Abstract
This paper is set to analyze how technology has been used in the different organizations. The 21st Century has seen a lot of developments in terms of the technologies introduced in the market. Different organizations have therefore resulted to make technology on of their major resource in production by investing heavily in the resource. Technology improves on the performance of the organization and saves on the time spent doing one activity. Technology has therefore become a fundamental resource for the performance of an organization. The market is faced with a lot of competition.
In order to be at per at with the competition, it is essential that the organization update itself with the latest technologies available in the Market in order to make it easier to beat its competitors in the market. Before a company adapts a technology to use it in production, it has to perform extensive research in order to determine whether the technology is in line with the objectives of the business.
If the technology does not meet the objectives of that business then it makes no sense to invest resources on that technology. In order to produce high quality products to the customer, the organization has to ensure that it invests resources on the right technologies. Customers demand a product that is of higher quality. In order to obtain a uniformly quality product then it is essential that the right technologies be introduced in the production process.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background Study
The use of technology is the source of simplification of the tasks performance in various settings. With time the improvement in technology, the making of discoveries leads to the discovery of machines with various capabilities. This helps in the simplification of tasks and the increase in efficiency.
With time improvement in the field of machinery and technology, results in machines with small size and increase in speed and accuracy. According to Kelly (2010), the use of technology involves improves not only the simplicity of the task but also the quality of the results obtained. Technology results to a wide of machines that range in both sizes; big ones occupying a whole room to small portable ones, to the most simple in usage to ones with a high amount of complications requiring a considerable amount of knowledge in their operation.
According to Luppicini (2012), Technological advancement therefore looks at the steady increase in the efficiency of a certain machine and the increase in its productivity reducing the workload associated with the non-use of machines. With the advancements in technology, the traditional ways of doing things faces elimination with the new and more efficient ways replacing them.
This ensures there is always a solution to any problem that comes along. In organizational development, using the computers as part of technological development improves with internet products and computer programs whose design is to perform specialized functions replacing the work force and reducing expenses of employment. These computer programs range from the fields of application but without a limitation to any specific field of operation.
Companies have come to existence whose main work is the production of these programs whose manufacturing is according to the specific instructions that the user needs. A change in a small portion of the instruction means that the intended purpose of the program will change which will be against the specifications. These programs performs a wide variety of tasks ranging from calculations to tasks that are more complicated; like the determination of a feasible solution in an instance where a choice has to be made between two products. These technological advances are not only limited to computer products, but also to the sale of household goods and clothing online. This has gone ahead to show that, doing the shopping while in the comfort of your living room is not a dream, as our ancestors would have seen, but it is a reality that has happened and it is all thanks to the use of technology (Reynolds, 2004).
In comparison, at this time and age, it is very difficult to comprehend the kind of life that the people from the past lives were living. This is because the existing generation uses this technological advancement with their application in each point of their lives on a daily basis. However, we have to appreciate that with the development of barter trade a couple of million years ago, the foundation for the use of money for shopping was laid and the development made on that foundation is what we are benefiting on today with the use of electronic commerce.
Statement of the problem
Organizational management and operations, used to be a hectic process characterized by a lot of paperwork, which is prone to theft and misplacement making the work of managers a difficult task to undertake. Further, prior to the adoption of advanced technology, most business firms experienced wastage of time, this is a vital resource in ensuring the success of any given organization.
This is because; workers spent a lot of time executing duties whose execution requires a short duration of time using machines. Moreover, organizations incurred high costs in paying workers, since they most used labor-intensive techniques. However, Ravi (2008) postulates that with the adoption of capital intensive techniques, organizations have greatly reduced their cost of production, since the work that was initially performed by several people is performed by one or a few machines, whose maintenance cost is low compared to the cost of hiring people.
Technological advancement in organizations has contributed to efficiency in organizational operations, including saving on labor costs. This is because of the application of machines in tasks done by people initially. For instance, initially, booking of flights was manual, but today it is online, eliminating personnel that used to make bookings. Further, introduction of electronic technology such as the use of ATM cards in banks, credit cards, internet marketing and buying, and internet banking among others has helped in saving the time factor, and improving the efficiency of organizations towards service provision.
This is because customers can access the services on their own, at their own convenient time without necessarily visiting the organizations, which may involve waste of time through queuing. However, technological advancement presents negative effects, which include loss of employment as workers are replaced by machines, and loss of direct contact with customers argue that loss of contact with customers makes it difficult for organizations to determine the changing needs of their customers, hence they may lose customers since they fail to give value to their customers. This study focuses on analyzing the overall impact of technological advancement in organizational operations and the managerial function (Lubbe and Heerden, 2003).
Objectives
- To find out the various applications of technology
- To find out the benefits of technology in management
- To find the advantage over traditional methods in organizational operations
- To know the limitations of the use of technology in organizational management
- To find the extent of usage of technology
Research Questions
- How has the use of technology in organizational management influenced the results obtained that are different from the traditional methods?
