The Technology Impact In The Organization
Introduction
Currently, the world of business is being affected by different factors including changes in the business environment, particularly in the global field. This includes changes in the preferences of the customers and the huge impact of globalization. As a result, more and more companies are focusing on resorting to technology to acquire the flexibility that they need in order to meet the different challenges that are caused by the globalization of the economy. Thus, the adoption of the new technology has become a method used in order for companies to survive.
Technology is considered as a vital factor which influences the overall performance of the company. This is because of the fact that technology can bring different advantages towards the organization including the aspect of productivity and efficiency. This is also important because of the fact that the world is entering the information era where in information is already considered as a vital resource to any business or company.
On the other hand, technology can influence the employee in both positive and negative manner. This can help the employees to lessen their tasks and the effort that they exert in their respective position or responsibility in the company. As a result, technology can help to make the employees more productive which will enable the company’s performance to be improved. On the other hand, there are also different disadvantages that are being offered by technology towards the employees including the aspect of acceptance and understanding of technology.
Application of Technology in Organization
Technology plays a crucial role in managing the overall performance of any company or organization. This is because of the fact that technology is already considered as a must applied methods or means of managing different important processes as well as flows inside and out the organization. Technology had affected the entire process of managing employees, together with how the employees process given information inside the organization.
One of the important positive impacts of technology in employee performance pertains on how it can help the employee in different tedious or difficult task. This enables the employees to perform different tasks by exerting less effort.
One of the best example is the application of Information Technology or IT inside the organization. The application and adaptation of IT helps to transform and develop the way a business is being conducted. This differ and changes on the use and application of computers in the process of preparing invoices, issuing checks, keeping track of the movement and the flow of stock, together with the process of storing personal and payroll records. Furthermore, the application of word processing and personal computers enables to change the patterns of the office works, at the same time affect the efficiency and competitiveness of the entire business, the structure of the work force, together with the entire growth of the economic output. As a whole, the said development and transformation has a contribution in the evolution and development of the economic consequences, as large like those that have been caused by the industrial revolution (Allen & Scott Morton 1994: 5). This aspect is very important in terms of documenting different important reports in the company, particularly focusing on the different office works that must be done. For instance, before the use of computer and printer and even Xerox machine, office workers need to type documents repeatedly in manual manner. With the application of the computers and printers, workers will have to type a given document once and then it can be saved, and can be retrieved for future uses. By doing this, the employee can save effort; at the same time can do the archiving process in easier manner.
Another important impact of technology in the organization is the application of computer networking. Before this technology, employees, particularly office workers will have to share data and information from one another in manual manner or by using secondary devices which will consume their time, at the same time, might affect the performance of individual computer. However, with the use of networking, the employees can share data in easier manner. Currently, computer technology has already progressed at the extremely rapid pace since the widespread of reliance of large, slow, difficult-to-use or unfriendly to users’ mainframes 10 to 15 years ago. As a result, the environment of client-server networks, LANs and WANs, the Internet or World Wide Web are already evolving and developing in speedy manner. Consequently, technology has a great promise for the further development of the human resource function as the partner of the business (Groe & Pyle 1996: 56).
As a result of networking, employees can share files and data that will help to improve their performance. This is very vital in different office works because it enables office workers to share different resources particularly during the process of printing necessary documents. On the other hand, because of networking, different Information Systems being applied and used in different organizations can be connected with each other. This means that the company will be able to connect the different subsystems of the organization. For example, there are different departments which perform a specific task or responsibility that is vital for the overall performance of the entire organization including the areas of sales, purchasing, human resource, marketing etc. With the use of networking and super system, employees from different departments will be able to process information that is updated or real-time. For instance, employees working in the marketing department will be able to retrieve helpful information from sales. This will help them to retrieve information that can help them to decide on the different strategies that they will use in order to maintain the current position of the company in the industry. By focusing on this scenario, it can be said that the application of technology inside the organization enables the employees to have an access to the pool of information which will help them to decide. In connection, the application of IT in the human resource enables to have the enterprise-wide decision support system which enables to help to achieve both strategic and operations. In addition, the adoption of fully integrated systems can help in order to facilitate the more seamless operation of any company across its functions as well as department (Groe & Pyle 1996: 56). There are different companies that have already automated the administrative tasks of their human resource, particularly those that are concerns with the activities and parts of the company that is connected to payroll and benefits administration. The result shows that companies applying this technology can reduce the HR headcount, at the same time, helped in order to free up the different functional resources for the attention in more strategic factors and issues of the company (Groe & Pyle 1996: 57).
