Changes Technology Has Brought in the Work Environment - Essay Example

 ESSAY TOPIC 3: THE PAPERLESS OFFICE WILL ARRIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS THE PAPERLESS TOILET The paperless office will arrive at the same time as the paperless toilet is a phrase that has been used to show the difference that technology has on work or the office environment. It is widely accepted that technology has brought about a revolution in the work environment in different ways. However, some arguments do not support the fact that technology has brought about immense changes in the work environment because some aspects remain unchanged in the work environment and organizational set up. This paper will critically discuss if technology has revolutionised the way we work using two concepts which are information systems and information technology. The paper will also identify the practical implications of technology on contemporary business organisations. Information systems and information technology has significantly changed people’s personal lives as well as how people work. The business world has revolutionised almost beyond people’s recognition within the past decades. Technology, both in terms of information systems and information technology has changed the face of the workplace and also increased the pace with which people work (Lee, 2002:1). Information systems can be defines as the totality of the tools, procedures and techniques that are used by businesses to process data. At the turn of the century, Frederick Taylor introduced the concept of scientific management as an aspect of successful business organization. His thoughts and works, popularly referred to as Taylorism, have guided managers towards success in organizations by using technologies, for instance Henry Ford in the Automobile market. Information science has led to transformations in many industries where work is accomplished through small and more focused enterprise networks. Today, organizations use information systems in their operations to enhance competitiveness and enable business growth and success. Different organizations have different information systems because of varying information needs, but implement them to achieve the competitive advantage by ensuring that they achieve continuous improvement. Information technology can be defined as the use of telecommunication tools to retrieve, create, distribute and store information. Information technology has significantly changed how people work. Information technology in terms of computer aided design, spreadsheets, relational database technologies and word processing software have all provided ease in terms of conducting different works by increasing efficiency, effectiveness and also the time taken to do a particular job. The internet has been of particular difference in work environments (Science News, 2014). Communication and information occur fast ensuring that workers share important information fast and in real time. The storage of important files in computers rather than in physical spaces has provided security as well as ease of access and made it possible for businesses to operate from different locations with ease of access and time efficiency. Information technology has also become important in terms of monitoring business performance. Workers do not have to monitor the performance of businesses manually because information technology enables them to highlight areas, internally and externally where the businesses are ill equipped or are not using resources adequately. This in turn helps businesses make strategic decisions on the ways that they can implement to improve on different aspects of work to achieve success (Mingers, 2004:87). Despite the changes that have been recorded in work because of technology (information systems and information technology), there are certain aspects that have remained the same. First, technology has not changed issues of inequalities in employment. For instance, the numbers of men compared to women in the work place has remained unchanged despite the fact that technology has changed several aspects regarding work. Women have been underrepresented in different types of work for a long time. While technology has constantly changed issues of performance and efficiency at work, inequalities have been one of the less affected factors. The main reason for this is that technology is not directly linked to such as issue despite the fact that it could help show the existence of such inequalities. Technology is not directly linked to how inequalities between men and women can affect work and this is why the numbers of women against men have remain somehow static over the years in the workplace despite the effects of technology in other aspects (Tawar & Keshari, 2013:34). Information stability has also not changed how mission and vision statements are formulated in businesses. Vision and mission statements are important for work output as well as the success of businesses. They also determine the processes that are implemented to realize the objectives at work. However, the formulation of mission and vision statements has remained unchanged because such statements do not rely on information systems or information technology. Rather they define the operations that are to be implemented in organizations so that they can fulfil their dreams. Technology, both information systems and information technology only help in determining how such vision and mission statements are to be realized. Despite the fact that information systems and information technology constantly change, the change only improves on how companies can realize their mission and vision and not vice versa ( Another important factor that has remained unchanged despite the use of technology is job tenure. Continued employment stability has remained the same despite the era of fast paced information systems and information technology advancement. Issues of an ageing labour market cannot be solved by technology because there are not directly linked. The age of the workforce and job tenure are directly linked because job tenure increases with an ageing workforce. Secondly, information computer technology and globalization affect the competitive advantage of firms (Russell, 2006:135). Time has become an increasingly important aspect as organization of work must adjust to the need of high standards of creativity and product market pressures (Chandra, 2003:9). As such, the new organization of work requires an increased need for tacit knowledge of the workforce. To achieve this, a workplace culture must be developed where trust exists. This cannot be achieved through strangers characterized by high level of instability created by the use of technology in areas where remote working is encouraged. Therefore, technology has not affected this area because of the stability that is required. However, it should be noted that employment stability is not an aspect of or the cause of absence of change in the work. However, the stability promotes significant balance in an otherwise demanding, more turbulent and diversified work place that uses technology (Chandra, 2003:10). Issues of the responsibilities of employees or the positions they occupy have not