Blackbook Project on IT Professional Perception on Online-Offline Shopping

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project titled “IT Professionals Perception on Online Shopping with respect to

Offline Shopping” is conducted at R2 International Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore which is a

London based IT consulting and software company.

R2 International Pvt. Ltd was founded in the year 1998. It is a privately held company

with investments from global venture capital companies. R2 International is

headquartered in London, United Kingdom with regional offices in Domlur, Bangalore.

This company is owned by two brothers Mr. Tareiq Sheik and Mr. Umer Sheik.

The study on R2 International Pvt. Ltd involves has two sections:

The first section covers the working of the organization and the study of various

departments of R2 International where the financial status of the organization is studied.

The second section is pertaining to the study of IT professional’s perception of online

shopping with respect to offline shopping

The study conducted is to evaluate the perception of IT professionals towards online

shopping and offline shopping

Objectives of the study

Primary objectives

• To find out the most convenient way of shopping.

• To find out the overall experience of IT professionals in online shopping.

Secondary objectives

Alliance University, 2009-2011

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• To find out the factors that decides the choice of online/offline shopping.

• To find out the desired mode of payment.

• To find out the offers provided by online shopping.

The perception of IT professionals is analyzed by implementation of survey

methodology for which questionnaire if used as the tool and the IT professionals are

allowed to express suggestions, complaints etc. This would help the company to take

improved promotional activities.

The present study is based on collection of Primary data and Secondary data. The

data is collected by conducting a survey using questionnaires and information is also

obtained from the company and through surveys where individual opinions are

obtained.

The project study covers the IT Professional’s Perception on Online Shopping with

respect to Offline shopping and the location chosen to conduct this study is Bangalore

in specifically in the IT consulting company R2 International Pvt. Ltd.

The study has following findings

• IT professionals basically preferred online shopping. Most of them were general

users of online shopping.

• The majority of the respondents were satisfied with the quality of goods delivered to

them against on-line order.


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• Most of the respondent preferred internet as the mode for shopping.

• Majority of the respondents have good opinion about the online shopping compared

to offline shopping.

The study has following suggestions

To improvise advertising and additional service levels in the changing environment

and also more sales promotion for respondents who shop online.

Customer complaints and suggestions should be taken seriously and they should be

worked upon to improve efficiency and services provided by the shop owners.

To assure that damaged goods be replaced instantly combined with special offers

which would make the respondents satisfied.

The portals should be updated on a regular basis and more products with pictures,

expiry date or manufacturing date should be mentioned.


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INTRODUCTION

The Software History has preserved and proved to be one of the largest and most

influential industries in the world today. The industry originated with the

entrepreneurial computer software and services companies in 1950s and 1960s, and

then grew dramatically through the 1970s and 1980s to become a market force rivaling

that of the computer hardware companies, and by the 1990s had become the supplier of

technical know-how that transformed the way people worked, played and

communicated every day of their lives. The Software History Centre is working to

preserve for the future generations information about the companies, people, products,

and events that shaped the evolution of this vital industry.

Software Generations

First Generation

During the 1950's the first computers were programmed by changing the wires and set

tens of dials and switches. One for every bit sometimes these settings could be stored

on paper tapes that looked like a ticker tape from the telegraph - a punch tape - or

punched card. With these tapes and or cards the machine was told what, how and when

to do something.

To have a flawless program a programmer needed to have a very detailed knowledge of

the computer where he or she worked on. A small mistake caused the computer to

crash.

Second Generation

Because the first generation "languages" were regarded as very user unfriendly people

set out to look for something else, faster and easier to understand.

The result was the birth of the second generation languages (2GL) at the mid of the

1950's


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These generation made use of symbols and are called assemblers. An assembler is a

program that translates symbolic instructions to processor instructions. But in the 1950's

there was still not a single processor but a whole assembly rack with umpteen tubes and

or relays.

A programmer did no longer have to work with one's and zero's when using an

assembly language. He or she can use symbols instead. These symbols are called

mnemonics because of the mnemonic character these symbols had (STO = store). Each

mnemonic stands for one single machine instruction.

But an assembler still works on a very low level with the machine. For each processor a

different assembler was written.

Third Generation

At the end of the 1950's the 'natural language' interpreters and compilers were made.

But it took some time before the new languages were accepted by enterprises.

About the oldest 3GL is FORTRAN (Formula Translation) which was developed

around 1953 by IBM. This is a language primarily intended for technical and scientific

purposes. Standardization of FORTRAN started 10 years later, and a recommendation

was finally published by the International Standardization Organization (ISO) in 1968.

FORTRAN 77 is now standardized

COBOL (= Common Business Oriented Language) was developed around 1959 and is

like its name says primarily used, up till now, in the business world.

With a 3GL there was no longer a need to work in symbolics. Instead a programmer

could use a programming language what resembled more to natural language. Be it a

stripped version with some two or three hundred 'reserved' words. This is the period

(1970's) were the now well known so called 'high level' languages like BASIC,

PASCAL, ALGOL, FORTRAN, PL/I, and C have been born.

Fourth Generation

A 4GL is an aid which the end user or programmer can use to build an application

without using a third generation programming language. Therefore knowledge of a

programming language is strictly spoken not needed.


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The primary feature is that you do not indicate HOW a computer must perform a task

but WHAT it must do. In other words the assignments can be given on a higher

functional level.

A few instructions in a 4GL will do the same as hundreds of instructions in a lower

generation language like COBOL or BASIC. Applications of 4GL's are concentrating

on the daily performed tasks such like screen forms, requests for data, change data, and

making hard copies. In most of these cases one deals with Data Base Management

Systems (DBMS).

