The Importance of Technology in the Organizations Operation - Essay Example

BUSINЕSS ОРЕRАTIОNS Name: Course Instructor’s name Institution Date Executive summary Many organizations are constantly innovating and reinventing themselves in order to remain competitive. One way in which organization can become competitive through the adoption of new technologies as well as the need for this technology to match the market’s volume requirements and also to meet the ideal trade-off between cost and flexibility. A review of the traditional aspect of technology in the organization will be emphasized and how it has changed over the years. Besides there are areas within the organization where technology if applied effectively can help propel the organization into greater horizons more so on revenue generated. A review of how these technological investments by organizations are matched with requirements to provide a trade-off between cost and flexibility highlighting of on the importance of these two recommended issues while investing in technology will be carried out. It will also cover some of the key challenges in adopting new technologies in business organizations. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 1Introduction 4 2Discussion 4 2.1 Areas where technologies could be applied in business operations 4 2.2 The role of technologies in enhancing the performance objectives such as improving quality and speed 5 2.3 How technological investment are matched with requirements to provide a trade-off between cost and flexibility 6 2.4Challenges in adopting new technologies in business organizations 7 3Conclusion 8 References 9 BUSINESS OPERATIONS 1 Introduction Traditionally a firm’s focus was mainly based on the flow of products however, over the years this analogy has changed with more emphasis being placed on technology and flow and accuracy of information. Each organization, despite the industry that it operates in requires ideal technology for its operations for accuracy and timeliness purposes. Hence, organizations are putting more emphasis on ensuring that the right systems are in place in the organization in order to gather, analyze and exchange information (Szwejczewski, Sweeney and Cousens 2016, pp.124-149). Moreover, rapid technological changes is another problem that is facing organizations today and this calls for constant up-to-date technologies in order to keep up with the changing market and business environment. Therefore, all organizations are under pressure to upgrade their technologies in an effort to avoid their current operating technologies from becoming obsolete. This paper therefore, seeks to evaluate the importance of technology in the organization’s operation and the need for this technology to match the market’s volume requirements and also to meet the ideal trade-off between cost and flexibility. 2 Discussion 2.1 Areas where technologies could be applied in business operations One area where technologies could be applied in the business operations is the production area. Technologies foster the growth of the organizations productivity business operations through optimization of the organization business processes (Rylands et al. 2016, 969-989. Moreover, the applied technologies in the organization productivity area also fosters the development of solution based operations and helps maximize the employee’s abilities. Applied technology in the production area for instance, the robots will also ensure that the time consuming process are done away with, besides this type of applied technologies ensure that the dirty, dull, and dangerous tasks which are relatively avoided my majority of the people are done (Werther, Berman and Vasconcellos, 2014, pp.20-32). Applied technology such as the use of robots in the business operations help ensure that normal operations are maintained even in conditions which are far from normal. Thus, in event of disasters, technologies ensure that the organization quickly springs back to normal operations. The other area where technologies could be applied in the business operations is the workplace area. Technology in the workplaces makes it more attractive to employees. These technologies give the impression to the organization workforce that the business is solvent, hence giving the employees more confidence in their ability and skills which in the long run fosters their productivity in the organization (Buchanan 2015, pp.70-79). On the other hand, technology in the business workplace ensures that the employees have all the required resources to maximize their talent and capability. Technological advancement also gives the organization workforce desirable gratuities which they might be in need of. It also foster’s the employee’s flexibility and productivity (Fujitsu Forum, 2017). Applied technologies such as the use of robots in the workplace improves the business performance through improvement of multiple facets of the organization workplace case in point Apple’s siri and Microsoft’s cortana. This technology improves the key performance indicators of the organization through workplace improvement (Steensma, 2015, pp.267-286). The other area where technology could be applied in the business operation is the service or products provision area. In this area technology fosters dissemination ensuring that the business and the customers can link up more easily. Thus, it eliminates the intermediaries ensuing that it links with the product or service buyers hence saving on the intermediaries cost and also ensures that it gets immediate feedback (Martin, 2012, p.431). 2.2 The role of technologies in enhancing the performance objectives such as improving quality and speed Technology has played a huge role in enhancing the organization’s quality through competition which has added pressure to the organization, which has ensured that the organization places more focus on quality improvement. For instance, robots act as an enabling mechanism which has fostered job satisfaction within the organization by ensuring that the organization productivity is significantly boosted. Besides, technology has fostered customer centric practices ensuring that the goods are customized as per the customers preferences and liking (Werther, Berman and Vasconcellos, 2014, pp.29). Technologies have also played a great role where its application fosteres the organization business performance since it acts as a feedback mechanism for the organization hence facilitating communication by ensuring that customers’ information and complaints are collected in an efficient and timely manner. On the other hand, technologies also enhance organization performance through providing assessment means for the organization through technological evaluation means which provide detailed assessment of the organization in terms of quality of service provision (Steenhuis and Pretorius 2017, pp.122-143). Technology also plays an essential role in the performance objective of improving the productivity speed in an organization through creating a platform that guarantees the organization success. In this case, robots as applied technology devices ensure that the business has all the essential tools ensuring that it overcomes any challenges that it might face in executing its strategy. Robots also increase the organization productivity through the role it plays in the automation of processes within the organization like fostering faster communication and increasing the focus on the organization priorities (Szwejczewski, Sweeney and Cousens 2016, pp.124-149). On the other hand, technology also fosters the organization productivity speed through creating portals for the organization employees and team sites which fosters productivity across the organization. This helps in eliminating corporate silos" within the organization workforce therefore, ensuring that communication across the organization workforce is fast, effective and efficient hence minimal time is wasted. Also technology increases the productivity speed within the organization through availing technological devices and infrastructure which makes work easier, fast, efficient and effective for the organization workforce thus fostering the productivity speed within the organization (Rylands et al. 2016, pp.969-989). 