Effects of Technology

From e-mail to online learning and training to e-commerce and cloud computing, the evolution of information technology has affected all areas of a business’s operations. The information technology choices that an organization makes have long-lasting impacts on operations and the overall success. The use of information technology is inevitable, the type of organization or product produced doesn’t seem to matter, and technology must be used to stay efficient, be competitive and generate the greatest profits for success. Significance of Information Technology

Information technology affects how businesses manufacture and market their products, how they generate new business and how they compete with competitors. The IT solutions that organizations use range from personal computers and computer software to production robotics to communication technology. These technologies have changed the way that people communicate to how they accomplish their jobs. The face of business is continually changing with the advancements in information technology with specialized software shaping best practices and industry standards for all types of businesses.

Information Technology and Production Implementing information technologies’ advancements into production process has been a great advantage to production companies. The advancements have allowed modern companies to make great strides in their operational efficiencies and the effectiveness of employees. The improvements to information technology in production and manufacturing processes have been evolving for a long period of time. The first advancements society saw was the introduction of the assembly line and then with automated robots and computer controlled machinery to work certain jobs in manufacturing plants.

These advancements allowed companies to dramatically increase the volume of good they were able to produce and manufacture. E-Commerce Electronic commerce or e-commerce is one of the most significant evolutions of information technology in the business world today. It has become a new way of conducting business for many companies. It has affected many of the largest areas of a business’s operations including communications, finance and retail operations. It implies the seamless application of information and communication technology along the entire value chain of a business that is conducted electronically.

As the internet has evolved and become a necessity for a business’s operations, e-commerce has expanded rapidly into a fast-moving, open global market with an ever increasing number of participants. The open nature of e-commerce is likely to increase market size and change market structure, both in terms of the number of players and the way in which players compete in markets. Consumers are able to shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the comfort of their own homes, and they have multiple choices to shop from that were not available to them before.

This adds a new and exciting element for many consumers as they are now able to shop from stores that geographically were not available for them prior to the evolution of e-commerce. Decreasing Geographic Distances With the evolution of technology and advancements in communications, the geographic distance that was an obstacle for both businesses and consumers is becoming smaller and smaller. The importance of distance used to be at the top of concerns for many businesses, and in many industries, the geographic distribution of work was a constant concern.

As information technology has grown and changed the face of how businesses operate, those obstacles associated with distance have continually declined. Companies are now outsourcing their manufacturing and through technology advancements able to keep their marketing, research and development and distribution teams in close contact through telecommunications. Many of these groups can work together and even face-to-face through video conferencing without being in the same physical location or even same country.

Information Technology and Communications The advances in information technology and communications are among the most vast of all the changes that organizations have seen. Personal computers, e-mail and smart phones have completely changed the way companies interact with clients, consumers, employees, suppliers and co-workers. Communication technologies are also some of the most important for businesses to stay up with advancements to survive in the modern business world.

The internet and a company’s ability to use the internet has revolutionized the way business is done nowadays and has become a major tool in communications, and has opened up a wide range of marketing and communications options. Smartphones have changed the rules of the game in communications technology. Online Education and E-Learning In addition to the business sector, the information technology advancement and elimination of distance obstacles has had a great impact on education.

Online education can provide instruction on any given subject matter and is ever increasing in popularity and uses. From education to training to testing, the use for online education is always changing. The concept of changing the learning environment started in the 1960’s and is constantly advancing. The University of Illinois was one of the first to use the idea of e-learning in the 1960’s when they created a classroom system based in linked computer terminals. From there it entered into the corporate world in the 80’s where companies used computer based programs to train employees.

Then in 1994, CALCampus introduced the first entirely online curriculum. The advancements in using the internet for learning and education have come a long way and they are continuing to change for the better. Nowadays, there are online courses for graduate and undergraduate college students, adult learners, even K-12 students. According to a study done by the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of K-12 students enrolled in distance education classes increased 65% from 2002 to 2005 (“The Evolution of”, 2011).

Additional studies were done for the 2009-10 school year found that 55% of public school districts had students enrolled in distance education courses and that among those districts, 96% had students enrolled at the high school level, 19% at the middle school level and 6% at an elementary school level (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). These statistics show that distance education is becoming a complement to standard schools and giving many students an additional opportunity in their continuation of learning.

