the
quantity of data collected the better, as the statistical power is enhanced with increase in
sample size. However, the possibility of indefinite collection of data the population needs to
be measured as against the resources of time, money, effort etc, since at certain juncture it
becomes more fruitful to progress onto a new research instead of persisting with the present
one (Stuart, 1962).
The issue of determination of sample size occurs in any of the two varieties with a need of
understanding of “What is the number of observations I need to make to get a true and
powerful statistic analysis?” (Lohr, 1999). The two varieties of sample size determination
issues are:
- How many people from the target population will form the respondent sample? For
example, what should be the sample size if the target population has 2500
respondents?
- What should be the proportion or sizes of the sub-populations within the sample? For
example, what should be the sizes of the sub-populations based on gender, age,
ethnicity, income etc., within the sample of the target population?
The choice of a sampling method was dependent on the following considerations:
- Research objectives including the requirements of statistical precision, accuracy and
resources available at hand such as time, money etc.
- Identification of the possible methods of sampling that can assist in attaining the
research objectives effectively.
- Study the capacity of each sampling method for providing the desired results without
compromising on accuracy or putting a strain on the resources available at hand.
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- Select the sampling method that will help to achieve the results and objectives.
Based on the above mentioned considerations, the Disproportionate Stratification Random
Sampling method was selected for this research. The Stratified Random Sampling method is
the method of sampling which has the following characteristics:
- The population is consisting of ‘N’ elements.
- The population is separated into ‘H’ groups or ‘strata’.
- Each and every element of the population can be allotted to one and only one stratum.
- The numerical value of observations within each stratum ‘NH’ is known with N = N1 +
N2 + N3 + ……. + NH-1 + NH.
- The researcher gets a probability sample from each stratum.
The Stratified Random Sampling method has several advantages as compared to the simple
random sampling method. However, the most important disadvantage of a stratified random
sample as compared to a simple random sample is that this method sometimes needs greater
administrative effort as against a simple random sample. The advantages of the stratified
random sampling method are:
- A stratified random sampling method helps to provide a more accurate statistical
analysis as compared to a simple random sampling method for a given size of
population.
- Since it offers greater accuracy in the statistical analysis, a stratified sample mostly
requires a smaller sample size, thus saving resources for conducting the survey.
- The stratum component in a stratified sample guards against the “unrepresentative”
sample. For example, an all-female sample for a population of mixed-gender.
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- The sampling of each stratum ensures the sufficiency of sample points which can
enable analysis of any subgroup within the target population.
It was found that the population was so varied in their roles and nature with regard to their
view of corporate governance, that they could be further divided into strata for conducting a
survey based on questionnaire administration. Thus, the sampling method of disproportionate
stratification random sampling was adopted to conduct the survey. The use of this method of
sampling served the following 2 purposes:
- This method helps to have more than proportionate sizes of sample in more than one
sub groups or strata resulting in separate or individual analyses of the data obtained
from the sub groups.
- This method is known to increase the accuracy or precision of the key or main survey
estimates.
In the disproportionate stratification random sampling method, the sampling fraction can
sometimes vary in between the stratums of the target population. In the disproportionate
stratified random sampling method, the accuracy of the data design many vary from very
good to very poor based on the method of allocation of sample points in the strata. If the
variation in sample is different in the various strata, the method of disproportionate
stratification random sampling method can give higher precision statistical analysis as
compared to the proportionate stratification random sampling method (only if there is correct
allocation of sample points to strata). The disproportionate stratification random sampling
method helps to capitalize on the precision factor in case of measure of a single vital survey.
This, method however, has the disadvantage of not providing enough precision to additional
measures of survey.
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The method of disproportionate stratification helps to decrease the standards errors as
compared to a proportionate stratified sample, only if the standard deviation of the population
for the variables under consideration is greater than the average within the over-sampled
strata. It has been typically found that the standard errors are minimized when the sampling
fractions of the stratum are in proportion to the standard deviation of the population within
the same stratum (Deming, 1984). For conducting the survey such as this, which wants to
estimate the scope of certain categories of respondents, better results can be obtained when
the sampling fraction is reduced due to the uncommon types of interests of these respondents.
The method of getting unbiased estimates from the disproportionate stratification random
sampling method is by weighting the survey estimates (Kish, 1995). This was achieved by
using the SPSS package (version 11.0) by assigning a weight variable which provides a
weight per case. The cases are subsequently ‘weighted by’ the assigned weight variable
during the analysis.
The way to calculate the weight variable is pretty easy: The weight variable is basically the
‘inverse’ of the sampling fraction of the stratum to which the case belongs. So, if a stratum
has a sampling fraction of 1 in 10, all cases from that stratum will essentially have a weight
of10; and for a stratum having a sampling fraction of 1 in 20 will thus have a weight of 20 for
every case in that stratum. In reality, however, the weights applied to a specific survey might
be of greater complexity as compared to the above mentioned method if, for example, all the
cases in a stratum are not selected with equal probability and also if there have been inclusion
of non-response weights. It is to be kept in mind that in order to achieve an unbiased
estimate, a lower weight needs to be assigned to an over sampled stratum while calculating
26
the mean or percentage and the overall total of the stratum. Likewise, larger weights are to be
assigned to strata with low sampling fractions (Brown, Cozby, Kee, and Worden, 1999).
The impact that the method of disproportionate stratification has on standard errors are
variable depending on the sampling fraction estimates. As compared to a smaller sample
obtained as a component of a proportionate sampling method, the accuracy of the higher
sampling fractions is greater within a stratum. Also, the accuracy will be lowered for a
stratum having lower sampling fractions. The consequence of the disproportionate
stratification method on the general estimates for the population depends on an array of
factors. These factors include the relative sampling fractions and the unevenness of the
survey responses in various strata (Cochran, 1977).
