Managing Information: Technology and System - Essay Example

ID Number: Managing Information: Technology and System Introduction The Labour Process Theory is related to the Marxist theory of organizational work which is under capitalism. This theory considers the shift in relations between organization and technology. This theory comprises of elements that puts information technology into the organization as a form of some historical context. The recent study on this particular concept encompasses the bargaining power of the workers under the situation of global capitalism. This theory has facilitated a broader set of texts and interventions associated with critiquing new strategies of management that are more of exploitative by nature. Through this theory it can be well stated that technological development can be clearly understood through various forms of social relations that are related to production. The theory states that technology can be considered to be another form of weapon that is generally employed in order to oppress the labour force of an organization. This theory looks at all the different dimensions related to people working in an organization. It states the behaviour of people at workplace, reflects upon the personnel who controls their work, necessary skills that they use in the workplace and the minimum wages they are been offered of their work. Harry Braverman who has been a supporting pillar for this particular theory states that under the situation of capitalism the skills of the workers are often stolen by the management and even the pleasurable working hours are eliminated accompanied by reduction in wages for the unskilled employees and extension in the working hours so as to deliver the best results for the organization. The elements that are encompassed in this particular theory are all linked with that of local systems of control and management. The theory even deals with a detailed analysis and identification of how the elements as stated in the theory is used so as reduce the overall power of the working class which cannot be reproducible by any form of machine power or unskilled labour. The technological advancements that are noticed with the organizations today reflect upon the outcome crystallizations of prior inevitable war of the capitalist development. Through this theory it can also be stated that the administrators and managers are the main people who maximum utilize information technology so as to serve the end of others dependent on them from task allocation to that of task completion. Discussion Insights into relationship between process relation and ICT are offered by Labour Process Theory The theory of labour process explains the dynamics of societal change with that of organizational change. The adaption to technology in the system comprises of various factors such as it is an innovation process that gives a competitive edge in the industry between wide ranges of firm and also seeks for a competition between the workers and management of a firm and is even influenced to a great extent by various socio-political factors under which such an advancement or development occurs. Thus there exists a powerful relation between the innovation, capitalist development of the economy and various forms of mechanization. The clear understanding of the concept of technology is becoming essential not only for the vocational educators but also plays a critical role for the technology educators. Braverman in his studies stated that labour process theory is a pivotal support for incorporation of technology in the workplace (Barrett 75).The theory if further elaborated it can be identified that there are certain important factors that forms the basis of implementation of technology into the workplace. The major factor is that it facilitates transferring the essential skills to the capital from the labour this in turn enhance the power that management can exercise on the labour force. However when the information technology causes major transference of skills with that is associated the loss of efficacy of workers (Cabrera 103). It can be stated that technology is that factor that engenders dialectic between the management and labour, encompassing the stakes of power of workplace and the skills of the workers (Fortier 123).There are many theorists who has been putting forward their opinion in relation to the labour process theory that has faced some of the vigorous challenges as own conceptions were put forward in context of the interplay nature between the labour and management when the process of adoption of information technology was introduced. According to Brawny (1979), when the concept of information technology is initially introduced into the organization system there are various ways that are investigated by the workers so as to compromise with their work at the shop floor. The workers with the support of the management determine the most possible ways so that they can compensate on the level of skills and control that they are expected yield (Doyle 56). In such a scenario it can be stated that introduction of the concept of technology into an organization deliberately requires the consent of the workers. The study that was conducted by a theorist Edward in the year 1979 stated that the adaption of information technology into the system need not indicate in every scenario that the workers yield their power of shop floor to the management of the organization (Feenberg 97).The workplace can be considered to be a terrain that is contested for the labour and the management such as new solution that is put forward by the management need not necessarily indicates the transfer of power from the labour to the management. All the above theorists have been able to design a stage theory that can be applied to the adaption of information technology into the organizational system. The Labour Process Theory has been the most important component behind the motivational aspect of incorporating the concept of information technology into the workplace. On the contrary there are some negative aspects of this new technology that is it causes more of deskilling in the workplace environment. The