With the number of students taking advantage of the advances in online learning increasing each year, having a long-term strategy for an online learning program is critical for both elementary and secondary institutions but even more so for post-secondary institutions. In order to stay competitive and attract students it has become imperative that those higher education institutions provide quality and advancing online education programs. The schools as well as the instructors have to be on the leading edge of the technological advancements to provide the best learning environment for the distance learning students.

Postsecondary institutions need to focus on how online learning can develop student collaboration and evaluation skills and develop ways for enhancing the students’ ability to work as virtual teams, critical thinking, collaboration and enhanced student engagement. In addition to the advancements of information technology having a positive effect on distance education and online learning, these advancements are also playing a major role in the corporate world and the way that continued education and training are conducted for business purposes.

Through the advancements, the distances between key employees and locations for an organization is no longer a barrier or a high cost issue when it comes to training, educating and providing learning tools to employees. With teleconferencing, video conferencing and learning/training website, businesses are able to train employees, conduct employment testing and many other functions without having to transport employees to one centralized location. Positive and Negative Society Technology has had quite the positive effect on many areas of society.

It has brought distant places and people closer and has simplified information access; it has become an integral part of daily life. Music and Entertainment Theme Parks Travel We see the effects of information technology in all areas of our lives, business to personal, and many of the technological advancements cross those two areas. Travel is one, some people travel for work, some travel for pleasure, some combine trips for a little of both. We see travel technology changes in travel, tourism, and hospitality industries.

The advance in technology in travel started with the computer reservation systems in airline industries and has now encompassed all areas of our travel experiences. From online reservation of a flight and hotel to checking in, everything in the process has become automated and reliant on computers and technology. Travel companies are working to improve technology where they can channel customers directly into reservation systems to save money and improve the customer experience of making reservations online. Many of the reservation systems require loads of information and many steps to complete.

Companies within the travel industry are hoping that with advances in software and information technology, they can eliminate some of the steps and decrease the number of customers that drop out of the process because it is too complicated and time consuming. Virtual tours and interactive websites are another area that we can see the effects of information technology. With so much competition in the travel industry and vacation spots, many are finding that they have to develop more attractive websites with more information to attract visitors and boost the travel interest. E-Ticketing Cloud Computing There are Disadvantages

While the advancements in information technology are changing the way the world does business, and improving so many aspects of how things work, there are disadvantages, just like with anything. The costs associated with joining the evolving technological world are rising with the technology. There are many unique costs to consider when looking at the advancements in information technology. There are costs with implementation and ongoing costs with employing highly educated, specialized workers to maintain, monitor, expand and repair the IT infrastructure, or have an outside firm hired for handling IT issues.

Hardware and software, that is updated and adequate is essential to operating in the evolving technological world. Depending on the size of an organization, this cost can be quite steep. And the costs are ongoing, software must be kept up-to-date and hardware needs to be maintained. Employees must be trained to work with new technologies and there needs to be key employees or outsourced employees available for solving problems or when systems malfunction to bring everything back together.

In some industries, the implementation of improving technologies means that automation within an organization increases and the need for human completion of tasks diminishes. Documents are able to be sent electronically and immediately, financial data is calculated and processed automatically and telephones are answered by automated answered systems, all of these technological advances lead to less need for human employees to complete these tasks.

While the efficiencies are good for an organization, they reduce costs and save time, the lack of human contact can alienate employees and customers. There is also the concern that with advanced technology, the potential for security breaches is increased. The more technology and computerized operations an organization has, the more susceptible the organization is to hackers. The advantages of having all company data stored electronically is endless, quicker access to information, quicker retrieval, better organization, but the vulnerability of the information is the risk.

Organizations must take the time to ensure that proper plans have been laid out and procedures put in place to not only protect the information as best as they can but also to be prepared on how to deal with and recover from a security breach should one occur. Both the implementation of a system to store data and creating continuity plans cost the organization additional money. The Future Where does information technology take us in the future? There is no way for any of us to know for sure.

The changes that we have seen in the last 5, 10, 15 years are different than anyone could have predicted, advancements are continually coming out, new and better software is being developed and applications in business are constantly changing with these. What we do know is that information technology advancements will continue to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of business operations and that business will continue to rely on IT for their success.