Two project teams from each company along with management employees were selected to
obtain samples. The selection criteria were the availability of the project head leading a team
consisting of several team members handling a single project and 10 management employees
on whom the questionnaire could be administered. These project management teams were
part of the major business units for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments
Limited and thus provided a through representation of the management and employees
involved in the project management aspect of the business (Flyvbjerg, 2006).
Roscoe (1975) suggested a sample size of 30-500 as a rule of thumb suitable for most of the
studies. Also, the utilization of statistical analyses methods for sample having less than 10
elements was not recommended by Roscoe (1975). He however, suggested that in simple and
fewer complexes experimental researches having fixed or rigid controls (for example, the
27
matched pair design), efficient research can be done with samples having as small as 10 to 20
elements.
But, given the limited number of employees or ability to interview them, a sample size of was
selected based on Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) work. Table 2 represents the sample data
using Disproportionate Stratified Random Sampling method. This method was used to
address the issue of varying number of employees in the project teams of the different
companies of Club21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited. The names of all
the respondents have not been disclosed due to request of confidentiality of the information.
Table 1: Sample using Disproportionate Stratification Random Sampling Method
Company Respondent Type
Possible Number of Respondents
Percentage of Respondents selected (%)
Sample
Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
Project Team 63 16.0 10Project Team 63 16.0 10Management 42 24.0 10
Crocodile Garments Limited
Project Team 67 15.0 10Project Team 67 15.0 10Management 71 14.0 10
Total 373 100 60
The timeframe of the research has been defined from 2000 to 2008. The demographic
classification of respondents has been done using age, income, gender and relationship to the
organization. The scope of the study is limited to the employees, of Club 21 Hong Kong
Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited.
28
3.4 Research Methods
A method of self administered questionnaire was employed for primary data collection. The
respondents were required to rate their beliefs and perceptions on a five point Likert Scale,
with five being the highest rating (Tull and Hawkins, 1993). The data collection method was
a combination of both exploratory as well as descriptive method. The exploratory research
helped in developing an understanding of the current scenario, the basic concepts of mobile
and wireless technology. The single cross sectional design was used for the descriptive
method. Since the data collected in primary research through administration of questionnaire
was done for only one sample of respondents drawn from the target population of employees
of Crocodile Garments Limited and Club 21 Hong Kong Limited who had been with the
companies for at least one year and the fact that this survey was conducted only once ruling
out the chances of repetition. Consideration of employees who have been in the company for
at least one year helps to administer questionnaire to the employees who have fairly good
working knowledge of the business processes and the technological aspects that help the
business. This helps to reduce errors in the data. The program of SPSS (version 11.0)was
employed for analyzing the collected data. Demographic data was used to show the
characteristics of the respondents and categorize the employees to match the targeted
respondent profile. The rating of the various mobile and wireless technology usage
dimensions and level of employee involvement and understanding of technology for project
management were also found. Factor analysis was applied for evaluating the criticality of the
mobile and wireless technology factors as viewed and understood by the employees and the
management of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited in analyzing
the statements incorporated in the questionnaire. The research methods thus used have the
following parameters and hence have been used:
- Exploratory research will be done on the information collected
29
- Use of descriptive research in conclusion research design to attain the objective of
research through “single cross-section design”
- Image studies, which determine employee perceptions of the technologies for their
business.
- The measurement and scaling procedure that can be adopted for the research are
dependent on the questionnaire designed and validity or degree of precision
desired.
The use of factor analysis was made to analyze the data collected because it is a statistical
technique that has origins based in mathematical psychology and also because it is used in the
social sciences and in marketing, product management, operations research, and other applied
sciences that can deal with large volumes of data if need be. The advantages of the factor
analysis method are:
- Both objective and subjective attributes can be used.
- It is fairly easy to do, inexpensive, and accurate.
- It is based on direct inputs from employees of the two organizations being considered
for data collection.
- There is flexibility in naming and using dimensions.
However, the disadvantages of this method are:
- Usefulness depends on the researcher’s ability to develop a complete and accurate set
of product attributes - If important attributes are missed the procedure is valueless.
- Naming of the factors can be difficult - multiple attributes can be highly correlated
with no apparent reason.
30
- Factor analysis will always produce a pattern between variables, no matter how
random.
In our study factor analysis is applied as out of five parameters i.e. availability of latest
mobile and wireless technology, training for the available technology, use of mobile and
wireless technology, project management using mobile and wireless technology and lastly
impact of mobile and wireless technology on business (Mathieson, 2005).. Through factor
analysis we have attempted to find out the factors that are most important for the
management to make strategic business decisions and also for the project teams to manage
projects.
3.5 Rationale for Method Selection
The data collected were analyzed with the help of descriptive analysis options of the SPSS
software, version 11.0. This was followed by the analyses of the probable predictors of the
dependent variables using the method of factor analysis. Pearson’s correlation’s statistical
technique was also used in order to investigate and ascertain the possibility of existence of a
relationship between wireless and mobile technological trends and project management at
Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited. This correlation technique
was implemented since the dependent variable was transformed into the interval data form in
5 scales so as to correlate it with the associated independent variables ranked on a 5 point
Likert scale. The scoring of the Likert scales was done assuming that the data had a
legitimate interval form, in agreement with Abelson and Turkey (1970).
31
4.0 Analysis, Findings and Discussion
The factor analysis and findings section incorporates the entire data analysis and the findings
from the analyzed data (Chambers and Skinner, 2003). To begin with, the respondents’ data
about the four main questions were analyzed to get a general overview of the respondents and
the length of their relationship with their organizations (that is Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
or Crocodile Garments Limited) and their role in the project team, in project management and
as a staff (as an employee or member of the management) and the extent of use of mobile and
wireless technology as a part of their daily job responsibility.
