Information Technology

Working in Information Technology used to mean you worked for a software company. But that's no longer true. Today, the definition of Information Technology is much broader, encompassing nearly every type of business. From manufacturers, retailers, banks, and publishers to research firms, medical institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the government-companies everywhere rely on Information Technology workers to run their daily businesses. Dictionaries consistently define Information Technology using the same two-word phrase: processing information. But more specifically, Information Technology can mean:

• Managing a network of computers

• Creating original Web pages

• Producing videos digitally

• Designing computer systems as a consultant

• Selling products on the Internet

• Designing 3-D artwork

• Administering a company's database

• Coding software

• Providing technical support

• Managing projects and budgets

• Writing technical documentation

Definition:

According to the United Kingdom's Department of Trade and Industry, "Information Technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numeric information by a micro-electronics - based combination of computing and telecommunications".

Information technology is more than just computers. It must be conceived of broadly to encompass information as well as a spectrum of technologies that process the information. An important concept that highlights the role of information technology is the "value chain." This concept divides a company's activities into the technologically and economically distinct activities it performs to do business (marketing and delivery to buyers, support and servicing after sale, installation, repair, and parts inventory management, for example).

Impact of Information Technology:

1. The impact of information technology will have significant effects on the structure, management and functioning of most organizations. It demands new patterns of work organization and effects individual jobs, the formation and structure of groups, the nature of supervision and managerial roles. Information technology results in changes to lines of command and authority, and influences the need for reconstructing the organization and attention to job design. Computer based information and decision support systems influence choices in design of production or service activities, hierarchal structures and organizations of support staffs. Information technology may influence the centralization or decentralization of decision-making and control systems.

2. In the case of new office technology it allows the potential for staff at clerical/operator level to carry out a wider range of functions and to check their own work. The result is a change in the traditional supervisory function and a demand for fewer supervisors. One example, secretaries with the impact of I technology are moving increasingly into territory previously occupied by managers and administrations, and achieving new levels of responsibility The importance of effective management of technical change has been highlighted by recent and continuing developments in IT. Although the term IT originated in the computer industry, it extends beyond computing to include telecommunications and office equipment.

3. The impact of IT demands new patterns of work organizations, especially in relation to achieve procedures; one example is the shift in the traditional role of the secretary more towards that of the manager and administrator. IT affects the nature of individual jobs and the formation and structure of work groups. There is a movement away from large scale, centralized organization to smaller working units. Processes of communication are increasingly limited to computer systems with the rapid transmission of information and immediate access to their national or international offices. Improvements in telecommunications mean for example that support staff need no longer be located within the main production unit. Changes wrought by IT means that individuals may work more on their own, from their personal work stations or even from their own homes, or work more with machines than with other people. One person may be capable of carrying out a wider range of activities.

4. There are changes in the nature of supervision and the traditional hierarchal structure of jobs and responsibilities. Computer based information and decision support systems provide additional dimensions of structural design. They affect choices such as division of work, individual tasks and responsibility. The introduction of IT undoubtedly transforms significantly the nature of work and employment conditions for staff. Advances in technical knowledge tend to develop at a faster rate than, and in isolation from, consideration of related human and social consequences, e.g. fatigue and low morale are two major obstacles to the efficiency of staff. Research is now being conducted into possible health hazards such as eyestrain, backache, general fatigue and irritability for operators of visual display units.

5. The psychological and social implications of technical change, such as information technology and increased automation, must not be underestimated. Members of staff should not see new ideas and innovations as threats. The manager has to balance the need for adaptability in meeting opportunities by new technology with an atmosphere of stability and concern for the interests of staff. The manner in which technical change is introduced into the organization will influence people’s attitude towards work, the behaviour of individuals and groups, and their level of performance. Continued technical change is inevitable and likely to develop at even greater rate. Managers must be responsive to such change. IT and automation creates a demanding challenge.

Impact on Business Strategy

These trends open up exciting possibilities for using the resources of space, time and information. In particular information can be made immediately available elsewhere in the organization, it is reproducible at low cost, and is reusable many times.

A strategy-planning framework: strategic advantage vs. rethinking deployment of resources

Some examples:

• US airlines - ticket processing in Bermuda (remote back offices)

• Retail - distribution flows instantly linked to customer demand

• Teleselling - round the clock!

• Customer service: 0800 numbers routed overseas for responses

• Electronic markets - even in second hand cars!

• Benneton - speeding up the value chain from New York to Italy

• Rediff – Redefining the electronic marketing in India.

• Bazee.com – An Indian online auction site.

Today, much IT investment and thinking still going into getting on top of old problems. Some proportion needs to go into experimenting with these new opportunities. In the UK, companies like Direct Line have completely changed the shape of home and car insurance through their innovative approaches, while in Internet Commerce, Amazon.com, eBay and others are changing the rules of many traditional markets.

The Organizational Impacts

A similar evolution to strategy: efficiency, effectiveness, and transformation. However, our understanding is not as advanced. We are into a complex world of individual and organizational behaviour - people are not as logical as computer systems!

We need a better understanding of:

• Work - what it is, how it is changing

• People - what they expect, how they behave

• Work environments - do they get the best out of people?

• Teams and Groups - how can they be made more effective?

• Organization structures - hierarchies and networks, the formal and the informal

• Organization cultures - the values and beliefs that drive behaviour

Capabilities of IT:

IT enabled us to a new world of information’s processing like immediate access, capture, speed and permanence/storage. Thereon IT also created derived capabilities like duplication/replication, tracking, monitoring, data recombination, job redesign and supplier power. It is obvious that it affect parts of our working as well as our private life. Managerial issues like privacy, ownership, control, accuracy, and security can be triggered. These five issues are then mapped against four policy areas that might address them (data policy, intellectual property rights, worker's rights, and competitiveness). We can model IT capabilities through following table.