The main advantage of this kind of languages is that a trained user can create an

application in a much shorter time for development and debugging than would be

possible with older generation programming language. Also a customer can be involved

earlier in the project and can actively take part in the development of a system, by

means of simulation runs, long before the application is actually finished.

Today the disadvantage of a 4GL lays more in the technological capacities of hardware.

Since programs written in a 4GL are quite a bit larger they require more disk space and

demanding a larger part of the computer's memory capacity than 3GL's. But the

hardware of technologically high standard is made more available every day, not

necessarily cheaper, so in the long run restrictions will disappear.

Considering the arguments one can say that the costs saved in development could now

be invested in hardware of higher performance and stimulate the development of the

4GL's.

In the 1990's the expectations of a 4GL language are too high. And the use of it only

will be picked up by Oracle and SUN that have enough power to pull it through.

However in most cases the 4GL environment is often misused as a documentation tool

and a version control implement. In very few cases the use of such programs are

increasing productivity. In most cases they only are used to lay the basis for information

systems. And programmers use all kinds of libraries and toolkits to give the product its

final form.

Fifth Generation


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This term is often misused by software companies that build programming

environments. Till today one can only see vague contours. When one sees a nice

graphical interface it is attempting to call that a fifth generation. But alas changing the

makeup does not make a butterfly into an eagle.

Yes some impressions are communicated from professional circles that are making

these environments and sound promising.

But again the Fifth generation only exists in the brains of those trying to design this

generation, YET!

Many attempts are made but are stranding on the limitations of hardware, and strangely

enough on the views and insight of the use of natural language. We need a different

speak for this!

But it is a direction that will be taken by these languages: no longer prohibiting for the

use of natural language and intuitive approach towards the program (language) to be

developed

The basis of this is laid in the 1990's by using sound, moving images and agents - a

kind of advanced macro's of the 1980's.

And it is only natural that neural networks will play an important role.

Software for the end user will be (may be) based on principles of knowbot-agents. An

autonomous self changing piece of software that creates new agents based on the

interaction of the end user and interface. A living piece of software, as you may say.

And were human alike DNA / RNA (intelligent?) algorithms can play a big role.


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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Software Industry is rightly the pride of India in the market. The Indian Software

Industry has been doing consistently well during last few years recording an annual

average growth rate of above 50%. India is on track to emerge as one of the world’s

leading centers for IT enabled services – both sizable global opportunities of US$ 110

billion respectively.

However, a significant opportunity area still eludes India Inc. products. India

has only been able to capture a merger 0.2% of this US$ 180 billion market.

While the Indian IT service have been trying to penetrate deep into the US

markets, global players which have development centers in India have started targeting

the domestic IT services market.

The global software services market is expected to grow by around 9% in

2012(as per Gartner) Also, NASSCOM projects the IT services (including ITES) to

grow by 30%-32% in FY11 to reach revenues of US$ 11.2 billion, while ITES segment

is expected to grow by 40% to reach revenues of US$ 5.1 billion.

Gartner group vice-president and chief of research Craig Baty has been on

record saying that at a growth rate of 17.3%, India is expected to be the fastest growing

IT services market in the Asia-Pacific region as compared to the global average of six

percent, making it faster than its Asian counterparts, including Singapore, China and

Australia.

“By 2014 Indian domestic market will be almost 1.5 times the size of the Singapore

market. The growth will primarily be driven by government contracts, banking and

financial service industry (BFSI) and manufacturing sector.” He said in the report.

The Indian software industry has been growing at a fast clip over the last few years.


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Major reasons for the same include the outsourcing boom, greater competition

worldwide, resulting in companies having to cut costs and spend more on technology to

become efficient.

The other reasons are high quality of services provided by Indian firms, constant

diversification into new markets, and movement up the software value chain, resulting

in IT companies getting better billing rates for their services

OPPURTUNITIES BY THE YEAR 2014

Table 1: Software sector

Year - 2014 Year - 2011IT Services $38.5 billion $23 billionSoftware Products $19.5 billion $8 billionIT Enabled Services $19.0 billion $15 billionE-business $ 10.0 billion $4 billionTotal $ 87.0 billion $50 billion

Success stories of offshore product development

• Microsoft with two development centers on each in Bangalore and Hyderabad

had announced plans to make Bangalore its largest non-US based center.

• SAP which has a significant Indian operation, with around 700 people had

announced plans to increase the strength of this operation by around 50%.

• Novell with its center in Hyderabad plans to have over 20% of its R&D done out

of India in the next 2-3 years.


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• Oracle with two centers- one each in Hyderabad and Bangalore – has announced

plans to ramp up the strength of the center to around 2000 in a few years.


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COMPANY PROFILE

In a business environment increasingly averse to risk, selecting the right staffing

provider to develop and implement viable people resourcing solutions is critical. Failure

to make the right decision, as many have experienced to their cost, can have dramatic

consequences. It was on this basis that R2 International was formed, because R2

understands that the best run businesses are always on the lookout for difficult to find

talent and our ultimate aim is to become Europe’s premier supplier of skilled IT staff.

R2 appreciates the key to our business is customer satisfaction, whether you are a

candidate looking for a new position or a client looking to fill a position. It strives

towards all round customer satisfaction and a testament to our success is the amount of

repeat business we get. With R2 International as your staffing partner you have a

flexible, cost-effective supplier that can deliver the people, or the position you are

looking for.

Since its formation, R2 International has experienced solid growth and gained

invaluable exposure across a broad range of industry sectors. Already in such a short

space of time, organizations throughout Europe are increasingly turning to R2

International for reliable advice and assistance with the deployment of IT Professionals

for their business critical projects.

Time and time again, the reason for selecting R2 International is due to its ability to

quickly asses our clients' needs, to embrace these needs and to deliver on time and

within budget whilst always managing expectations. All R2 International’s customers

benefit as a result of our ability to take responsibility - whilst allowing our clients to

always retain control. Irrespective of whether R2 International is working alongside

your own business and technical teams, or whether you prefer us to work as part of a

larger external team, you can be confident that the level of service and commitment

provided by R2 will remain the same.