The respondents were identified according to their role in the business of the company. 20 out
of 63 possible project management team members were selected to administer the
questionnaire along with 10 out of 42 possible members of the management in the Hong
Kong head office of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited.
Figure 1: Respondent’s Role for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
For Crocodile Garments Limited, 20 out of 67 possible project management team members
were selected to administer the questionnaire along with 10 out of 71 possible members of
the management. This selection was scientifically based and helped to find a relatively
accurate representation of the staff at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments
32
Limited who were involved with the mobile and wireless technology aspects of the business
or used it as a part of their daily job.
Figure 2: Respondent’s Role for Crocodile Garments Limited
The next set of organized data shows the percentage of respondents from both the
management and employees category who formed a part of the project management team.
Out of 168 respondents (possible respondents) at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited, 24
respondents were a part of the project management team. This included both the employees
and the management staff.
Figure 3: Involvement with Project Management Team for Club 21 Hong Kong
Limited
33
Out of 205 respondents (possible respondents) at Crocodile Garments Limited, 25
respondents were a part of the project management team. This included both the employees
and the management staff at Crocodile Garments Limited.
Figure 4: Involvement with Project Management Team for Crocodile Garments
Limited
The “years of association” with the company or the business were another aspect that helped
to identify respondent with considerable experience within the same company. This ensured
that the respondent was not only aware of his / her job responsibilities but was also aware of
the ongoing projects that the teams were handling and the general business and information
technology linkages for the company.
34
Figure 5: Years of Association with Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
For Club 21 Hong Kong Limited, it was found that majority of the respondents (64% of the
respondents) were with the company from 2 years to 5 years range. It was also found that
some of them had been promoted to their current positions which ensured that they had a lot
of idea about the company’s business, its market and the role of information technology in
general and mobile and wireless technology in specific within various aspects of the business
like project management, innovation, customer service, etc. Another significant point to be
noted here is that another 22% of the respondents had been with the company for more than
five years which made it possible to gain a real insight into the evolution of the use of mobile
and wireless technology with in the business scenario of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited as well
as understanding the changes that these technologies have brought about in the way business
is done by the company.
35
Figure 6: Years of Association with Crocodile Garments Limited
Also, in Crocodile Garments Limited, it was found that majority of the respondents (54% of
the respondents) were with the company from 2 years to 5 years range and that some of them
had been promoted to their current positions which ensured that they had a lot of idea about
the company’s business, its market and customers and the role of information technology in
general and mobile and wireless technology in specific within various aspects of the business
like project management, innovation, customer service, etc. Another significant point to be
noted here is that another 33% of the respondents had been with the company for less than
two years which made it a little difficult to gain a real insight into the evolution of the use of
mobile and wireless technology with in the business scenario of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
as well as understanding the changes that these technologies have brought about in the way
business is done by the company. However, the 13 % of the respondents who were with the
company for over 5 years were able to help in with such information.
The “involvement of mobile and wireless technology as a part of job” was used to gain an
understanding of the extent which the respondents really used these technologies in their day
to day jobs. This was done to ensure that the respondents really handled or used these
36
technologies and was well aware of what these technologies meant and how these
technologies affected their working and the working of the business (Michael and Salter,
2006). The results for “involvement with mobile and wireless technology as a part of job”
were similar for both the companies showing the growing dependence of these technologies
in managing different aspects of the business and helping them to grow and succeed in the
face of competition, change and globalization.
Figure 7: Involvement with Mobile and Wireless Technology as a part of Job for
Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
It was found that majority of the respondents at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited (18 out of a 30
respondents) indeed used mobile and wireless technologies to perform their day to day
activities and were well aware of the technologies, the upgrades that have been done to these
technologies over the years and the possible roadmaps that these technologies can take with
in the organization to help them with future business startegies. This also showed the critical
role that technolgy plays in today businesses and in helping businesses succeed and be
37
competitive in this age of intense competition. It was found that 7 respondents out of 30
respondents were responsible for managing aspects of mobile and wirless technology at Club
21 Hong kong Limited, to make these technologies available and usable by the other
employees of the organization.
Figure 8: Involvement with Mobile and Wireless Technology as a part of Job for
Crocodile Garments Limited.
It was found that majority of the respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited (16 out of a 30
respondents) were using mobile and wireless technologies to perform their day to day
activities and were well aware of the technologies, the frequent upgrades that have been done
to these technologies over the years and the possible roadmaps that these technologies can
take with in the organization to help them with future business startegies. This also showed
the critical role that technolgy plays in today businesses and in helping businesses succeed
and be competitive in this age of intense competition. It was found that 9 respondents out of
30 respondents were responsible for managing aspects of mobile and wirless technology at
38
Crocodile Garments Limited, to make these technologies available and usable by the other
employees of the organization.
Based on the ratings provided by the respondents at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and
Crocodile Garments Limited, the uses of the mobile and wireless technology were ranked and
the following table shows the ranking. The mean and standard deviations for the uses of these
technologies were also found to really understand how critical are the different uses of these
technologies for both the companies.
Table 2: Ranking of Business Uses of Mobile and Wireless Technology on basis of Mean and Standard Deviation for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
Business Uses of Mobile and Wireless
TechnologyMean
Standard
deviation
Ranking
Project Management Capabilities 1.74 0.803 1
Business Communication Process 3.02 1.039 4
Management of Sales Force 2.9 1.265 3
Customer Servicing 2.86 1.277 2
Business Innovations and Marketing Capabilities 4.48 1.164 5
The rankings as obtained from the ratings provided by Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
respondents’ show that they consider for questions numbered from 1 to 10 in section A. The
table shows that for the respondents, the number 1 business use of mobile and wireless
technology is the project management capabilities that it provides due to the factors of
mobility and remote connectivity which helps to plan a project and do real time updates of
the project even when a team member is on the move and keep the project manger and the
management up to date about the project updates, difficulties, changes in circumstances, etc.
