Technology of Management in Organization - Assignment Example

Management of Technology in organizations Discuss in detail “Managing Change”. In your response address each of the following: Source of change Nature of change Problem diagnosis Technology has become an integral part of the organizations over the past decade. Organizations round the world implement various technologies to gain further efficiency in the productivity. Presence of technology has been evident in almost every level of the organization, starting from the production and in managing the human resource. The importance of technology has risen in such leaps and bounds that organizations develop various management procedures and guidelines for the best implementation of the technology and to gain the utmost benefit of it. Change in organization is evident. On the context of the technological change mainly there are two primary sources associated with such changes, the internal sources and the external sources. Internal sources may include a wide variety of factors inside the organizations which may force such change to occur. The change in respect of implementation of technology can arise because of the managerial decision to improve the financial condition of the organization. In order to improve the financial condition management may yearn for better technology which may yield better productivity over a short period of time. Rise in productivity is one of the prime concerns for the management of any organizations and to better the performance often technological help is being adopted which acts as the source of such change. Innovation and also prove to be a vital source for the technological changes which are to be incorporated in the organization (Tucker, 2010, p.44). Technological advancement can also creep in for providing the better facility towards the employees of the organization which may provide rise in efficiency of the overall employees. Technology can also ease the pressure of the work strength and motivates the employees to perform better for the overall sake of the organization. Expansion of the overall business of an organization can also act as a source of technological change in the organization, where new technologies are implemented to facilitate the expansion process. The nature of technological change can take place in various levels of the organization. Some organization opts for complete switch over to the technology and automation whereas certain organizations look for technology adoption in some of its process and production (Robbins, 2010, p.64). However organizations also face adequate problems while implementing changes. Often employees resist to changes as they feel that the new technology will lead to employee attrition and turnover. In most organizations there exists a strong union which takes care of the issues confronted by the employees. The employee union raises its voices over the management in protest of the new technological changes and puts up a strong resistance regarding such issues. The employees also feel that they lack proper knowledge in respect of the technological aspect and demands high level of training which also increases the cost for the organization. Organizations also fear the possibility of inadaptability of the employees to such changes (Robbins, 2009, p.207). 2. Discuss in detail “Mentoring”. In your response address each of the following: Nature of mentorship, mentoring functions, characteristics of good mentors Owing to the amount of change in organizations, it is necessary for the organizations to possess a good mentor who can effectively guide the employees of the organization. In certain organizations mentors have no direct relationships with the organizations (Burke & Cooper, 2008, p.142). Any good mentor in an organization should posses various characteristics like their willingness to share the skills, their knowledge and their expertise. The mentors should exhibit positive attitude towards its colleagues. A good mentor should motivate the mentee and should dedicate himself for the success of his mentee. The mentor should posses such a nature which would make him respectable among the colleagues and other employees in the organization. The mentor should posses a positive frame of mind and should always encourage the employees assigned under him. The functions of a mentor are many and include career development, organizational and psychosocial functions. A good quality mentor should have the qualities so that his subordinates treat him as a role model (Allen & Eby, 2011, p.82). Mentors are responsible for promoting the career of his mentee and providing him the necessary exposure. A good mentor should highlight the talent of his mentee and bring him under the concern of the management so that he experiences a growth in his career. The mentors are responsible for the development of the organizational values among the new employees. For organizations undergoing technological changes mentors are responsible for educating the employees the need for such changes and also help to raise their skills to adjust to the necessary changes undergone in the organization. Mentors are also assigned the task of making the new employees adapt to the job by providing him with necessary training or resources. Mentoring is hugely beneficial for the new employees as it helps them to learn about the formal and informal rules prevalent within the organization. It also helps the employees to gain more efficiency in their work (Baumeister &Bushman, 2011, p. 10). The nature of mentorship varies on the role assigned to the mentors. In some organization mentors are deployed on a particular project. In