changed significantly because of technology. Rather, the demand, diversity and turbulence existent in the market have forced managers as well as employees in their occupations to use information systems and information technology to respond to the demanding nature of their occupations. It is not an issue of changing occupations or responsibilities but an issue of changing the effectiveness of the responsibilities played by the professionals in these occupations to respond to the changing market demands. Despite the fact that technology has brought about ways of increasing security in handling business data that could not be done manually, it has also brought about new security concerns that have made some organizations reluctant in using information systems and information technology fully in their work operations. This shows that tremendous steps have been made in keeping work information and data safe, but has not been revolutionary in terms of providing security in handling work data and information. Technology has significantly improved how business is done. Nevertheless, there are several things that have remained unchanged by technology (both information systems and information technology) as discussed above. However, it does not mean that because such issues have remained unchanged, they should stay that way. This is because if some of these issues remain unchanged, they still affect the performance of organizations in a negative manner, yet technology is expected to significantly improve the performance. As such, there are several options that managers can implement to ensure that such issues work hand-in-hand with technology to increase productivity and performance and also the promising factor of technological advantage. With respect to gender inequalities at work, the implementation of information systems and information technology should be changed to support the required changes. Both men and women are important in terms of creating a healthy and prosperous working environment. This means that the number of men and women at the work place should be at par. Men and women should complement each other as partners in the workplace. It has been proven that the numbers of women at the workplace are low not because they lack qualifications but because of discrimination (Bird, 2014). The fact that the numbers of women in the workplace has remained unchanged despite an increase in the use of technology means that either technology has ignored the problem or managers do not use technology (both information science and information technology) to make appropriate decisions with regard to gender differences at the work place. To solve this problem, it is imperative for a manager to use the current information systems to record the percentages between men and women at the workplace and use the information to increase the numbers. Information systems that can provide such data are existent and are improved for such purposes. A manager should also use information technology to create a work environment that supports gender equality at the workplace so that when more women are employed they can work in harmony with other employees. An example of this would be to use the internet to conduct research on workplace issues that promote gender balance at the workplace (Bird, 2014). Job tenure has also remained unchanged by technology over the years. However, it is expected that this is one of the areas that should have changed because of technology. This does not mean that the change should be negative because the expectation is that technology will take the jobs of many people by doing what the people could do and in a more efficient manner. However, technology should stabilize job tenure more. To do this, a manager should use information systems to analyze how employees work in different departments and also in their occupations. The manager can then use this information along with information collected over the internet to show how job tenure can be improved by ensuring that employees undertake their responsibilities as required. A manager can also use technology to make an employee effective in terms of his works. Information systems and technology should also help by creating more employments to ensure that job tenure is stabilized. Technology does not have to threaten continued employment stability because it can be used to create new employment opportunities or also introduce new responsibilities for employees whose responsibilities have been taken up by new technological advances either wholly or partly. People have also shown reluctance to use technology, for instance in cases where they do not understand how to use such technologies, consider technology as a threat to their jobs or look at it as an aspect that will create more responsibilities for them. Managers can provide incentives and motive people to adopt technology and change their way of working. As stated above, the use of technology can fail because of the perceptions that people have on the impacts that it will have on their employment. As such, it is important for managers to use technology itself first to ensure that people understand how it can be used and also help them access information on the manner in which the technology will improve their work output at a personal level and at the organizational level. This can be done by providing access to the internet and other forms of information via technology on the above subjects. The manager can then use incentives, for instance an incentive with monetary value when an employee completes a certain amount of work within a defined deadline using technology (information systems or information technology) provided within the organization. In conclusion, it is widely accepted that technology has brought about many changes in the work environment and in different ways. However, there are several aspects that remain unchanged even after decades of the use of technology. these aspects include gender inequality, job tenure and organizational mission and vision statements. However, managers can encourage the use of technology in these aspects using different ways as discussed above. Reference List Bird, S 2014, Tech Revolution or Gender Revolution: Which Has Had a Greater Economic Impact? | Shelley Bird. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelley-bird/tech-revolution-or-gender_b_5765350.html Chandra, R 2003, Information technology: A revolutionary change. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications. Lee, K R 2002, Impacts of Information Technology on Society in the new Century. Mingers J (2004a) Realizing information systems: critical realism as an underpinning philosophy for information systems. Information and Organization 14(2), 87–103.  Russell, M 2006, Technology and assessment: The tale of two interpretations. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Science News. 2014, From the 'paperless office' to renewable energy, change leaves its critics behind | RocketNews. Retrieved from http://www.rocketnews.com/2014/09/from-the-paperless-office-to-renewable-energy-change-leaves-its-critics-behind/ Tawar, M & Keshari, V 2013, The Impact of Information Technology on Work and Society. Pioneer Journal, 12(12), 00. Read More