How Has Technology Changed the Way in which Organisations are Managed - Essay Example

How has Technology Changed the Way in which Organisations are managed? Copyright The business environment today is characterised by the dependence of an organisation on technology, especially the information and communication technologies. However, in addition to facing rapid change in technology, organisations are also confronted with rapid change in their business environment and complex issues that arise out of rapidly escalating prices for essential commodities, including energy and food. Thus, although the basic thrust behind organisational management is still about making profits, enhancing efficiencies and seeking competitive advantage over others by gaining markets and customers, organisational managers must now deeply study complex scenarios and technology as well as technology change to allocate organisational resources in a strategic manner. This essay presents a discussion about the impact of technology on the way in which organisations are now managed. Declaration I certify that, except where cited in the text, this work is the result of research carried out by the author of this study. The main content of the study which has been presented contains work that has not previously been reported anywhere. _____________________________________________ Name and Signature of Author September 2008 This write - up is presented in fulfilment for the requirements related to an essay on The Impact of Technology on Management of Organisations. Biographical Sketch Acknowledgements Contents Introduction 1 The Impact of Technology on the Way Organisations are Managed 4 Conclusion 15 Bibliography/ References 18 List of Figures Figure 1: Information Technology Applications in a Typical Organisation 5 Figure 2: How Managers use Information in Organisations 6 (This page intentionally blank) Introduction Within the recent past, the practice of management has undergone a change which was brought about as a result of intense competition, globalisation and developments in technology including information technology, e-commerce and the Internet etc (Tassabehji, 2007, Pp. 15). Computing power that was made available as a result of advances in technology on a broad front made it possible for managers to use tools of corporate finance and capital market analysis as well as management information systems and decision support systems to assist them to make better and more informed decisions (Kochan, 2003, Chapter 1). Computer modelling based on operations research and statistics became an important tool for the modelling of complex situations to provide a feel for the human decision makers. Database technology enabled organisations to maintain, process and to rapidly access huge quantities of data that was of interest to organisations. It is now necessary to manage technology and the process of technology innovation, with work taking on a new meaning and management-employee relations being guided on the basis of principles of economics and behavioural science. Knowledge management is now important and the rapidly escalating prices of energy and food pose new challenges for business. Technology is now said to be moving towards a convergence of information science, life science and nanotechnology. However, distributed parallel processing or grid computing and distributed content storage coupled with direct communication / information distribution and an ability to carry out dynamic and distributed searches means that it is now possible to effectively manage information rapidly and to economically work with complex models that previously required supercomputers (Gulati, 2003, Chapter 7) and (Kochan, 2003, Chapter 7). Thus, although managers must now be able to deal with an increasingly complex set of problems that affect an increasingly larger number of stakeholders and they must harness advances in science and technology to transform organisations and markets, they do have increasingly powerful tools to assist them in their work. Managers must look at technology in terms of the incremental revenue that it can provide the gains in productivity, efficiency and effectiveness that can be delivered and the impact that technology can have on customer satisfaction and relationships. Thus, it is important for organisations to have a strategic view of technology and technology related developments in the context of their overall strategy. Rapid change in technology and the business environment are now facts of life and this means that people and organisations must be managed within changing contexts (Martin, 2006, Chapters 3 and 4). Thus, organisational agility is an important issue and managers must be prepared to respond to change (Grantham, 2007, Pp. 5 – 20). It is essential that organisational managers modify their traditional management styles to the new conditions. Technology has had an influence on everything that is being done within and by an organisation and the way technology is used by an organisation even influences its corporate culture. However, it has to be understood that although considerations related to technology can result in an organisation gaining competitive advantage, it is also possible for flawed technology decisions to bring down great organisations because technology needs were poorly understood or not properly matched to the markets and organisational requirements (Christensen, 1997, Chapter 1). Therefore, it is important that organisational managers not only be able to consider the impact of technology on business processes, supply chain management and knowledge management for interaction with customers and markets but that they should also be in a position to make the right decisions about the strategic impact of technology within the context of their organisation, its strategy and its markets. Managers must also be able to properly manage disruptive technological change in the best interest of an organisation. After all, the information revolution has been as profound as the industrial revolution (Chandler, 2000, Chapter 