Technology and Management Functions - Essay Example

It has boosted productivity by enabling employees to access the tools they need to carry out their functions from nearly any location; and to learn about developments with the company's products and services tight from their desktops. Technology has transformed administrative tasks for which employees used to rely on others into routine self service operations that take only a fraction of the time. It has also facilitated a convergence and coordination of business data systems from disparate areas that has given rise to new possibilities for customer facing services.

Finally, it has freed employees from the tether of an office and enabled them to access virtually all of their productivity tools from anywhere they happen to be. On the other hand, the company's conversion of its business systems from PeopleSoft to SAP has not gone smoothly. SAP implementation has been plagued with difficulties that have resulted in tremendous frustration both internally and externally. This adoption of new technology, which was designed to improve business over the long run, has - in the short run -made it difficult to facilitate many types of customer transactions.

This situation illustrates that technology has the potential to put up obstacles as well as knock them down.Product DevelopmentThe first area in which technology has improved business at Lexis Publishing is product development. Technology has transformed the essence of the company's product offering from print to online media. Online delivery has enabled users of the information to more quickly and precisely access what they need. It also opens up countless possibilities for product development, through searching and user interface enhancements.

In fact, the company has a new release of its online search engine every month that features numerous usability and content improvements and enhancements.ProductivityEmployee productivity is one of the most important concerns when it comes to business improvement. Technology has enabled companies to grow productivity tremendously by equipping employees with portable office capabilities and self service administrative functioning. This has improved employee relations by striking a balance between squeezing more productivity out of employees and allowing them greater mobility and freedom than they previously had.

As David Parlby, workforce solutions lead partner at KPMG asserts, there are two key ways technology has been leveraged by management to facilitate improved relations via employers and employees. "First, connectivity - allowing employees to gain access to corporate data and to connect with their colleagues, customers, suppliers and partners wherever they are. And secondly through well- designed applications, allowing employees to carry out administrative tasks and business processes themselves, without the intervention of administrative staff" (Wylie, 2002, para. 6). At Lexis Publishing, this has been accomplished by equipping all employees with wireless-ready laptop computers and Blackberries, setting up intranet tools that make reporting easier and quicker, and electronically disseminating career and professional development information and job postings.

Webex meetings and eLearning tools have become commonplace. Today, employees increasingly have the freedom to work from