Information communication technology - Essay Example

? College Information communication technology, (ICT) has enabled skilled personnel to work from home or any other geographical area of preference without necessary converging at the office. It is no longer a necessity to be at the office to access company’s resources or keep in touch with coworkers. The use of the electronic mails has enabled people to keep in touch from all corners of the world. For instance, a software designer working on a project of the company can cooperate with team members who are situated in different locations. They can communicate through videoconferencing and various groupware programs soft wares. This work configuration is referred to as teleworking. This teleworking has been famous for the past years. It was predicted to gain high adopted but this has not been the case because organizations are not prepared fully for it. This has disempowered employees in many ways. However, teleworking has caused both positive and negative effects which must be studied carefully. In a networked business setup, workers can access all the information they need from the powerful PCs of the company. The presence of Wide web’s opens up the enterprises to the world thus creating more opportunities on their services. The Emergence of the internet as a communication channel has led to the growth of e-business and e-commerce. However, it has been a major issue since a few business enterprise and organization thrive as a result of this change in technology. Employees of many organizations lack a voice in decision making and sharing their thoughts through inventions. The key driver to the success of any business is by using Information Technology in supporting the staff through team works. This step will be a huge milestone since it will give them an opportunity to dream and come up with varieties of inventions (Davenport, 2005 p.51). The rate at which Digital networks is transforming workplace is incredible. The networked business entities have created a virtual business environment where by employees can now work from home. Work groups are distributed around the entire globe in almost all the fields of works. Their convergence is achieved through hosting meetings over the internet through videos and audios, regardless of their location (Davenport, 2005 p.56). The advancement of these efforts has enabled them to share thoughts, goals and common interests of their respective fields of professions. This virtual environment has proven to be a positive impact to businesses since it enhances flexibility of work and duties. Organizations must shun the old and outdated models which they usually engaged in. The tendency of employees converging at the central place of work is boring since a few numbers of employees can keep up with that model today (Regan & O’Connor, 2002 p.8). Teleworking has become realistic today, enabled by ICT through mobile technology making staff members to continuously work from their homes. Studies and research works carried out reported that, regardless of ICT opening this option to an immense range of individuals, there is a much smaller percentage of those who practice teleworking. For instance in Europe, only seven percent of employees work from home on a regular basis. Recently, reports from Australia indicate that the numbers might shoot. Forty percent of the respondents confessed that they carried their assignments to their homes for completion. Conversely, that findings maintained there is still a huge percentage of workers who never do this, approximated to be sixty percent. The evidence in these researches points out that few people utilizes this golden opportunity of working from their homes. Telecommuting has benefit both for individuals, the organization for which one is working for and the society at large. Telecommuting allows an individual to effectively balance family demands and affairs and work. A researcher called Gajendran argues that, telecommuting minimizes job verses family feuds due to its positive effects on autonomy. From the angle of the employer, flexi work allows the organization to harness skills and expertise from the highly demanded employees who want to be flexible in their work. There are those personnel who never want to be tied permanently on a certain job due to other demand on their schedules. Working from home reduces costs of operating and overheads because if an employee is working from home fewer offices will be required .Telecommuting is beneficial to the society in the sense that it minimizes movements from home to work which has proven to be tiresome. It also reduces the expenses incurred from home to the office. Significantly, the costs incurred due to pollution of the environment are minimized (Regan & O’Connor, 2002 p.28). Telecommuting has not been so prevalent of its challenges affiliated to practices and organizational standards within the domain of relational employment and work. For instance the output measure of factory workers is visible tangible and measurable. The measurable results imply that there is need for a worker to be supervised and monitored. The presence of a worker physically has been used to gauge the productivity of an individual by their employers. Working long hours has been made an assumption to