Introduction
The following information addresses the issue of technology within the organization, and answers the question of whether, does investing in technology ensure business success?
Basic concepts are presented, such as technology, the company, success, the relationship of innovation and updating in the company.
The management of the types of technology, and their performance in the organization, as well as innovation. Some advantages of the encounter with technology in the organization are also defined. Its usefulness within it and what causes improper handling.
The company is defined as a whole, which needs various resources to maintain itself, excel and compete in the market. The management of the different resources within it and the strategic direction of these for continuous improvement.
Investments in technology, do they ensure business success?
Basic concepts.
Before giving an answer to this question, which apparently is easy to answer, some concepts applied to this topic should be mentioned, all of this to start the search for the answer to this question with the same ideas about what technology is. and the application of this in the company.
First of all, you have to make sure what do we mean when we talk about technology? When we mention investment in technology, it is not only the image and the concept of information systems, computers and machinery. Technology includes all this and also involves: Human resources, processes, tools, knowledge, skills, this results in the following definition, technology is the set of material and immaterial resources used to carry out any activity, thereby seeking the satisfaction of needs.
Now, once the concept of technology to be handled along this topic has been clarified, we only need to know what we mean by “business success”. A company is a whole, which is made up of its facilities, employees, products, services, technology, knowledge. This all in turn needs to maintain a balanced interrelation of all its elements to obtain the business harmony that is needed to achieve success.
But, the above is part of the way then, what makes a company successful? Is it its employees, its products, the technology it uses? Very well, well, we will have to analyze. It will not be successful if employees are fired and new ones are hired, and what if they have more knowledge than the previous ones? Or, if the company moves, will it lose its success? Many organizations have done it and not nothing has happened.
An organization is a set of elements (already mentioned above), it is a system in which its parts interact with each other to reach a common goal. Success is obtaining the expected result, which arises in the planning of any activity, is to reach the expected objective and stay there, thanks to business, technological, personal, departmental strategies, etc.
The technology
Technology is EVERYTHING, yes, since it has a place today even in the smallest activity carried out in the company and includes processes, people, supplies, knowledge, tools, etc. Technology is present in the organization from the printing of a sales report to the interconnection of information with the company's suppliers.
There are 3 different types of technologies which are applied to the organization according to its need:
Basic technologies: They are those that provide the company with the minimum necessary for its operation, it can be: electricity, water, personnel, premises, etc.
Key technologies: This is the technology that allows us to provide the customer with a better service and many if not all can be found in the organization's value chain. Example: Telephone, office equipment, fax, etc.
Emerging Technologies: If you want to be competitive, this is the right technology since it allows you to offer an aggregate that competitors will not be able to provide, for example: Internet, video conferencing, distributed databases, etc.
Along with technology comes innovation, whose concept is to improve everything with added value to achieve competitiveness. There are 4 types of innovation:
Radical Innovation: Here many changes are made to the components and their structure, for example: taking a file for an information system (digitizing).
Architectural Innovation: the parts of a system change to a lesser extent than the radical can be its size, for example: the cell phone that changed to be a little smaller, but still has the same components.
Incremental Innovation: In this, something is added to the system, it remains the same and its operation is the same, only now it will have one more addition.
Modular Innovation: Only a small part or a module of the system undergoes changes.
Technology is involved in a large part of the organization, in its activities and functions, therefore, when making incremental, architectural or radical improvements to these activities, it can be the cause of very drastic changes in the environment of the company, its policies, its management, human resources…
The technological resources within an entity contribute to its competitiveness, taking into account that these require technological planning prior to their application in its key activities. If this planning is properly correct, you can get very profitable advantages over the competition.
The correct use of technology in the company can lead to favorable results in the entity such as:
- The reduction of human resources and therefore reduction of salary payments, which is a saving for the company Operations are carried out in a faster way thanks to the technological machinery applied not only in the production processes. Life cycle of products, their design phase and production phase Reduction in production time and costs Better customer service and higher quality Savings in materials and their reuse General improvement of the quality of both products as services, thus causing the longest duration of the products and their continuous improvement.
To give it the best management and take advantage of the advantages of technology, it is necessary to organize resources, know how they are going to be handled to solve problems and make a technology plan, which objectively indicates what the company has, how much it is willing to invest and everything required to carry out each key activity within the organization, since if this is not done correctly, money and resources are lost.
Technology does not work by itself, it needs updating and innovation to remain competitive technology since this is part of the success of the company.
The company
The company requires continuous investment to continue and maintain its growth in the market, through business strategies.
Every company that wants to be successful must maintain a vision of the future, there are daily questions, how does the customer expect? What is their need? What can be done to satisfy it? With the advancement of technologies, the demands of these are increasing and we must be prepared to respond strategically to it.