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R2 International Limited is a London based IT Consulting and Software Services

Company with an Offshore Development Centre in the IT hub of Asia – Bangalore,

India (which is as well the Silicon Valley of India). All their efforts are directed

towards creating maximum value for their customer and maintain long term business

relations.

Depending on the geography and the business domain, R2 International offers tailor

made services to its clients. R2 is committed to the world’s best practices and

methodologies. Company’s matured processes allow it to handle very complex projects

and provide lowered cost to its customers. They mainly focus on the European Market

to provide the Remote Access Delivery services.

They follow a methodological approach of identifying their customer's business, vision,

prioritize business needs, identify the right technology and then go ahead with

implementing the solution. Their mature process allows it to handle very complex

projects and provide lowered cost to their customers. They are very flexible in the

Remote Access Delivery model (RAD) and all their endeavors are directed towards

achieving 100% Customer Delight.

Founded in 1999, R2 International is a privately held company with investments from

global venture capital companies. R2 has its subsidiary branch in the IT hub of Asia -

Bangalore, India.


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CAREER GROWTH

The career path for R2 International that it provides is unique to itself. They consider

each position level carefully and award appropriate responsibilities as you achieve new

career goals. At every stage in your career, you gain new credentials that will prepare

for your next position.

Their 180-degree system provides feedback from your peers, subordinates, career

manager and superiors that will help in your personal growth and overall development.

Their skip-level feedback system encourages feedback at all levels. The open minded

approach in their entire endeavor will bring out the best in you.

The kind of flexibility and opportunity to pursue multiple careers (projects) and

unhindered growth, while continuing in the same organization is not quite common.

DEVELOPMENT

At R2 International, they believe in offering much more than just a job. They strive to

give you a full-fledged career. Towards this end, they provide you opportunities to

work with global leaders, multiple Tech domain and Full Product Design cycle. A value

added career that would provide experience of the worlds, services and products.

Buddy Concept

At R2 International, they have a warm and informal culture. The Buddy concept is one

such way to help the new joiners adjust and get settled to the work place. The focus of

this program is to build relationships and break the ice faster. Here they allot a buddy to

the joiner who assists in his operational functioning as well as socializing.


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Career Manager

The R2 International Career Manager Program helps new employees integrate

themselves with the organization in an effective, comfortable and accelerated manner.

This program ensures that new employees are guided, nurtured, encouraged and

motivated by seniors in the organization. The focus of this program is to build

relationships and add to learning which is quite specific and unique to R2 International.

Career Manager is a one-to-one professional relationship between people with different

levels of experience and expertise. A Career Manager helps employees in personal

growth as well as expectation management. It facilitates the less experienced people to

learn the skills (Functional & Behavioral), attitudes and values required to be successful

in the workplace. It aligns organizational goals with individual aspirations. It caters to

succession planning and individual learning curves. The manager would also smooth

the progress of development of high flyers as well as low flyers.

Training

R2 International has a comprehensive new employee orientation program for all the

joiners that aim at assimilating them into R2 International’s vision, values, beliefs and

our focus areas. They call this the 'Boot Camp', where an insight in the important areas

of operation is imparted. This ensures we function as one integrated team rather than as

islands of individual excellence.

R2 International equips its people with the right skills to stay on top with the latest

technology and business trends. Their strategy is to ensure that they develop highly

competent professionals through out the organization, while nurturing the ambitions

and growth of the individual. They have continuous proficiency level assessments and

identification of training needs. They aim to provide 40 hours of training per employee

per annum.


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SERVICES

The ranges of services rendered by R2 International vary from Onsite Development,

Off-shore Development and Professional Services to providing Custom Application

Development Services and Application Maintenance Services.

ONSITE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT


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R2 International Limited, with offices in London & Bangalore, is a diversified IT

staffing business with a track record of delivering results throughout Europe. The

Economic climate is constantly changing and for organizations to remain competitive in

today's evolving business landscape, time and cost are ultimately the biggest factors –

time to market, time to launch new products, time to respond to customers, the costs

involved how profitable it will be, etc. Organizations are faced with a growing number

of challenges and business risks due to rapid advances in technology and increasing

pressures on margins. To assist our clients and give them the competitive advantage, R2

International has been in the market for over a decade now in assisting all its clients

with onsite placements of developers for all their software development.

R2 International offers product co-development services to help businesses accelerate

their product development cycles and reduce time to market. Their services are

designed to handle every stage of the product development process right from design to

testing.

Several leading software product companies have partnered with R2 International to

fulfill their engineering and maintenance needs across domains and technologies.

They help their clients engineer top quality applications and develop effective strategies

to cope with technological change during product life cycles while ensuring them to get

more out of your engineering dollar and improving time to market with precise quality.

R2 International is a leading provider of enterprise-class software solutions for the

clients. They offer services that allow companies to interact naturally with their

customers, and provide real time information and all its services are rendered real time

(Central European Time).

R2 International endeavors to provide complete solution to customers. Many times, this

means providing services along with software products and applications.


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Every R2 International solution starts with a partnership. Their commitment to their

customers’ business is incomparable. They place an emphasis on collaboration with

their clients throughout the lifecycle of their relationship, from the initial requirements

gathering phase to ongoing support and maintenance.

Since R2 International operates in different geographies across the European and UK

market, their services are tuned to meet the customer requirements in individual

markets and tailored to specific customer’s need.