- How is technological advancement in organizational development improved since the first time usage to this time and age?
- Are there any processes that are still preferable in organizational management rather than the methods brought by technology?
Justification
Technology is without a doubt the source of a smooth life through the improvement of lives. Although life improvements come with change in the normal ways that we do things, this changes assure us of better methods of doing work characterized by simplicity and assurance of better results. From the ease of keeping records with the adoption of machines, this leads to elimination of paperwork. In the past, keeping records involved the preservation of a room that was used as the storage for all the important documents. Shelves were made to provide the documents with a place for storage. With all this efforts in place, the risk of losing this documents was big with rodents placing the biggest threat since most of the documents were in form of files.
Some of the records would deteriorate with time and after some amount of time, it became impossible to refer to those documents. The sense of security was low. With all the documents stored in one place, any person accessing the room to check on other files would get the chance to peep on other files that may contain confidential information. Such storage wasted resources since the storage room can offer other services instead of storage. With technology though, all that is in the past with a small machine which requires a small storage space being able to store a big amount of data and assure the security of that information through the use of password that restrict the access to the documents.
Technology assures the maintenance of documents in perfect quality without the issue of time playing part. Replication of documents translates to more copies of the same information meaning if one of the copies gets lost the information will still be available. Communication using technology is simple without the regard of the distance between the people in communication. Decisions that require the ideas of many people no longer made to wait till the whole group is available. Communication takes place immediately and the activities that rely upon the decisions no longer have to wait. Unlike in the past where a messenger filled the communication gap, nowadays the devices used in communication are only limited to the ability of a person’s thoughts with innovations coming up on daily basis.
Technology simplifies things to extents that were just a dreams few years ago. From communication to calculations, technology results to the saving of funds that are used in the employment of personnel. In the past, employment of a large number of people ensured that the calculations were accurate and that results of the calculations did not delay. However, with big numbers the chances of making errors were high resulting in losses to the company.
Technology has now simplified that with a simple and cheap device making calculations of big figures with a hundred per cent accuracy. With technology, chances of losses emanating from errors are minimal. The cashless means of doing business is also a result of technology and through embracing technology in management, ease of operations comes to realization. Business people no longer need to carry money whenever they go on business trips. With crime rates in the world hitting an all time high records, cashless money transfers could not have come at a better time. It is now easy to transact business opportunities with just the touch of a button with the financial institutions taking care of the money transfer.
Scope of Study
The study is about the application of technology in the business environment. These applications not only make acquiring money but also the ease of spending. Businesspersons feel more secure carrying credit cards with high monetary values rather than hard cash of the same amount. This is the sense of security brought about by the technology. Management services become easier with the use of technology. Managers nowadays no not have to keep on attending meetings to make consultations or travel long distances to consult with one another. It becomes easier with the use of technology. in this study, we concentrate on the changes the use of technology is bound to bring to the organization and also the advantages and opportunities the use creates.
Limitations of the use of Technology
In many organizations, traditional methods of management are still in use with the embracement of technology taking place slowly. Many of the managers who are incharge are comfortable with the traditional ways of doing things therefore deny the use of technology a chance. The use of technology faces some hostility in the argument that it is the source of joblessness where the workforce is replaced by machines. This is mostly the case in areas where the workers are not equipped with the knowledge of running the machines. This workers und up losing their jobs as the company hires the people who have the right knowledge. This generates animosity towards the use of technology with the majority blaming it for the loss of their jobs.
This translates to a biased source of information with the support coming from the management but resistance from the workers some of which rely on limited knowledge. Some companies do not give the workers the knowledge or the funds to acquire knowledge on the use of technology. People are advised to make their own arrangements and go back to school and acquire more knowledge to be resourceful to the company. With most of the workers who are ripe for management positions being those who are a bit old, most object to going back to school due to either lack of resources or lack of interest. This limits the use of technology since such people will only tell of the bad sides of technology that is influenced by their limited knowledge. The use of technology requires funds in setting up and more funds in hiring people with the skills to maximize on the machines.
Some companies are not willing to invest their funds on the use of technology as they see it as a waste of resources that would take long to recover. Such companies consider the acquisition of the machines as a liability rather than an investment. According to Disselkamp (2013), most of the reasons behind the limitation in uses of technology is the fact that most people do not have the full knowledge of the extent to which the use of technology can help the company in both management and logistical operations. Most of the managers are contented with the small profits margins in the company therefore investing in technology seems a waste of funds to them. Convincing them to invest in technology is very hard.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter contains a review of the research studies and publications that have been done regarding the extent in which technology has changed how organizations carry on with their daily activities.
Literature Review
According to Pae and Hyun (2002), the drastic in the systems of managed have been mainly brought about by change in technology. Pae and Hyun (2002) argue that the issue of technology is not only of the concern of the business or any other form of organization but is of interest to the customer too. Customers believe that a good that has adapted a complex technology will satisfy their needs more compared to that which has not adapted any technology.
