Technology in Business - Smartphones, Blackberry and iPhone - Case Study Example

Business Management Technology in Business – Smartphones, Blackberry and iphone The importance of technology in business cannot be underestimated irrespective of what type of business a person or a company engaged in. Business process need regular updates in order to fine tune the business concepts based on the changes happening in the world. Technological advancements help the entrepreneur to update their products based on the changing consumer needs. The use of technology can provide businesses (or individuals), with a sustainable competitive advantage. Smartphones, blackberry and iphones are better examples for technological advancements in the mobile phone market. The invention of mobile phones has revolutionized the business world in many ways. Earlier it was not possible to contact a person any time through the land phone because the person might not be in the proximity of the land phone always. Moreover, it was not possible for a person to stay near the land phone always or take a land phone with him when he was moving. The entry of mobile phone has made communication easy as it is possible to communicate with a person anytime anywhere in the world if the person possesses a mobile phone. The 24 hours communication possibility itself has made the business process more rapid. The entry of Smartphones, blackberry and iphones has further eased the business communication process. Apart from helping the users to make normal telephone calls, Smartphones help them to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents. I got an iphone which helps me to stay in touch with my friends, colleagues and relatives while travelling. I have chosen iphone becaseu of the immense facilities offered by it. iPhone is a Smartphone made by Apple that combines an iPod, a tablet PC, a digital camera and a cellular phone. It also includes Internet browsing and networking capabilities along with 3G facilities and TV on mobile options (iphone, n. d). Apple has adopted a unique marketing strategy for iphone. They have spread the message about iphone as the social device for consumers as it consists of all the elements required for social networking like iTunes and YouTube. There is a demarcation between leisure and work. The above marketing strategy has brought positives and negatives. Most of the youth community like to have such social networking facilities in their smartphones; but the managers could be reluctant to issue their employees the iPhone as their work phone as it could be perceived that they are advocating the use of it for pleasure purposes during work hours, so there is a potential productivity issue here (B2B Marketing Features, 2008) “From a marketers perspective, the introduction of the new iPhone could open up opportunities to create targeted mobile advertising campaigns” (B2B Marketing Features, 2008). In other words, the prospects for iphone in the market are immense. But the competition from blackberry is stiff and iphone need to fine tune some of the features in order to compete more effectively with the blackberries. Blackberry phones are specific devices which work on blackberry operating system alone whereas smartphones can make use of any operating systems like BlackBerry OS, Palm OS or Windows Mobile (Cassavoy, 2010). BlackBerry smartphones allow users to stay in touch with everything that matters to them while they are on the go. Emails, phone, maps, organizer, applications, games, the Internet, media player, camera etc are some of the facilities provided by the blackberry phones (What is BlackBerry?, 2010). In any case the introduction of above iphones and blackberries like smartphones has increased the competing power of business immensely. It is possible for an executive to have in touch with his office and his customers always irrespective of whether he is in the office or travelling. Such rapid communication technologies help the executives to take decisions more quickly and efficiently. Moreover, it is possible for a CEO to control his company activities in India or China more effectively now, by staying in America or UK. In business quick and timely decisions are always important and the introduction of above mentioned revolutionary communication technologies help the managers and executives to avoid any time delay in sending or receiving information. Relationship between developments in the energy sector (oil) and business “The world is gradually marching towards a severe energy crisis, what with an ever-increasing demand of energy overstepping its supply” (Chow, 2001). Energy is an important component for industrial developments. In fact energy is the blood of an industry. Most of the human activities in the current world are machine driven and machines need energy for proper performance. Most of the activities in an organization require the assistance of some kind of machineries which is operating on some kind of energy sources. For example, it is difficult for a business to operate without the assistance of vehicles. Vehicles on the other hand require energy and oil is the energy source for vehicles. In other words, business operations depend on the availability and price of the oil. Integration either in the form of vertical or horizontal is a business strategy adopted by many organizations of the modern world to increase their bargaining power. Organizations are always keen in establishing a monopoly in the market in order to increase their profits and the integration of businesses is a key strategy in achieving monopoly. Vertical integration is a process in which two or more companies or countries create a value chain that allows all parties to enjoy the benefits of business while sharing the costs and risks. A number of factors can be the motivation for entering into a vertical integration, such as costs of produced goods and services or the market differentiation associated with each partner (Tatum, 2010). Oil producing countries have formed a consortium called OPEC to control the oil market more effectively. In other words we can say that OPEC is an example of vertical integration of business activities by two or more countries. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization made up of 13 oil producing nations (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, n. d) OPEC was able to control the oil prices across the world because of their oligopoly. They have raised the prices of oil drastically around three years before when the economic recession has not started. The unexpected entry of financial crisis has resulted in fewer demands for oil resources which forced OPEC to reduce the barrel prices of oil and it has reached almost $ 20/barrel at one stage. Since the movement of goods across a country and beyond the boundaries of a country are essential for business activities, transportation of goods play a vital role in controlling the business functions. On the other hand, transportation depends, on the prices of the fuels and hence OPEC can effectively control the global business activities. Oil prices have fluctuated a lot over the last decade. At some point of time, it almost touched $ 150/ barrel mark while at some other point of time, it has come down to around $ 20 per barrel (Cassidy, 2008) In