OFF-SHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

R2 International has developed a unique dedicated Offshore Delivery Model that retains

all the benefits of traditional offshore development whilst removing any of the

downsides. Our Technology Delivery Centre based in Bangalore allows our clients the

option of augmenting their existing software development team with our highly skilled

developers from our large pool of talented professionals. Our Delivery Centre works as

a virtual extension of the client's project team while still allowing the client to retain

complete control of the project and its deliverables, a situation that is sometimes lost

with traditional offshore development. By having the offshore developers access the

client's system through a Virtual Private Network the work can be done in real time and

in the same development environment which in turn maintains consistency and control

for the client.

An Offshore Development Center or Remote Access Delivery (RAD) Centre is a

dedicated development center, located outside the customers' premises, solely engaged

in developing, testing and deploying software solutions and applications. The purpose

behind an RAD is to take advantages of the technological know-how, cost advantages

or the reduced time to market.

R2 International assists in establishing dedicated Offshore Development Center for its

customers. The complete office space, infrastructure and resources will be dedicated to

the client projects. The dedicated offshore development center can be either a separate


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location or may be housed within the premises of R2 International's development center

based on client requirements. Clients can have their own Project Managers / Technical

Managers managing the projects, if required. The dedicated RAD Centre is particularly

advantageous to customers requiring a dedicated team in India because of the various

advantages that India offers without the necessity to establish its own facility.

R2 International works on a global services model that is built on two fundamental

premises - delivering on the SLA (Service Level Agreement) and leveraging cost

benefits of offshore service delivery. This model leverages R2 International's strong

transition process to rapidly take ownership of the application, demonstrate and prove

offshore supportability and then transfer support to the offshore location in a controlled

and predictable manner. Feedback and review mechanisms built into the model help

manage size without compromising service delivery.

The kinds of services provided R2 International’s RAD Centre are Product

Development services, Custom Application Development, Testing services, Remote

Maintenance and Support services.

R2 International manages it offshore development at its state of the art facility in

Bangalore, India. The Offshore development center is strategically located having

definite advantages in terms of cost and availability of technical manpower.

Top five reasons why customers choose R2 International’s RAD services are:

• Improve Business Focus.

• Access to World Class Capabilities.

• Accelerate Re-engineering Benefits.

• Share Risks.

• Re-direct their Resources to more Strategic Activities.


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Benefits

The R2 Offshore Delivery Model offers a number of business advantages, including

• Significantly reduced costs

• Opportunity to concentrate on core competences

• No need to recruit and train new employees

• No Administration and HR management costs

• Reduce investment in hardware and premises

• Fast and easy access to professionals in a specific field

• Ability to undertake projects that require specialist skills

• Availability of diversified technology resources not available in-house

• Fixed Price / Fixed Time Model – You only pay for the work that has been done

• Get more man-month output in less pay

• Work is completed in real time during your office hours

• 24/7 operation allowing extra work to be completed during busy periods or

deadlines.

• You retain complete control of the project

• Strong communication on Email / Messenger (MSN, Yahoo, Skype) and Phone

• Consistent Quality

• Expertise in sourcing niche skill sets

• Part of an International staffing organization so the understanding of Client

requirements is high

Their services include


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Project Based Approach of Offshore Development

R2 International delivers complete project management solutions as an extension of

their core R&D organization. By helping clients define innovative project features and

functionally that satisfy evolving market demand, their solutions enable clients to

launch compelling products ahead of their competition.

R2 International engages with software companies through all project development

phases, from requirement gathering to general availability.

• Requirement Gathering: Development product requirement definition, use cases and

technical architecture.

• Release/Feature Planning: Creating detailed product release plan/project plan and

determining release schedule.

• Feature Design: Development detailed design, identifying development tools and

standard, design reviews, configuration management planning, test planning and

quality assurance planning.

Consultative Approach of offshore Development

The outsourcing of Software Development projects has been around for several years

and three distinct models have developed: Pure Offshore Model; Onsite Model; and

Onsite –Offshore Model.

Pure Offshore Model - Under this model, the entire project is executed offshore by an

outsourcing company. They are responsible for timely deliveries of all work during the

different stages of the project lifecycle and often a dedicated offshore project manager

is appointed to interact between the client and the development team ensuring that all

work is carried out as per the requirements laid out in the project plan. Although this


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model provides an excellent cost advantage, clients often lose control of the project and

misinterpretations of the client's requirements are not uncommon.

Onsite Model – To gain more control of the project some firms adopted the model

where developers were brought over from cheaper countries to work onsite at the

client's premises. This certainly gave the clients more control of the development

process, however, the costs in comparison to the pure offshore model were much higher

and there was the added issue of organizing work visas for the developers brought over

from overseas.

Onsite – Offshore Model – This model was created to find a compromise. Under this

model one (or more) of the offshore team members is deployed at the client site and

works as a liaison between the client and the offshore team. A typical onsite offshore

team ratio varies anywhere from 10-90 to 30- 70, depending on the specific set of

services involved and the scale of the project. The appropriate team ratio for a project is

arrived by jointly taking into account the cost, services, project needs and effort. This

model still has a number of downsides, namely that of too much control being taken

away and the need still for organizing visa and work permits.

The R2 Offshore Delivery Model is the natural choice for any organization looking to

try the offshore route. This model not only is cost effective but also allows the Client to

retain control of the software development process. There is no hassle of work permits

and visa and because of the fixed price model the clients know exactly what they are

paying for.

Development

Their experience in development and maintaining software products has enabled us to

setup very sophisticated process of product development to ensure quick and quality

delivery. They understand that product development needs very special people behind it

and their teams reflect this special aptitude and attitude.


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Their team also works with the client’s development teams to manage the various major

and minor releases.


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QUALITY

R2 International follows quality standards in line with SEI CMM and ISO 9001-2000

methodologies. The quality assurance (QA) department at R2 International provides the

framework and ensures that the entire software development process follows an

established standard. It is their responsibility to ensure that all deliveries conform to the

quality requirements according to the customer specifications. R2 International has

software development, verifications and validation experience on a wide range of

platforms.

