ResearchProposalAssignmentTitle:ResearchMethodologyCode:POPP5006ModuleLeader:DrH.OztelName:Shen,LongjuanStudentNumber:P13008714WordCount:1405wordsDate:8thDecember2014Programme:MScIBMTitleImpactofE-commerceontheexpressdeliveryindustry:thecaseofChinaPostalExpress&LogisticsCompanyLimited(EMS)KeywordsE-business,expressesdeliveryindustry,EMS,customersatisfactionResearchaimsandobjectivesTheaimofthisresearchwillbetoidentifytheimpactsofE-commerceontheexpressdeliveryindustryatthecaseofEMS.Inordertoachievethisaim,thefollowingobjectiveswillbeaddressed:ToidentifytherelationshipbetweentheE-commerceandexpressdeliveryindustry;Toidentifytheimpactoftheexpressdeliveryindustryonthecustomerssatisfaction;ToidentifyhowtheexpressdeliveryindustrysupporttotheE-commercethroughparticipatinginthesupplychainmanagement;ResearchbackgroundTheE-commercestartedfromvirtuallyzeroin1995,theglobale-commercesalesattained$2.30biliontwoyearslater(IDC).TheUSDepartmentofCommerceclaimsthattheshopsofonlineretailsalesincreasedby26%fromthe2002to$55billionin2003(LIAOandSALVENDY,2008).Thebusiness-to-consumer(B2C)revenuehasbeenapproximately$156bilions.(WolfinbargerandGilly(2005)ascitedbyLIAOandSALVENDY(2008)statesthatChinabecomesincreasinglyimportanttotheglobaleconomy,theexplosivegrowthofe-commerceinChinastimulatedthedevelopmentoftheexpressdeliveryindustrysince2013.(Chen,2013)pointoutthattheannualsalesincomeoftheexpressdeliveryenterprisesbeyondRMB20millioninthefirstthreequartersof2013,comparedwiththesameperiodin2012whichhascompletedthedeliveryof6.18billionmailsandparcelsby61.20%increased,whiletherevenueamountuptoRMB99.57billion.Accordingtothestatementof(Chen,2013)Chinaexpressdeliveryindustryhassomecharacteristics.Intermsofthemarketshareinthedeliveryindustryhasbeenrising;then,someofforeignindustrieshavechangedthedevelopmentofstrategyinchina.E-commercedevelopmentcan’tbeseparatedfromthesupportofmodernlogistic,especiallyfortheexpressindustry,itisnotonlytopromotetheexpressindustrydevelopment,butalsotoacceleratethemodernlogisticdevelopment(ZhuandZhang,2012)(Zhu,2013)indicatedthattherelationshipbetweenofE-commercecompaniesandexpressdeliveryindustrieshasbecomemoresubtle,thelimitationofdevelopmentiswhethertheycanturnintoitthecollaborativedevelopingmodule.Thisresearchwillbebasedonthepointofviewofsupplychainmanagementtoidentifytheinterestsrelationshipbetweenthee-commerceandtheexpressdeliveryindustry,andsomeproblemswhichexistintheprocessofdevelopmentofChinaPostalExpress&LogisticsCompanyLimited(EMS).Accordingtostatistics,thescaleofChina'sexpressdeliverymarkethasmorethan$6.30billion,butitcontinuesitsgrowthofover30%everyyear(Li,2007).Thatmeansthemarkethassufficientpotential.Thisresearchwillaimtogiveaninsightintosomeoftheissuesthatmayinfluencethedevelopmentofexpressdeliveryindustryandprovidesomesuggestionstodealwiththem.Eventually,useacceptablesuggestionstohelpEMSimplementsstrategies.Researchquestions(1)WhatistheinfluenceofE-commerceonexpressdeliveryindustry?(2)HowdoestheE-commercepromotethedevelopmentofexpressdeliveryindustry?(4)WhatarethedevelopingstrategiesfortheE-commerceandexpressdeliveryindustry?ResearchDesignandDatacollectionThisresearchwilltakeadoptedstrategies.Intermsoftheresearchtechniques,thestudywillusetwokindsofresearchtechniquestocollectdata.Itiscombinedwithin-depthinterviewsandquestionnaires.Thein-depthinterviewswillbeappliedtocollectqualitativedatafromrespondents,whilethequestionnairewillbeappliedtocollectquantitativedata.Thepopulationofthisinvestigationisthemanagers,customersandemployeesofEMS.Asforthequestionnaireresearch,60samplesareexpectedtobeselectfromtheclientofEMS.ThedatacollectionprocesswillbecompletedatthemeetingroomofEMSheardoffice.Another60samplesareselectedfromtheemployeeofEMS.TheresearchwillbeimplementedinthegroupofchinaPostalExpress&LogisticsCompanyLimited(theheadofficeofBeijing).Forthein-depthinterviews,thisresearchwillchoose30employeesand30custormersfromheadofficeofEMS.ResearcherwilltouchwiththemanagersofEMSandgetthepermissiontoimplementthissurveyandin-depthinterviews.Atthesametime,themanagerisrequestedtointroducetheresearcherstotherespondents.Fortheimplementationoftheinterview,informthesurveyaimstotherespondentsandexplainmoredetailtothemandletthemunderstandthattheresearchdonothaveanynegativeimpactsonthem.Inordertomakethedatamoreaccurate,therespondentsareallowedtoanswerthequestionnairesandinterviewquestionswithinaspecifiedtime(Dawson2009,p.48-50).Theresearcherswillapplyconveniencesamplinginthissurvey,thisisasamplingtechnique.Inwhichresearchersusesamplebasedonaccessibilityorproximity(Gorard,2003).TheemployeesandcustomersofEMSarechosetoimplementtheinvestigationwhichdependsupontheiravailability.TheheadofficeofEMSinBeijingwasselectedanditwillhelptheresearchertoexploretheimpactofEMSoncustomersatisfactionandwhatproblemsexistinthedevelopmentprocessofEMS.MethodologyRationaleTherearesomeacceptablereasonsforthechoiceofsurveycasestudies.Firstly,itprovidesawiderangeofinformationandsample,whichlinkswiththeproposedresearchandenabletheresearchertocarryout