introduction of technology into the workplace causes loss in terms of traditional skills that were originally present in the workplace. It even causes devaluation of the craft knowledge, diminishes the union power and even diminishes the discretionary and autonomy power that is possessed by workers in an organization. The Labour Process Theory has been able to highlight on the factor that such an approach has made an adverse impact on many occupations in the form of declining craft (Fountain 95).This can be well observed in the machine trades where CNC or Computerized Numerical Control has caused an impact by being a replacement for the traditional processes and setups. CAD or Computer Assisted Drawing forms an effective substitute for the traditional way of hand drawing (Hooff and Lidwien 76).The theory has not only been able to prove its efficiency in the manufacturing field but also in other areas such as that of changes in the skill set of clerical workers. As this form of technology causes to a great degree deskilling in many occupations but also at the other end it has proved to be one of the most essential element that causes upgrading. It can also be stated that in context of the theory that the concept of information technology that is incorporating into a workplace plays an effective role in terms of enhancing the skill set of the workforce (Hoque 102). Workplace environment in the present scenario possess a more informative framework that guides the workers and they are the ones who through this technology have full knowledge about their command and the work process such that they rely not on their bodies but more on cognitive abilities. The new technology frees the workers in terms of contemplative thought and facilitates more of flexible specialization through practical skill, knowledge and formal education can be effectively combined. The theory builds the foundation for a still role of the craft knowledge in the workplace environment (Hughes, Rouncefield and Tolmie 134). The theory also provides insights that technological advancements in the workplace also facilitates more of complexity in the work that is to be performed, tasks at hand of the workers tends to become more complex and it even enhances the autonomy of the workers. The concept of information and communication technology is incorporated into the workplace so as to increase the quality, transparency and operational efficiency. These are some of the undisputable gains of this new concept but there are some other changes that are caused by ICT in terms of power relationships amongst all the actors who form a part of an organization. Thus it can be stated that though the concept of information and communication technologies has been able to enhance certain factors but it even causes some of the actors to double their power in relation to which some of the actors loose on their power (Lee and Cassell 67).The two factors that are power relationships and power are essential components of the organizational life. Power plays a major role in the phenomenon of organizational change and there exist three attributes through the factor power can more precisely be defined. The first element is that power can be classified as an actor’s attribute termed as structural approach, secondly as the sociological approach and thirdly structuration theory approach that relates power to form an interface between the structures and actors. The digital communication technologies enhance the improvement in all of the critical domains such as that of transparency and quality in both the private as well as public sectors. ICTs help in increasing the time efficiency majorly through the accelerated work process, automation, standardization and use of efficient methods for information procurement (Kelly 45). The introduction of ICT into an organization encompasses benefits and also costs. The cost factor is majorly associated with software and hardware as tangible costs and the other form of cost is that associated with training and implementation of professionals. The other form of cost also comprises of the disruption that is caused in operation handling and that of lower morale of some of the team members in the workplace. The benefits that are resulted through the incorporation of this new technology is in the form of positive cash flows, increase in productivity, reduced workforce, lower cost of operations, lower costs of facilities and expenses such as that of availability of more information in a specified time frame, organizational learning, client and job satisfaction, goodwill of the employees, improved image of the corporate and better decision making (Oz 56).The quality that is associated with implementation of ICT into the workplace is much greater in comparison to that of manual hard work. The approach eliminates the possibility of the mistakes in the workplace process and also at the same time facilitates more of benefits for the stakeholders through various forms of online services as well as internal optimization of the knowledge of administrator. There are three factors that support the characteristics of information and communication technologies in the system such as being disruptive by nature, transformative and reproductive (Reynolds 145).The concept of ICT into the system also facilitates transparency majorly in the context of prices, suppliers and availability and it even comprises of certain internal transparency issues of an organization such as that of tracing and tracking. In today’s scenario there exists a great deal of dependency of an organization on the external as well as internal technological professionals. This dependency factor of the present administrations on the professionals enables these actors to exhibit a critical power as they have the controlling power of the most important resource of the organization. Apart from the impacts that are originally caused by the ICTs in the form of quality, time and cost there also possess some of the unintended impacts in the form of power redistribution amongst all the actors that form a major part of the organizational work process. In the networks there is a well organized