Their Software development process is guided by Industry leading Enterprise Unified

Process (EUP). They have customized EUP to suit the SEI CMM methodologies. They

give proper emphasis on understanding customer business requirements, detailed

planning around these requirements and defect prevention activities in the overall

software development plan. The customers can always view the status of their projects

using an online Project Status Tracking Tool (PSTT).

R2 International follows standard frameworks and has developed some of its own

sophisticated frameworks to reduce the project implementation time and cost. Their

frameworks evolve to incorporate the latest of technologies, to perform better and to

make systems robust. With the help of these frameworks they are rest assured of

spending more time on testing and performance of the application rather than taking

time in building an application from scratch.

Their project team consists of development and system testing team. Both these team,

reports to the project manger. In addition to that they have an independent software

quality assurance (SQA) engineer, who is a neutral member of the project and

objectively reports the project related issues to the company senior management as well

as to the customer.


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The SQA and testing team at R2 International performs the following activities

independently

Test planning

Writing system test cases based on business needs of customer

Manual functional testing

Regression testing

Performance testing

Audit of the project to check conformity with agreed company processes

Process

Their software development process is guided by industry leading enterprise unified

process (EUP). They have customized EUP to suit the SEI CMM methodologies that

they practice in our day-to-day project execution. They give proper emphasis to

understanding customer business requirements, detailed planning around these

requirements and defect prevention activities in the overall software development plan.

Project related metrics is collected from time to time to ensure that project is on the

right track. The typical information that they measure about the project is schedule

variance, effort variance, requirement stability index and the cost of quality. Immediate

action is taken if these parameters go beyond their prescribed tolerance zone. They also

make a point to discuss these with their customers in a transparent manner and jointly

take initiative to bring it under control


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McKinsey’s 7’s Model

Any business organization will have the main objective is the wealth maximization to

accomplish its objective. It will have certain principles and self-imposed rules in

addition with the expectation on its employees. The responsibilities of an employee and

expectation of the organization goes hand in hand, each are complimentary.

For an organization to perform better and accomplish its goals and

objectives, the culture prevailing in the organization is very important. Designing and

implementing the well-accomplished operational standards can create the best

organizational climate that supports peak performance through integrated activity.

According to McKinsey, the culture of the organization has 7 basic

dimensions, which represent the core managerial activities. These 7 dimensions are

mutually related. They are inseparable and they are the main part of the organization.

These seven basic dimensions that decide the fate of organization are:

Structure

Skills

Systems

Style

Staff

Shared Values

Strategy


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The seven factors are shown in the diagram below:

Fig 1: McKinsey’s 7s

Structure

Systems

Style

Strategy

Skills

Staff

SharedValues

The 3Ss across the top of the model are described as ‘Hard Ss’:

Strategy: The direction and scope of the company over the long term.

Structure: The basic organization of the company, its departments, reporting lines,

areas of expertise and responsibility (and how they inter-relate).

Systems: Formal and informal procedures that governs everyday activity, covering

everything from management information systems, through to the systems at the point

of contact with the customer (retail systems, call centre systems, online

Systems, etc).


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The 4Ss across the bottom of the model are less tangible, more cultural in nature, and

were termed ‘Soft Ss’ by McKinsey:

Skills: The capabilities and competencies that exist within the company. What it does

best.

Shared Values: The values and beliefs of the company. Ultimately they guide

employees towards ‘valued’ behaviour.

Staff: The Company’s people resources and how they are developed, trained and

motivated.

Style: The leadership approach of top management and the company’s overall

operating approach.

In combination they provide another effective framework for analyzing the organization

and its activities. In a marketing-led company they can be used to explore the extent to

which the company is working coherently towards a distinctive and motivating place in

the mind of consumer.


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Structure

The basic requirement for any organization is to achieve its goals and objectives

require proper management and management is based on the flow of organizational

structure.

TechUnified organizational chart:

Director

Finance Manager Project Manager(Software Manager)

Marketing ManagerHR Manager

FinanceExecutives

FinanceExecutives

HRExecutives

HRExecutives

HRExecutives

HRExecutives

MarketingExecutives

MarketingExecutives

Team Member 3

TeamLeader 2

TeamLeader 1

Team Member 2

Team Member 1

Team Member 3

Team Member 2

Team Member 1


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Skills

Techunified resources have good mix of domain technology skills.

Techunified’s QA resources are skilled and have knowledge of various testing

tools.

Techunified enables us to be abreast of emerging technologies, avail of research

support and consultancy as well as facilitate ready access to a pool of the brightest

engineers in India.

Systems

Project Planning and Tracking System

Intelligent project planning ensures that detailed project estimation is developed with

respect to baseline requirements. A project management including deliverables,

schedule, staffing, project communication, quality, configuration management, change

management plans are developed as additional project planning documents.

Knowledge Management System

The Knowledge management system enables collection, storage and sharing of critical

reusable knowledge and experiences.

Techbase is an electronic knowledge management system and corporate repository for

technical knowledge and information sharing. Interface is through any standard

browser. It enables collecting, storing and sharing of critical reusable knowledge and

experiences among all employees in the organization. Techbase facilitates structured

organization of knowledge so that retrieval is simpler. It offers a sophisticated and

efficient search mechanism for knowledge artifacts, which can be accessed by

individuals or teams of an organization. Appropriate access control and security for

various sections of information is provided based on the user profiles. The system is

expandable for new streams of knowledge as well.


29

Style

Techunified is an organization that runs in a participative style. The day-to-day

activities are planned and carried out by effective communication between the superiors

and their subordinates. When a problem arises concerned departments come together

and take decisions to solve the problems. Everyone’s duties are well defined and there

is no interference.