short, energy sector is the backbone of any business activity. Any problems or changes happen in the supply and demand of energy can impact the business functions immensely. Industry of my choice The computer and internet has revolutionized the world immensely. Earlier in some parts of the world, especially in the socialist countries, the introduction of computers has been witnessed as a threat to the employment opportunities. But as time progresses, people are more aware of the potentials of computer and software industry and virtually all the domains of human life is influenced by computer or computer related products. In fact computers are one of the most important innovations in the history. “Without computers the world would not be able to function in the manner today that people are accustom to. Computers today have replaced many of the roles that people had once done manually” (Computers, 2010)   I would like to work in the computer industry or software industry to be more precise, in future because of the immense opportunities it provides to the unemployed youths. Software industry is also undergoing drastic changes. Earlier, it was difficult for a computer professional to excel in software industry without mastering the high level programming languages like, BASIC, COBOL, PASCAL, FORTRAN etc. But at present, such high level programming languages are not necessary at all. Most of the software are available in readymade packages at present and the current computer professionals need only the in depth knowledge in these packages to excel in their profession. The global financial crisis has affected almost the entire business segments in the world. But the software industry has escaped without many damages (Eastern European Software Industry: Present And Future, 2005). The influence of computer and other related products in human life is increasing at a rapid pace. Earlier people thought that computer and internet are capable of enhancing the communication means. But at present, computer has touched the entire segments of human life. For convenience, online education and online business have been taken as references for analysing the importance at present and future prospects of software industry. The popularity of online education is increasing day by day because of the immense facilities and convenience it provides to the learners. In a world which is filled with numerous kinds of engagements and commitments, it is difficult for busy people to find enough time to go to real classrooms or educational institutions to fulfil their learning dreams. For such people online education is a blessing. “Over 20% of the 17.0+ million higher education students enrolled are taking at least one course online” (Online Education — the Advantages of Online Degrees). Online education attracts everybody because of the convenience it provides to all irrespective of person’s age, gender, intellectual level or location. The main advantage of online education is its wide reach-ability. It is possible for online learners to attend the classes anywhere and anytime they want. A person staying in his residence in India can attain an online degree from America easily because of the advancements in online educations at present. It is not required for him to go to America, at least once as part of his educational requirement. On the other hand online business and outsourcing are also on the verge of heavy growth. “Many of the companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money, as they dont have to provide benefits to their workers and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about” (Thompson, 2009) Globalization has opened the doors widely for the business community to explore the resources of other countries. It is not necessary to bring a professional from India to America in order to execute some IT projects at present. Internet technologies have developed a lot so that an IT work can be executed in America by sitting at some other corners of the world. High labor cost and shortage of skilled professionals are the major reasons which force the IT organizations to think in terms of outsourcing their jobs. ) Reduction in overhead expenses is the main reason behind IT organizations going after outsourcing services. No IT professionals in America will be ready to work for an average salary below $ 5000 whereas similar services can be obtained from India like countries at an average cost of even below $ 2000 with the help of outsourcing. In short, online education and online business activities are increasing day by day and the growth prospects of the software industry is bright. The essential requirement of online business, online education, outsourcing etc is the powerful software tools and the software industry so far lived up to the expectations of the people in providing the suitable tools or solutions for the computer related human activities. As per a leading independent enterprise software provider, Progress Software Corporation, the slow evolution in computing over the last few years will become a quiet revolution in 2010 (2010: IT set to move from evolution to quiet revolution, predicts Progress Software, n. d). In other words, the current bad patch in the software industry is only a temporary one and the future is bright for it which encouraged me to shape my career ambitions around the software industry. References 1. B2B Marketing Features, (2008), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.b2bm.biz/features/?groupId=&articleId=28730 2. Cassavoy Liane, (2010), What Makes a Smartphone Smart?, Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://smartphones.about.com/od/smartphonebasics/a/what_is_smart.htm 3. Cassidy John (2008), Economics: Black hole Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/economics/2008/08/13/Explaining-Oil-Price-Fluctuations/ 4. Chow Kee Yong (2001), The World’s Energy Crisis, Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.articlecity.com/articles/environment_and_going_green/article_95.shtml 5. Computers, (2010), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.peerpapers.com/essays/Computers/98275.html?topic   6. Eastern European Software Industry: Present And Future, (2005), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.rncos.com/Market-Analysis-Reports/Eastern-European-Software-Industry-Present-And-Future-EST03.htm 7. iphone, (n. d), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci1238379,00.html 8. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, (n.d), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.opeg.org 9. Online Education — the Advantages of Online Degrees,(n. d), Retrieved on 7 January 2010 from http://www.edvisors.com/ 10. Tatum Malcolm (2010), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-vertical-integration.htm 2010 What is BlackBerry?, (2010), Retrieved on 07 January 2010 from http://na.blackberry.com/eng/ataglance/blackberry.jsp 11. Thompson T,(2009), What is Outsourcing?, Retrieved 07 January 2010 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-outsourcing.htm 12. 2010: IT set to move from evolution to quiet revolution, predicts Progress Software, Retrieved 07 January 2010 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/2010%3a+IT+set+to+move+from+evolution+to+quiet+revolution%2c+predicts...-a0213982943 Read More