Impact of Technology

Technology has advanced in recent years, especially in the 21st century. More people are getting to understand, acquire and utilize the available inventions.  Technology has changed our lives, and this is evident through many processes that can be undertaken in the least time possible. In the past, organizations could convene in meeting halls as the workers and management air their views, opinions, and concerns about the specific entity. However, in recent years, technological inventions such as Skype are allowing individuals to hold discussions from different locations across the globe. This is a great achievement. However, on the other side, the usability of blackboards in schools and notebooks has diminished because students and their instructors are highly reliant on smart walls, tablets, laptops, and other devices for reading. Despite the reduced time in capturing ideas through the gadgets, some individuals have reduced their contact with the sources of the ideas that have not been captured in software forms. This is making the students lack crucial information that cannot be disseminated through smart devices. Besides, people are not making more effort to acquire most of the commodities they need, and this is because technology has allowed them to order most of the goods and collect them at the doorstep.

In our course, we have focused much on many areas relating to technology. Some authors have also concentrated on these areas, and they have discussed matters relating to this phenomenon. This draft involves ideas and models that focus on technology and the impact of various inventions in the world today.

In his draft, ‘The Shallows’, Nicholas Carr discusses the impact of the internet on human brains. One of the ideas he mentions is about the ‘plasticity’ of our minds. Carr states that psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered that both children and adult brains are very malleable and thus they are fond of adapting to everything people undertake. For instance, when individuals surf or scan, the mind often get set to that activity. In his book, Carr argues that people achieve less comprehension when they read from online sources than when they do it from printed pages. Acquiring information from the internet is a recent phenomenon, and this implies that readers who grew up consuming everything from physical books are less likely to adapt to online articles. The author argues that even if people easily hop from one page to another when they use their tablets, they lose their ability to use a slower contemplative mode of thought. This also affects their creativity.

Carr reveals the idea that online reading is less effective than acquiring information from a print. He also indicates that young people have shifted their concentration to the recent inventions and this is leading to reliance in some of the unverified sources. According to Carr, the advent of the internet is a form of human regress and not just technological progress. This phenomenon can be termed as a distraction to life, and it has worsened in recent years. Due to the influence of social media, people have been programmed to scatter their attention to the internet and avoid some of the traditional ways of reading. Technology can be termed as the most magnificent sweep of intellectual history.

On the other hand, in their article about countering change, Christensen and Overdorf mention that the biggest challenges for most large companies in the world today is their ability to deal with disruptions. The authors recognize the fact that even before globalization and the internet brought its effect, large companies faced the problem of identifying the appropriate leaders to help them approach the disruptions. It is not that the organizations can’t see the changes coming, but it is because of the lack of adequate resources to counter them. Most of these companies have talented specialists, capital, and strong portfolios. However, they lack the skills of applying their capabilities for effectiveness. This implies that technology should not always be associated with inappropriate impacts. The authors insist that the success of an organization should be linked to the ability of the management to use their capabilities in handling the disruptive changes. This is contrary to Carr’s statement that technology has led to human regress.  According to Christensen and Overdorf, managers should understand their capabilities to accomplish their responsibilities. They should recognize different kinds of change and ensure the appropriate responses to each of the opportunities. New inventions can be regarded as disruptive, but managers should be careful in approaching them. Drastic changes may lead to the destruction of the capabilities that sustain the company.

In his article ‘Leading the Revolution,’ Gary Hamel discusses the changes that have been induced by technology. He mentions that many companies have benefited from new sales channels and communication tools that exist in the current world. Besides, this phenomenon has helped people and organizations to restructure their time and place concepts. Businesses have also been challenged to meet the needs of the customers in any location and moment. However, for the close-minded individuals, they have been unable to change their culture for the betterment of their clients, shareholders, and employees.

Gary Hamel focuses on the age of revolution.  In this new era, fortunes are made at a high speed, and thus more changes are realized in every day. Industrial giants have to keep up with the trends in the world of technology or fall from the market. Some of the entities that were slow in picking up with the changes may never catch up. For instance, Motorola has been a respected brand since the mobile phones thrived in the market. However, this giant company failed to consider the shift to digital systems a few years after the introduction of wireless technology in the market. Within that time, a little known Nokia company thrived and became the leader in the industry. This is one of the illustrations of poor management and lack of considering the market changes. Just as indicated by Christensen and Overdorf in their publication, managers must apply their skills to execute the capabilities of the big companies in the industry. The notion of ‘continuous improvement’ is a linear type of thinking that has been held by most managers. However, the idea is dangerous because things keep changing daily. Non-linear thinking rules the day because it leads to the development of ideas that create new wealth.

According to Gary Hamel, some companies may not succeed in two consecutive economies, and this is regarded as ‘Gray-Haired Revolution’. These organizations have been able to reinvent themselves, and thus they have experience through numerous strategies. New technologies have allowed the companies to extend their legacy and widen their franchise. Some of the policies that have been employed include ensuring customer satisfaction due to the existing processes and offerings. Companies such as Motorola failed because it viewed customer ignorance as the profit center. Also, innovations with great ideas always win.  Champions are always rewarded because their opinions work.

In his book, ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’, Christensen shows how performing and outstanding companies can use the most effective strategies to ensure success. However, at some point, they lose their market leadership, and other organizations thrive and take over the industry. This dilemma involves two principal sections. According to Christensen, one of the parts is the value to innovation. Improving a commodity consists of some time. As the value that is given to the customer increases, then the company creates the base. At this point, each iteration is better than the previous one. However, the improvements may be complete and this the value given to the customer starts decreasing. This affects the performance of the company. The second part is the incumbent sized deals. Existing companies have huge customer set as well as high expectations in terms of sales in their yearly sales. However, on the other hand, new entrants have more time to focus on their venture and thus invent more products.

In preparation for the impact of the new technologies, incumbents must address particular universal principles. They must understand that the current customers determine the application of the available resources.  Also, they should recognize that small markets affect large ones. The incumbent must also put in mind that technology supply is not always equal to the market demand.

Incumbents apply particular strategies in a bid to succeed in disruptive technology. One of them is by developing disruptive technology with the appropriate customer base. The incumbents also employ disruptive technology into an independent company that can be accorded with small customer sets and wins. As they seek to achieve success, they also fail early, but they often realize the correct inventions. The incumbent also allows the disruption organization to use all the resources when required. However, they are careful about the processes and values that are used.

Technology has numerous impacts on the world today. Most of these effects have been felt in educational institutions, small businesses as well as great companies. Scholars such as Nicholas Carr have exposed the impact of the internet in the human brain. Through the research of psychologists and neuroscientists, it is evident that the human brain is very malleable and this affects their decisions and adaptations. Technology has led to the emergence of numerous inventions which have transformed the thinking among organizational managers.

Christensen and Overdorf indicate one of the biggest challenges in most organizations is the lack of adequate skills in approaching changes. The impact of technological disruption may be destructive and also helpful for companies that understand the best ways of approaching the issues that are induced by new inventions. Gary Hamel insists that only companies that can cope with the current trends in technology can survive in the market. Managers who maintain the ‘continuous improvement’ approach and lack to feature other important ideas fail to succeed in the market.

 
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