Staff

Techunified is 200 + strong employee company. Techunified has a non-discriminatory,

equal opportunity selection process reflected by the fact that we have employees from

outside India. The focus of our recruitment and selection is on learning ability and

attitude in addition to skills and aptitude.

Ability to attract and retain the best talent

a. Their reputation is established as a stable employer, working on cutting-edge

technologies.

b. A continuous training methodology, focused on technology and behavioural

skills upgradation

c. “Knowledge Portal” that is oriented towards the systematic acquisition,

creation, and retrieval and sharing of knowledge.

Shared values

CULTURES

TechUnified strives to provide an environment that is stimulating, with high levels of

motivation, empowerment and recognition, removing obstacles that hinder creativity. In

this energized atmosphere, they share success while setting new standards of

excellence.


30

They would like to describe our people and our work place in simple terms. But it isn't

easy when what they are trying to describe is a certain feeling of energy and vitality, of

freshness, of a place where people are unafraid to voice new ideas, of a place where

there is minimal hierarchy.

They offer challenging and exciting client engagements with adequate mentorship,

world class working environment, ample opportunities to learn, with the freedom to

initiate and help people in realizing their career goals.

While they have high end work days, 'fun' is very much part of our work life. They

enjoy frequent get-togethers, whether at office or out with families. Our non-

hierarchical structure and enabling work environment promotes free flow of

information and expertise.

Career at TechUnified means learn and grow continuously. This is the energizing and

exciting world of TechUnified :

Open environment

Flexi work schedules

Encourages 'Out of Box Thinking'

Performance driven organization

Foster a creative work environment

Constant learning and personal enrichment

VALUES

TechUnified's mission is to provide quality Information Technology Solutions for

overseas and the domestic markets. Our endeavor is to provide innovative solutions at

competitive prices and world-class quality.

Success


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Satisfied customers are essential to our success. They achieve total customer

satisfaction by understanding precisely what the customer wants and delivering it

flawlessly time after time.

Integrity

They hold themselves to the highest ethical standards, always honoring our

commitments. They take personal responsibility for their actions and treat everyone

fairly with trust and respect.

Communication

They are committed to transparency and the free flow of information regardless of rank

and power so that every one has access to the most complete data resulting in superior

decision making at all levels. They strive for open and honest communication between

customers and employees.

Teamwork

They recognize their competitive advantage is and always will be people. They

continually learn, share ideas and knowledge. They believe influence should be based

on technical competence and knowledge. They encourage cooperative efforts at every

level and across all activities in their company.


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Quality

They strive for continuous quality improvement in everything that we do, so that they

will rank among the world's premier firms in customer and employee satisfaction.

Strategy

Mission - World Class Information Technology Solutions

TechUnified's mission is to provide quality Information Technology Solutions for

overseas and the domestic markets. Their endeavor is to provide innovative solutions at

competitive prices and world-class quality.

Vision

To emerge as a preferred Global Quality Information Technology Solutions provider to

companies thriving to have an edge in technology.

Policy

To deliver quality solutions and work towards achieving 100% Customer Delight. To

maintain integrity and confidentiality of customer details, and continual improvement

of quality standards, processes and methods.


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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study on “IT professional’s perception of online shopping versus offline

shopping” has undertaken to analyze the opinion of the IT professionals towards the

online shopping comparing with the offline shopping.

The research was conducted to study the perception of IT professionals towards

online shopping and to know the preferences of IT professionals, opinion about the

quality and price of online shopping. The research was also concentrated on other

factors like satisfaction level of IT professionals and additional features of online

shopping compared to the offline shopping.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary objectives

To find out the most convenient way of shopping.

To find out the overall experience of IT professionals in online shopping.

Secondary objectives

To find out the factors that decides the choice of online/offline shopping.

To find out the desired mode of payment.

To find out the offers provided by online shopping.


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SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study was conducted in Bangalore city only. It covers 200 respondents in

Bangalore city. The study is very much qualitative rather than quantitative.

The study helps the company to take right direction towards implementing

online shopping. The research is performed on the IT professionals and the analyzed

through various research techniques.

LIMITATIONS

Most of the respondents unwilling to fill the questionnaire.

Lack of time.

Sample size is 200.

Due to shortage of time the survey had to be restricted only in certain area.

Difficult to collect the information from the respondents completely at the time

of the study.


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OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT

Market:-

It is a place where individuals and organization with purchasing power desire

and have the authority to buy the products.

Marketing:-

It is a social managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what

they need and want through creating, offering and exchange products and services.

Consumer Perception:-

Consumer perceives various services and assesses whether they have

experienced quality service and whether they received great value for the price paid.

Customer & Consumer:-

A customer can be defined as all the individuals and households who buy goods

and services for personal consumption.

Consumers can be defined as the end users of the product and services.

Customer Satisfaction:-

Customer satisfaction is a broader concept. It means the level of satisfaction

from any products. The ultimate consumption in the cause of customer satisfaction.

Customer


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satisfaction is nothing but the measure between the desired and actual outcome from a

service.

Online Shopping:-

Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or

services over the internet. Popular websites that allow online purchasing include

Amazon, eBay, and Buy.com. Online shopping is popular mainly because of its speed

and ease of use.

It is also a process in which images or listings of goods and services are viewed

remotely via electronic means, e.g., a vendor's Web site, items are selected for

purchase, and the transaction is completed electronically with a credit card or an

established credit account.


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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study on hand is primarily an exploratory research which seeks to examine the IT

professional’s perception of online shopping versus offline shopping in the Bangalore

city. It has been developed under the framework of both primary and secondary data.

