Discussion:
Below are 4 papers from 5 people ( 2 - 3 pages per person).
Draft final paper collobarating from all the papers to one final draft. the final draft need to address all the subject in each person papers. the final paper need to be 12 pages.
Paper1: Technology in Business Communication
In today's business world technology is the leading tool that organizations use in order to make their business function and create revenue. But with great amounts of technology other issues have been arisen that can actually be the downfall or at least smaller revenue in certain area's of ones business. Businesses that sell a product decide to start up an online website were they can sell the same products online, which they already sell to customers in the store, but in the convenience of their own home. Another technology that is highly regarded in today's society is instant streaming and multiple companies are signing contracts to distribute their product into their consumer home directly without a store outlet. Are these new features of today's marketplace benefiting or having a negative effect on our overall economic society and destroying jobs and lives?
There is really no big chain store out there today that does not have an online service available to access the products that are sold in store. The problem is if the products can just be bought online from your home with the push of a button then why even bother going to the actual store? The companies themselves rely on their stores to have individual profits but if people are online shopping through the company website then, where are the profits going? People are buying products online more and more each year and the problem is then the store locations need less and less employee's. With companies hiring less people to work in their stores every year the jobs are getting scarce and unemployment is going up.
Companies are realizing that technology has made is so people can have everything that they want delivered to their own home without ever having to leave. Marketing people love to talk about "convergence," the process whereby technologies are merged and wondrous new products are introduced with more and more features (Trout 20). Many entertainment companies are signing contracts with online media websites to distribute their products in addition to the retail stores. Now rather than going out and purchasing the actual movie or CD product at the store, people are downloading or streaming what they want to listen to or watch through a monthly fee service. Again this takes away the jobs of the people that make the product, transports the products, sell the products at stores, and many other more.
Using technology can to help produce revenue for companies but it can also make it so that they lose revenue in individual stores and therefore making it so companies continue needing fewer employees each time. Many companies are signing up with other companies to make it so that all the products and services a consumer needs will be in delivered home and people won't need to go outside anymore. The problem with this way of business through the use of technology is costing people jobs and many companies are going overseas to produce their product and then sale it worldwide through the net. Many companies are benefiting from the use of the new technology at the expense of other smaller business and the people who become unemployed.
Literature Review
Best Buy online sales slide despite online boost: news.yahoo.com: In this article Best Buy had a massive decline in sales at their retail outlets but their online store profit margins went exponentially up. As the sales of the online store keeps going up best buy has been looking at the stores that do not produce enough revenue and have been delegating on which stores should be closed down. In this case technology of having an online store has brought the company revenue online but has made it so more people are not going to the actual retail store to make their purchases.
Netflix signs deal with Disney: news.yahoo.com: This article states that another company has signed a contract with Netflix to post their products Disney movies on Netflix instant streaming website. Netflix charges their subscribers a very small fee to have their service and has many entertainment companies post their movies/shows on their website. This service is making it so people are not going to the stores to buy movies or TV shows anymore but just instant stream everything for just a simple service charge. So the problem with this new technology of instant streaming your entertainment is if people are not buying the hard copies of products then our economy is going down in sales and jobs are being lost.
Trout, Jack. The New Positioning: The latest on the world's #1 Business Strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1996. Print.
Paper 2: Technology in Business Communication
The Internet has revolutionized the world of business communication. Coming into the digital age has changed the way people do business and the way people communicate. From direct communications, social networking, Podcasts and Webcasts, not to mention E-commerce, cell phones, smartphones and laptops; we rely on all of these things in our daily lives to conduct business and communicate. Technological Communication has become a necessity, to which most people and businesses cannot live without. With all the technology at our fingertips, it has allowed businesses to reduce costs and improve efficiency resulting in growth for the company.
Email has become an integral part of most people's lives. It is a fast and efficient way to communicate and it can be done from anywhere with an internet connection. Being able to send documents via email and not hand deliver or mail them has saved an incredible amount of time, energy and money for so many companies. A lot of companies now use instant messaging internally as well, which is an amazing feature in itself. The ability to be able to communicate in real time with people that are online is pretty amazing not to mention a great way to continue the flow of communication and expedite projects and decisions. Video conferencing is another incredible tool. Holding video conference meetings or screen share meetings over the internet rather than face to face is another great resource that has allowed companies to save travel expenses and the travel time. This has also allowed companies to expand and do business globally at a nominal expense.