The customer servicing capability as enabled by mobile and wireless technology received the
second ranking and shows the ability of the business to respond to customer needs,
complaints and queries in a 24 x 7 fashion and have the customer demands by their pulse.
39
The management of the sales force has received the 3rd ranking and this proves the
capabilities of mobile and wireless technology to take the management of sales force to a
different level altogether providing businesses with the capability to remain competitive and
cut costs. The 4th ranking of the business communication process as a use of the mobile and
wireless technology shows that there are scopes for further use to which both these
technologies can be put to use in order to derive greater benefits and value of money out of
the investments made on mobile and wireless technologies by Club 21 Hong Kong Limited.
The business innovations and marketing capabilities as a business use of the mobile and
wireless technology proves that there is a lot of scope for these technologies to be used as
driver of business innovations and enhancement of marketing capabilities. The rankings also
provide insight into the way these technologies are being used by the organization and points
in the direction in which changes in the ways of use as well as additional uses will enhance
business capabilities and provide greater return on investment of these technologies.
Table 3: Ranking of Business Uses of Mobile and Wireless Technology on basis of Mean and Standard Deviation for Crocodile Garments Limited
Business Uses of Mobile and Wireless
TechnologyMean
Standard
deviation
Ranking
Project Management Capabilities 1.74 0.803 1
Business Communication Process 3.02 1.039 4
Customer Servicing 2.9 1.265 3
Management of Sales Force 2.86 1.277 2
Business Innovations and Marketing Capabilities 4.48 1.164 5
The rankings as obtained from the ratings provided by Crocodile Garments Limited
respondents’ show that they consider for questions numbered from 1 to 10 in section A. The
table shows that for the respondents, the number 1 business use of mobile and wireless
technology is the project management capabilities similar to the ranking obtained from
40
survey of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited respondents. This ranking therefore suggests that the
use of mobile and wireless technology is project management. The project management
capabilities provided by mobile and wireless technology can be attributed to the factors of
mobility and remote connectivity which helps to plan a project and do real time updates of
the project even when a team member is on the move and keep the project manger and the
management up to date about the project updates, difficulties, changes in circumstances, etc.
The management of the sales force has been ranked 2nd by the respondents at Crocodile
Garments Limited and this proves the ability of mobile and wireless technology to enhance
the sales force management capabilities thereby enabling Crocodile Garments Limited to
remain competitive and cut costs involved in hiring, managing and retaining sales force. The
customer servicing capability as enabled by mobile and wireless technology had been ranked
second by the respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited and shows the ability of the
company to respond to customer needs, complaints and queries in a 24 x 7 fashion and have
the customer demands by their pulse and use the outsourcing opportunities to reduce costs of
servicing customers and expand to overseas markets. The business communication process
has been ranked 4th by the respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited, a ranking similar to
Club 21 Hong Kong Limited respondents. This ranking highlights capability of the mobile
and wireless technology as an enhancer of business communication and suggests that there
are scopes for further use to which both these technologies can be put to in order to derive
greater benefits and value of money out of the investments made on technologies. The similar
ranking of business innovations and marketing capabilities as a business use of the mobile
and wireless technology by respondents from both the companies yet again proves that there
is a huge scope for these technologies to be used as driver of business innovations and
stimulator of marketing capabilities. Thus, these rankings by the respondents of Crocodile
Garments Limited provide insight into the way these technologies are being used by the
41
organization and the changes that can be brought about by these technologies to enhance
business capabilities and provide greater return on investment of these technologies.
In order to gauge the different benefits from the different uses of mobile technology as well
as wireless technology equipments or applications used in both the organizations, the
questionnaire administered shows the following results as tabulated below.
Table 4: Perceived Benefits derived from different Mobile Technology and Wireless
Technology setups at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
Technology
Setups
Benefits
Mobile Technology Wireless TechnologyCombined
Use of
Mobile and
Wireless
TechnologyEquipments Applications Equipments Applications
Project
Management
Capabilities
5.58
(1.64)
5.38
(1.83)
5.46
(1.47)
4.82
(2.26)
3.1
(2.14)
Business
Communicati
on Process
3.92
(2.12)
3.98
(1.99)
4.02
(1.86)
4.64
(1.82)
2.28
(1.77)
Customer
Servicing
2.8
(1.64)
2.86
(1.69)
2.76
(1.93)
3.26
(1.86)
1.94
(1.01)
Management
of Sales
Force
3.24
(2.08)
2.8
(1.65)
3.04
(1.67)
4.6
(2.2)
2.92
(2.12)
Business
Innovations
and
Marketing
Capabilities
4.28
(1.91)
3.7
(2.19)
4.34
(1.99)
3.82
(2.31)
3.42
(2.21)
42
‘Value
Expression’*
4.92
(1.62)
4.78
(1.52)
4.72
(1.76)
5.06
(1.39)
2.96
(1.89)
This table is on the basis of the rating given to each benefit on the scale of 1-5 (semantic
differential) where“1” (strongly agree / absolutely true) and “5” (strongly disagree /
absolutely false). On the basis of mean and standard deviation (for the values written in
parenthesis “( )”) below it, it can inferred that the perceived benefits as rated by the
respondents for each of the above technological criteria. The benefit termed ‘Value
Expression’* is a derivation from the rating that the respondents at Club 21 Hong Kong
Limited provided for the different benefits of mobile and wireless technology being used as a
part of everyday job. It was derived as an attempt to show the ‘value’ that these respondents
perceived to be obtaining from using the mobile and wireless technology as a part of
everyday job and their ‘expressions’ or ratings of the benefits that makes up the “value
expression” benefit of the two technologies being studied here. Another aspect that is worth
noticing here is the breakdown of the ratings for the Mobile and Wireless technology
equipments and applications. This was done by observational technique while administering
the questionnaire along with the ratings provided by the respondents to different questions.