With a view to assimilating first hand information, an questionnaire was tailored

both with qualitative and quantitative data. The questionnaire was administered to as

many as 200 respondents from all part of Bangalore city.

DATA COLLECTION

The project study is based on collection of

Primary data and

Secondary data

Primary data:-

The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire which consist

of both open-end and closed-end questions of multiple choice and dichotomous.

Secondary data:-

Secondary data was obtained mainly from internet and company broaches and

manuals obtained from the company.

Sample size:-

The sample size of study is 200.

Sample unit:-

Sample unit of the study is software companies across Bangalore city.

Sample design:-

The sampling method used in this study is convenience sample random in

nature.


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Techniques used for data collection:-

The technique or tools used for the data were:

Questionnaire

Dichotomous questions

Multiple choice questions

Questionnaire:

A questionnaire is one of the forms of data collection, which consists of a

number of questions printed in a definite order on a set of forms. It directs the

questioning process.

Dichotomous questions:

It is a type of question where respondent has two possible answers i.e. yes or

no. This type of questions is used to get the answer quickly and faster and also helps to

make easy tabulation.

Multiple choice questions:

In this multiple choice questions more than 3 or 4 options will be given where

the respondents will choose one of the options, which they like.


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ANALYSIS & DATA INTERPRETATION

TABLE-1

TABLE SHOWING HOW OFTEN THE RESPONDENTS USUALLY GO FOR SHOPPING IN A MONTH

Frequency Per Month No. of Respondents PercentageLess than once 36 181 or 2 times 80 403 or 4 times 38 19More than 4 times 46 23

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 40% usually go

once or twice for shopping every month. 23% of them usually go for more than 4 times,

19% of them usually go for 3 or 4 times and the remaining 18% of them usually go less

than once in a month for shopping in malls.

Inference

From the above table and analysis, it can be inferred that a majority of the

respondents usually shop once or twice in a month. Conventional buyers choose to shop

less as more time is taken whereas buyers who also purchase on the internet, will

probably shop more based on impulse. Hence the opportunity to capture a higher

percentage of buyers is higher when they shop on the internet.


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GRAPH-1

GRAPH SHOWING HOW OFTEN THE RESPONDENTS USUALLY GO FOR SHOPPING

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Lessthanonce

1 or 2times

3 or 4times

Morethan 4times

% of respondents


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TABLE-2

TABLE SHOWING HOW MANY HOURS THE RESPONDENTS USUALLY SPEND ON SHOPPING

Hours No. of Respondents PercentageLess than one hour 36 181 hour 48 242 hours 56 28More than 2 hours 60 30

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 30% spend more

than two hours for shopping. 28% of them spend two hours, 24% of them spend one

hour and the remaining 18% of them usually spend less than one hour for shopping.

Inference

From the above table and analysis, it can be inferred that a majority of the

respondents usually spend more than two hours for shopping in malls. Offline buyers

spend more time because physically shopping for objects take more time whereas on

the internet, shopping is generally done in the case of impulse and time taken to shop is

much less.


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GRAPH-2

GRAPH SHOWING HOW MANY HOURS THE RESPONDENTS USUALLY SPEND ON SHOPPING

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Less than1 hour

1 hour 2 hours Morethan 2hours

% of respondents


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TABLE-3

TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS ACCESS INTERNET FOR SHOPPING

Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageYes 132 66No 68 34

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 66% used to

access internet for shopping and the remaining 34% of them do not access internet for

shopping.

Inference

From the above table and analysis, it can be concluded that a majority

(Approximately 2/3rd) of the respondents usually access internet for shopping. This

proves that a high percentage of shoppers are influenced by the internet purchasing and

thus a high correlation can be struck wherein shoppers shop from the internet, use less

time and shop more times in a month than their offline counterparts.


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GRAPH-3

GRAPH SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS ACCESS INTERNET FOR SHOPPING

Yes66%

No34%


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TABLE-4

TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS PREFER ONLINE SHOPPING

Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageYes 124 62No 76 38Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 62% prefer online

shopping and the remaining 38% of them do not prefer online shopping.

Inference

From the above table and analysis, it can be concluded that a majority (62%) of

the respondents prefer online shopping. As per the results of the earlier question, about

66% of the respondents used internet to shop. When 62% of total respondents said that

they were happy with their experience of internet shopping the relationship is very

clear. About 92% of the internet shoppers are happy with their purchase decisions

online and are generally content with the quality of the goods offered. This is a direct

correlation and the correlation coefficient is 0.9.


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GRAPH-4

GRAPH SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS PREFER ONLINE SHOPPING

Yes62%

No38%


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TABLE-5

TABLE SHOWING THE AVERAGE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE GOODS TO BE DELIVERED AGAINST ON-LINE ORDER

Time Taken No. of Respondents PercentageMore than 24 Hrs 130 6512 Hrs 36 186-12 Hrs 14 73-6 Hrs 20 10Less than 3 Hrs NIL NIL

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 65% received the

goods more than 24 hrs later. About 18% of the respondents received the goods within

12 hrs, about 10% of them received the goods within 6 hrs and the remaining 7% of

them received the goods within 3 hrs.

Inference

From the above table and analysis, it can be concluded that a majority of the

respondents usually receive their goods more than 24 hours later. This serves as a major

hindrance to online shoppers. They cannot order goods with the need for immediate

consumption or usage. The goods ordered on the internet are thus articles objects with a

long shelf life, entertainment purchases, articles of clothing etc.


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GRAPH-5

GRAPH SHOWING THE AVERAGE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE GOODS TO BE DELIVERED AGAINST ON-LINE ORDER

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Morethan 24

hrs

12 hrs 6 hrs 3hrs Lessthan 3

hrs

% of respondents


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TABLE-6

TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS ARE SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OF GOODS DELIVERED AGAINST ON-LINE ORDER

Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageYes 122 61No 78 39

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table clearly shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 61% of

them are satisfied with the quality of goods delivered against on-line order, while the

remaining 39% of them are not satisfied.