format that is followed by the administrations, but there exist a great variance in the network structures and in the manner in which the resources and other power is distributed along the system. It can be stated that those actors in the system who are powerful would tend to use the new technology in such a manner so that it can be doubled. These actors even when may opt for the approach of information and communication technologies so that their existing power van be retained or in other hand some new power can be gained by these individuals. On the contrary those actors who tend to be less powerful would make use of the approach of ICT so as to enable network restructuring in order to make it more equitable. These kinds of negotiations or power struggles represent the information technology enactment in the sector of public administrations. Thus through the application of labour process theory it can be stated that one side of ICT in the organizational system is in the form of reinforcement of the power structures that are existing and on the other end it also provides wit an opportunity that relates to the power structures evolution that are existing in the organizational system. Internet can thus be considered as per the Labour Process Theory as a tool that to increase government’s responsiveness or a mechanism to facilitate empowerment. The certain political issues that affects the theory is that internet poses a threat on the security of the state by means such as these technologies are often attacked by criminals and hackers, and at the same these kind of system are vulnerable towards errors or bugs that would disrupt the entire computer program installed in the system. This type of vulnerability in the system is further affected through the network connections. On the other hand the approach of ICT serves as a tool for control and surveillance over the entire society. The information and communication technology facilitates to possess more information with respect to the surroundings as such information helps to establish the required power. It can even further explain that sharing information would also indicate sharing capacity and also influence of action. ICT serves a new tool for work in a workplace that characterizes an important change in the organization and that further lead towards power redistribution. Any form of a transformation that takes place in an organization alters the power relationships within the administration and changes them into more of political reactions between all the actors that are involved in the work process. This form of implementation of a new work tool is very essential for any organization as it helps in eliminating many loopholes of the traditional system. As per the theory this new tool supports the resource redistribution along the workplace so that proper resource allocation takes place as per the competencies of the individuals. This ultimately results into power redistribution that causes a negative impact on some of the actor’s status in the workplace. The change that occurs in the organization due to such a new work tool changes the formal processes and structures, the informal cultures and defines a new relation or rather a power amongst all the actors. The other factor that threatens such actors is modernization of an organization as per the competition that gives rise to more of tension and threatens the qualifications and status of each and every individual of a workplace. This form of transformation or rather evolution of new form of structures in the state puts in significant impacts on the civil society. The theory describes a state to be an institution possessing a prominent structure and in turn has an impact on the civil society (Information Resources Management Association 113).The modifications that are resulted in the administration do not only encompass the relationship between the civil society and governing bodies but also incorporates changes within the relationship of the society with that of economy. The structural changes that takes place due to information and communication technologies in the state further modifies the form of power relationships that exist between the private and public organizations or between the civil society and the government. The impact of ICT is very powerful also on the power relationship role between the identified stakeholders and local administration. Each and every actor of the stakeholder model is directly linked with the impact that is caused by information and communication technologies (Zarembka and Desai 110).The factors that cause and impact through the approach of ICT is in the form of controlling uncertainty by the actors, negotiating as well as strategizing with other actors, and determination of the relative position of power that is possessed by the individual (Rodrigo 132).The major influential elements of this new work tool is in the form of time and cost efficiency, third party dependency, decision making quality through the best of decision support tools, ability of electronic surveillance, electronic monitoring of the entire work process and the transparency in the organizational system (Schwalbe 49).The two ends of incorporation of information and communication technologies in the system are its effects on upgrading the system and the aspect of deskilling. The technological introduction causes a contingent outcome that is more dependent on the context. The labour process theory states that such an approach causes skill polarization majorly through evolution losers and winners in the workplace environment. In this context some of the jobs may tend to become more complex for the workers and some of the workers may not find such complexity in their tasks. The theory has been able to give insights majorly in the form of describing the concept of power relations and then highlighting on the relationships between the ICT and power relations. It can also be stated that gaining more knowledge on such new technologies has made some individual possess more power in comparison to others (Thompson and Smith 123).It has facilitated not only to give a new edge to the competition but also has been