The objective of every company is the satisfaction of its customers, since thanks to this it can be almost certain that that customer will return, today's end user hopes to obtain the solution to their needs in a product or service, and the company must be prepared to offer you that solution.
Any company that wants to grow, be competitive, must be sensitive to the changing environment it will face, it must be prepared for the changing needs of the market. This implies being sagacious in developing strategies and taking constant change as an opportunity from which to gain an advantage over competitors. Many organizations have relapsed into this grueling effort, and many have made unimaginable alliances all in order to support changing needs, resulting in monstrous corporations.
In order to meet customer requirements, deep knowledge of the company's work processes is required. Every employee must have special techniques and in many cases have specific means such as graphics, statistical process control, design and others.
Quality, international certifications, today are a business necessity if you want to become a globally recognized organization and be a leader in the market, the client goes more and more easily to companies that have ISO9000 certifications and others. Since these certifications do not guarantee that the service or product will not present failures, but they do show that the company has the necessary documentation, that it passed through strict audits, and therefore, increase the chances that the product or service will meet the requirements. of customers.
It is very important to have knowledge about the financial system in a company, to carry out reviews on the costs between productive and administrative activities, every outstanding company has a system to calculate its waste price. Since without a system of this nature the organization will not know for sure the amount of the losses, nor their causes. Knowledge of the national economies of customers and suppliers are essential in this age of globalization. The ignorance of this implies a decision-making based on assumptions causing fatal errors which would cause great costs and losses for the company.
It is worth mentioning that none of the above could happen without the great collaboration of human resources, it is the most complex part to manage in a company, without people, no technology, no resource could have results. An environment of respect and appreciation must be maintained in the organization for the people who collaborate in the achievement of the entity's objectives, promoting them in collaborative work, always instilling honest relationships, continuous improvement and interest in the activities of the organization.
The conjugation Company & Technology.
Keeping information in circulation within organizations.
Increase productivity.
Reduce costs.
Stay in continuous improvement.
Total quality.
These are just some of the objectives of the organizations for which technology is applied in their processes and activities. Competitiveness between organizations grows more and more day by day and if you don't keep up with your opponent, you fail.
The correct application of technology is inescapable. Today there are many methods and technological innovations, there is also a lot of pressure to use the latest in telephony, computing, robotics, integral administration, etc.
Before considering investment in technology, managers and executives must carry out and plan an exhaustive analysis of advantages, disadvantages, needs, costs, and resources to be incorporated into the organization.
In order for technology to offer competitive opportunities in the company, it is necessary to recognize the degree of maturity of the sector where it is intended to apply. The success of the industry does not only depend on the technology that is handled being emerging, since this can be counterproductive, although the technology of a small impact on the organization, if not managed properly can totally change the performance of the processes and activities, thereby causing losses that the company never imagined.
That is why there are various methodologies for the incorporation of technology in companies:
Process for incorporating technology into the organization
1. Carry out an analysis on the strategies of the company. Before making any investment in technology, an analysis must be made of the strategies that are intended to support the coupling of technology in the activities of the organization.
2. Set a goal of what you want to achieve. What is intended to be obtained with the incorporation of technology in the company.
3. Create a plan of how to achieve the objectives. Now, once the objectives have been set, how do you plan to achieve them, what procedure will be followed, who or who will be responsible.
4. Make a plan to see the resources that will be needed in the application of technology.
5. foresee what may fail. Carry out reviews in the technology integration process to obtain red flags of possible failures in it.
Methodology used and developed by the Telmex S. A de C. V corporation, in the integration of technology in companies in the country.
conclusion
What if investment in technology ensures business success? NO, technology is a resource that is combined with others to obtain favorable results in the organization.
It is true that technology today is very important, but even more important is the strategy it will support. Technological resources contribute to competitiveness and also offer many advantages, but they are not everything. In a healthy organization, the presence of a positive and pro-active business culture has better results than the best company specialized in technology and lacking in business culture.
Maintaining a good direction, adapting to changes, knowing how to distinguish development opportunities, technology, human resources, dialogue, teamwork, are just some of the things that involve business success.
The updating and innovation of technology in human resources, in processes, in functions, information technology, communication, training, motivational research (to mention some technologies), must be constant to stay in the competition, This requires a great effort from the entire organization. Business success must be daily, it must be personal, group, family, and everything that involves an effort to achieve a purpose.
Bibliography.
Hipólito Molina, Francisco José Conca, Technological innovation and business competitiveness. Ed.TD, publications of the University of Alicante.
Dr. Lair Ribeiro, Business success, How to invent the future to define the present. Ed. Urano 6th. Edition 1997.
www.computing-es.com
www.accenture.es, section: Research and Analysis - Human Performance
