Assumptions
This study regards the assessment of the impact of the use of internet in marketing activities of farms on the financial performance of the organization. One of the assumptions of this study is that the impact of internet utilization in marketing that includes promotion, advertisements and other marketing activities of a firm would eventually influence the organization’s financial performance.
The impact of internet utilization in a firm does not necessarily impact on the financial performance of the organization. Further, the impact of internet use in marketing may create broader markets and larger customer bases. However, these factors may not have an immediate impact on the profits or sales of the firm. An increase in the number of customers may also require an increase in the cost of operation. Such balancing factors may show no impact on the profits in the short run. In fact, the value of the internet to an organization does not only lie in marketing activities rather various integrated businesses processes. This is a major assumption that requires the extra consideration of users of the study.
Other variables such as employees’ level of expertise, quality of support and expertise provided to the marketing departments, management cooperation levels, organization characteristics were not addressed in this study. It was assumed that other variables would not impact on the company’s financial performance. Another fundamental assumption of the research study is that Internet marketing has a direct bearing on sales performance, sales performance, effectiveness, and niche strategy and technology advantage that all affect the firm’s financial performance. Other variables significantly contribute to the financial performance of an organization. Since farms differ in numerous respects, and their measures of success achieved by utilizing the Internet in marketing varies as well.
Another assumption is that the sizes and structures of the agricultural firms will not affect the companies’ financial performance. In reality, the two factors impact different aspects that contribute to the performance of the firm. For example, a smaller agricultural company is expected to allocate fewer resources towards internet marketing compared to a bigger enterprise. While the budget determines the intensity of use, the two firms do not require equal budgets to have the same impact on financial performance.
Limitations
There were various limitations that will likely when conducting the study. One of the limitations is the difficulty in obtaining data from the organization. Organizations have the tendency to refuse to disclose their financial details. This poses difficulty in analyzing the various aspects of the organization’s financial performance. Secondly, the reliability of data used in the study will largely depend upon the organization’s financial reports and information given by management.
Financial information collection requires a higher level of confidence to obtain. Managers may be reluctant to provide a firm’s financial performance records for strategic reasons such as disclosure to competitors. The management may also provide different figures to present their organization as profitable. Incorrect data affects the quality of research and may result in wrong conclusions about the impact of utilization of the internet on the financial performance. The nature of primary research also makes it challenging to obtain data due to the quantity and quality of data required to make a conclusion.
To reduce the impact of the limitations of the study, it will be necessary to conduct a review of applicable practices, policies and procedures applicable the organizations selected when obtaining financial data. The Issues of confidentiality of data typically come into play when conducting researches of this nature. Confidentiality protections will be developed as the collected data may require a high level of security. The development will be in consistent with the design of the study design the likelihood of risk that may arise from breaches.
The company will also employ financial data from selected organizations in the agricultural industry. Companies outside the agricultural sector will not be included in the study. This might result in biased conclusions towards those organizations that are outside the agricultural sector and those in the agricultural sector that do not actively use the internet for internet. Although there are reasons to believe that the conclusions of the study may apply, to other municipal organizations, with a fair degree of accuracy, it is unfortunate that they cannot be generalized. This limitation to this study arises as it only with a single case of agricultural farms that utilize internet in marketing activities. In order to generalize the study results to other organizations, extensive research will be required.
The sample size presents a limit to the study. The selection criteria will be determined by the characteristics of the firm. Only farms in the agricultural sector will qualify for the study. Other firms in different sectors will be left out as they do not match the research criteria. The size of the sample will also be limited by other factors such as the method of data collection, the number of qualified respondents involving those who use the internet for marketing purposes and cost.
Since other variables such as employees’ level of expertise, quality of support and expertise provided to the marketing departments, management cooperation levels, organization characteristics were not addressed in this study, future research need to addressed in future studies. Employees are a critical driver of organizations success in the current competitive marketplace. Thus, the characteristics of employees in the marketing department can be a deciding factor in organizational financial performance. The intensity of internet use may not have an impact if the resource is not directed to the right audience. Thus, employee competency is a factor that may determine the level of financial performance of two organizations that have the same internet budget. The study does not incorporate such factors into the results of different firms. This makes it a major limitation.
Primary research studies are also expensive to conduct. The methods of data collection have limitations too that impact on study results. For example, the use of face to face interview may allow the collection of detailed data but may be too expensive for the researcher and time consuming. As managers may be busy in their routine operations, they may fail to make to the interview or set time aside to respond to the study questions. Managers who may be available for the activity may not give detailed information to save time for their duties. The issue may impact on the quality of study results. The type of data this collection method requires a staff of people to carry out the activity that results in high personnel costs. When personnel are needed, keeping the cost low may become a challenge and affect the results of the study.
Another limitation concerns the use of financial data in the evaluation of the impact of the internet on financial performance. There are various challenges that arise in the utilization of financial data. One is the timeliness factor and uniformity of preparation of financial records. Organizations’ fiscal year may not coincide making it difficult to compare the information of one firm to another. The agricultural organizations may also apply different accounting policies in the preparation of records. The difference in policies results in differences in reports important for the study. The structure of the records may be limitations to this study as some firms may not adequately set up their accounts to provide necessary answers to the types of research questions that they need
Delimitations
Few research studies have been conducted on the impact of internet marketing on the financial performance of organizations. Many studies have investigated the general application of Information Technology in firms and their effects. The lack of guidelines and best practices on which to base the research findings is delimitation. In the study, the type of data collected will relate to the financial performance of different sizes. The choice of variables is also delimitation in this study. Few researchers assess the impact of different variables on the financial performance of organizations. The study will, therefore, be limited to the financial performance of the agricultural firm’s while leaving out other non-financial measurements that may be attributed to the utilization of the internet in marketing such as positive rating. Organizations that do not engage in internet marketing activities will also be left out. These factors represent a major delimitation of this study as they limit the scope of the study