According to Ravi (2008), a scholar who also saw the necessity to study effects of technology, United Kingdom is the leading country in the world in terms of integrating technology in their production processes. The country invested in maximizing their use of a platform commonly referred to as the E-commerce, a platform that has played a major role in changing the management of businesses and other organizations around the globe. The fact the United Kingdom is the leading country in terms of using this technology clearly shows how important the country has attached to technology in their production process.
According to Simons (2011), it is impossible to evade adopting the use of technology in business in the 21st century. Management of different organizations has to plan well and invest in the recent technology so that they are able to survive in a competitive market. Simons (2011) explains that the future of organizations lies on how efficiently they will invest on the right technology. He stated categorically that, in this century, technology is an important element in starting and operating a business and therefore it is important for the management to streamline mechanisms on which they will be able to invest on the right technology. He states that there is a direct link between development and technology.
Tang and Nurmaya (2011) state that, governments of the different states should prioritize in investing in technology. This is because technology plays an important role in streamlining the economy of a country. Tsai (2007) on the other hand stated that most of the changes occurring across the globe have been reinforced by the application of recent technologies. Most of the countries in the world have adopted the use of current technologies in their daily activities.
Governments are also investing on technology to make their work easier for example, during census and other surveys in different countries; it is completely tiresome and almost impossible to compile to results manually. It will take a lot of time before the results are compiled and the necessary policies are initiated. However, with the new technology, compilation and analysis of the results has been made easier and therefore it takes lesser time to analyze the results and design the right policies based on the results obtained from the research. This is just one of the major areas in which technology has played an important role to make work better.
One of the most affected by technology in business includes the marketing department and the operation management department. These two departments have a direct link with technology that the management of a company cannot afford to assume. The two departments play a crucial role in determining the performance of the company. E-commerce in the United Kingdom has intensified the level of competition in the market prompting other companies in the market also to invest resources in adapting new technology.
Technology saves time in the production process of a company and therefore most companies want to adapt to new technology in order to reduce their cost of production and maximize on their profit margins. Technology has also created a platform where consumers can access more information about their producer. Initially, if consumers wanted to source for information regarding a certain company producing a certain commodity, they were forced to visit the company and talk to the persons concerned in order to retrieve that information. However, with technology, this information is available online, a platform where consumers can easily log in to the company’s website and get the information that he or she wanted. The new technology introduced inn companies has changed the marketing strategies of companies across the globe (Bak & Stair, 2011).
Due to the change in technology, most of the organizations are currently changing their marketing strategies in order to adapt to the latest ones available in the market. This is especially because of the fact that many consumers are now joining the market and they demand that the company provide information on what they produce before they decide on whether they will consume that product (Kanter, 2009). According to Barnes (2008), business operations have become more effective after they introduce technology in their production process.
This is because businesses are in a position to reduce wastage that arises from poor use of the raw materials. However, investing in technology is very expensive and therefore the new firms joining the market have a hard time coping with the already established and financially stable companies. The new entrants and other small companies therefore find it hard to compete effectively and therefore they do not end up maximizing on profits as their counterparts. The other established and financially stable companies have enough resources that enable them to embrace new technology as they emerge because they can afford (Barnes, 2008).
According to The economist (2010), the fact of people being able to do online shopping has affected the management structure and operations of a business. This is mainly because the technology has enabled the companies to be to reduce on their cost of production hence operation under economies of scale. Since the cost of production has reduced, it enables the company to produce more and at the same time offer customers those products at a relatively cheaper cost. The goods and services therefore become more affordable to customers and they will be willing to purchase more.
According to Bak and Stair (2011), technology has enabled operations become more reliable. This is because it has reduced the level of error that was made initially when an activity was performed manually. More organizations are in fact transforming to new technologies because it has proved that it makes a lot of difference once they are channeled in operations and marketing for an organization. Management has also become efficient because it has reduced bulk of work. Technology promotes the performance of a company to an extent that the companies can deliver quality products to the customers and similarly ensuring that products are supplied to the necessary distributors in time.
As was stated above, technology is an important resource in an organization especially in the twenty first century. This is because no department in an organization can operate efficiently without employment of technology. The big question however is whether technology improves the quality of life or not. Technology has played an important role in developing the economy.
Today’s global economy has grown to the level it is now because of technology. This is especially because the new technology employed in the organization improves the quality of output that an organization produces. According to the law of demand, customers demand more a product when that product is offered at an affordable price. The new technology has not only reduced the price levels of the different commodities available in the market but has also improved on the quality of those products (Brady, et al, 2002).
Other scholars are of the idea that technology has not made life better. They associate technology to the increased level of pollution in the environment. Before technology was introduced in the society, there was a lower of pollution especially from the industries. However, with the new technology, companies are forced to employ high quality technology that produces high quality of output (Jaffe, et al, 2005). However, the technology has increased the level of pollution because of the high level of unwanted by-products.
