Benefits that Information and Communication Technology Brings - Coursework Example

With advent of information age has come huge advantages as well as disadvantages. To a certain extent, technology has aided mankind in evolution, however, excessive use or overuse of any technology is harmful. Availability of plethora of opportunities for technology and innovation has flooded the employers and employees with unlimited options and a failure to segregate the need with addiction results into incompetence and other losses (Mick, 2012). In this paper we aim to provide an insight into similar such instances where information technology in organisations have outgrown their benefits. The paper starts with an understanding of the terms such as Information and Communication Technology, networks, CAD/CAM, ERP, knowledge workers, implicit and explicit knowledge. The paper starts with enumeration of the various benefits that ICT brings forth so as to better understand the ambiguities surrounding the same. Further, it is illustrated with case in point, how ICT also hampers productivity among organisation and its workers. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) comprises of access to information stored in cheap databases and easier communication due to wireless and IP based inexpensive communication modes (Bloom, Garicano, Sadun, & Reenen, 2009). Its importance is identified in the fact that information and communication technologies differently affect the hierarchical level of decision making in an organisation. Decentralization is brought about by pushing decisions down whenever there is improvement in information technology. However, centralization is brought about by improvement in communication technology by pushing decisions up. The three major technological changes thus evolved were network (reduction in cost of information communication among managers), CAD/CAM and customer databases (ease of information access by shop floor and production workers), and ERP (improved access of information by all managers across organisation). As already mentioned, one such impactful information technology is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) which increases the availability of information to decision makers of an organisation and thereby reducing cost to acquire information for problem solving. Another such technological aid is Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) which increase autonomy and also span of control of line managers (Bloom, Garicano, Sadun, & Reenen, 2010). However, such key technological innovations lead to augmentation of network (Intranet) and associations. It is therefore pertinent to ascertain whether availability of networks at such a grand scale reduces the decision making autonomy for workers making production decisions and managers making non – production decisions. Therefore, a study on these aspects of ICT (Bloom, Garicano, Sadun, & Reenen, 2009), focussing on correlations between ICT measures and three dimensions of an organisation have revealed that industries depending more on networks and in countries with high communication costs, are at a greater disadvantage. Thus, it is seen that span of controls are widened by information technologies. But, networks and other such technology which reduce communication cost have ambiguous effects on span of control. Coming to the context of effect of ICT on knowledge workers, it is important to understand the term. Knowledge workers are those section of employees in advanced economies who add value to a certain project or field through their brains and labour productivity achieved by them and their productivity i.e. quality of work is determined by the manner in which knowledge is organised in an organisation apart from their ability to create, distribute and share knowledge (Mladkova, 2011). Also, these knowledge workers work upon both explicit as well as implicit knowledge and the role of an organisation is to facilitate them to create, share & use both these. In above context, explicit knowledge pertains to that which can be expressed in systematic formal language and can be stored and transmitted in form of data. These data are distributed and stored in some ICT, meaning clearly that explicit knowledge work is managed using technology. Moreover, studying the interrelation of organisational structure is important as it is one of the major factors contributing to management of knowledge and knowledge workers (Mladkova, 2011). Recent developments in ICT such as mobile technology, multi-tasking, WiFi connections in laptops, smart phones have been claimed to be effective, it is of concern whether, in certain environments, these technologies may reduce productivity. Multitasking in the form of several windows hyperlinked with each other, SMS texting, social networks, chat rooms have propagated such culture in all workplaces nowadays (Fried 2008). ICT is an enabler and amplifier of such multitasking activities. It is difficult to understand how ICT which helps in improving the efficiency of the workers by eliminating the redundancy of work can be harmful (Bannister and Remenyi, 2009). In order to understand this, let us take an example of a PC. Modern day PCs achieve the multitasking by using the high processing power multiple processors. The task switching is done so fast that that it is not noticeable to the operator. The same multitasking was a hindrance in the PCs having slow processors, the operators felt that the time to switch the task was not immediate. Now, if we extend the same analogy to people, they think and behave in a very similar way, which means that while moving their attention from one task to another, they take some time. The delay might be small, but it is still noticeable. In the time when the ICT was not evolved upto today’s level, it was possible for the knowledge workers to concentrate on the task at hand, without getting interrupted by an email, SMS or phone call about some additional task which also needs their attention. In the current scenario, it is not possible to devote full attention to the single task because people are also expected to work with the speed and efficiency of the computers and mobile devices, failing to do so, there is a high possibility of the person getting replaced with a computer program. This has in turn resulted in people spending so much time in juggling between multiple task that very less productive work actually takes place (Su & Mark, 2008). Technology studies often involve workflow issues. Let's take the example of ne barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology. It increases compliance with best practices by improving care quality and access to information. However, in cases where need for access to patients' wrist makes the process inconvenient leads to workarounds like scanning key ring instead, thus adaptaion to work using technology for efficiency overpowers need for defined process. Similar such cases again take place in a different, more complicated form. BMCA technology mandates entering of order in system by physician before medication can be accessed or administered by nurses. In instances which are critical, medication gets borrowed from patient of one ward to give to another until the second patients medication appears in system thus leading to informal and duplicacy of documentation on paper due to unavailability of system till order is entered by physician, hich confuses the electronic documentation subsequently (Hughes, 2008). It can therefore be stated that ocassions where technology doesn't adequately support goals of working team leads to workaround workflows as described above. And, these informal workflows are cause of concern since it requires reliance on memory and disregard desicion support safeguards. Further, other disadvantages such as decreased coordination between working team members, dropping of activities during peak hours and inability to work or contribute beyond routine sequences seem inevitable. However it is important to understand that this not true in all type of organizations. The implications of multitasking and delivering high effectiveness can differ with the type and vertical of the organization. Some tasks are such in nature that they are best done with constant interruptions. On the other hand most of the tasks are such that they are best done if there are no interruptions. A study of a executive recruitment company (Manglesdorf, 2008), exhibited this phenomena in a perfect manner. By studying the email and working patterns of the employees of the organization, following points were highlighted: The employees who worked on more than one task were seen to be more effective. This was directly correlated to the monitory contribution in company’s profits. The employees who were involved in even higher number of activities were slower in finishing the tasks, which resulted in missing the deadlines. It was seen that, when an employee started getting involved in more than one activity, the efficiency increased to a certain level. As the number of simultaneous activities increased and passed a threshold level, the employee started losing focus and the dip in the efficiency seen. The phenomenon follows a inverted U curve. In conclusion, it can be deduced that Information technology or any other technology for that matter requires proper management and improper handling of the same leads to results which are counter-productive. In organisation, as already cited here, every activity entails with itself a cost and failure to optimally utilise resources including information technology may lead to increase in costs rather than help mitigating expenses. The wide range of developments in ICT have enabled knowledge workers, nonetheless, the onus to responsibly utilise the same lies on them itself. Read More