Aside from the said factors, application of technology enables to improve communication process inside the organization. One of the best examples is the application of Information Communication Technology. ICT is consists of the hardware, software, networks as well as media for collection, storage, processing, transmission and presentation of different information and other related services (The World Bank 2008). ICT influenced the performance of every employee, particularly in the aspect of culture. This aspect is very important because like what have mentioned in the first part of the paper, globalization is challenging different organizations in the world, particularly with the issue of diverse culture inside the multinational companies. It is hard for different employees from different part of the world to communicate with each other because of different barriers, particularly the geographic or space aspect. ICT influenced the culture of an organization as well as subcultural. For instance, email has changed how people correspond in writing, as a result, people or employees no longer rely or focus on using snail mail and fax machine because attaching files and data in email and faster, easier and simpler (Browing & Saetre 2008: 106). The result of the said event created the email culture where in people tends to send and receive messages or communicate via the said technology. Furthermore, in cybernetic space, physical obstacles and temporal distance seem to disappear like a magic, at the same time helped to promote demographic values; facilitate free circulation of people, ideas and even material goods across the national boundaries in different parts of the world (Sparosu 2004: 37).
As a result, application of technology inside the organization enables the employees to have a connection with each other as well as the upper management. As a result, it adds up to the motivation of the employees, particularly in the aspect that is related to the different factors that are related with the different policies and regulations inside the organization. Good flow of communication inside the organization can help to lessen and even prevent any misunderstanding and conflict inside the organization which will later on create risk in the entire operation inside the organization. Aside from that, good communication flow will help the employees to work at their best because when an individual is properly informed of the different information that are needed in order to do their job errors will be less, thus the performance of the company will be assured.
On the other hand, one of the important impacts of applying technology inside the organization, particularly in the case of the employees is the fact that application of technology can create negative reaction from the employees, particularly during changes which pertains on application of new technology, particularly information technology, employees tend to jump into different negative conclusions, particularly regarding the issue that technology will automatically replace the important role of human inside the organization. As a result, in the end of transformation, employees will be laid off in order to come up with the machines that will enables the company to be more productive, error-free which will mean less cost. In connection, it can also create problems, particularly those that are connected on the knowledge of the current users or employees of the company who will use a specific technology, particularly information technology. It is important to take note of the fact that it is vital for organization to enables their employees to be informed or knowledgeable of using different information technology and other technologies to be used inside the organization in order for them to work at their best. This is because employees who are not properly informed and trained to use a given technology will affect the entire performance of the company, because the process of handling the information and data to be used in a given system will still based on the performance of the human or user who handles the system or the technology.
However, this problem can be answered by focusing on the different technologies available, particularly the Internet. Currently, there are different organizations and companies that are making the most of their system or automated systems by applying information kiosks or the Internet-based web application. By using this, the company enables to make sure that all of the employees are getting the necessary or needed information that the employees must know in order to perform a given tasks or process by using different technologies available inside the organization. One of the best examples is OLIVER system that is being used and implemented inside the Levi Strauss organization in order for the office personnel management to manage the entire human resource of the company. The system is being used in order to collect the data from the employees by using the computer to get their answers, test the implications and the different factors that are related with the given decisions and change their enrollment in benefits. With the process of reengineering the benefits of the information, it helped the organization to reduce the number of the staffs that are needed in order to answer the question, at the same time, help to create a new and more direct relationship with the employees (Kovach & Cathcart 1999: 275).
References
Allen, T & Scott Morton, M 1994, Information Technology and the Corporations of the 1990s: Research Studies, Oxford University Press, New York
Browning, L, Saetre, A S, Stephens, K & Somes, J O 2008, Information and Communication Technologies in Action: Linking Theory and Narratives of Practice, Routledge
Groe, G, Pyle, W & Jamrog, J 1996, ‘Information Technology and HR’, Human Resource Planning, vol. 19, no. 1, pp.56 – 59
ICT and Education 2008, The World Bank, viewed 31 October 2008, < http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20264888~menuPK:617610~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html>
Kovach, K & Cathcart, C 1999, ‘Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS): Providing Business with Rapid Data Access, Information Exchange and Strategic Advantage’, Public Personnel Management, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 275 – 280
Spariosu, M 2004, Global Intelligence and Human Development: Toward an Ecology of Global Learning, MIT Press
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