Topic 2

thank you for giving me a lot of food for thought. u were a great help.

Thanks to opentuition for this platform. Hello, Please, I chose topic 2. Project title: AN EVALUATION OF HOW THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAN ASSIST THE EASTERN REGIONAL BRANCH OF HFC BANK GHANA TO ACHIEVE ITS BUSINESS OBJECTIVES Objectives of the Study The main purpose of this study is to assess how the introduction of IT has helped banks to create more satisfied customers. Specific objectives include; 1. To examine the usage of IT products among the customers of HFC bank in the Eastern region of Ghana. 2. To identify the satisfaction level of customers with regards to the use of HFC bank information technology products. 3. To examine the challenges customers encounter with regards to the use of HFC bank’s IT products. Research Questions The study seeks to answer the following questions in order to achieve the above objectives: 1. How are customers of HFC bank in the Eastern region using the IT products of the bank? 2. What is the satisfaction level of customers of HFC bank with respect to the use of the bank's technology product? 3. What challenges do customers encounter with regards to the use of HFC bank's IT products? MY REQUESTS Please: Is there any problem with my project title? Are there any problems, omissions or additions to the study objectives and research questions above? Finally, can electronic banking(such as the use of ATMs, E-switch, Telephone banking, internet banking,mobile banking and funds transfer) be a new information technology? Thank you so much.

@Trephena@HammadAhmed Qureshi wanted to use the PESTEL and SWOT models should I apply this on the organisation or the New technology only. I find it hard to use the PESTEL and SWOT analysis on the technology only without linking it with the organisation e.g they have been an outcry from some taxpayers on the authority enforcing the use of the new technology only those taxpayers who are not politically connected to the people in govt.

l have chosen topic 2,is it possible for me to use an a car assembly company that has just introduced a modern piece of equipment

Apologies for the delay in responding. Yes this is probably suitable for Topic 2. Bear in mind the full topic title so you will need to connect back to the company objectives when reviewing the analysis. However you could also look at whether what you are planning to do fits more comfortably with Topic 14, as depending on what the new technology is it could also be a strategic investment decision. (Sometimes depending on the company there can be an overlap between project titles so consider which meets the circumstances better). I'll search our archives for any other previous queries on T2 and as you opened (probably accidentally) another thread on the same topic I'll merge it with our existing archived material so it will appear as a current topic. In the meantime if you decide to go with Topic 14 let me know and I can similarity being the archived material back. :-)

thank you very much

@trephena Hello, I'm thinking to choose Topic 2, hope you could help me with my question. I wonder whether a School/Faculty of an University is considered an organization? For example, I'm working in one Faculty/School of the University, but the University has total of 12 Schools/Faculties. My question is, is it ok if my RAP only focus on the school that I work with? Because I won't have access to all information to the entire University, but only the school I'm employed. The University is planning to implement a new Finance/HR system, but it still at the very early stage. I could gather the information about the new system, and data about our current status, but will not have any end results of the implementation as it will take 3-4 years for the entire University to roll it out. Do you think I could do my RAP with current information? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!

Sorry but from the information you have supplied I don't think this would result in a successful outcome. The reason I say this is that you must submit a Research and ANALYSIS Report whereas it sounds as if most of your proposed report would be just research. You really need some end results to analyse and evaluate and demonstrate some original input from you otherwise you are just describing the set-up and situation. The Information Pack makes it very clear that you cannot just report what you found. See my article on Evaluation and Analysis on our homepage www.opentuition.com/obu Sorry but I don't want you to end up wasting your efforts and being frustrated

@trephena Thank you so much for your advice! I think I need to reconsider other topics then. Could you also answer my the other question? I wonder whether a School/Faculty of an University is considered an organization? For example, I’m working in one Faculty/School of the University, but the University has total of 12 Schools/Faculties. My question is, is it ok if my RAP only focus on the school that I work with? Because I won’t have access to all information to the entire University, but only the school I’m employed. Thanks again for your help!

This would probably depend on topic chosen. For example there would be no problem using your department for Topic 6 on motivation provided you just mentioned in the limitations to your research that as it was confined to this one department the findings may not necessarily be applicable to the whole organisation. If there had been a strategic investment decision that only affected this one faculty then again that might be acceptable as long as you considered the limitations in the data and any inferences drawn. However as with your original proposal you need to have sufficient data to work with, develop and produce some original analysis / critical thought of your own rather than just report secondary data obtained from research.

What are the business models which can be used to evaluation of the T2 I'm hoping to do Evaluate the introduction of card-less transaction system to a local bank to achieve their business objectives. Please help!