able to draw a clear distinction between all the employees possessing different form of competencies. This approach as stated in the theory has been able to enable more of functional flexibility in the workplace as the evolution of new technology in the workplace reduces the number of employees that are present in the system and facilitates few employees to perform a variety of jobs (Wischhusen and Snell 164). The intentions behind implementation of the new technology in the system and outcomes of the actions play a major role in describing the power relations. The intentions also represent setting up of an appropriate balance in the workplace power. The theory states that implementation of ICT into the system should not only be the major objective but would also comprise of the description related to the consequences of the actions to be taken. This would encompass the major shift in power in terms of the impact that is caused on craft knowledge, boredom, and alienation and also the weakening that is caused in the trade unions (World Bank Publications 86).The major impact that is caused by the technology in the workplace is in the form of compromise in the skill set of the workers. The best use of ICT can be done in the system through striking a balance between all the authorities that holds power in the system. Each and every component as per the theory has certain form of relation with that of evolution of the new workplace tool. The approach of ICT has been able to shift the dimension of the workplace to a great degree may that be in terms of imposing multi-responsibilities on an individual or to enhance the workplace environment by causing a major shift in all form of power relations. Conclusion The organizations in the present scenario use the concept of information and communication technology to improve the overall efficiency of the system. The theory that best governs the factor of ICT in the present context is the labour process theory. It does not only describe the required behaviour of an individual at the workplace but also encompasses the impact that has been created by the new technology on the organizational structure. There were generally three factors that were stated as the elements constituting technological change in the system. These factors are transformation, control and transfer of the various dimensions of the work process. ICT has enabled many managers to control the entire work process being at a distance and also at the same time has facilitated accuracy in the work flow and eliminated erroneous mistakes that occurred in the traditional form of operations. Though the concept is based on a various issues and the major amongst them is the political issues and challenge of power relation but it has been able to provide a lot of benefits. The theory states that information and communication technologies have been able to increase the power of some actors and on the contrary it eliminates power of some individual. On one hand some of the actors have been able to double the power by dominating those who possess less power. The work complexity has increased for some but on the other hand the tasks have been able to become simpler that can be performed in the least time possible. The technological process had a positive impact on the factor of empowerment as stated by the labour process theory. The empowerment was greatly reflected through the elements such as intensification and rationalization in the system. As stated by the theory the gain or loss of power in context of administration is only because of the intentions behind the implementation of ICT in the work process. Works Cited Barrett. Rowena., “Labouring under an illusion? The Labour process of software development in the Australian information industry”, New Technology, Work and Employment. 2004. Vol. 16 (1). Print. Cabrera. Marcelino., and Norbert, Malanowski. Information and Communication Technologies. Netherlands: IOS Press. 2009. Print. Doyle. Stephen., Information and Communication Technology. Spain : Nelson Thornes. 2000. Print. Feenberg. Andrew., Transforming Technology : A Critical Theory Revisited. New York : Oxford University Press. 2002. Print. Fortier. Francois., Virtuality Check: Power Relations and Alternative Strategies in the Information Society. New York : Verso. 2001. Print. Fountain. Jane., Building the virtual state: Information technology and institutional change. Washington : Brookings institution. 2001. Print. Hooff. Bart., and Wijngaert, Lidwien. Information and Communication Technology in Organizations. Great Britain : SAGE. 2005. Print. Hoque. Zahirul., Methodological Issues in Accounting Research: Theories, Methods and Issues. Great Britain: Spiramus Press Ltd. 2006. Print. Hughes. John., Rouncefield. Mark., and Peter, Tolmie. Representing knowledge: instances of information management”, British Journal of Sociology. 2002. Vol.53 (2). Information Resources Management Association. Managing Information Technology in a Global Economy. UK: Idea Group Inc (IGI). 2001. Print. Kelly. John., Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilisation, Collectivism and Long Waves. New York: Routledge. 2012. Print. Lee. Bill., and Catherine, Cassell. Challenges and Controversies in Management Research. New York: Routledge. 2011. Print. Oz. Effy., Management Information Systems. USA : Cengage Learning. 2008. Print. Reynolds. George., Information Technology for Managers. USA : Cengage Learning. 2009. Print. Rodrigo. Jose., Systems Practice in the Information Society. New York : Routledge. 2010. Print. Schwalbe. Kathy., Information Technology Project Management. USA : Cengage Learning. 2009. Print. Thompson. Paul., and Chris, Smith. Working Life: Renewing Labour Process Analysis. UK : Palgrave MacMillan. 2010. Print. Wischhusen. Molly., and Janet, Snell. Information and Communication Technology. UK : Heinemann. 2000. Print. World Bank Publications. Information and Communication Technologies: A World Bank Group Strategy. USA : World Bank Publications. 2002. Print. Zarembka. Paul., and Radhika, Desai. Revitalizing Marxist Theory for Todays Capitalism. New York : Emerald Group Publishing. 2011. Print. Read More