1). The information revolution has radically transformed America and it is likely that the rest of the world will gradually follow. In view of what has been said about technology and the organisation in the paragraphs above, it makes sense to try to better understand how relevant technology, especially information technology, has changed the way in which the organisational manager works and organisations are managed. This essay presents a discussion about the impact of technology on the way in which organisations are managed. The Impact of Technology on the Way Organisations are Managed Managing, organising, planning, minimising costs, productivity enhancement, getting things done in time and making customers and employees happy are some of the daily tasks that confront line managers. Senior managers and corporate leaders must monitor markets and organisational performance with a view to ensuring that the proper strategic plans are formulated and any change that is for the good of an organisation is implemented in an effective manner. Deployment of information systems within organisations have made an impact on the way in which everyday tasks are carried out and also on the manner in which specific business activities or processes are conducted (Ward, 2002, Pp. 4). Information technology hardware and software is used for word processing, electronic mail and the preparation of presentations and it is now possible to communicate far more effectively both within an organisation and across vast distances. General accounting, order processes and production scheduling can now be effectively dealt with as a result of ability to rapidly access and process large amounts of stored data. The automation of an organisation’s internal business processes as a result of the deployment of e-commerce and new ways to interact with customers over the Internet and mobile channels keeps managers informed about the internal and external situation within an organisation. It is also possible to permit the automated interaction of an organisation’s business processes with those of other organisations and this means that automated exchange of information and transactions to support buying and the supply chain are now possible with all the latest information being available to managers far more quickly than was ever possible. Data mining makes it possible to try to glean information of interest from large data sets. Typical planning, control and operational systems that are used in organisations rely on information technology as shown in Figure 1 presented below. Figure 1: Information Technology Applications in a Typical Organisation (Ward, 2002, Pp. 9) Information technology is an enabler that makes it possible for managers to use data that is made available from various systems that have been presented in Figure 1 and this has been illustrated in Figure 2 which is presented below. The balance scorecard that has been included in the figure below attempts a comparison of the defined strategic themes, objectives and measures for an organisation in terms of various perspectives, such as financial, customer service or learning and growth orientation etc. Thus, the organisational managers of today are expected to be more inclined to measure, quantify, analyse, interpret and decide on the basis of what are more exacting measures. Figure 2: How Managers use Information in Organisations (Ward, 2002, Pp. 207) Technology and information systems are expected to be deployed in organisations after due consideration for the alignment of the technology or information systems to the needs of an organisation. Because technology and information systems incur acquisition and operational costs, they must be able to justify the benefits that they can provide and it should be possible to drive and to depreciate technology from organisational earnings. Thus, the formulation of an informational technology strategy for an organisation is often as important as formulating strategy for any other organisational function and information technology strategy is likely to have an impact on the bottom line as well as all organisational performance measures. The term Enterprise Architecture is used to describe an enterprise, its information systems and the manner in which information systems that are at the disposal of an enterprise support the business processes that are required for the enterprise (Finkelstein, 2006, Chapter 1). Thus, the formal design of the components, structures and processes that are important for the attainment of organisational goals and visions require that the information technology hardware, software, services and standards for information technology be properly selected, deployed and designed. The application software, hardware platforms and servers, local and wide area networks, operating systems, application servers and databases, programming languages and external or internal interfaces must be able to provide the necessary information to management and support business processes. It should be possible for the enterprise systems to generate knowledge that is required for various organisational uses, including planning. Thus, it may be decided that XML or ebXML will serve as being the most cost effective business driver for an organisation or that it may be appropriate to standardise on a specific database (Finkelstein, 2006, Chapter 11). Organisations now have to assume a greater responsibility for internal controls, financial reporting and judgements as well as estimates related to various business operations within organisations (Finkelstein, 2006, Chapter 4). In the United States of America, the Sarbanes - Oxley Act of 2002 assigns responsibility to senior and top managers of organisations to remain informed about and connected with internal controls within the organisation. Variants of the previously mentioned Act now exist in many other countries as well. Senior managers must now be able to access reliable and factual performance and financial information for any section of the organisation. Thus, it is important for organisational