Inference


respondents are satisfied with the quality of goods delivered against on-line order. This

is a clear indication that online shoppers have a decent understanding of what to expect

from the goods offered online. The realizations are thus highly realistic and

contentment is high.


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GRAPH-6

GRAPH SHOWING WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS ARE SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OF GOODS DELIVERED AGAINST ON-LINE ORDER

Yes61%

No39%

TABLE-7


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TABLE SHOWING THE OFFERS PROVIDED TO THE RESPONDENTS THROUGH ONLINE SHOPPING

Offers Provided by Online Shopping

No. of Respondents Percentage

Discounts 116 58Gifts 40 20Loyality points 28 14Others 16 8

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 58% of them

usually get discounts through online shopping, 20% of them get gifts, 14% of them get

Loyality points and the remaining 8% of them get other offers through online shopping.

Inference


respondents get discounts through online shopping. Discount stores are a booming

business and are doing really well in the online business scenario. Gifts account for

about 20% of the

GRAPH-7


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GRAPH SHOWING THE OFFERS PROVIDED TO THE RESPONDENTS THROUGH ONLINE SHOPPING

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Discounts Gifts Loyality points Others

% of respondents


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TABLE-8

TABLE SHOWING THE RESPONDENTS DESIRED MODE OF PAYMENT

Mode of Payment No. of Respondents PercentageCredit Card 130 65Cash 46 23Cheque 10 5Demand Draft NIL NILOthers 14 7

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 65% of them used

to pay through credit cards. About 23% of them used to pay by cash, 7% of them used

to pay by other modes and the remaining 5% of them used to pay by cheque.

Inference


respondents used to pay through credit cards.


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GRAPH-8

GRAPH SHOWING THE RESPONDENTS DESIRED MODE OF PAYMENT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

CreditCard

Cash Cheque DemandDraft

Others

% of respondents


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TABLE-9

TABLE SHOWING THE RESPONDENTS OPINION OF ONLINE SHOPPING COMPARED WITH OFFLINE SHOPPING

Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageVery Good 20 10Good 84 42Average 68 34Poor 28 14

Total 200 100

Analysis

The above table shows that a majority of the respondents i.e., 42% of them have

a good opinion about the online shopping compared with offline shopping. 34% of

them have an average opinion, 14% of them have poor opinion and the remaining 10%

of them have very good opinion about online shopping.

Inference


respondents have a good opinion about the online shopping.


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GRAPH-9

GRAPH SHOWING THE RESPONDENTS OPINION OF ONLINE SHOPPING COMPARED WITH OFFLINE SHOPPING

0

10

20

30

40

50

Very good Good Average Poor

% of respondents


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OBSERVATION DURING THE SURVEY

During the interaction with the respondents the following observation were made:-

The respondents were very much satisfied with the quality of the goods delivered to

them.

The security features provided to the respondent were very poor as most of them

feared if their personal information would be misused.

The products portrayed on the portals were easy to read and had a detailed

description.

The delivery of the goods as per promised were not up to standards and can be

improved.


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FINDINGS

IT professionals basically preferred online shopping. Around 62% of them were

general users of online shopping.

61% of the respondents were satisfied with the quality of goods delivered to them

against on-line order.

About 30% of respondents usually spend more than two hours for shopping in malls,

28% of the respondents spend two hours for shopping. 24% respondents spend one

hour and remaining 18% of the respondents used to spend less than one hour for

shopping in malls.

The majority of respondents, i.e. 40% usually go once or twice for shopping. 23% of

the respondents usually go more than 4 times, 19% of the respondents usually go 3

or 4 times and 18% of the respondents usually go less than once for shopping in

malls.

About 66% of the respondent preferred internet as the mode for shopping.

About 58% of the respondents usually get discounts through online shopping.

About 65% of the respondents usually pay through credit cards.

A majority of the respondents, i.e. 44% of them have good opinion about the online

shopping compared to offline shopping.


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SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

To improve advertising and additional service levels in the changing environment

and more sales promotion for respondents who shop online is highly recommended.

Customer complaints and suggestions should be taken seriously and they should be

worked upon to improve efficiency and services provided by the shop owners.

The respondents would like to enhance the security for payments through credit

cards.

To provide quicker delivery of the goods free of cost to the customers.

The respondents would like to have the quality of goods to be the best at par with the

price.

To provide special discounts, rewards and Loyality points for regular customers

would attract more respondents to shop online.

To assure that damaged goods will replaced instantly combined with special offers

would make the respondents satisfied.

The portals should be updated on a regular basis and more products with pictures,

expiry date or manufacturing date should be mentioned.


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CONCLUSION

From the research it has been concluded that the company can launch new portals so as

to increase the inflow of customers who shop on-line. The concern raised by the IT

professionals should be taken into consideration; especially with the security being

offered to them for payments through credit cards. The establishment should deliver the

goods on time as promised to the customers at the same time ensuring quality. All these

steps will ensure that most of the customers will be happier to do the online shopping

more frequently.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following references were taken for the secondary data, which is included in the research work:

Philip Kotler, “Marketing Management”, Prentice hall India, 11th edition 2003

C.R.Kothari, “Research Methodology”, 2nd edition 2001.

G.C.Beri, “Marketing Research and Research management”, 3rd edition, Tata Mc

Graw-hill publishing company.

Company Journals.

WEBSITES:-

www.techunified.com

www.techunifiedconsulting.com

www.google.com


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http://www.google.com/

Blackbook Project on IT Professional Perception on Online-Offline Shopping

Documents

Transcript of Blackbook Project on IT Professional Perception on Online-Offline Shopping