2.3 How technological investment are matched with requirements to provide a trade-off between cost and flexibility Policy makers and organization heads are in the recent years faced with a rather difficult tradeoff between cost and quality while investing on technology. In this case, these two issues have seemingly forced these organization heads and decision makers to rethink their technological investment decisions as they try to strike a balance between these two requirements. Additionally, the trade-off between flexibility and cost while investing in technology has led to these two issues becoming key assessment tools for measuring the ideal aspect of an investment in technology (Kasie, Bright and Walker, 2017, pp.189-211). In line with this, the cost and flexibility issue also stand out as part of the traditional technology valuation metrics which are also used in comparison of technologies. On the other hand, cost is also a consideration that determines the technological investment to be made. However, flexibility tends to be another consideration while investing in technology. In this case, the organization, despite being willing to invest in the technology it will want to ensure that the cost of the invested technology is on the down side. This is attributed to the fact that the organization is not guaranteed whether the technology will meet its intended purpose or not (Steenhuis and Pretorius 2017, pp.122-143). Therefore the organization tends to be cautious on the cost of the technology in an effort to reduce the expenses or loss risk it might incur if the technology is unable to meet its intended purpose. On the other hand, flexibility is also another requirement consideration that organizations tend to be cautious about while investing in technology. Thus, an organization will want to invest in a technology which they can alter to fit the organization’s specification and fit it to ensure it gives specific results (Deradjat and Minshall 2017, pp.95-121). This tends to ensure that the technology can be used in a variety of areas within the organization to foster its success. Therefore, the organization has to ensure that it strikes a balance when investing its technology in regards to these two considerations. This will ensures that both considerations’ are met and the organization’s position itself is a position where the technology it invests will meet the organization’s desired purpose and become a success for the organization (Martin, 2012, p.431). 2.4 Challenges in adopting new technologies in business organizations Finances is one of the challenges that tend to arise when an organization is adopting a new technology. Consequently, funding the implementation and maintenance of the adopted technology in an organization may prove to be quite costly. This might force the organization to lose interest in adopting this technology despite the benefit that it might have in the organization’s operations. It is a challenge due to the spending cutbacks that are imposed in most organizations (Steensma 2015, pp.267-286). In order for the organization to spend more than intended it will require a log of consultancy from the technology specialist which could take a significant amount of time in order for the organization to be assured that the technology it is about to pay for is worth the investment. The other challenge faced by the organization in adopting a new technology is identifying and attracting the right talent to align with this technology. Due to the current technological revolution and advancement the right talent pool in the market is increasingly diminishing. Therefore, the organizations are faced with an even great problem of attracting the limited talented and well equipped employees with the right skill set and capability to work with the adopted technology (Buchanan 2015, pp.70-79). This has forced these organizations to invest more funds in training and learning programs for their employees in order to instill the right skill set in them. However, these strategy tends to consume a lot of funds and there is no guarantee that in the long end these trained employees could turn out to be a valuable workforce for the organization in regards to the adopted technology (Rylands et al., 2016, pp.969-989). Skepticisms from the organization’s workforce in regards to the organizations purpose and goal for the adopted technology is another challenge that engulfs the adoption of new technology. Organization’s workforce could end up lacking urgency in the wake of the organization adopting a new technology. This is attributed to poor communication by the organization to its workforce regarding the newly adopted technology. Hereafter, the organization workforce will need to be enlightened on the organization’s decision to adopt the new technology and what will be expected from that and how they will achieve these expected goals (Steenhuis and Pretorius 2017, p.126). However, this does not guarantee that this organization workforce will not be skeptic 3 Conclusion Technological advancement is indeed ideal for the organization especially being in an era where technology seems to be rapidly advancing. However, quite a lot is needed from both the organization and its workforce in the wake of the adoption of a new technology in the organization. In this case, the organization should strike a balance between cost and flexibility while investing in a new technology in order to ensure that it fits the organization’s specification and budget as well. On the other hand, there are also some challenges that the organization is bound to face while adopting a new technology, however in the long run the benefits outweigh the challenges. References Buchanan, D. 2015. Using the new technology: Management objectives and organizational choices. European Management Journal, 1(2), pp.70-79. Deradjat, D. and Minshall, T. 2017. Implementation of rapid manufacturing for mass customisation. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 28(1), pp.95-121. Fujitsu Forum 2017. The Next Generation of Manufacturing as the Key Focus of Japanese Industry - Latest Trends and In-house Practices : FUJITSU JOURNAL. [online] FUJITSU JOURNAL. Available at: http://journal.jp.fujitsu.com/en/2016/06/24/02/ [Accessed 4 Sep. 2017]. Kasie, F., Bright, G. and Walker, A. 2017. An intelligent decision support system for on-demand fixture retrieval, adaptation and manufacture. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 28(2), pp.189-211. Martin, R. (2012). Managers divided: Organizational politics and information technology management. European Management Journal, 14(4), p.431. Rylands, B., Böhme, T., Gorkin, R., Fan, J. and Birtchnell, T. 2016. The adoption process and impact of additive manufacturing on manufacturing systems. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 27(7), pp.969-989. Steenhuis, H. and Pretorius, L. 2017. The additive manufacturing innovation: a range of implications. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 28(1), pp.122-143. Steensma, H. 2015. Acquiring technological competencies through inter-organizational collaboration: An organizational learning perspective. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 12(4), pp.267-286. Szwejczewski, M., Sweeney, M. and Cousens, A. 2016. The strategic management of manufacturing networks. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 27(1), pp.124-149. Werther, W., Berman, E. and Vasconcellos, E. 2014. The future of technology management. Organizational Dynamics, 22(3), pp.20-32. Read More