managers to be able to access organisational data and they should know about the manner in which business or work processes are executed. Managers must also have adequate knowledge about data requirements for locations and business units and the data that is required for business events and plans. Hence, managers are expected to not only be in a position to access databases, but to also tap into these databases to acquire what they seek. Data and internal controls within an organisation are managed by information systems and this means that the proper design and use of organisational information systems is important, with managers being able to access these data repositories. Foresight and Future - Oriented Technology Analysis are now important concepts in business, with many organisations having established foresight groups and strategic planning processes (Cagnin, 2008, Chapter 8). Foresight for strategic planning, foresight for marketing, foresight for organisational change and foresight for innovation all need a thorough analysis of scenarios that are both internal and external to an organisation. Scenario analysis needs information and analysis is possible if it is possible to access data and convert this into information. However, in-depth analysis using sophisticated techniques is likely to yield that which can make a difference. This means that managers must look into matters deeply and information technology makes this possible. Innovation is often a matter of survival and this means that innovation should be institutionalised and become a part of the organisational culture (Grantham, 2007, Chapter 5). However, institutionalising innovation means that the means to access and process innovation should be available along with a flexible environment that encourages creativity. The right environment must be in place with an emphasis on accomplishment, reward for accomplishment and encouragement. Thus, it is often important for managers and employees to deliver results rather than to attend office at fixed hours and information technology is increasingly being used to communicate, coordinate and control work, integrate work and operations and to encourage collaboration and sharing (Burlingame, 1998, Pp. 1 – 10). The ability to deliver knowledge to employees is also useful in training and enhancement of skills and it is also far easier to establish alliances with other organisations by linking business processes through information technology. The ability to link up with other organisations through the web or data networks means that it is now possible for organisations to outsource non – core operations, such as the employee benefits and payroll disbursement function (Khosrow –Pour, 2004, Pp. 592 – 601). The idea behind such outsourcing is to reduce costs and to increase efficiencies. Thus, it is possible to utilise information technology resources that belong to other organisations for non – core processes without having to take the more expensive option of acquiring and operating information technology resources for the organisation and taking the more expensive option. Thus, more powerful technology can be put to use cheaply and the headaches associated with operation and scalability can be left to others. Information technology as well as business processes are now being approached creatively and the manner in which work, processes and acquisitions are carried out depends on creative cost savings and judicious utilisation of information technology involving a buy or rent decisions. After all, advanced technology needs to be properly aligned to business strategy and structure in order to try to create premium earnings and competitive advantage. Having a first class distribution channel now may only require that an organisation’s order processing system is able to hook up with the dispatching system of a well positioned distribution system company such as Federal Express or UPS. Every day, organisations are trying to judiciously build automation into existing business processes to try to reduce costs and to improve efficiencies as well as reliability of operations. Thus, the work of the manager has now become much more creative and knowledge dependant. It is important for organisational managers to understand technology because technology adoption needs carefully drafted plans if problems are to be avoided. Apart from trying to secure gains related to work performance, social needs of people and the creation of intellectual capital or innovation, new technologies in organisations are also useful for the following (Martin, 2006, Pp. 338 – 359). Intellectual integration and knowledge sharing within the organisation and making the human resource function more sophisticated with e-enablement to not only disburse reimbursements but also permit employees to receive feedback. The e-HR application can liberate the human resource professionals and create more productive and satisfied workers. It is also possible for organisations to hunt for talent using deep web mining and for prospective employees to interact more effectively through the web. However, as for all information technology systems, the quality of the e-HR system can make a difference. Information technology can be used to support organisational learning at all levels and to enhance skills. It is possible to try to use information technology to try to create new business models, collaborations and participative cultures within the organisation. The information technology resources within an organisation can be used to create new types of work teams or community including virtual teams that can collaborate on creative projects with members spread out spatially or to include the telecommuting worker groups who can interact with an organisation entirely by web based applications. Although physical work will require a physical presence, creative and intellectual work can be performed outside the physical limits of an organisation in a space in which workers feel happier, while providing a saving for the organisation and the individual. Rapid knowledge