It was found that for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited, though the benefit of ‘Business
Innovations and Marketing Capabilities’ had not been rated as the highest individually, on
consideration as a combined benefit of mobile and wireless technology, this benefit came out
to be the one with the highest mean however with the highest standard deviation showing that
the rating for this benefit might have been higher for the respondent from the management
who see value in the investment they have made in the technology as against the other
employees who do not perceive the benefits of these technologies on marketing and business
innovations vey highly.
43
Table 5: Perceived Benefits derived from different Mobile Technology and Wireless
Technology setups at Crocodile Garments Limited
Technology
Setups
Benefits
Mobile Technology Wireless TechnologyCombined
Use of
Mobile and
Wireless
TechnologyEquipments Applications Equipments Applications
Project
Management
Capabilities
4.58
(1.44)
5.48
(1.73)
5.48
(1.49)
5.82
(2.26)
3.72
(1.89)
Business
Communicati
on Process
4.02
(2.32)
3.78
(2.19)
4.12
(1.76)
4.04
(1.92)
2.58
(2.57)
Customer
Servicing
4.18
(1.94)
2.86
(1.69)
2.06
(1.97)
3.36
(1.96)
2.14
(1.11)
Management
of Sales
Force
2.84
(1.74)
3.81
(2.34)
3.24
(1.57)
3.17
(2.39)
2.72
(2.10)
Business
Innovations
and
Marketing
Capabilities
3.24
(2.08)
4.16
(2.12)
4.38
(1.52)
2.97
(1.02)3.21
(2.41)
‘Value
Expression’*
4.92
(1.62)
4.34
(1.99)
4.92
(1.96)
5.13
(1.79)
2.06
(2.24)
The table above has been developed on the basis of the rating given to each benefit on the
scale of 1-5 (semantic differential) where“1” (strongly agree / absolutely true) and “5”
(strongly disagree / absolutely false). On the basis of mean and standard deviation (for the
values written in parenthesis “( )”) below it, it can inferred that the perceived benefits as rated
44
by the respondents for each of the above technological criteria. The benefit termed ‘Value
Expression’* is a derivation from the rating that the respondents at Crocodile Garments
Limited provided for the different benefits of mobile and wireless technology being used as a
part of everyday job. The derivation is an attempt to understand the ‘value’ that respondents
of Crocodile Garments Limited perceive to be attaining from using the mobile and wireless
technology (Both equipments and applications of these technologies) as a part of their
everyday job and their ‘expressions’ or ratings of these perceived benefits which makes up
the “value expression” benefit of the two technologies being studied in this research. Another
part that is merits attention in the table above is the breakdown of the ratings for the Mobile
and Wireless technology equipments and applications. This was done by observational
technique while administering the questionnaire along with the ratings provided by the
respondents to different questions.
It was found from the table above that for the respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited, the
benefit of ‘Project Management Capabilities’ as perceived by the management and other
employees is indeed the number one benefit that they see mobile and wireless technology
bringing to their company. The ratings received by this benefit outscore all the other benefits
and has the highest mean with relatively agreeable standard deviation. This goes to show that
there is a clear coherence in the perception of the benefits of mobile and wireless technology
by the management and employees at Crocodile Garments Limited. This fact might also
suggest that there is considerable use of the two technologies for project management and
there is clear cut communication about this benefit across the organization.
4.1 Factor Analysis and Discussion
45
Factor Analysis identifies common dimensions of factors from the observed variables that
have a high correlation with the observed and seemingly unrelated variables but no
correlation among the factors (Gorsuch, 1983). Principal component analysis is the
commonly used method for grouping the variable under few unrelated factors (Velicer, and
Jackson, 1990). The data obtained for the study through the administration of the
questionnaire to respondents from Club 21 Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments
Limited was analyzed by using the method of factor analysis in order to identify the ‘key
factors’ as perceived by the respondents (management and other employees of the
companies) to be the benefits that decide the use of mobile and wireless technology used in
these organizations. These factors actually show us the trends of mobile and wireless
technology that are on the rise and pave way for the future of these technologies as an
integral part of doing business in the times to come.
In this study, Principal Component analysis has been used since the objective is to summarize
most of the original information (variance) in a minimum number of factors for prediction
purposes (Kline, 1993). Here the factors are extracted in such a way that factor axes are
maintained at 90 degree, meaning that each factor is independent of all other factors. A factor
is a linear combination of original variables. Factors also represent the underlying dimensions
that summarize and account for the original set of observed variables. An important concept
in factor analysis is the rotation of factors. In this study we have used Varimax Rotation to
simplify the factor structure. Only the factors having latent roots (Eigen values) greater than 1
(unity) are considered (Thompson, 2004). An Eigen value is the column sum of squares for a
factor. It represents the amount of variance in data. We chose those factor loadings which are
greater than 0.409 (for data from respondents’ at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited) and 0.523 (for
data from respondents’ at Crocodile Garments Limited) (ignoring the signs) and loaded them
46
on the extracted factors. As mentioned variables with factor loading of higher than 0.409 (for
data from respondents’ at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited) and 0.523 (for data from
respondents’ at Crocodile Garments Limited) are grouped under a factor. A factor loading is
the correlation between the original variable with the specified factor and is the key to
understanding the nature of that particular factor. The final step in factor analysis is naming
the factors. This labeling is intuitively developed based upon the appropriateness for
representing the underlying dimensions of a particular factor. It must also be understood that
the factors obtained by using factor analyses is inherent to the nature of study, the
questionnaire administered and the data obtained from respondents and cannot be measured
quantitatively.