Marketing and advertising have been greatly impacted by social networking sites. Social Networking is basically free marketing for companies that choose to take advantage. It is also a great way for professionals to build relationships and stay in touch with others in the same field using Social Networking sites such as LinkedIn.
E-commerce is the process of conducting business over the Internet, which today is standard. People buy all kinds of things online. Books, clothes, groceries, music, movies, event tickets, plane tickets, rental car reservations, and even auto purchases are now made online. The list is endless as to what can be done electronically now. It is no longer necessary to go to the store and fight off sales people when you already know what you want. You can simply order online with a few simple clicks. Now that companies are able to sell products over the internet they are not only increasing revenue, but the ability to sell products and not have the overhead of a store to run including rent, employees and utilities. It has also allowed businesses to operate globally and coordinate worldwide with consumers, distributors, and suppliers giving companies the option and flexibility to outsource as well as provide products and or services globally with ease.
We have all seen how the cell phone has evolved from an oversized brick to sleek, compact fully featured powerhouses. Cell phones offer many features from text messaging and picture messaging to GPS services and of course the ability to actually make phone calls. The ability to call someone and communicate from anywhere is amazing in itself and then you have smartphones. Smartphones are basically mini computers. They have operating systems and have the same components has a computer. The evolution of the smartphone and allowed us to take digital on the go. Phones now have mobile internet, email, text and video messaging, IM and basically about anything else you can do on your computer. With all the software available you can find an app for just about anything you want to do. I personally conduct so much business over my cell phone and tablet with access to email and apps that allow me to sign documents and edit documents as well as scan documents.
Technology has revolutionized the way we do business. It has enabled companies to communicate effectively and efficiently through the internet. It has allowed us to cut costs in several areas such as travel and employee overhead, due to increased efficiency. Ecommerce has allowed companies to conduct sales over the internet increasing customer convenience all while decreasing company overhead. Then there is the smartphone, which has been a godsend for people on the go. It has allowed executives the flexibility to be out of the office and not lose any productivity.
Article Review:
Social Media's Productivity Payoff, in Harvard Business Review discusses the economic impact of social networking sites and the potential value creation when social technologies are used to improve communication and collaboration across enterprises. According to Mckinsey & Company, over 1.5 billion consumers globally have social networking accounts and almost one in five hours online is spent on these sites. Many companies are shifting their marketing efforts toward social media not only to advertise but also collecting consumer data and observing consumer behavior and using it as the powerful research & development tool that it is. Based on numerous case studies and in-depth research, McKinsey Global Institute analyzed the potential value that could be obtained through social technologies. The potential value at stake in 4 main sectors (consumer packaged goods, consumer finance, professional services, and advanced manufacturing) amounted to 900 billion to 1.3 trillion annually, with a third contributed from applications of social technology in product development, marketing & sales, operations and customer support but two-thirds arising from using social technologies for better and more efficient communication and collaboration of knowledge workers within these functions and across the enterprise.
McKinsey estimates that "interaction workers" which includes, managers, professionals, sales people and other employees require frequent interpersonal communication and spend roughly 28% of their workdays answering, writing and responding to emails. 19% is spent trying to track down information and another 14% is collaborating with co-workers. McKinsey believes all of these activities could be completed effectively and more potentially 20-25% more efficiently using social technologies.
Like with most everything else, there is a catch. The increase in productivity and efficiency is dependent on the implementation of its use and the participation. In order to be effective the use of these technologies would need to be a part of the daily workflow and a standard procedure if you will. In order to obtain maximum participation there needs to be an open environment and a culture of sharing and collaboration. There needs to be a sense of trust and leaders will have to take the lead in using them for others to observe. Changing old mindsets and behaviors and developing a new environment of openness and sharing where there hasn't been one before will probably be the biggest challenge.
