BUS600 Week 1 Discussion Forum

Describe a situation when an organization was compelled to change its communication technology due to elements in either the internal operating environment or external operating environment.

Changes in a business environment have contributed to eventual changes in various organizations, and today, many organizations respond to business changes at a very high rate. However, organizations that do not quickly adapt enough to these changes to maintain their resources and legitimacy either face assimilation from other organizations and, in most cases, may cease to exist (Cascio, & Montealegre, 2016). One of the situations that have compelled an organization to change its communication technologies due to internal or external operating environments is emerging technologies, specifically the introduction of new and advanced electronic gadgets such as mobile phones with artificial intelligence. In the past, organizations relied on the then advanced computers to hold meetings and pass information. However, these computers were not portable, and the meeting had to be carried in specific periods and locations. The computers also consumed a lot of power, and their network connection could be quickly interrupted. With the introduction of the new and advanced mobile phones, people working within an organization can conduct their meetings and pass information, anytime and anywhere, because the latest mobile phones consume less power and their network connection is less interrupted.

Explain how this change affected the organization’s long-term performance.

Through automation, the use of technologies has visual impacts on organizational structures, thus affecting long-term performance. For example, automation allows an organization to expand in terms of its productions and impact, such as customer transactions every day, while reducing the number of the required personnel, thus reducing the costs spent on wages (Acemoglu, & Restrepo, 2019). Further, the utilization of decision-aiding and computer-assisted communication technologies that can be accessed by the latest phones has led to changes in organizational decision processes and design. The utilization of computer-assisted communication such as voice mail and video conferencing and decision aiding technologies such as expert systems has enabled an effective functioning of organizational networks composed of other organizations.

Reference

Cascio, W. F., & Montealegre, R. (2016). How technology is changing work and organizations. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3, 349-375.

Acemoglu, D., & Restrepo, P. (2019). Automation and new tasks: How technology displaces and reinstates labour. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(2), 3-30.