this case the prime role of the mentors is to share his experience among the project members and to guide them properly for the overall success of the project. In other cases the nature of mentorship varies and mentors are provided the responsibility of the new trainers and the role of the mentors is making the new trainers feel comfortable within the organization and help them to learn about the organization values and culture which would enable them to sustain in the organization for a long period of time (Baumeister &Bushman, 2011, p. 10). Develop a matrix that compares leadership with management: Characteristic Leadership Management Convergence Reliability Helps in gaining Control Helps in building Trust among the employees and customers View Long range planning and operations Focuses on Short range goals and needs Overall aims and objectivity of the organization Direction Creates vision and strategy Directed towards Planning & budgeting Overall efficiency of the business Outcome Maintains stability Creates change - Relationship Acts as boss among the employees Acts as mentor for the business organization - Focus Concepts are given much focus Management focuses on details of operation - Orientation Orientation towards overall process Orientation towards the product and services - Operation Innovates Administers Attainment of the overall goals of the business Political skills - - Use of political skills to cope with difficulties. The overall performance of the leaders also depends on the feedbacks of the individual employees and their satisfaction level they reach after working under the leaders (Bertocci & Bertocii, 2009, p.9). In an organization mangers are mostly involved in formulating the strategies whereas the task of the leaders comprises of both formulating the strategies and delivering it through effective leadership qualities (Prussakov, 2011).An organization looking for a technological change, depends on the efficiency of both the mangers and the leaders for the successful implementation of the process. In undergoing any change, the initiation process is undertaken by the management whereas managing the change and reaching the desired outcome depends on the performance of the leaders (Dunoon & Wilson, 2008, p.77). The matrix represents a comparison between Leadership and management. Various parameters in the matrix identify the difference between the leadership and management and also find out their convergence between the parameters. From the matrix it is clearly visible that the views direction and the operation of management has striking similarity and also has some differences among them. Whereas factors like reliability, outcome, relationship with the employees, focus and orientation poses significant differences. The difference that exists between the focus and the orientation helps them to operate independently in the organization else it would have caused hindrance in their performance. The difference in the outcome also suggests that they produce different set of results which overall helps in attaining the goals of the organization. Though both leadership and management have different modes of operation they aim at similar objective of the organization. 4. Describe and document effective methods of motivating and rewarding technical professionals in business and industry today The growing importance of technology in an organization has resulted in providing much importance to the technical workers. As the functioning of any organizations is almost impossible without the presence of technical workers much emphasis is being given by the management in devising strategies to motivate and reward them. Motivation affects the morale of the employees and has a huge contribution in creating a positive work environment and it indulges an added responsibility on the employees to be concerned about the success of the organization (Diamond & Diamond, 2010, p.4). Organizations often do provide alternate career path to the employees which results in their swift career growth while remaining under the domain of the technical field. The option of dual career is observed in organizations like Procter and Gamble. Rewards and recognition also forms a part of the employee motivation. The rewards include monitory incentives and create an enthusiasm among the technical workers to innovate. Organizations look to satisfy the material needs of the technical employees which boost a certain level of confidence among them. Often extrinsic rewards provide more motivation to the employees associated in the technical field. Often organizations use certain informal methods to motivate their employees. The informal way of motivation includes the providing better work environment or providing better resource to the technical employees to work on. Technical employees are also offered more freedom in their work to enhance their skills. Job enrichment also affects the employees in a positive way and redesigning and reshuffling of employees in different technological projects also creates a challenge among the employees to achieve them (Petronio & Colacino, 2008, pp. 21-32). Commission based on the performance of the technical employees and added incentive on the successful completion of the projects is few popular strategies adopted by the organizations. Often employees are also provided with various non- compensational rewards to please them and it creates a loyalty among the technical professional working in the organization (Ingram, et al, 2008, p.229). In order to get the best performance of the technical employees a sense of positive thinking needs to be imbibed among them. 5. in detail, define and explain “Management of technology” so that a lay person might understand As discussed above the growing importance of the technology in organizations has caused the management of different organizations to provide much attention in such aspects. Management of technology can be defined as the overall process starting from the identification to the protection of the technology used for increasing the business performance of the organization to achieve the objectives of the organization. The management of technology also includes various processes like the development and the acquisition of the technological changes implemented to gain various products, process and infrastructural effectiveness. It also involves the transfer of the technology selected across different sectors of the organizations in various regions (Sherif & Khalil, 2008, p.195). Organizations needs to much more proactive in matters relating to the technology management as the progress of technology has also resulted in the increased sophistication of the customers and this has caused the organizations to shorten the life cycle of the products. In order to withstand the international competition and in order to make the organization more flexible, management of technology is of utmost importance to the organizations. In order to manage the technology, organization should focus on a compatible strategy. The organization should determine the aims and objectives for which the technology has been implemented and should also be clear whether it go for the innovation of the technology required or buy from the market. The proper management of technology results in effectiveness of various aspects of organization which includes financial performance and also the overall perception of the customers (Weihrich & Cannice, 2010, p.453). The organizations should also identify ways for leveraging the technology so that a complete platform can be developed for the products and the overall process. The benefits and drawbacks of each of the strategy needs to be identified and dealt critically for gaining effectiveness in the management of technology. Management of technology should also involve providing the necessary training required to gain a complete understanding of the process being implemented (White & Bruton, 2010, p.18). 6. Define “Knowledge management” based on your readings The concept of knowledge based management has been an important aspect in the study. Knowledge management as the term suggests involves the series of process which comprises of the creation of knowledge and the effective dissemination and the utilization of it. Knowledge is held as a commodity which is implanted in the highly sophisticated technological products. The development in information technology has resulted in the systematic approach of sharing the knowledge base of an organization. The process of knowledge management involves the careful utilization of the knowledge base stored in the repository of the organization. Knowledge management can be used indifferent level of the organization to improve the pace of working and helps in the reduction of cost of different projects. It also facilitates reusing of the best strategies of the organization (Mishra, 2009, p.2). The concept of knowledge management is also useful for the sharing of the knowledge among the employees in an organization and leveraging its use for various purposes. It focuses on the spreading of important knowledge in places of requirement within an organization (Fernandez & Sabhrewal, 2010, p. 5). Knowledge management has evolved as one of the efficient tools for the increase of productivity in an organization and helps to develop the intellectual capital within an organization. The distribution of knowledge management across all levels of the organization helps in gaining success for the organization. The distribution process also involves the process of the infusion of the consumers’ knowledge. Presence of an effective knowledge management in an organization helps to decrease the knowledge gaps and also decreases the loss of productivity encountered at different level. The profitability of an organization in which the flow of knowledge is proper, is quite significant in comparison to organizations with disproportionate information flow (Hawamdeh, 2008, p.ix). References Allen, T. D. & Eby, L.T. (2011). The Blackwell Handbook of Mentoring: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Baumeister, R.F. &Bushman, J. (2011).Social Psychology and Human Nature. Kentucky: Cengage Learning Bertocci, D, I. & Bertocii, D, L. (2009). Leadership in Organizations: There Is a Difference between Leaders and Managers. Lanham, University Press of America Burke, R.J. & Cooper, C. L. (2008).Building more effective organizations: HR management and performance in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Diamond, H. & Diamond, L. E. (2010). Perfect Phrases for Motivating and Rewarding Employee. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Dunoon, D. & I, Wilson, (2008). In the Leadership Mode: Concepts, Practices, and Tools for a Different Leadership. Bllomington: Trafford Publishing Fernandez, I. B. & Sabhrewal, R. (2010). Knowledge management: systems and processes. New York: M.E. Sharpe Hawamdeh, S. (2008). Knowledge management: competencies and professionalism. Singapore: World Scientific Ingram, T. N., et al, (2008). Sales Management: Analysis and Decision Making. New York: M.E. Sharpe Mishra, J. K. (2009). Knowledge Management: Complexity, Learning & Sustainable Innovation. New Delhi: Global India Publications Petronio, A. & Colacino, P. (2008). 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