The Influence of Technology on Factors of Production - Research Paper Example

Technology Impact on Organization Technology impact on the organization Introduction Each organization has its own mission, which governs its internal structure. In any organization, the ultimate goal is to ensure quality production (productivity) and high performance. This is always achieved by the internal structure, which is defined from the mission statement. Technology refers to the equipment, information techniques and processes required in the transformation of inputs to outputs. Therefore, technology can be regarded as the basic factor in an organizations development. Technology changes from time to time, in order to fit the output that is required (Khosrowpour, 2006). The influence of technology on factors of production Factors of production include the inputs required in the production process in order to accomplish an organization’s objective in achieving its desired output. The desired output may be a finished product or a service depending on the organization. They include labor, capital, land and enterprise or entrepreneurship (Lee & Edgar, 2002). This makes technological progress the mover of development in the economy. Labor Labor in an organization is termed as either skilled labor or unskilled labor. Most organizations will prefer the use of unskilled labor as much as possible since it is cheaper as compared to skilled labor. It is also in many instances readily available. On the other hand, skilled labor is needed, especially where technology brings in the aspect of automation in processing. Capital Capital is the initial amount of money required to carry out organization affairs. Depending on the investment targeted, an organization requires variant amount of capital. An organization with an automated computer controlled process cannot have the same amount of investment with another of the same kind. Initial cost of high technology is high, but this ends up becoming economical due to efficiency and high productivity in processing. Entrepreneurship This is a basic factor that deals with the management of a company. Workers in the managerial positions and are conversant with high grade technology know how to bring out better results. This brings in the aspect of “Just in Time” delivery of goods and services. Role of technology in organizations One of the roles of technology includes increased productivity of the workers. This is enhanced by the use of efficient machines in operations, thus making it possible to exploit the worker’s potential. There is optimal resources utilization; this includes space, time, process, human resource among others. When there is no waste in a process, optimal profits are obtained, and making profits is the main goal of any business organization (Montano & Robin, 2005). Higher level of output per worker is obtained; achievement for this is by specialization whereby each worker is trained in a certain area in the line of production. Continued working in this area in the line of production makes the worker competent and hence more productive. Technology enhances the creation of employment. As the workers are encouraged to work in their given stations, no worker is allowed to move to any other station where he is not established. This makes the organization to employ more people in the production line to ensure that there is no station where there is no worker at the required time (Lee & Edgar, 2002). Technology leads to more profit for the organization due to the efficiency given by the production line when all factors of production are incorporated well. Technology ensures low costs of production. There is minimal or no waste where technology is appropriately embraced. The factors of production include space, time and flow (Montano & Robin, 2005). Types of Technologies The major types of technology used are Labor Intensive Techniques (LIT) and Capital Intensive Techniques (CIT). Labor intensive Techniques use more amount of labor and a lesser amount of capital while Capital intensive techniques utilize more amount of capital and a small amount of labor (Khosrowpour, 2006). Effects caused by Labor intensive Techniques Labor intensive techniques result to better use of locally available resources. This may include raw materials readily available in the locality and also the human resource for labor. In a given location, there is the creation of more job opportunities, thus benefitting the people. This has an effect on the peoples standard of living where it is improved. In this technique, more production at a cheaper rate is obtained since there is less use of skilled labor as compared to the unskilled labor used. The workers are only given standard training, and they work under the supervision of few qualified personnel. The social equality aspect of the worker is maintained since there is no one ranked higher than the other. This makes them work as one people towards obtaining the interest of the organization, without any personal gain from the organization (Lee & Edgar, 2002). On the other hand, this technique has limitations in that the production is static and short-term. This is because a human being cannot work as fast as a machine would in an automated process of production. Also, there is slowed down rate of capital formation, and this makes the organization take a lot of unnecessary time of the growth phase before maturity. All these limitations summed up make the possibility of improvement unrealistic. In the long run, this technique ends up retarding the economy (Montano & Robin, 2005). Effects of Capital techniques Capital intensive techniques lead to High Development rate of a company. As a result of high production rate that leads to better profits, the organization establishes itself within a short period than the labor intensive technique. There is also improved efficiency in the method of production. Sometimes the process is automated, and in some cases robots are used. This means less human errors and hence more efficiency. Time is also put in perspective in this mode since only programming is needed in the process with minimal supervision during actual processing time (Lee & Edgar, 2002). Higher output per worker is obtained in each station and task allocated. Higher profits are obtained due to reliable method in production. There is also an assurance of market since the buyers obtain confidence with the organization’s supplies. There is the creation of social overhead for the workers and more employment opportunities, especially for skilled laborers in an organization. This may not be possible for beginners; hence, it becomes a challenge to investors. Maintenance of the processing system is more challenging in these techniques and also requires qualified personnel for this activity. Maintenance counts for an organization that wants to secure the equipment and databases for lengthy use into the future. This becomes one of the areas that must be thoroughly checked by the management (Montano & Robin, 2005). Technological impacts Technological changes in the work place are inevitable in the current age of production. Latest technology is being incorporated in both large and small scale levels of operations in production. Information technology takes a bigger space in the changes being affected. It is designed to make people and organizations more profitable, knowledgeable and efficient in their operations. The largest on organizational design has mainly been the evolution of information technology (Lee & Edgar, 2002). The measures of job performance are no longer dependent on face to face interaction, but are tied strictly on the ability to complete assigned tasks with minimal direct supervision which may bring stigma on the worker (Khosrowpour, 2006). Computer-aided manufacturing This practice has been used over the last decade in a very wide range. It involves the use of a personal computer with a word processor to incorporate the production of the required items. A well and properly integrated system in processing will ultimately bring about positive change in the process and the organization at large (Lee & Edgar, 2002). Conclusion Although the initial cost of technology is high, the rewards are promising for better maintainability and running costs. Appropriate technology should be adopted in given areas of an organization to avoid waste of resources. Technology has significantly penetrated into organizations through various phases like accounting, administrative, and other applications. Technology has improved performance in organizations, reducing the number of personnel required. Actors in the concrete action have accepted new technologies which have influenced the evaluation of established process in performance of the daily transactions. The benefits can be summed up by the increased access to large information quantities. References Khosrowpour, M. (2006). Cases on Information Technology and Organizational Politics & Culture. Hershey PA: Idea Group. Lee, H., & Edgar, A. (2002). Time and Information Technology: Temporal Impacts on Individuals, Organizations, and Society. The Information Society 18 (4), 235-40. Montano, B., & Robin, D. (2005). The Impact of Technology on Relationships within Organizations. Information Technology and Management 6 (2-3), 227-51. Read More