Do a search on 'Change Management Models' . Also go to 'Google Scholar' to look for relevant theoretical information as you should make some reference where appropriate to the work of Kotter, Lewin, McKinsey etc or some other well known writers on the topic.

I have chosen Topic 2 for my RAP and have selected a certain company . It is a printing and publishing company (manufacturing company) . They print flyers, newspapers and books from the start(planning and ideas) , up to final product. They have had high competition from similar printing companies,and clients also move away from their services to that of neighboring countries, whose services seem cheaper due to exchange rate differences, and realized that their production capacity and services were not up to date. So they have invested in a large scale machinery imported from Germany with high cost, but promising results of higher speed, quality and capacity, with the ability to package print on cardboard and glasses as well. However, the results achieved were not in line with expectations as sales have not increased, and moreover there were high costs due to the need for a large scale retrenchment( financial objectives), though higher speed, quality and capacity have been achieved (non-financial objectives). My question is, is this type of company relevant to the topic, and please assist me in forming the right questions to be able to gather the necessary information to write 7500 words. For example what sort of documents would I need to ask for, how can I asses whether objectives have been met,what sort of models can I apply, and any any other relevant data I need to gather to write my report?

Sorry for the late response but I assume you are preparing for a P39 submission? I am wondering if this scenario might be more appropriate to Topic 14. Normally for either T2 or T14 you need detailed financial information and access to internal Information to help you evaluate the consequences of the change in technology / investment decision. Forecasts and budgets would often form part of this and with possibly some application of sensitivity analysis of the forecasts. Take a look at change management and that might give you some ideas on appropriate models. From a practical point of view neither Topic 2 nor 14 are popular topics (because the majority of students do not have direct access to first-hand info) and you will find most mentors will try to push you into another topic... on one of our forums a student found herself handing over a not inconsiderable sum (for mentioning on one of the more unusual topics) and then being shoved into doing Topic 8 because the mentor was incapable of doing any other topic. If you need a high grade then ensure you establish some of the parameters before you part with your cash and get a reputable mentor -it will take an experienced mentor to help you achieve a high grade.

@trephena Thank you for replying. Now that you mentioned it, I like the idea of doing T14 with the same company. Please explain to me what exactly T14 is asking for. However, will it still be relevant for T14 in regard to the following: 1) Is buying technology which costs around P25m considered strategic investment?(isn't strategic investment like investing in another company?) 2) The company has agreed to give access to every info like feasibility report, proposal plans and such, however, with regard to having access to detailed financial information, since the company has other activities including printing the weekly advertiser branches and many others, they said that without giving the overall consolidated accounts, they can only give the relevant departmental accounts which will show performance before and after implementation of technology. Is it okay if I use only certain departments comparative figures? 3) Would T14 still be relevant if, even though a strategic investment was made, it hasn't had much impact on the company sales and such? 4) Are PESTEL and SWOT relevant models to use for T14? Regards

A strategy is a course of action taken by a company to help it fulfil the objectives of the company. A strategic investment is a material amount spent on a specific strategy. It does not necessarily mean that it has to be in another company as it could be about entering a new market, developing a new product or diversification or in your company's case to try to ensure survival (by the sound of it). There does tend to be an overlap between some of the topic titles so in normal circumstances you could probably make a case out for either Topic 2 or 14. However Topic 2 'An evaluation of how the introduction of a new technology can assist an organisation in achieving its business objectives' seems to anticipate that the new technology will have brought the desired results (more sales and profit) Whereas Topic 14 'An appraisal of the business and financial objectives of a strategic investment decision made by an organisation and its impact on key stakeholders' seems to cater for a negative outcome (even though of course a positive one would have been desired) Whilst you can do a preliminary SWOT and PESTEL I would expect as part of the financial evaluation to see use of breakeven analysis, payback periods (perhaps with discounted cash flow if the project was funded by borrowing), so if the data you would have access to would allow you to do some of this then you would be in OK. The trick with doing many of the more 'unusual' topics is to ensure that you do adequate analysis of this type and not just describe what went on. However with the ability to access a lot of primary data you do seem to have most of what is required to produce a decent report provide you can extrapolate the relevant figures.

