Implementaion of new technology

Too many good technology applications have failed because of sabotage by users who want to stay with the status quo. Although implementation of a new technology may increase productivity and reduce costs, the workers always resist them because of the lower morale and lower satisfaction when the technology replaces the routine and mechanical works. And is makes the workers feel that they are just “pushing buttons”. And new technology is often seen as a miracle fix that will automatically lead to faster, more efficient, and more profitable results. Implementing a new technology initiative is never easy. It takes a lot of planning and decision-making and, above all, cooperation. What makes a company work is people, processes and technology. Basically, how a company manages change — not how it implements new technology — will determine the outcome of new initiatives. Most business people agree the greatest challenges to new technology success are usually more behavioral than technical [1].

And another factor of the resistance from new technology is the money. In the traditional approach, the compensation and rewards are often individually-based, and the hiring are more reliance on clerical skills with little on computers. But in the new approach – implementation of new technology, the compensation and rewards are often team-based or contractually spelled out, and the hiring are often electronic with recruiting websites and electronic testing. More informated work that requires a higher level of IT skills. So the implementation of new technology possible hurting morale and undermining efforts encourage workers to contribute their ideas to the organization.

When workers feel threatened by these several factors, they will likely to resist it. The resistance can be overt and observable. For example, they slowdown their works or sabotage their works. The resistance also can be covert and not readily observable because it is doe under the guise of ‘working as usual’ [2].

If asking a work to use a computer, mobile phone or other similar device in his job, the product quality may not guarantee by the worker. Since there are more difficult for managers to evaluate and compensate performance when implementing a new technology, the worker must be extremely self-disciplined. And the workers can disconnect them from corporate culture. Furthermore, the labor unions, politicians etc factor may worried about foreign outsourcing of software development and computer service enabled by the same technologies.

As soon as accepting the implementation of the new technology, it will change their individual’s work. technology continues to drastically alter the way individuals work, helping to level the playing field for individuals with disabilities and expand opportunities for employers to benefit from their capabilities. IT changes the nature of work. It result in the work are fulfilled by the computer or other devices automatically [2]. It includes the people with disabilities in diversity recruitment goals, create partnerships with disability-relater advocacy organizations. Such as the communization patterns have also changed, workers now use mobile devices to send and receive messages and tap into database, greatly affecting sales and service tasks. And the cost and time needed to access information is dramatically lower, giving workers new tools. At the same time, the work has become much more team oriented – an effect amplified by the internet. Hence, these changes alter the individual’s work to the digital information technology.

The existing literature on the impact of technology has proven that the impact is positive rather than negative. Since the automation may increase productivity and reduce costs, IT creates million of new jobs, some in entirely new industries, the manager insure that the impact is positive rather than negative. Furthermore, the more work is team – oriented, enabled by communication and collaboration technologies. Geographic constraints of enabling telecommuting. And for the human resources factor, the manager think, the new strategies are need to supervise, evaluate, and compensate remotely performed. The telecommuting has gained popularity since the late 1990s it don’t take up office space and lowering facilities costs. And it also increased flexibility are more productive and express higher levels of job satisfaction. Considering with the cost and productivity the manager inures that the impact is positive rather than negative.

Reference:
1. Fred Ode (June, 2008) To Avoid End-User Rejection of New Technology Implementation, Available at http://joke.qq.com/z/blue/200741/gnjggs.htm,( Access at March 27, 2009)
2. Department of Labor (August 2005), Strategic Connections: Recruiting Candidates with Disabilities, Available at: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/connect.htm （Access at March 28th, woo9）