Technology as a tool of transformation

The technological factors are the vital role for competitive, and are major drive of change and efficiency. Advancement in technology changing the way of business it operates more over it lower barriers to entry, reduce minimum efficient production and influence outsourcing decisions. Advancement in technologies such as transportation and communications has enabled companies to expand their business into world wide markets.

Organisations use more advanced technologies and export part of their production faces higher degree of competition. Increasing competition, globalisation and drive for the market have led organisation to implement different approaches to achieve productivity gains and reduce costs. New technological developments in terms of both production systems and organisation infrastructure are the tools to implement such changes. Such changes will affect the nature of employment patterns and create issues in the area of downsizing, redundancies, job security and jobs exporting to overseas.

Business ethics During the eighteen century numerous people involved in manually harvesting the textile cotton. After the invention of ‘cotton gin’ a machine, many people lost their jobs. But that was a revolution in industrial sector. These advanced technologies have the potential to impact on business and society and cause potential ethical issues. Technology as a tool of transformation As concluded in David Farnham 1999 through the 1990’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) were adopted by at an accelerating rate. And he adds nowadays ICT is an intrinsic part of way organisation work and can achieve substantial gains. ICT helps in different part of companies to meet the need of management. According to David Farnham 1999 there are three ICT enabled to work forms were identified are follows

1. production work 2. coordination work 3. management work Production work This is associated with the implementation of robotic and process control instruments in production process, data processing computers for billing and account payable and effect of computer assisted design and computer assisted manufacturing in knowledge production. This may lead redundancy in the organisations. Co ordination work This is associated with the developments in communication networks through ICT at local, intra and inters organisations levels.

Redundancy

A large number of unemployment is due to organisations replace workers with technology. Kevin Danaher, 2004 states that managements take advantage of technology as a way to dump workers who make demands and question and replace them with machines which have not been known to form unions. Richard Cardinali, 2000 in his logistics information management says industrial technologies replaced physical capability of labour with machines for body and strength but the new technologies promise a replacement of the human mind itself by sustaining thinking machines for human beings. Automated machinery, robots, and sophisticated computers can perform most of the repeated tasks. Many organisations have replaced human workers to machines due to increase in global competition and rising cost of labour.

Thomson holidays a part of international Thomson organisation introduced Thomas open line programme, a computerised reservation system, where people are able to book their holiday and immediate confirmation. By 1998 they have introduced BACWAY for windows, new computerized system for collecting direct debit payments. Thomson estimated that savings directly to the new system were 28 million and there was 400 per cent increase in the business.

Before introduction of this system booking was done either by telephone or on the basis of booking form. Where after introduction of computerized system all people who involved in that booking lost their jobs. Thompson computerised booking resulted in reduction when it was first introduced. However over the time increase the volume of booking meant that staffing was resorted to its former level. Information and telecommunication technologies threaten the loss of million jobs and steady decline of work in many industries and employment categories. However the service and products of the new technology will generate additional employment thus create millions of new jobs.

As concluded by Kevin Danaher, 2004 between 1983 and 1993 banks in the U.S replaced 179000 human tellers with automated teller machines. It is not that technology is bad, but when technological innovation used to get rid of workers, with no systematic programme to create meaningful replacement jobs, the result is widespread insecurity that saps worker morale. Kevin Danaher,2004 states that if the management had their own way of robots doing everything in the plant, but they have to remember that robots don’t buy anything. Because if the individual corporation continuously focused on climbing on the profit ladder global market place which make sense in micro economic level. But when all these micro economic decisions to cut workers are add up, the macro economic impact is stagnation all the social ills that go with it.

Downsizing

Downsizing involves large scale of labour rationalisation and transformation of conventional manufacturing enterprise into system integrators which involves subcontracting the manufacturing of large parts and assemblies to different firms. According to Danford, et al 2001 Technological advances create competition which catalyses new directions in corporate strategy. David Needle, 2000 says that increasingly technology and, more information technology are used as strategies for competitive advantage. As concluded by David Farnham, 1999 as a result of developments in ICT boundaries of organisation becoming more permeable.