The Coming of the New Organization by Drucker - Article Example

Management between Past and Present Name Class Unit Introduction The article by Drucker looked at the changes in organizations from command and control to information based. The article tried to look at the effect the computer technology would bring into the organizations. According to him, a successful organisation which was organization based did not require to have middle management at all. The conversion of the data to information also required knowledge (Drucker, 1988). The information based organizations in which he forecasted needed specialists who were supposed to act in the operations. Due to their flatter structure, the information based organisation required few management personnel. This is an organization where the specialists involved engage to work together. According to him, the specialists in an information based organisation do not need to be told what to do in their tasks. These are organizations where everyone involved takes the responsibility of information. Everyone in the organisation thinks only about the information that they require in order to perform a task. The organizations which are information based have issues when it comes to advancement to management positions. There are few management positions which make it hard for the specialists to advance (Drucker, 1988). This report will critically look at the article by Drucker and compare it with how the organizations exist and are managed over 26 years later. Impact of technology on organizations Drucker predicted that with the rise of computer technology, organizations would change (Drucker, 1988). During the later part of the twentieth century, globalization began being directed by the rise in technology. Various markets could be integrated through the information technology. As Drucker asserted, the rise of personal computers increased the amount of information that a person could access. It was possible for an individual to own digital information which they utilized and distributed. The invention of the Modem made it easier to send the information online. When the organisation started combining, modems, PCs and fax machines in the middle 1990, a great organisation revolution based on IT was evidenced. The organizations were able to increase their reach and information could be shared globally (Zuckerman, 2006). In 1991, World Wide Web was invented which made information access easier among the individuals and organizations. Organizations were able to start global operations as they could share information more easily. In 1996, most telecommunication companies invested in the optic cable which was faster in data transmission. The costs of transmitting information became much lower and the organisation increased their use of internet (Brandel, 2006). Management software The rise of information based organisation was aided by development of management software. This led to the use of the specialists as Drucker had said (Drucker, 1988). In the mid 1990s, the creation of the workflow software took place. This was a software that was dedicated to automate the business processes. The software enabled the organizations to use automatic procedures and pass information easily. The software enabled the employees from the same company but operating in different locations to work together as a team and do tasks which were previously done manually. Previously, organizations used to pass their workflow manually. Different departments used to exchange information manually and it took time before the final department received. The rise of information technology led to everything being passed over electronically. There have been a rise in the software companies who have engaged in creating customized business software (Ruona & Gibson, 2004). Reduction in management positions According to the article by Drucker, when an organisation becomes information based, the number of management personnel is sharply reduced. This occurs to the managers whose main task was relaying information. This has been seen in modern organizations where the management roles are few as opposed to the traditional organizations. Technology has increased the organisation efficiency, which has led to some roles being carried out more efficiently reducing the number of personnel. Through utilization of software, business started becoming efficient, faster and more effective (Drucker, 1988). Change in Human Resource Management Strategic human resource management has taken over from the traditional management approach (Greer, 2001). Traditionally, people management program in an organisation was accorded staff specialists. Strategic human resource management has the task of managing people being left to the managers who interacts with the line managers. This is a management which is broad and flexible where the key instrument is the people knowledge. The change in technology affected the human resource management leading to lean culture where innovation and change was needed. Unlike the traditional organizations, the current human resource management is focused on creating intellectual capital (Armstrong, 2006). As the human resource management has evolved, it has become one of the most valuable assets in the modern information based organisation. Organizations have used the human resource management to gain a competitive advantage. Human resource management has become a vital strategic player in the modern organization. All the human resource functions have become aligned with the organisation vision and strategies (Drucker, 1988). The human resource managers have shifted their roles from handling the simple personnel issues and are now major contributors to the organisation strategic development. As the human resource management in the 21st century have become more strategic, the management and organisation structure have become more flexible (Greer, 2001). There has been hiring of high qualified workforce who can be compared to the specialists predicted by Ducker’s article. In the 20th century, there were unrests in the organizations due to the type of management that existed (Ruona & Gibson, 2004). The employers could fire employees at will and employees were not active in labor unions. There was the creation of the personnel department which could deal with the issues related to the employees. As the time progresses, the role of the personnel managers has become absorbed by the human resource department. This meant that there was reduction in the management positions as most of the tasks could be performed by the human resource manager (Armstrong, 2006). With the rise of the information based organisation, the human resource management has become information based. The information age human resource managers have been able to manage business across international borders. Information technology has led to new challenges for the human resource managers. The information age human resource managers have to manage diverse employees who are dispersed across the globe. The use of human resource management based software and training have helped in managing a global workforce (Greer, 2001). Change in nature of work The nature of work has changed due to the advancement of new technology. Most of the tasks have been