Technology has also depicted the natural resource because they are used as raw materials in the industries. When a machine that can produce high level of output is introduced in a company, one of the possible effect is the fact that the company will also be forced to increase the level of raw materials they use in the company to produce the set level; of output. For this reason, the company has to increase their consumption of raw materials to the level where they can sustain their new production models. The possible effect will be that the company will use more of the natural resource in order to meet their production demand. This therefore implies that more natural resources are depicted for the company to be able to sustain their new production model.
It is almost impossible to alienate science from technology. There has been a lot of scientific innovation since the end of the 20th Century. Technology has in fact played a major role in the development of these innovations. Over the years, there has been a fast development in the knowledge of science with more people joining the science industry. These scientists have been working tirelessly in their efforts to introducing a series of developments that have improved the quality of output in an organization (Brady, et al, 2002).
For an organization, that does not directly consume technology, there is a high possibility that the organization is using products that have been made out of the advancement in technology. This therefore implies that technology is applied indirectly in such organizations. Most of the organizations invest heavily on technology in order to ensure that the quality of technology they introduce in their organizations will improve the efficiency of the company. With efficient technology, the company is guaranteed of maximizing on profits and meeting their targets and in some cases surpassing the target they have set in the company.
Technology has resulted to introduction of new ideas innovated into the market prompting an organization to employ more resources in order to meet their targets in the market. As was explained above, technology has played an important role in reducing the amount of time that an organization wastes in their daily operations. Organizations have found a new way of communicating with their employees about meetings and other formal and informal message that they would want to pass to the employees.
The development of the internet has been takes positively by many organizations. This is because through the internet and other facilities that operate online, an organization saves on the amount of resources it would have used in applying expensive means of communication in order to pass a message to the employees. The employees have embraced the use of new technology in the organization where they buy gadgets that allow them to communicate through their phone and other portable devices at their own pleasure. This has reduced the cost of communication that initially the organization had to incur (Brady, et al, 2002).
According to Taylor (2009), product placement is a marketing strategy used by manufactures, producer, and other persons practicing business where they pay for their products to be featured in a movie. When consumers are watching the articles, movies, films and other recordings in the media, they get a chance to know of the existence of these products. The production companies of the film, movie, video game etc. agree with the company that intends to market their products on how it will be presented in the movie and how they will pay for the services. The improved technology guarantees the organization that a big population of people is in a position to access these facilities and therefore this will improve on the chances of the employees knowing about the existence of this technology. All these come down to the fact technology has made it possible for people even to consider such marketing strategy options for their products.
The aim of marketing is to make more customers aware about the existence of a company’s product. The fact that an organization is considering this option implies that they have done proper scrutiny in order to verify whether the strategy will work if the company decides to adopt it in marketing their products. Customers want to use a product they saw a movie actor using or a singer dressing so that they can identify themselves with the celebrity concerned. It therefore becomes the intention of the company advertising its products in the movie to ensure that the product appears in more scenes so that the viewers who are also the consumers of the product can take note of the commodity being advertised. There is therefore a very high probability of one consuming a product without his or her awareness.
Quality Improvement (QI) can be defined as all activities that contribute to defining, designing, monitoring, and improving the quality of healthcare. The health care environment makes production of quality and safe health care its prime responsibility to all customers. It is for this reason that health care facilities ought to have a department that manages the nursing quality administered to the customers.
Over the past few months, our clinic has been receiving a huge number of patients suffering from sexually transmitted diseases (STD). This is not only our concern as a clinic but also the concern of the country in general. In fact, the infection rate is increasing at a very alarming rate here in America. The most affected party is persons between the age of fifteen and twenty-five.
The United States health care department spends up to seventeen billion dollars in managing the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s). There is other more people suffering from this disease with or without their knowledge but the testing facilities and treatment are not available to deal with the population of people that come to our clinics every day. with this high number of persons infected with such diseases, technology has played a crucial role in improving the quality of health that these persons receive in the hospitals and nursing at home.
The health care sector has experienced a lot of advancement in terms of technology that has improved the quality of service that such institutions are offering to the customers (Chetley, et al, 2006). The health care center is in need of these technology facilities to provide better health care services to our esteemed clients.
It is their right to access these services, quality services. We there want to establish a Quality Improvement Program that will increase the testing and treatment services to the customers. The program will also develop mechanisms that can be used in reducing the number of infections that are recorded everyday especially by the younger generation. The performance of the program will be measured based on the change on the number of infections and the number of patients that were able to access treatment and testing services. Technology has therefore influenced positively the quality of health service administered to the patients (Chetley, et al, 2006).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND AIMS
The aim of this research is to find out the use of technology in management and operations. The point of interest is the level of adoption of the use of technology, and the changes brought by the adoption; both positive and negative. This is possible through carrying out research and interviews to the people in charge of using the technology at various levels of management and operations. The main points to consider are:
- The level of technology application in the company to sampled
- The changes brought to the company
- The response from the workers in the use of technology
- Any improvements to be made in the use of technology
From these points, the clarity of the extent of technology use will be clearer and the success or failure of the research will form the foundation in this four points. The questionnaires handed to the managers will play a part in clearly explaining the perception of the whole idea in the research. These points analyze the theoretical assumptions made by the researcher and the assumptions viability put into consideration throughout the research. According to Monsen and Horn (2008), a good analysis of research questions and aims forms the basis of a good and successful research. We shall also seek to find out the factors responsible for the varying receptions in the use of technology. With some of the company adopting the use of technology partially, they will help in explaining the main reasons behind the decision. This paper will therefore give a clearer picture of the extent of the adoption and the challenges faced.
CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY
This detailed system applies the use of both theoretical and practical explanations to explain the methods used to obtain information used in a research. According to Kothari (2004), the use of appropriate research methods to carry out research results in a comprehensive and detailed research paper with high levels of clarity. Methodologies are therefore the key to a good research. This research is in line with the qualitative knowledge on the extent usage of technology in the daily operations of the company and in the operations from the managerial point of view.
Through the theoretical study of the broad usage of technology, consideration of the practical nature of the project through physically conducting the research tries to put the theoretical nature in use. According to Reed (2011), theoretical knowledge learnt in class is as important as the practical application of the information in the industry. The description of the methodologies gives a clear picture of the means and ways that help in making the research successful. The methods include the use of carrying out research, studying a population within which the research is conducted and sampling a population with the necessary instruments data collection and carrying out a pilot test. The application of all these methodologies bring out the ways of obtaining the information used to carry out the research.
CHAPTER 5
METHOD
Research
In carrying out research, visits to institutions were necessary in an effort to establish the technology in use in various departments of organizational management and operations. This helps in identifying the most commonly used mode of technology. Through this, it will be possible to tell which methods were eliminated and the type of technology that replaced them. A visit to the companies that sell the computer and computer program gives clarity on the most common product that is marketable reflecting on the demand. The products with high demand translate to high use and therefore a keen interest on that product will translate to the most useable technology.
Population
The population of interest was two companies. The departments in these companies are the subjects of the study and the level of application of technology was my priority. We sought to find out the extent of application of the use of technology and the response from the workers and the management on the same. Sampling of the responses from both companies’ forms the base for argumentation with the data analyzed forming the supporting evidence.
Sampling Frame
The first sampling frame involved the companies that had adopted the use of technology. The results associated with sampling of the results are then compared between the companies that apply technology and the results sampled. The second sampling space was between the companies that were using technology and the companies that were reluctant in the use of technology but dealt in the same products. This enabled a wide range of sampling space to increase the level of accuracy in the results obtained.
Instruments
For this study, the mode of instrumentation used was through setting up of interviews. The respondents were the managers who had embraced the use of technology in running their day-to-day activities in their departments. These interviews were conducted to four departmental managers from the two companies. Three more managers did not show up due to different obligations. Supply of questionnaires was availed to the managers who did not honor the invitation for a face-to-face interview. This ensured the availability of information from both parties improving the accuracy of the results obtained. The questionnaires had ten questions that looked at the importance of the use of technology.
Data Collection
In some companies, records were available that showed the differences in performance with the adoption of the use of technology. In most cases, the amount of money paid to the workers had reduced due to the availability of technological machines that reduced the number of workforce leading to much higher profits. The number of services offered had increased drastically with some of the institutions acquiring machines that offer services to the customers without involving the workforce available. This caused a reduction for workload upon the available workers. The information gathered from these records formed one of the sources of information that gave the first hand information on the differences brought about by the adoption of technology.
Pilot Test
We sought to find out the importance of the use of technology in these fields. The time taken to make the whole application fully functional was considered. Checking on the financial statements of the company is aimed at finding out the total cost of setting up the whole system and the amount of work force in use. The change in the company since the beginning of the time the technology was applied is considered able to establish the exact kind of benefits resulting from the company in both productivity and economic gain.
Data Processing and Analysis
According to Beri (2008), processing the data and its analysis is the sure way of telling the consistency of results. This is possible through the comparison of all the collected data from various settings. This involves the comparison of data from various settings to see if they are consistent. This is made possible through the formation of a hypothesis to test the data. The hypothesis tests weather the use of technology improves the production in a company and increases the amount of revenue. The hypothesis is then tested using the data gathered from the research and the hypothesis is then considered null or valid. This hypothesis is verifiable through the comparison of past data and the data since the beginning of technology use.
Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability seeks to ensure that the results from a research contain the flow of information with the required accuracy. This accuracy raises the level to which the research is relied to be able to be used in making important conclusions and decisions in a company. For the results to be reliable, the methods used in obtaining the information used in the analysis have to contain a high degree of accuracy and consistency that raises the confidence of the people using the information. Attention is also required when analyzing the data and the conclusions made are in line with the hypothesis made in the beginning of the research. According to Baumgarten (2013), various assumptions made at the beginning of the study are eliminated in the process by the use of criteria in testing the validity and reliability of the data.