creation and diffusion is important for the organisation of today because in a rapidly changing world ideas rapidly become obsolete and the best ideas are likely to be useful. Thus, it is useful for an organisation to try to develop its intellectual capital which consists of the learning, knowledge and skills of its human capital and the structural capital as well as the relational capital. Structural capital refers to the information technology infrastructure including the hardware and the software that make knowledge creation and utilisation possible as well as the brands and trademarks that support employees. Relational capital refers to the relationships that have been developed with customers and within the organisation. The formation of relational capital is stimulated by information technology because it facilitates communication over large distances. It is in the interest of an organisation to try to convert the tacit knowledge that lies within the heads of employees into explicit knowledge. Knowledge creation is facilitated by groups that can be formed online and also by appropriate human resource practices that nurture and maintain employees. All the knowledge that is available has to be managed for easy retrieval and utilisation and this means that knowledge management, which very much depends on information technology, is now an important perspective for managing the organisation in which it may be desirable to use the knowledge capital by incorporating these into decision support systems. However, employee skills and privacy or security concerns may be important issues when an organisation promotes change towards adaption of technology. E-learning initiatives in organisations are a response to the failure of corporate training departments to deliver bangs for bucks and an expressed need by employees to have access to anywhere, anytime training (Martin, 2006, Pp. 338 – 359). E-learning provides cost effective solutions and opportunities for busy employees who can improve themselves to desired organisational levels without leaving to attend a university. Large organisations with specific requirements for training that are not covered in broad educational courses such as petrochemical giants or others prefer to rapidly train employees as needed. Application of information technology has changed the nature of work and organisational managers must manage the new non-traditional ways of working. However, although the compensation for task completion methods may work for non-core activities, it is still necessary to retain and to groom talent for core competencies. Workers in knowledge intensive organisations are likely to be organised as loose hierarchies and this means that managers must develop new mental models that are oriented towards power for getting things done rather than power over people and coordination as well as cultivation of employees is more important. Although all organisations are likely to jealously guard their core competencies, new ways of collaboration with other organisations for non-core functions are always being explored. It is also necessary to brand an organisation by trying to incorporate strong customer-facing features such as for retail banking. Thus, technology can be used to influence corporate culture to fit with the organisational mission and its image. Communities of practice, virtual teams and social software that can be used to try to create social capital by getting distributed employees to interact with each other over the message board or through blogs and wikis are an example of how the organisational spirit can be enhanced. However, it is also important for organisational managers to try to understand issues related to privacy, ethics, empowerment, commitment and the de-skilling of manual work as well as the division of workers into classes within an organisation when deploying information technology (Martin, 2006, Pp. 338 – 359). For those organisations in which innovation is the most important because survival depends on the release of better and new products, having the right technology policy is of the utmost importance (Loch, 2008, Chapter 3). According to Michael Porter’s technology strategy, it is important for a firm to know which technology to develop, whether or not to seek technology leadership in certain technologies of interest and if those technologies which have been developed by a firm should be exploited by licensing. It is important for organisations to identify technologies that are of relevance to them and to decide about the likely change in these technologies when deciding which technologies are likely to provide the greatest competitive advantage for an organisation. Organisational managers should understand an organisation’s competitive position and then select the portfolio of technologies that should be developed and used. Thus, in a world in which rapid technology change is a fact of life, organisational managers must be aware of technology developments and be able to judiciously exploit those changes that are likely to benefit the organisation most. Conclusion Although the basic thrust of organisational management is still about making profits, enhancing efficiencies and seeking competitive advantage over others by gaining markets and customers, in the world of today technology has changed the workplace and the manner in which the basic mission of the sound corporate management is accomplished. Organisational managers must now deeply study complex scenarios and technology as well as technology change to allocate organisational resources in a strategic manner that will benefit the organisation, the employees and the community. (This page intentionally blank) Bibliography/ References 1. Agbamuche, Joy. 2008. How does the alignment of IT to business strategy affect the organisation of the IT function? Mälardalen University. Retrieved: August 29, 2008. From: http://www.diva-portal.org/diva/getDocument?urn_nbn_se_mdh_diva-774-2__fulltext.pdf 2. Arthur Andersen and Company. 1989. 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