Better~Faster~cheaper The Value of Technology to Business

Learning Objectives 1)Develop a working definition of “Managing Technology” 2)Identify the components of technology. 3)Identify two perspectives (views) of technology 4)Determine the value in managing technology. 5)What is a “Knowledge-Driven firm”? How does technology fit into this concept?

Define Technology.... the process by which humans fashion tools and machines to increase their control and understanding of the material environment.

Components of Technology Objects Tools, machines, instruments, weapons, appliances - the physical devices of technical performance Knowledge The know-how behind technological innovation Activities What people do - their skills, methods, procedures, routines Process Begins with a need and ends with a solution Sociotechnical System The manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination

Types of Technology Production Technology  Manufacturing, Assembling, Processing  Testing, Measurement, Quality Assurance  Packaging, Storage, Transportation Information Technology  Transactional processing (routine operations)  Office Automation  Knowledge Work  Decision-Support  Management Information  Executive Support Integration of Production & Information Tech

Why Manage Technology?

Technological Determinism Popular views of technology assume Tech. Is an autonomous force that powerfully influences society without in turn being shaped by social factors. Tech. develops independently of human purpose. Tech advances with an irreversible forward (and outward) expansion. Tech is unstoppable. Views of technology: #1

Why is Technological Determinism Popular ? People have abdicated responsibility. Technological Drift: much of modern change is an accumulation of unintended and unanticipated consequences. We don't try to control this, but merely adapt. Western values- we favor technological innovation. Technological innovation has been institutionalized. Its parts are intrinsically interrelated and inseparable.

Social Shaping of Technology the rate and direction of technological development is shaped by society. social conditions are the primary impetus for the convergence of existing technologies and research into new fields. Example... the first factories contained the same machinery as had been used in the cottage production system; it was only after the centralization of workers in the factory environment that the demand for new technologies emerged. Views of technology: #2

The Value of Technology TIME QUALITY COST (FASTER) (bETTER) (CHEAPER) Speed, Flexibility Speed, Flexibility Efficiency Product Features Dependability Product Features Dependability

Technology is informed by Values VALUE decisions may be necessary in relation to specific criteria (i.e. aesthetic, ergonomic and economic judgments, suitability for purpose and ease of manufacture). VALUE decisions are made also in relation to the rightness or wrongness of a particular solution in ethical terms.

The Knowledge-Driven Firm Knowledge is a form of ‘capital’ (value) in the workplace. Through the application and combination of New Technologies there is a ‘morphing’ of the work that firms are doing requiring different types of knowledge. The nature of work and the meaning of “workplace” is in the process of transformation. Liberation-Technology – is a means to achieve a “high-tech, high-touch” workplace.