automated through the use of technology. In industries, human labor has been reduced through the use of automated processes. Some of the tasks that were performed manually are now being performed faster through information technology. An example of an industry that has gone through transformation due to technology is the automobile industry. The automobile industry has been on the frontline of technological advancement over the years. At the moment, companies such as Toyota can produce a lot of vehicles with few employees using automation and specialization (Zuckerman, 2006). The rise of e-commerce is another sector where technology has brought up. This is business that is conducted fully online. In 2005, almost 96% of the manufacturing industries had started using internet while 67% of them had home pages. The increase in the use of internet signified rise of e-commerce. As Drucker had asserted in the article, these types of organizations are run by specialists. E-commerce business has more specialists who are found in the operations sector. As opposed to the traditional organization, these are fully information based organizations (McAfee, 2006). Change in business interactions Business social interactions have been one of the most transformed sectors. In a business, social interactions are determined by how often the people in a business meet and their knowledge of each other. The use of information technology has advanced the way in which meetings are conducted. As the use of information technology in the industries has increased since 1980s, their effects on business meeting have been great (Brandel, 2006). Technology has helped to a great extent the exchange of information. Use of information technology has increased efficiency in the meetings and replaced other means of information exchange. There has been a decrease in the need for the personal meetings in the industries. There has been a reduction in the physical meetings in the organizations (McAfee, 2006). Information based organisation Today, business environment is technology based. A lot of organizations depend on the computers in order software for the purpose of gaining accurate information in their business. The use of information technology has become a necessity in all organizations in order to have successful operations. At the moment, there is data processing software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) which most organizations have installed (Brandel, 2006). According to Drucker, the information based organisation uses simple common goal which leads to a specific action (Drucker, 1988). This means that an organisation may need to concentrate on a specific goal. This is seen in modern organisation where they utilize specific goals. The modern organisation has set goals which different specialists’ works to attain. The specialists that are involved in these organizations are independent players, hence do not require to be told what to do. The specialists are good at their tasks, hence in most cases requires less instructions. The organizations are structured to common goals which make the specialists to easily understand what they are expected to do (McAfee, 2006). Career experience According to my own experience, the working of today’s organizations is mostly information based. There has been an increase in use of technology in managing the employees. The human resource management has changed a lot through the use of technology. In my experience as a part-time marketer in a global company, I was able to experience the new age human resource. The company management held meetings twice a week using Skype where the global manager would address everyone. The use of technology meant that the manager did not have to be physically present in a meeting as this would have been impractical due to size and diverse locations of the organisation. All the employees’ issues were handled through online channel and the organisation management was streamlined. There were few management positions in the organisation as most of the employees were specialists. The information based organisation according to Drucker has few management positions as there are few or no middle management in the organisation (Drucker, 1988). The organisation consisted of a lot of small self governing units where the leader of such groups acted as the supervisor. To avoid conflict in the self managing teams, there was understandings of what each group was handling and their information needs (McAfee, 2006). Personal perspective on article prediction By critically looking at the article by Drucker, his predictions were highly accurate. The change from command based organisation to information based organizations has been real. At the moment, almost all major organisations are information based where a lot of the employees are specialists. The today’s organization is knowledge based with information technology being the main drive. The leaders in the information based organizations are more focused on acquiring and retaining highly experienced workforce. Computer technology has impacted the investments in a great way. In some large organizations, the middle management has been eliminated. The need for the specialists in the organizations have become real as conversion of data to information requires highly specialized knowledge. Conclusion In conclusion, the article by Drucker was an insight into modern organizations. The modern organizations have been transformed through information technology. Human resource management has changed from personnel management to become more strategic. The numbers of the employees in the management positions have also been reduced as technology have made organizations more lean and efficient (Drucker, 1988). The use of specialists in the organizations has been on rise since most of the tasks in operations require specialists. The organizations are structured around common goals which define what is expected on each specialist. Modern organisation requires that each of the employees is able to take their responsibility on information. As Drucker had predicted, there are few management positions as opposed to the traditional organizations. The review of Drucker article shows that his prediction was highly accurate regarding the coming of new organizations. References Armstrong, M 2006, Hand Book of Human Resource Management. London: Kogan Page Limited, Cambridge London University Press. Brandel, M 2006, ‘The World Gets Smaller Still’, Computerworld, Vol. 40, no. 29, pp.28-31. Drucker, P.F 1988, The Coming Of the New Organization, Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management. Greer, R 2001, Strategic Human Resource Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. McAfee, A 2006, ‘Mastering the Three Worlds of Information Technology’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, no.1, pp. 141-149. Ruona, W. E. A & Gibson, S. K 2004, ‘The making of twenty-first century HR: an analysis of the convergence of HRM, HRD and OD’, Human Resources Management, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 49-66. Zuckerman, A 2006, ‘What Business Leaders Need to Know About: High Tech for Demand- driven Global Supply Chains’, World Trade, Vol. 19, no.1, pp. 42-44. 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