Paper 3:The impact of a business when technology fails.
Technology in business has matured considerably from decades ago with each year reaching a different milestone. In any type of business veteran employees can remember how the business used to run and the pros and cons regarding all the technological changes. The biggest change employees may most commonly remember is switching to the computer to store and/or type up reports instead of handwriting them or using a typewriter. These types of changes have moved business forward with a greater potential for profit. Businesses in infancy will begin with mom and pop places which with the right combination eventually grow into empires and money making pools.
A critical issue business most commonly face is when the programs designed to push profit and maintain a precedent to its clients/customers fails and employees are scrambling to find a quick solution. However re-educating employees about all the basics will push the business forward when technology fails. When a system shuts down for example a rental car company has no capability to view what customers have pre-paid, incoming reservations, or what vehicles are available to rent. I have entered a business many times and have been given excuses such as the system was running slower than usual, or sometimes having to turn business away because of some system malfunctions. A business needs to learn how to run effectively even when all the gadgets and gizmos fail to work properly.
Technology is the breath of life for a business and teaching its employees the core skills to overcome glitches with the technology used will give the business long term success. The employee's business skills such as multi-tasking, excellent customer service skills, properly giving negative announcements, and problem-solving are important. Companies having to send employees home due to the system being down for long periods of time causes loss of revenue. It would be a vital task to make sure the employees understand the protocols for glitches and having to make temporary changes while continuing productivity until the problem can be resolved.
Article Review:
According to an article from Fox Business by Donna Fuscaldo "System Crash: Worse Than a Sick Employee?" a computer crash does more damage than a sick employee. In this article it details options and back up plans a business should have for situations where the system has been disabled. A hybrid cloud solution is mentioned as a perfect back up plan as it gives you a backup available for use even when the system is down. Other options discussed in the article include using portable devices like tablets, and cell phones. Using these devices saves everything on the server so if the office computer crashed you could still access vital company files. Other devices such as printers and scanners can save everything within the cloud which you can access with no interruption.
As seen in all of the examples technology can fail but with today's advances all pertinent information is readily available online or on outside servers. This would be one of the biggest technological advances that has definitely kept the flow of success for a business. When these options were not available a lot of data was forever lost and it evitable gave ideas to create ways to have back up information available as it is today. For a small business plans like these help sustain and continue to grow the business. Ultimately technology failures give us the needed experience if needed to re-examine the strength and weaknesses of the business.
Paper 4: When Social Media Poses a Threat to Your Business.
Two employees decide to go on to Facebook to make remarks about the way they are being treated by their employer of multiple years. The company offers them full benefits, insurance and all the bells and whistles any employee can imagine. They usually just laugh off their angry supervisor's behavior but this particular day they were fed up and ready to vent to the world of social media. Since Facebook has an app for mobile devises once the comments are made the buzz spreads like a wildfire. It began just in their building and later to the next building over and soon all five offices of the corporate sector had begun talking. With only 2 hours to go until the close of the day the employees had been called into the office released, stripped of their badges and immediately escorted of sight by security.
Why does this happen why do people feel the need to vent their valid however more than not temporary feelings? What could the employees have done to avoid getting fired? How could the supervisor have handled the situation to prevent the employees from making those remarks on Facebook? Is this a matter of freedom of speech or common sense? The bottom line is social has become a double edged sword for businesses because of issues like this very fictional scenario.
According to the Article "Employee Use & Abuse of Social Media' until 2011 the National Labor Relations Board would too terminate the two employees from the scenario above until closer consideration was taken and the NLRB began actively pursuing and litigating instances where employees were terminated for making postings critical of their employers in social media in violation of the NLRA (Polid). In fact they found that an employee's rights were terminated for blogging about their supervisor and settled. The NLRB basically decided that remarks made online are not grounds for firing unless the threat of verbal or physical violence is present.
Another concern is the time employees' are spending online during business hours. Employees are spending a lot of time online as I myself see so many postings during business hours in fact the bulk of my news feed occurs from Nine to five. Should it be a crime to be stealing time from your employer? Where does Integrity and common sense come in? I believe these are just a few of social media's threats to business's.