A Debate that is related to Microeconomics - Essay Example

Insert Introduction There have been, in recent times, very heated debates concerning the relevance of IT in the modern day business and economics in general. There are those who argue that IT has over decades lost its essence and importance in businesses across the globe, against those who hold that the relevance of IT in businesses can never be over emphasized. This is a particularly crucial debate with many business corporations, firms and enterprises beginning to become very keen to discover whether doing away with the hefty budget proportions normally allocated to IT (now deemed an unprofitable component of business) can still translate to sustenance and continuation of high profit levels.

It is important for economies to determine whether such ventures as minimizing IT will mean reduced operational costs and increased profits (which forms the core aim of all businesses) (Hubbard and Anthony, 377). Those who see IT as obsolete and replaceable say that the fact that almost all companies have embraced IT has removed the competitive edge it offers as a result of this ubiquity and is no longer important. IT, according to them, is therefore no longer a tool that a business can use as a tool for competition in the markets to advance itself above the rest.

They therefore see it fit that companies that are wise and that have studied the times begin to swiftly reduce their spending on IT and focus on other ideas and innovations that can lead to originality and therefore serve as strength of a particular business against all the other market competitors. IT to them has simply become too old and basic and therefore expendable (Gravelle and Ray, 312). On the other hand, there are equally those who have vehemently argued against such claims of IT obsolescence.

They state that IT comes with a plethora of benefits both to the consumer and the business itself. According to these proponents of IT, IT is irreplaceable in linking businesses and its consumers through the click of a button, a phone call or even email just to mention a few, while also offering a relatively easy source of information on the market trends, needs and preferences. It enables a company improve on service delivery and gain competitive advantage over others if superiorly utilized.

IT also enables fast and efficient money transactions that are vital in the smooth running of any business set up, failure to which many businesses have crumbled prematurely (Hubbard and Anthony, 411). In my opinion therefore, IT remains important in businesses as it saves time and offers an opportunity for businesses to become 24 hour economies and allow work from home too or on the move. It further saves on costs that are involved especially with doing things manually and reduces the worker load of the business.

A business for instance, because of its investments in IT will spend very little money on such processes as recruitments, market research, sales and deliveries and so on compared to a company that has to have field personnel and staff for all such necessities. It also increases efficiency at the work place and minimizes errors while making work light, consequently improving on productivity, speeding up time taken for products to reach the market and allowing for globalization of business (Hubbard and Anthony, 418).

The main question concerning this split of ideas remains whether a business can do away with IT (just because it has become a world phenomenon, mind you) and still compete, or at the least, survive. The evidences of the importance of IT remain glaring. For one, first companies to embrace IT (such as Plumb, Burdict and Barnard in New York, for example) reaped more fruits than the ones that were yet to do so at the time (Gravelle and Ray, 418). The fact that IT has become ubiquitous over time therefore does not point to its uselessness hence but rather the basic fact that many have come to realize how important IT can be in businesses.

IT is the foundation of all businesses, without which businesses cannot compete ((Hubbard and Anthony, 469). The opponents of IT in businesses fail to highlight any world renowned business or company that has risen and grown to recognizable heights without employing IT or by basing their operations on his theory of IT obsolescence. In the course of my very extensive research there is not one business that I have seen to be IT-independent either – not one.Works CitedGravelle, Hugh, and Ray Rees.

Microeconomics. London: Longman, 1981. Print, 312, 413Hubbard, R. Glenn, and Anthony Patrick Brien. Microeconomics. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Print., 377, 411, 418, 469