How Does Communication Help to Shape Your Understanding of Business in the 21st Century - Assignment Example

BUSINESS INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS 1. How does Communication help to shape your understanding of business in the 21st century? The term communication generally means sharing of ideas, concepts, feeling, and emotions (Amrik & Seema, 2003). In short, communication is to inform another person. When there is communication, there are also information being disseminated about concrete facts and verifiable ideas. In 21st century, our economy has become profoundly information-based rather than manufacturing-based thus communication is vital to the strength and development of almost all business (Goodman, 1998). In practice, many corporations use communication as their strategic tool to gain competitive advantage in the market place. This is because communication can help them update, stimulate, and influence their workforce and the public. Communication helps us understand how various audiences with different perspectives. In reality, one must develop the skills of understanding and interpreting the messages and meanings being encountered in their everyday life (Hartley & Bruckman, 2002). Therefore, we can better understand business if we listen carefully to communication. Many people often learn through communication and allow them to gain new knowledge and abilities. In today’s business world, one requires an understanding of modern communication principles and ultimately their application to create effective messages. Communications help shape my understanding of business in the 21st in different ways. For instance, communication provides information to give me direction and guidelines how a product is use or a task is performed. It help me understand the there is already significant advancement taking place in the way businesses use information. In this era of global competition between businesses, fast, reliable, and interoperable ways of communication and accessing information is vital in business. Moreover, the Internet profoundly influences geography and because businesses are geographic in nature, the consequences are far-reaching. The growth of e-commerce and the Internet brought fundamental changes to businesses, societies, and economies, and with the increasing advancement in information and communication technologies, customers, suppliers, and business partners are demanding more from business enterprises. Internet communication for electronic business became a focus for enabling a global, networked, business operating from anywhere at any time. The strength and effectiveness of communication determines how a 21st century company survives on the new global business landscape. 2. How Problem-Solving helps decision making in business? Problems come in all shape and sizes, from the small and simple to the large and complex. During the course of our lives, there is oftentimes a need to decide what action should be taken to resolve our problems. Moreover, we always tend to look for the most effective and efficient solution even if we are not sure how to go about it. However, no matter what our circumstances are, we always have to decide and choose a particular course of action. We first take steps along a path that seems to lead in the direction of the goal and we sometimes perform some action that we think will make it easier to attain this goal. We do not always succeed and the consequences are still acceptable. In business, however, making decisions are critical and sometimes even with various alternatives; managers still make wrong and regretful decisions. Business decisions are not like personal decisions we make everyday as the consequences of this decisions will affect the future of the company and its employees. Problem solving can be viewed as a systematic process that we use to evaluate a complex situation and creative problem-solving skills can improve the quality of the decisions that mean the most to us. The object of problem-solving is typically a solution, answer or conclusion (Adair 2007). It is a method of using imagination along with techniques which use analogies, associations, and other mechanisms to help produce insights into problems. It is any goal-directed sequence of cognitive operations (Robertson, 2001) and oftentimes initiated as a result of an immediate problem. On the other hand, decision making is about deciding what action to take and usually involve choice between alternatives (Adair, 2007). Rational decision-making are unlikely to occur in complex, complicated, and unique problems. In business, as decisions become more important and problems become more difficult, creative problem-solving can help improve the quality of decision makers’ thought thus increasing the probability of resulting to most favorable solutions. Problem-solving and decision making are critical success factors for every person in businesses (Tracy, 2002). In problem-solving, gaining insights of a problem can lead to a restructuring of that problem that would consequently lead to the development of further insights into the solution of the problem. Decision makers are bounded by a host of human limitations that lead them to settle on a solution that is good enough rather than seeking the best outcome possible. Problem-solving can help resolve this problem as it can enhance the quality of thinking and increased the possibility of gaining the right and optimal solutions (Williams, 2001). 3. How do you perceive information technology (IT)? Explain. What types of information technology are used by business? What types of information technology do you use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies? What type of IT would you like to have available? I perceived information technology as enjoyable in the sense that its usefulness would enhance my job. In my view, information technology is a tool capable of automating my task and improves my output. My work will be much better since accuracy and speed gained from using computers and applications would save me time and effort. Information technology brings information right to my desk. For instance, the Internet is a very useful source of information and it is accessible anytime and anywhere. Moreover, with information technology, communication and exchange of information is easy and makes my life more convenient. There are different types of information technology used in business. Businesses use information technology to make and implement commercial decisions. Typically, a business organization stores and retrieves information in databases. Analyze information using a spreadsheet or an account package. They also employ computer networks for internal and external communications such as Intranet, Internet, e-mails, booking systems, and so forth. Businesses also present information through word processing and desktop publishing. Some used CAD or computer-aided design systems and others particularly in manufacturing firms, use CAM or computer-aided manufacture such as robots, process control, and so forth (Tansey, Darnton, & Waterbridge, 2003). Moreover, some businesses are doing eBusiness and using more sophisticated internet-based technology (Boukis & Pnevmatikakis, 2007). The information technology I usually use is word processing applications, databases, and the Internet. However, whenever required or a need arises, I also use some more sophisticated technology like CAD. The major advantage of having these information technologies is convenience. For instance, using a word processing application makes my job easy, accurate, and presentable. Easy, accurate, and presentable in the sense that all the tools I need to create a nice-looking document is already there- spelling and grammar checker, auto align, bulleting, drawing tools, thesaurus, etc. Moreover, the database application helps me store and retrieve information in no time. The Internet serves my needs on information and communication. I can always search and find information and send e-mail or chat to anybody I want. However, disadvantage of having such helpful technology is the cost. For instance, the cost of a word processing software particularly those that are very popular is high, in addition to computers and accessories, electricity, Internet access, software, maintenance, etc. The Information Technology that I want to have is one that is more sophisticated but cheaper than those that I mentioned above. A new system that is built based on the latest technology such as touch screen and wireless. Reference List: Adair J. E. (2007). Decision Making & Problem Solving Strategies. UK: Kogan Page Publishers Amrik S. &, Seema Y. (2003), Business Communication. India: Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. Boukis C. & Pnevmatikakis A. (2007). Artificial Intelligence and Innovations 2007: From Theory to Applications: From Theory to Applications : Proceedings of the 4th IFIP International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations (AIAI 2007). US: Springer Goodman M. B. (1998). Corporate communications for executives. US: SUNY Press Hartley P. & Bruckmann C. G. (2002). Business communication. UK: Routledge Robertson S. I. (2001). Problem solving. US: Psychology Press Tansey S. D., Darnton G, & Waterbridge J. (2003). Business, information technology and society. UK: Routledge Tracy B. (2002). The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success.US: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Williams S. W. (2001). Making better business decisions: understanding and improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills. US: SAGE Read More