Cloud computing for deployment in South African Supply Chains/Business

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER # 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY1

Introduction1

Research Design2

Research strategy2

Research Approach3

Data Collection Method4

Research Instrument4

Sampling Method, Research Participants and Sample Size5

Data Analysis5

Ethical Considerations6

Reliability and Validity7

REFERENCES12

CHAPTER # 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This research study is intended to examine the suitability of South African supply chains to shift to infrastructure of cloud computing. In the present era cloud computing is a successful tool as its benefits comprises of resource because employees can get information access anywhere and might focus on tasks of higher priority rather than the normal tasks of maintenance. This particular research study is conducted to examine the key success factors to establish the South African company specific situation is. The key success factors which are the focus of this research study are as follows:

Cloud infrastructure as a service: In supply chain management system the utilization of cloud computing acts as a successful key factor as it minimizes the huge capital expense which is associated with the data centres and infrastructure.

Cloud software as a service: In supply chain management system the utilization of cloud computing acts as a successful key factor as it minimizes the cost of purchasing software. By using cloud computing the applications are accessible from a number of client devices through a web browser service known as thin client. The end user can access the available information by using web.

Cloud platform as a service: It enables the supply chain organizations to easily access the required resources when needed. The tool of cloud computing is cost effective for the field of supply chain. It is a unique tool for the supply chain sector and also offers a number of advantages.

.For this particular research study the South African Supply chain industry has been selected for examining these major factors of success. This chapter presents the selected research design, research approaches, research strategy, research instrument, data collection and data analysis techniques.

Research Design

The main focus of this research study is to examine the Cloud Computing for deployment in South African supply chains business. The most appropriate research design for this particular research study is mixed method research design. Mixed method research design is the most appropriate research design as it uses qualitative and quantitative research method collectively. The quantitative research method used facts and figures to examine the proposed research objective (Creswell 2008 59). The qualitative research design is useful research method to theoretically carry out an in-depth analysis of proposed research objectives.

According to Creswell (2008) mixed method research methodology concerns the philosophical framework and also to the fundamental assumptions of the investigation. He further stated that procedure of adopted research method influences the scope and limits of research study (Berger 2011 204). This research design generally refers to a plan of action, while the method is much more specific and includes techniques of data collection and analysis.

Research strategy

The adopted research strategy for this particular research study is utilization of qualitative and quantitative data. The mixed method research design has philosophical assumptions as well as methods of ...