@trephena 1) So the topic is asking, how the strategic investment decision has achieved their business and financial objectives( whether profits/sales increased or not, position of company in the market, and so on) and impacted their key stakeholders? 2) Since the company has not undergone any change with their departments or operations since the new machine was parallel running with the old machines until full implementation, change management models would not be necessary right? 3.1) Right now I only gave access to the primary data that they will give. When I have to reference something from their financial accounts, can I just say (PPCB, 2018) without including the copy of accounts in the appendix since the accounts are not the main requirement in the question? 3.2) In relation to information from reports or project proposals also, do I reference it as (PPCB, 2018)? 3.3) Are the words, for example, "(PPCB, 2018)" included in the word count as 2 words? 3.4) After entering "(PPCB, 2018)" in the report, do I have to include a copy of the page of the project proposal in the appendix since it is a private ltd company and OBU won't know whether I am making a proper reference? 4) When collecting information for the project, it is best to get it from a variety of sources including web search and books...can you please recommend me any methods to get other secondary research methods or any websites with good articles to refer to? Sorry for the overwhelming number of questions. Your assistance is highly appreciated. Regards

1. Yes 2. No but you will be expected to demonstrate business techniques such as break-even, payback period as mentioned previously 3.1 You will be expected to supply a letter from the company on their company letterhead to certify that you have been given permission to use company data. You will be expected to include some raw data otherwise your figures cannot be checked 3.2 Yes but remember each document has to have a unique reference (see our reference guide on our homepage) 3.3. Yes that would be 2 words 3.4 Normally the documents need to be included - you may redact anything that is ultra sensitive 4. Not specifically but you could look for articles about different approaches to investment appraisal. You mightalso find something relating to academic papers on investment appraisal using the search engine 'Google Scholar'

@trephena Thanks a lot for your assistance. Highly appreciated

Hi friends, I am planning to select topic 2 for my RAP, I work a t a hospital and they have recently purchased some new equipment with advance technology, so thought I could use this for my topic, is this a good area to work on in terms of new technology?

Hello, I may have not been very clear with my question in this post, I went through most of the posts in this forum so I can get as much information as possible before posting another question, so apologies in advance if I missed anything or if I am repeating a question already asked before. I have two options for Topic 2, below are the details: Option A: A new EHR system being implemented in the group of hospitals that I am working with, it has already been implemented in one of the hospitals and is running since one year, it will be rolled out to other branches in next two years. Option B: A new surgery equipment purchased with robotic technology to assist the surgeons in accurately assessing patients physical data for better procedure and recovery. I just wanted to know if I can go with any of the above options or which will be more suitable for the topic, Option B is much easier for me to work on as it is related to the same branch I work in although Option A feels like more closely aligned with the Topic. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Although I do not have a great knowledge of this topic (and thus I have chosen not to actually mentor for it) based on my experience of being on the Marking Team Option A would seem to offer you the best opportunity to evaluate the success of the implementation. Your work needs to show cost benefit analysis -this should be both qualitative and quantitative -so discussions with those involved about what benefits were expected and how these have measured up. (You would be expected to have access to actual data and interview key personnel) Option B sounds as if it would result in mainly qualitative benefits, however if you could assess the data in terms of cost savings then it might be appropriate (but again actual data and interviews would be needed to support your findings) I am not sure what business models though that you can apply to the various options above and you would need to ensure you found a decent mentor to guide you if you really want to do Topic 2. I don't want to put you off completely but please be aware that meeting the assessment criteria with this Topic choice is not easy and unless your presentation and evaluation of the primary data is done really well you cannot expect more than just a C grade ( you need some original analysis of your own you in order to pass).

@GillianM Thank you so much for your valuable feedback, I always felt Option A was better, the person I am thinking of as my mentor is the Internal Audit Manager and an ACCA member as well, so I will be taking his advise on my options and other topics before I start. So far I have cost-benefit analysis and SWOT analysis on my mind, will be reading articles on this online as well, any additional advice on the business models from others will help me a lot.

@trephena @Gillianm please assist to clarify on submission new rules in information pack. I started my research project in 2017 and due to other engagements I did not complete the research. I would like to submit the research in May 2020. In my analysis I did a revenue comparison pre and after the introduction of the technology. The new technology was introduced in 2015 and my comparison was for years ,2012,2013 and 2014 vs 2015 2016 and 2017. Where I need clarification is on new rules in the information pack that you must use last 3yrs' accounts available before the start of the submission period, does it imply that I cant submit a research on technology introduced in 2015 considering that it is more than 3years since its introduction or that am restricted in using accounts for 2017,2018 and 2019 against period prior to introduction of the technology?. Thanks in advance.

As your situation is rather complicated I think your best option is to email the university at [email protected] and get an answer direct. You will then have reliable information and if they permit you to use your current company, you would then have an email to upload with your submission as proof of this..