hard work (Jones & George, 2003, p.12). Employees look for a well-paying job that will enable them coupe with hard economic times .In spite for opportunities to which enables them diversify knowledge and experience ,a paycheck is also essential. Enterprises are being compelled to devise new approaches to reward a job well done. Enterprises need be flexible in assigning and rescheduling workers. The rotation of workers on a variety of assignments enables them be accountable to all managers present in the organization. Compensation of the workers attributed by knowledge, the performance and the skills of an individual, contrary to time spent in doing the task assigned. Efficiency and speed are the key factors that are considered. It doesn’t matter how long an employee spend in the office. Efficiency of the assignment is determined in terms of results delivered within a particular time constraint (Jones & George, 2003 p.394). The issue of trust between employers and their employees has also been a setback to the success of telecommuting. Employers believe that if their worker works from any location of their preference, they will not produce quality work. A good interpersonal relationship between the employees and their employer on the basic of trust has to be established to the success of the organization (Newell, 2009 p.43). Proper organization structure, resource management and staffing are the key strategies for the success of any business of the company need to be motivated to make them enjoy their duties which enhances productivity of the organization. Adoption of Information Communication Technology in businesses fosters overwhelming business relationships. The relationship among the customers, the employee and the business shareholders have to be strong. The time factor at which the customer receives his /her services is also paramount since if acts as a motivation factor to attract more customers. A good technological system ensures all these necessities are taken into account (Regan & O'connor, 2002 p.12). Workers themselves are reluctant to embrace the culture of telecommuting expressing fear that, the practice will hamper their possibility of a promotion due to them being invisible to the management. As a substitute to working from the office, telecommuting will become prevalent across the entire globe only when people change these mentalities. ICT advancement will not boost teleworking and knowledgeable workers might not enjoy the benefit of it is they still feel that this gives them a lesser opportunity to be in good conduct with their superiors .Being available at the office all day long make the workers to fill enslaved to some extent. Donnelly concludes that. Lot of experts will remain enslaved like the employees in the past because the employers have restricted them to have location flexibility (Chalupa, 2002 p.32). Business enterprises and many organizations have failed to incorporate the strategies which promote the growth of an effective business environment .Organizational structures are poorly planned implemented .Investing in IT in business bodies is the key driver to its success since it links the employees to the management department (Tarafdar & Ragu-Nathan, 2010 p.304). It also encourages flexibility and opens the enterprise to the outside world. The employees of the business need to be given a voice in the organization which enables them to articulate their thoughts and as a way of encouragement and thrive of innovations. Teamwork is also important. It enables collective responsibility and diversification of knowledge among the employees. Incentives to individuals are also a crucial strategy. Since it encourages the employees and gives them a feeling that their efforts are recognized and appreciated in return. The establishment of a good communication system within an organization strengthens the bond among the customers, the staffs and business partners. There is need for companies and corporate diverse ways and new policies within their businesses that will help them succeed. Bibliography Chalupa, M. R. (2002). Elizabeth A. Regan And Bridget N. O'connor's End-User Information Systems: Implementing Individual And Work Group Technologies. Information Technology Learning And Performance Journal. 20, 31-33. Davenport, T. H. (2005). Thinking For A Living: How To Get Better Performance And Results From Knowledge Workers. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business School Press. Hyland, P., Boccardelli, P., & Magnusson, M. G. (2003). Managerial Competencies And Organizational Capabilities In Striving For Continuous Innovation. Surfing The Waves : Management Challenges, Management Solutions : Proceedings Of The 17th Anzam Conference / Editor: Alan Brown. 1-12. 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Information Systems Success In The Context Of Different Corporate Cultural Types: An Empirical Investigation. Journal Of Management Information Systems. 23, 267-294. Regan, E. A., & O'connor, B. N. (2002). End-User Information Systems: Implementing Individual And Work Group Technologies. Upper Saddle River, Nj, Prentice Hall. Tarafdar, M., Tu, Q., & Ragu-Nathan, T. S. (2010). Impact Of Technostress On End-User Satisfaction And Performance. Journal Of Management Information Systems. 27, 303-334. Read More