Limitations
There is not a single method of research able to carry out a research without facing a challenging limitation at one point or another. These limitations range from the complexity of the data in use to the complexity of the results in question. For our methods, the limitations range from the honesty of the interviewees to the accuracy of their records with which we used to draw our analysis. According to Yanow and Shea (2006), researches through interviews take a lot of time in organizing for them and the accuracy of the information is dependent on the person being interviewed. The accuracy of this information can however be increased through increasing the number of the people to be interviewed.
CHAPTER SIX
FINDINGS
Introduction
In this chapter, we are looking at the results we obtained and their interpretation. This is in the effort to be in a position to interpret the results and come up with substantial conclusions with a strong basis in the research done. The presentations were made in form of tables and the analysis of the response from the three questionnaires that were handed to the unavailable managers.
This helps in sampling their views in absentia. The effort by the managers in ensuring that questionnaires were duly filled and returned, shows the level of commitment, which is highly appreciated. According to Cunningham (2011), through the scrutiny of all the results, it becomes possible to draw conclusions that will define the success or failure of any project. The results obtained are into two groups for the two companies forming the sampling space. These results are further divided in departmental groups to have a clearer understanding of the whole system. Sampling of responses from women managers was in an effort to establish if there is a connection to the results and gender or with the type of technology in use.
Background Information
The use of interviews was useful in establishing and understanding the exact way in embracing technology. This formed the basis of the research through understanding the origin and use of technology.
Gender of Respondents
| number | Percentage | In support | Percentage | |
| Male managers | 8 | 61.6 | 5 | 62.5 |
| Female managers | 5 | 38.4 | 4 | 80 |
| Missing managers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total number in sample | 13 | 100 | 9 | 69.2 |
The use of gender consideration in carrying out research ensures gender equality the obtained results. The level of understanding differs in gender and age. Although the ages of the managers were roughly the same, the views had major differences and this shows the different approach in solving managerial issues. This shows that majority of the female managers are in support of the use of technology in operations. With a percentage of 80% of the women in support of technology shows that many are of the idea with the realization of the advantages. For the women, 62.5% of the male managers were in support of the use of technology with the remaining 37% reluctant in adopting the use of technology.
Age
The response in embracing technology different with consideration based on the age of the managers. The older generation formed the majority in the number against the idea. The younger generation not only supported the idea but also had a deeper understanding of the use of technology. This seemed to base the difference in the times and learning differences in the two groups. In the young generation, every learning process since the introduction to school has been using technology to survive. This made it possible to embrace it at a tender age and hence the support in this case. According to Preddy (2010), the use of technology from a tender age assures the growth in interest of the same compared to the introduction at an older age. This explains the pie chart below:
Departmental Differences
The use of technology varies within different departments as is evident from the research. In the department of human resource for the two companies, the use of technology is at the best usage with the services offered ranging from record keeping to calculations within the department. With the adoption of the technology, the traditional methods of using stationeries have greatly reduced.
This huge change in adopting technology shows that the value accorded to the improvements brought by technology is profitable. The financial records show a big increase for revenue generated since the use of technology. This is because of the funds saved through the reduced number of employees brought about by the use of technology. According to the human resource manager, reduction in the number of employees in the department was possible since the use of computers made it easier to serve the customers and in an easier way.
Despite the use of funds in recruitment of the necessary labor with the skills to operate the machines, the results are positive since fewer employees are guaranteeing higher revenues. In the loading department, the use of technology is not fully adopted since manual labor is much more needed in making sure that the goods are parked in the transportation trucks. As much as the machines are in use, at some point, the manual labor will be required since there are places and activities that cannot be accomplished by machines. Some storage facilities are only accessible by humans, hence the need to have the manual laborers. In packaging bulk goods, technology comes in handy making work easier.
In the marketing department, the operations have been simplified by the use of technology. In this department, the manual process where a new product is advertised by the use of hard copies of the product is outdated. The use of the company’s website to advertise new products has simplified the process of exposure of the new product to potential clients. Sales are conducted in the websites and the payments made with credit cards. This minimizes the amount of time that would have been used to move from places to places in search of potential customers and the process of getting payments from the clients.
In the finance department, accountability is easier with the use of technology. This is because, for the payment of the goods or services offered, the payments are made in the bank and the bank slip brought to the company to indicate the payments. In the world before technology, the client comes to the institution with the cash and pays at the cashier. In some cases, the money is unaccounted for due to miss appropriation. Using technology, the only people who are in a position to transact the money are the trusted employees of the company who are accountable in case of any losses. This increases accountability in the group since the people who are in charge of the finance departments are the only ones who get access to the money.
The levels of technological advances in this department are high. This is because of the presence of the machines that are able to distinguish between a fake and a genuine bank slip. In business, the possibility of taking a wrong check is high since people have come up with the technology of producing fake scripts that resemble the original ones. Such people may end up crippling the business due to the potential losses they hold to the company. Strict measures are therefore required to be in place to ensure that all the proofs of transactions are valid and this is achievable through the acquisition of machines with the ability to test the validity of such documents.