The 10 variables (from the 10 different questions in part A as obtained from questionnaire
from Club 21 Hong Kong Limited) were used for the factor analysis were coded using five
point semantic differential scale. The table 6 provides the Varimax rotated factor loadings
against the 10 variables measuring the perceptions of the respondents at Club 21 Hong Kong
Limited regarding mobile and wireless technology. This was obtained in 6 iterations through
SPSS (version 11).
Table 6: Rotated Factor Matrix (Loading Criteria > 0.409) for Club 21 Hong Kong LimitedVar. No.
Technology Impacts F1 F2 F3 F4
V1 Use of latest technology 0.754V2 Adequate technology handling training 0.860
V3Use of technology in strategic business decision making
0.716
V4Impact of technology in organizational communication
0.939
V5Impact of technology on marketing strategies and capabilities
0.808
V6 Use of technology for customer service 0.619V7 Use of technology for innovations 0.849V8 Use of technology for sales force management 0.760V9 Use of technology for project management 0.778
47
V10Dependence on technology for day to day functioning
0.704
Cumulative variance 61.216 74.270 44.029 26.165
The Factor analysis (of data obtained from respondents at Cub 21 Hong Kong Limited) using
Varimax rotation gives four derived factors, each having Eigen value greater than unity. In
the rotated factor matrix, those variables which had factor loading of above 0.409 (ignoring
the signs) are grouped under their respective factors. Thus, the 10 variables (technology
impact / use) were then loaded on the four factors. Naming of the factors has been done on
the basis of the size of the factor loading for a variable, greater are the chances of the factor
loading being named after this specified variable.
Factor I explains 29.762% of the total variance and the total variance accounted for by factor
2 was 36.10% which is quite high (considering the limitation of number of questionnaires
administered) and this establishes the validity of the study. Of the 10 variables, 9 have been
further grouped into 3 factors since we did not consider the last factor as it was contributing
only 13% of the total variance which is the least as compared to others. The factors and the
variables for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited have been tabulated in table 7.
Table 7: Factors that Indicate the Impact / Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology on the Various Aspects of Business for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited.
Impact on Day to Day Functioning (4.145)
Benefits and Use of technology (4.053)
Awareness and Training for
Technology (5.14)Use of latest technology (4.36) Use of technology for
innovations (4.4)Adequate technology handling training (6.0)
Dependence on technology for day to day functioning (4.68)
Impact of technology on marketing strategies and capabilities (4.08)
-----
Impact of technology in organizational communication (2.86)
Use of technology for customer service (3.68)
-----
Use of technology for sales force management (4.68)
Use of technology for project management (5.38)
-----
48
Please note: The figures in parenthesis represent the average score for the variables under
each Factor that indicate the relation of the identified factors with the business.
Table 7 depicts the variables under each of the three derived factors. The first factor (F1)
identified as the ‘impact of mobile and wireless technology on the day to day functioning’ of
employees at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited. The variables that determine this factor are use of
latest mobile and wireless technology, dependence on mobile and wireless technology for day
to day functioning, impact of mobile and wireless technology on organizational
communication process and use of technology for the management of sales force. The last
variable though could have been grouped under factor 2 has been grouped under factor 1
since this variable was indeed determinant of the day to day functioning of the majority of the
employees (sales force) at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited.
The second factor is designated as benefits and use of mobile and wireless technology, on the
basis of the loaded variables. The data set of the Factor II (F2) loading is indicated by
variables like use of mobile and wireless technology for innovation, impact of mobile and
wireless technology on marketing strategies and capabilities, use of mobile and wireless
technology for customer service and use of technology for project management. It was found
that use of technology for project management variable had the highest score among all the
variables for this factor.
The factor III (F3) is denoted by the awareness and training for the mobile and wireless
technology for the employees at Club 21 Hong Kong Limited. This factor is explained by the
variable adequate technology handling training and has a high score of 6.0.
49
The next is the use of factor analyses to find the factors for the data collected from the
respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited. The table 8 below provides the Varimax rotated
factor loadings against the 10 variables measuring the perceptions of the respondents at
Crocodile Garments Limited regarding mobile and wireless technology. This was obtained in
6 iterations through SPSS (version 11).
Table 8: Rotated Factor Matrix (Loading Criteria > 0.523) for Crocodile Garments
Limited
Var.
No.Technology Impacts F1 F2 F3 F4
V1Use of latest technology
0.620
V2Adequate technology handling training
0.826
V3 Use of technology in strategic business decision making
0.580
V4 Impact of technology in organizational communication
0.866
V5 Impact of technology on marketing strategies and capabilities
0.767
V6Use of technology for customer service
0.711
V7Use of technology for innovations
0.674
V8Use of technology for sales force management
0.835
V9Use of technology for project management
0.840
V10 Dependence on technology for day to day functioning
0.716
Cumulative variance 74.057 59.938 43.635 25.336
In case of data from respondents at Crocodile Garments Limited, Factor 1 explained 36.487%
of the total variance and the factor 2 explained 29.53% of the total variance which is again
quite high (considering the limitation of number of questionnaire administered) and this
50
establishes the validity of the study. For the data from respondents of Crocodile Garments
Limited, 8 variables were found to be significant in influencing 3 identifiable factors. These
are tabulated in table 9 below. Of the 10 variables, 9 have once again been further grouped
into 3 factors since we did not consider the last factor as it was contributing only 12.48% of
the total variance which is the least as compared to other factors.
Table 9: Factors that Indicate the Impact / Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology on the Various Aspects of Business for Crocodile Garments Limited.
