Information Technology is today’s major center stage. This can be viewed from the way information technology has made information delivery to become easier as it is channeled worldwide hence also contributes to the shaping of the new global millennium. Information technology has made information delivery to become easier as it is channeled worldwide hence also contributes to the shaping of the new global millennium. Information technology has had its many impacts on the communication processes in organizations. It is because of the rapidly changes in communication which are experienced in organizations that this paper will place its focus on this area which is communication. This essay will focus on the impact of information technology on communication of individuals and / or organizations focusing on the business area.
Information technology has had various impacts on the process of communication in organizations. As a result of information technology, there has been continual development of various information systems in the global business world. Organizational flexibility has also been enhanced as a result of information technology. In addition, businesses have also been able to attain a commercial advantage as a result of information technology. Communication patterns have also been facilitated by information technology. However, the impact of information technology on communication has lately raised various issues of concerns in relation to ethics and privacy that individuals deserve. The other issue concerns the increased amounts of virus attacks and unqualified information that is found in computer through the Internet (Anderson & Danzeiger, 2002)
Organizational communication mainly occurs in two main phases namely internal and external communication. Internal communication occurs among the member who exist in the stated organization whereas external communication on the other hand occurs between an organization and another external entities and this mainly takes place though exchange of information by these organizations. Besides communication processes, organizations have been faced with various dynamic markets that are characterized by different specialization in relation to work distributed production, processes in outsourcing among others. Solution innovation communication and information technologies have been adopted with the sole purpose of stimulating coordination in today’s complex environment. In addition, communication processes are also being reengineered continuously. All these processes are as a result of information technology which has also enhanced interpersonal communication. The main technologies behind this include computer- controlled devices, electronic mail or E-mail, telecommunications networks, facsimile transmission, computers, voice mail and teleconferencing (Garson, 2000).
Information technology has had a major impact on the communication processes through enabling organizational flexibility. Organizational flexibility has been affected on both the place and time of any worked performed and this has been possible through changing various boundaries that may hinder work implementation and at the same time getting rid of any conflicts that may face any tasks that need to be carried out. The pace and nature of work is also affected by information technology and this has resulted in opening up information processing. As a result of Information Technology, firms have been in a position to counter various existing changes in market conditions. Through decision making, the constraints of time and place have been removed and this is normally referred to as communication technology. As a result of information technology, organizational boundaries can be removed in order to enhance easy communication between various and different location so that constraints relating to time zone and time of day are eliminated. Moreover, information technology speeds up the rate at which information is processed in order to enhance the making of timely decisions. At the same time, tasks are also rapidly performed in order to take advantage in case of any new opportunities that may exist in the business environment. Lastly, information technology has also enabled effective process in financial services by speeding the processing powers which are responsible for the provision of products or services to customers (Heckman, 2003).
Information technology has also facilitated the development of various information systems and this is seen through the coordination of various networks worldwide and these networks involve those of distributors, suppliers and consumers and they are in a position to track down deliveries, orders as well as payments. As a result business transactions can be conducted effectively and efficiently because of the advances in technology. These transactions have resulted in the expansion of global markets more so because of the changes that are continuously occurring in communication processes hence stabilizing international business and trade across borders. As a result, competition among organizations and industries is enhanced by the information technology hence leading to increased economic performance which is reflected in many firms. Consequently, the increased competition calls for a majority of organizations (business organizations) to establish strategies as well as innovations so that competition among these firms may be enhanced (Lucas & Olson, 1994).
In addition, information technology has also led to gaining of commercial advantages. Businesses in the commercial sectors have been affected in several ways. Such advances include spreadsheets; computer aided design, word processing software as well as relational database technologies all of which result in commercial benefits among businesses besides automation in various manufacturing processes. For instance, businesses are able to extract information hence enabling the creation of new means in which the consumer needs could be provided. The information on consumer needs is extracted though information technology as regards consumer needs enables many firms to gain a commercial advantage since consumer satisfaction is enhanced. Through commercial advantage, a business is able to counter check on its performance. Business income is also increased through the use of information technology and this is mainly done thorough advertising that are mostly conducted in forums.
Information technology has also facilitated various organizational engagements and communication patterns. The public can comfortably access any available information as well as majority of the companies which can also facilitate information. Communication among employees and employers has taken place through the use of various patterns of communication the most common one being through the electronic mail. Through electronic mails, organization are able to send memos as a means of preparation for organizational meetings and this enables efficiency in message delivery. Technology has also changed work patterns in various organizations and this can be seen through the practices of joint ventures through cooperative drafting of documents. Workers have also managed to change their attitudes at workplace especially on knowledge sharing hence enabling the establishment of effective learning organizations (Mowlana, 1997).
However, the impact of information technology has on the other hand raised a lot of issues which are of major concern. Such issues include the issue of freedom of expenses, democracy, and copyright among others. This is because information technology has offered various means of communication and this leads to dissemination of information by individual and organizations. This is issues that related to ethics in relation to the moral choices that are presented by organizations and individuals. The technologies that exist today are in a position to store, manage, analyze, handle as well as communicate any information and it is the computers which are used in capturing and storming transaction data. These data can be captured by device for instance telephone keypads, credit cards readers, computer terminals, optical scanners just to mention. These devices collect and store data in large quantities and these data are in mostly stored in various transaction files electronically. They will then wait to be processed by any existing remote or local computer systems which will then be able to process these data. Firms will then be able to gauge their performance once the reports have been processed by these computer systems. Despite all these, the question of ethics still sets in. Many organizations and individuals find themselves as victims of the dominant high-tech crime because of the use of the internet hence creating various organizational problems. These problems have been brought forth through the use of cellular phones and also e-mail besides the internet. Other problems relate to the corruption sexual harassment which is computer – based and this also include obscenities, pornography, copyright infringement, in advertent, privacy, deliberate communication of various secrets which concern trade to other external audiences (Herschel & Andrews, 1997).
In other words, internet security has become a major issue of concern in today’s business world because of the increased gambling that mostly takes place in computers. The commonly experienced forms of internet insecurity include plundering of credit-cards and use for extortion, tapering of medical and hospital records, business records have also been altered by the unknown users records have also been altered by the unknown users of the internet who do not have any authorization of accessing these records. The other form of internet insecurity that has commonly been experienced involve organized crimes, hostile nation’s agents as well as terrorists who have been able to access computer systems belonging to both the private sector and the government and have used the information gained to perform illegal activities.
The other limitation of information technology is in relation to the various computer attacks as regards the various viruses which have continued to destroy computer systems worldwide. These viruses have come in various forms and pose a great risk to many computers and this also affects various business processes since they are interrupted which is unsuitable and yet children get access to this information. This has resulted in the degradation of morals among the children in the society (Herschel & Andrews, 1997).
In conclusion, information technology has greatly impacted on communication. Through advancement in technology computers have allowed most organizations to analyze, capture as well as share information hence creativity changes that pertain to decision-making, organizational processes and also the organizational design. Information technology has also resulted in organizational flexibility, development of information systems, commercial advantage, and facilitation of communication patterns, among others. However, information technology has also had its demerits on businesses. They include the issue of privacy or security in relation to ethics and also computer viruses, which have become a major problem today.
Bibliography
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