Challenges
The use of technology takes longer to adopt. In some instances, the workers take much time to learn and be in full control using the machines. During the first operational days, services took longer than usual but with time the flow of services became smooth. Some of the workers had worked in the company for a very long time but the use of technology meant that their responsibilities had to be transferred to the machines. As much as the company wanted to retain them, others were not in a position to learn and the only remaining option was to lay them off.
During the first operational days, a technician had to be around since the technology would hung at times with the installation hitches taking toll on the operations. Lines became longer than usual but the customers understood the reasons and adoption of the manual systems became important. With time however, total elimination of the manual systems ensured the complete use of technology. The estimated time before the smooth running of the company operations using technology was estimated to be six months maximum. The ease of learning however is dependent on many factors with the interest in technology forming the main reason.
Gender
In the past times, women believed that it was the job of the men to operate on machineries and complicated forms of technology. The complicated tasks were therefore left for the men to perform. Unlike those days, in the present times the women are more willing to try out the use of technology in their departments. In the sample, eighty percent of the women of the women were welcoming to the adoption of the use of technology.
The positive response was lower in men than in women. The main reason established is that men, unlike women learn faster with age playing a role since almost all the men were older than the women were. However, after the full adoption of the use of technology, both men and women gave positive response to the use of technology with expressions of optimism in the potential technology harbors. We therefore established a difference of 12.8% between the support of technology in men and in women.
CHAPTER SEVEN
DISCUSSION
The research process was supposed to explain the impacts of new technology in an organization. It also focused on explaining how technology is applied in the different departments of that organization. From the results above, it is clear that most of the respondents are in support of the use of technology in different departments. Most of the respondents explained that technology plays an important role in improving the performance of the company and improve on productivity.
An activity that would have taken longer to be completed can be done within a few minutes or days. The respondents also agree that technology has improved efficiency so that less energy is used to handle a certain activity. New technology is faster to use and requires less training, especially for the younger people in the company. They do not experience a hard time understanding how to operate these technologies because they are much more interested in buying gadgets that operate under even more complex technologies.
The young people are also living in a generation that if fully dependent on technology and activities have been simplified to suit their technology needs. This has prompted them to become more obsessed with learning how to operate the different technologies available regardless of their complexity. The older people are also learning to operate these technologies, especially because of the results they seen have the new technologies produce. Most of them take longer to understand how the new technologies operate, but eventually, they get to figure out how to use and apply technology in their various departments at work. Technology has enabled them to improve performance in their place of work and improve on their speed when handling a particular case or subject. This is because technology has been designed in a way that helps a person to perform an activity faster and obtain the best result.
Most of the respondents linked technology to the success of their companies. Most of them were comparing their performance before they introduced the technology and after they introduced technology. They stated that their companies increased in the level of sales when the sales department adopted to include technology in marketing the company’s products. One of the respondents explained how his company performed extremely well from their previous financial assessment after the marketing department introduced a new system of marketing their products online.
The marketing department developed an account on the social media platforms and posted their adverts regarding what they were producing. This strategy resulted in an increase in sales with more customers becoming permanent customers to the company. The social media gave the customers an opportunity to interact with the company and in the event they had any concerns, the platform provided an opportunity for them to get an immediate feedback. This was one of the strategies introduced by one of the respondents in his company. The technology resulted to a positive effect on the general performance of the company in the market.
The managers also provided information on how and where they applied technology. Most of them agreed that they have adopted the use of technology in almost all the departments in their companies. They argued that technology could be applied in any of the departments in a company provided that, the technology is efficient and designed in a way that it is able to handle the task. The finance and accounting department are designing computer programs that enable them to compile the finance and accounting results faster so that they can provide a recommendation to the company on what decision they should make.
These programs enable them to compile results faster and analyze them even much faster. The programs are designed in a way that they can address any issues related to finance and accounting in the context of the company. The managers were impressed at how such softwares were performing, which helped them to save on time spent doing an activity. They also stated that the use of these technologies has opened employment for most of the young people. This is attributed to the fact that designing these softwares requires the knowledge of someone who understands and knows how to design the program in a way that it will not retrieve and provide data that has many errors. Most of the people interested in designing such programs are the young people. They are also the persons who understand how to use and apply these programs.
The respondent stated that they had to sort for training service from the young people who had gone to school to study how designing and using such technologies. Most of the employees who understand the operation of these softwares are the young people, who in most occurrences end up training their fellow employees who are older and take longer to understand how to operate and use these programs. It is therefore clear that technology can be applied in the different departments in a business. It is, however imperative that the technology chosen should be efficient and programed in a way that increases the productivity of that department.
The managers also explained whether the technologies they introduced in their companies brought any changes to the performance of the company in the market. They stated that in comparison to when the company was operating without the new technologies they had introduced, after the introduction of the new technologies, the company is performing better and has increased on its profitability.