Impact on Day to Day Functioning (4.075)
Benefits and Use of technology (4.16)
Awareness and Training for
Technology (4.76)Use of latest technology (3.56) Use of technology for
innovations (4.22)Adequate technology handling training (5.16)
Dependence on technology for day to day functioning (4.76)
Impact of technology on marketing strategies and capabilities (4.64)
-----
Impact of technology in organizational communication (2.88)
Use of technology for customer service (3.62)
-----
Use of technology for sales force management (4.36)
Use of technology for project management (5.10)
-----
Please note: The figures in parenthesis represent the average score for the variables under
each Factor that indicate the relation of the identified factors with the business.
The first factor (F1) identified as the ‘impact of mobile and wireless technology on the day to
day functioning’ of employees at Crocodile Garments Limited. The variables that determine
this factor are use of latest mobile and wireless technology, dependence on mobile and
wireless technology for day to day functioning, impact of mobile and wireless technology on
organizational communication process and use of technology for the management of sales
force. As usual similar to the previous case for Club 21 Hong Kong Limited, the last variable
though could have been grouped under factor 2 has been grouped under factor 1 since this
variable was indeed determinant of the day to day functioning of the majority of the
employees (sales force) at Crocodile Garments Limited.
51
The factor 2 obtained from the factor analysis is designated as benefits and use of mobile and
wireless technology, on the basis of the loaded variables. The data set for the second factor
(F2) loading is indicated by variables like use of mobile and wireless technology for
innovation, impact of mobile and wireless technology on marketing strategies and
capabilities, use of mobile and wireless technology for customer service and use of
technology for project management.
The third factor (F3) is denoted by the awareness and training for the mobile and wireless
technology for the employees at Crocodile Garments Limited. This factor is explained by the
variable adequate technology handling training which has the highest score among all the
variables of 5.16.
The factor analysis helped us to obtain the following factors as relevant for a business in
relation to the mobile and wireless technology: availability of latest mobile and wireless
technology, training for the available technology, use of mobile and wireless technology,
project management using mobile and wireless technology and lastly impact of mobile and
wireless technology on business. Below is the diagrammatic representation of the factors and
their interdependence. However, again a note has to be made that the fourth factor wasn’t
found to be as significant as other three factors and might not be really considered for actual
results. The fourth factor hasn’t been named and the dashed box representing this factor has
been used in the diagram below.
52
Figure 9: Diagrammatic representation of the Factors obtained from Factor
Analysis
4.2 SWOT Analysis for Mobile and Wireless Technology
Thus, on the basis of the literature review and analysis of the data obtained from the survey
and general questioning of the staff (management and employees) at Club 21 Hong Kong
Limited and Crocodile Garments limited, the following SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats) analysis could be done for the mobile and wireless technology as a
driver of business in the present day context.
Strengths
Helps businesses be the market
Weaknesses
High cost of using wireless and
53
Factor 2: Benefits and Use of technology
Factor 3: Impact on Day to Day Functioning.
Mobile and Wireless
Technology Parameters
Factor 3: Awareness and
Training for Technology
leader.
Wide range of products catering to
different business needs.
Strong advancements and growth
opportunities provided to the
businesses using mobile and wireless
technology
Remote connectivity ability, reducing
the limitations of geographical space
and time zones.
mobile technology makes it
unpopular with businesses.
High initial investment cost followed
by subsequent added costs in
upgrading and keeping up to date
with technological advancements.
Availability of internet connectivity.
High staff training cost for businesses
using these technologies and
associated maintenance costs.
Opportunities
Becoming increasing popular and
affordable.
Can be implemented on a smaller
level and hence implementable by
smaller businesses as well.
Current competitive market place
makes use of wireless and mobile
technology a necessity.
The ever evolving tendency of mobile
and wireless technology a must have
for every business.
Provides organizations with the
ability to reduce expenses by having
employees’ telework, better
Threats
Mobile and wireless technology
might soon be replaced by any other
technological trend.
Fear of businesses in investing in
these technologies and their inertia to
changes associated with use of these
technologies.
Technologies getting ahead of
mankind in terms of the investments
required and the continuous
evolutionary process associated with
these technologies.
Data security and privacy threats
might lead to dismissal of use of these
54
connectivity with market and
customers, quicker response to market
dynamics and diversify and cater to a
global market.
technologies.
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
This section concludes the report for the research and makes certain suggestions or
recommendations that might be useful for future researches.
5.1 Conclusions
The study titled ‘Mobile and Wireless Technology: Trends on the Rise’ was an attempt to
understand the role of mobile and wireless technology in general everyday human lives and
in a business scenario in specific. Though not conclusive, it was found that mobile and
wireless technology plays a very critical role in several aspects of a business including project
management, communication and sales force management and has paved way for effective,
efficient and transparent organizational communication process. Further researches into this
area yield can help to define conclusively, the role of these two technologies and it is then
that we can say with certainty about the mobile and wireless technology trends that are on the
rise, affecting the very fiber of the human society across the globe.
5.2 Recommendations
The recommendations below are only suggestions, especially for the two companies Club 21
Hong Kong Limited and Crocodile Garments Limited as gathered from analyzing the data
obtained from the respondents at both the firms. However, the suggestions may also be
55
applicable to other businesses especially within the same industry. Following are the
recommendations:
- Employees should be informed about all the investments and inclusions being made
by the management on technology since they are the ones to be critically affected by
the use of these technologies. This will keep the employees informed as well as
supportive towards these technology investments.
- The employees need to be continuously trained for the technologies that are being
incorporated, so as to actually get the employees to use these technologies and thus,
generate return on investment.
- Companies are still not comfortable with the influence of technology in decisions
making and further focus has to be given to this ability of mobile and wireless
technology.
- The mobile and wireless technology should be used extensively for project
management, customer servicing, sales force management, etc. as that will help a
company to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors.
