Implementation of New Technology Essay

Implementation of New Technology As time goes by we get older as we get older we keep up with current events and get wiser, not only does our body physically change but so does our way of thinking. This is the same mentality that we need in our businesses. In order to stay current with events and remain competitive, we must keep up with the times. As we become more technologically advance, the way we use to run business, may not be the most productive and efficient way to do so anymore.

Our operation systems and methods start becoming obsolete or just old, and in order to be efficient and competitive in today’s business market, implementation of system upgrades will be needed. But before upgrading, we as a business need to know the pros and cons of new technology implementation. In today’s digital age, “information technology produces profit by improving the company’s performance in areas that drive profit” (Regal & O’ Connor p. 296, 2002) the idea of implementing new technology systems to upgrade old ones is to improve performance, make things simpler and improve the quality of work.

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For example; why would you screw a screw in with a screwdriver when you can use a power tool? A power tool makes work simpler, improves performance and improves the quality of work. But keep in mind that this may not be a good enough reason if the company does not use this tool often. Careful consideration must be given before a decision should be made if upgrading any old technology or methods. Profit is a major factor in a company when a company is determining whether or not technology change is necessary. Cost justification is a way of saying that by purchasing such and such technology, we will increase performance by X amount, and that translates into savings of $X. ” (Regal & O’ Connor p. 297, 2002) So when a company is looking to invest in certain technology, there has to be a return of investment. Meaning if I spend X amount of dollars on upgrading my computer from dial-up to DSL internet what is my gain? Time for many companies means money, for every minute you waste that could be a dollar lost.

At my current job if I am not able to process a payment fast enough and provide the customer with a receipt in time, my potential customer who is sitting waiting for me may get frustrated and take off. That is one customer less that had a good potential of generating our business extra income, therefore the investment from dial-up to DSL can expedite the process allowing me to complete my job in a timely manner. Or what about adding wireless internet to your business, for many businesses such as hotels and coffee shops this technology is implemented as free service, the reason behind investment is to offer a benefit to attract more clientele.

This works great for these types of businesses, but not for a storage company that I currently work for. Some other factors that contribute to change in technology in the workforce can be an increase volume of work, a need to decrease the current staff or cease from hiring additional help, results in a similar company are better than our current results due to the implementation of new technologies, time savings or the need to just remain competitive.

Outdated technology can also have conflicts with new systems, for example; our personal computers are constantly updating if you have it connected to the World Wide Web. If the software did not update your computer has a good chance of catching the new virus that’s out, it may not run certain programs because of out dated software or may not function properly. As far as hardware goes, let’s take for example; my current business, we are using a copy/fax/scanner machine.

All great technologies, but the problem is that our copy machine is not meant to mass print items and it takes a long time to print more than one. Thus if I need to reproduce a document to have extra copies to have on file, I would need to A) Jam the printer by doing so not be able to scan or fax or print a receipt while I am making copies or B) go to a store and pay to have it done. Both methods are not productive and timely, therefore not making our business proficient.

Solution would be upgrading to a better machine that has the ability to multitask but print at a fast rate. Time is money! Effectively preparing non-technical staff for technology change can be a challenge, and may be stressful if management is not prepared. Many workers including in the business I am currently in fear the use of computers, some of the employees and elderly and have not been exposed to the usage of computers and can be intimidated when faced with one. When your job depends on the usage of computer skills, you have no choice but to face your fear and learn.

But when it comes to the implementation of new technologies Top management plays a great role in making sure that their employees succeed on adapting to change by; Education and Communication, Participation and Involvement, Facilitation and Support, Negotiation and Agreement. Manipulation and Co-Optation and Explicit and Implicit Coercion, which are many ways management, can help overcome resistance to technology changes. (Regal & O’ Connor, 2002) Training and planning will be the key factors to successfully getting your employees on the same page and direction that the company is headed to.

According to Dean Meyers and Associates (Regal & O’ Connor, 2002) there are 4 different types of Business cultures which are; Traditional, Consensus Driven, Profit Center and Futurist Culture. In my organization I consider our business to be a traditional cultured business, we are reluctant to change the way we do business and still operate with old hardware and software, although we slowly implement new changes but this changes come down from our hierarchy chain, system implementation and training in or business does take quite some time before we finalize the implemented new technology.

New technology affects our culture and ways of doing business in our organization the resistance to change is definitely present as we have managers that have been working for this company for a long time and are from the elderly generation that change does not seem appealing to them. There philosophy on things is if it isn’t broken, why fix it. New technology definitely has an impact in overall culture for our business as it makes people feel not comfortable with change, hesitant to learn new systems as our demographics is consisted of elderly crowd versus a your motivated crowd that look forward to challenges and changes.

It can change people’s attitude to either positive or negative points of view; it can either make the organization stronger or put a dent in it depending on employee adaptation to new technology. Overall in today’s modern society and competitive market, businesses either small or big, need to give careful consideration to the impact of new technology in the workplace and how it will benefit the company in the long run.

Implementation of new systems must have support of top management and careful training needs to suit both young and elder employees in the business. The ability to accept change and make sound decisions when it comes to investing in new technology will give a company the competitive edge it needs to survive in today’s competitive market. REFERENCE Regan, E. , & O’Connor, B. (2002). End-User Information Systems: Implementing Individual and Work Group Technologies, 2e. Prentice Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company

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