They however stated that, a company must invest on the right technology and ensure that the technology introduced in a department is right for that department and will increase efficiency and performance of the department. New technologies have improved the productivity of the company in terms of the number of customers that the company has the ability to attend within the day. Technologies have significantly reduced the amount of time that the business would have used in attending to one customer, which as a result has increased the number of customers attended. Efficient technology is good for the business become it works in line with the main objective of the business, to maximize on profit levels.
The respondents were also supposed to confirm the criteria they used in introducing a new technology in the company. They stated that it was first imperative to inform the employees of the changes that are likely to occur so that they plan and try their best to be ready to learn adapt the new technology. Before the new technology was introduced, the employee also had to go through random raining in order to make them understand how the technology worked. They were expected to understand how the technology functioned and learn how they can apply it in their various departments in the company. Once the managers are fully convinced that most of their problems do not have problems working with the new technologies, they would then bring the technologies on-board. Those who still did not understand how to use the technologies were then supposed to attend training sessions at their own cost.
This was a measure put so that the employees may give their best shot in understanding how the technology worked. The managers were optimistic to see how the new technologies will perform in their organizations and therefore they channeled a lot of resources in training their employees on how to use the technologies. The trainers were systematic to ensure that they started with a simple idea on how to use the technology as they move into other complex ideas this was a strategy to ensure that there is a systemic learning process and the employees understand how the technology works. Those employees who were not able to understand how the technology works and how to apply it even after they were trained at their own cost were laid off to allow room for other people to be employed that would understand how to use the new technologies.
Different departments had different application of the technologies. Each department has a specific technique that once introduced in their operation enables them to work properly and efficiently. The marketing department requires a technology that will enable them to link properly with l the other department s in the company so that they compare which marketing strategy to employ. They also consider the size of the company and market size that they intend to capture. Technology picked must be in line with these factors if the company wants to achieve maximum profitability.
The production department requires technologies that will increase the number of products that they produce. An efficient technology in this department is that which increases the number of products produced by the company within the same period that was used when the company employed no new technology. the production department has the objective of producing high quality product and therefore would demand more of a product that will guarantee production of high quality and quantity of production within the initial time frame in the company.
Production is an important department because it determines the level of profits that the company will make. If they produce, less the company will have fewer commodities to offer in the market. If they produce more than what is demanded in the market, then the company will not be able to meet their cost of production. Similarly, they have to ensure that the final products offered in the market are of high quality. When the product is of higher quality, the number of customers willing to consume that product increases.
The management requires a technology that will enable them to monitor the operation from all the departments in the company. They have the responsibility to make decisions and therefore the decisions they make must be informed decisions based on the available facts presented. They therefore require a technology that would enable them to analyze all the departments and determine what needs to be done in order to improve the performance of the company. They also have the responsibility to choose the technology that works best for the company. This important department cannot operate efficiently without the use of proper technology. This is because it deals with a lot of information and activities, which may become torturous if the managers perform the activities manually. They therefore advocate or a technology that will enable them to perform their activities and duties efficiently.
Limitations of the Study
This study provided useful information regarding the use of technology in companies. It elaborated on how technology can be used to improve performance of company and most importantly increase the company’s efficiency in running all the departments. However, the study as also faced by a few imitations. Funding as one of the main limitation especially considering that the project is self-sponsored. It was therefore almost impossible to conduct an expensive and long research because this would increase the cost of the project when already finance was a challenge.
Time was also another constraint. The project was conducted within a very short time and therefore there was a lot of pressure especially in collecting data. Data needed to be collected in time so that there was enough time left to analyze the data and provide necessary recommendations. Due to time and financial constraints, only a small sample as considered because if a larger ample as to be used for the project, it would have taken a longer time to organize information and analyze. The exercise would have become more costly and this would have increased the budget set for the project. Another limitation was providing the necessary environment for the respondent to give the right information required for the project. It was impossible to verify whether information provided was to be trusted since there was no mechanism to verify whether the information was true or not.
CHAPTER EIGHT
CONCLUSION
This project was intended to determine how organization is benefiting from using technologies in their operations. From the results of the research project, it is clear that technology plays an important role in shaping a company to become a profit making organization. This is because new technologies have been created in a way that they improve efficiency and performance of the company. it is expensive to employ thee technologies in a business. However, the management has to compare between the costs of these technologies and the expected returns.
Under most circumstances, the new technologies exhibit positive returns that enable the business to perform better in the market. The technologies improve the performance of the company and enable it to meet its objectives as it undertakes its activities. Similarly, it is also important for the management to be careful about the technologies that they invest in. This is because if they invest in the wrong technologies, the technologies will have negative effect to the performance of the company. A technology that works best for one department might not prove similar result to another separate department. It is the responsibilities of the manager to properly research technologies that will stream line the company’s objectives. The technologies must improve the company’s ability to meet its objectives improve on the quality and quantity of work.
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