- Use of mobile and wireless technology should be done with as caution and companies
should understand that these technologies have challenges of data security and
privacy, etc.
- Lastly, business should ensure that these technologies become business drivers but do
not be a replacement for the human resource, since there is nothing worse than
technology being viewed as a competitor by the employees in a company.
5.3 Limitations of Research
The limitations of this research are manifolds which makes this research inconclusive. The
limitations for the research include:
56
- Limitation of funding.
- Time duration of the project is not sufficient to conduct an in-depth study.
- Limitations of data available from various sources.
- Limitations include the assumptions that were made while analyzing the
questionnaire.
- The data collected might not be a true representation of the population under study.
- Limitation of the researcher.
57
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Appendix
Questionnaire: Club 21 Hong Kong Limited
The following questionnaire will be used only for academic purposes to study and understand
the impact of Mobile and Wireless Technology on business of Club 21 Hong Kong Limited.
The respondent details and answers will be kept confidential. I humbly request respondents to
be as objective and transparent in their answers as possible.
A. Please rate the following factors of communication, marketing, customer service and
innovation using a five point scale with responses ranging from 1-Strongly Disagree to 5-
Strongly Agree.
1. The mobile and wireless standards, devices and application used in Club 21 are the latest
technology available: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree;
4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
2. The management and employees are trained and equipped to use the mobile and wireless
technology at Club 21: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree;
4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
3. The involvement and use of mobile and wireless technology at Club 21 for strategic
business decisions is high: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor
disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
4. The mobile and wireless technology makes the communication process in the company
transparent, efficient and effective: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree
nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
64
5. There is a high degree of use of mobile and wireless technology by the management and
employees at Club 21 for enhancement of marketing capabilities: _______ (1=strongly agree;
2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
6. There is a high degree of use of mobile and wireless technology by the management and
employees at Club 21 for enhancement of customer service process: _______ (1=strongly
agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
7. The level of using mobile and wireless technology for innovations (product, process, etc)
at Club 21 is high: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree;
4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
8. The use of mobile and wireless technology has enhanced the sales force management
capabilities at Club 21: ___________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor
disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
9. The project management capabilities have been enhanced through the use of mobile and
wireless technology at Club 21: _________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor
disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
10. Club 21 management and employees are dependent on mobile and wireless technology
for its day to day functioning: _______ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor
disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
B. Kindly provide your opinion on the following topics:
1. Mobile technologies used at Club 21: _____________________________________
65
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. Wireless technologies used at Club 21: ____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Impact of mobile and wireless technology on the business of Club 21: _____________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
C. Respondent Profiling: The following segment is only to assist the researcher profile the
respondents.
1. Role in Club 21’s business: __________________ (employee, management)
2. Part of Project Management Team: Yes _____ No ______
3. Years of association with Club 21: __________
4. Involvement with mobile and wireless technology as a part of the job (please rate your
involvement with the afore-mentioned technologies on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “no
involvement”, 3 being “use these technologies daily to perform my job” and 5 being
“manage aspects of these technologies”): ___________
Thank you for your cooperation and time.
66
Appendix II
Questionnaire: Crocodile Garments Limited
The following questionnaire will be used only for academic purposes to study and understand
the impact of Mobile and Wireless Technology on business of Crocodile Garments Limited.
The respondent details and answers will be kept confidential. I humbly request respondents to
be as objective and transparent in their answers as possible.
A. Please rate the following factors of communication, marketing, customer service and
innovation using a five point scale with responses ranging from 1-Strongly Disagree to 5-
Strongly Agree.
1. The mobile and wireless standards, devices and application used in Crocodile Garments
Limited are the latest technology available: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither
agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
2. The management and employees are trained and equipped to use the mobile and wireless
technology at Crocodile Garments Limited: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither
agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
3. The involvement and use of mobile and wireless technology at Crocodile Garments
Limited for strategic business decisions is high: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree;
3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
4. The mobile and wireless technology makes the communication process in the company
transparent, efficient and effective: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree
nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
67
5. There is a high degree of use of mobile and wireless technology by the management and
employees at Crocodile Garments Limited for enhancement of marketing capabilities:
_______ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly
disagree)
6. There is a high degree of use of mobile and wireless technology by the management and
employees at Crocodile Garments Limited for enhancement of customer service process:
_______ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly
disagree)
7. The level of using mobile and wireless technology for innovations (product, process, etc)
at Crocodile Garments Limited is high: ________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither
agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
8. The use of mobile and wireless technology has enhanced the sales force management
capabilities at Crocodile Garments Limited: ___________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree;
3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
9. The project management capabilities have been enhanced through the use of mobile and
wireless technology at Crocodile Garments Limited: _________ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree;
3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
10. Crocodile Garments Limited management and employees are dependent on mobile and
wireless technology for its day to day functioning: _______ (1=strongly agree; 2=agree;
3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)
B. Kindly provide your opinion on the following topics:
68
1. Mobile technologies used at Crocodile Garments Limited: _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. Wireless technologies used at Crocodile Garments Limited: _______________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Impact of mobile and wireless technology on the business of Crocodile Garments Limited:
___________________________________________________________________________
C. Respondent Profiling: The following segment is only to assist the researcher profile the
respondents.
1. Role in Crocodile Garments Limited’s business: __________________ (employee,
management)
2. Part of Project Management Team: Yes _____ No ______
3. Years of association with Crocodile Garments Limited: __________
4. Involvement with mobile and wireless technology as a part of the job (please rate your
involvement with the afore-mentioned technologies on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “no
involvement”, 3 being “use these technologies daily to perform my job” and 5 being
“manage aspects of these technologies”): ___________
Thank you for your cooperation and time.
69