INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY DYNAMICS ON COMPANIES COMPETITIVE EDGE
Revolution of computing in technology
The
new era of computing has had revolutionary effects in how people communicate
how information is handled and most notably had a great impact in the business
world. With new technologies enabling business to achieve greater efficiencies,
this field has been a key concern to
companies that yearn to have an edge in
the market share while at the same time has enabled business and companies to
easily adapt to changing consumer needs
Information
technology has not only been of great advantage but has also posed a risk to
companies through various ways. With the revolutionizing world and rise of new
technology huge investment is required in acquiring and maintaining state of
the art software’s and hardware’s that act as barrier to undercapitalized
ventures. Ventures that are newly incorporated into the business world will in
one way or another have to embrace information technology in their undertakings
so as to compete in the modern era (Sengupta, 2007) . Generally,
technology isn’t cheap, it comes at a cost. While established ventures find it easy
to acquire new software’s and hire maintenance experts, new companies which
usually their major challenges is undercapitalization usually find themselves
on the losing edge as they can’t effectively compete for similar services as
those afforded by the bigger and established companies (Karakaya
& Kaynak, 1995) .
The
use of information technology has compromised internet security and has
resulted in money laundering e.g. in banking where money can be transferred
online from a client’s account to an anonymous account illegally. The rise of
high end technological experts in programming has led to hackers who easily
identify loopholes among existing systems and usually use such loopholes to
gain at the disadvantage of a given company. Information technology has led to
the rise of computer security companies that are dedicated to identifying and
preventing malware across servers and systems used by companies. Companies have
reported huge losses in revenues and a tainted public image due to malpractices
that may be done by competitors through hacking other company systems (Graduate
School of Business Administration, 2015) (Hill, 2005) .
The
availability of IT solutions to monitor employee has demoralized them leading
to low output as they feel mistrust between them and their employer. Systems
such as biometric registers, CCTV surveillances across all work places has
instilled mistrust among employers and employers who feel over monitored and
may lack motivation as they find it hard to associate with the given company.
This leads to low productivity among the workforce leading to low output to the
disadvantage of the company (Hill, 2005) .
In
this digital era it’s easy to steal corporate information and sell it to a
competitor since the technology pace is easily outweighing the existing
security measures. Experts are constantly exploring arenas of malicious
software to extract and sell information of a given company to rival companies.
This has not only been done by outsiders but also insider jobs where crucial
data can be accessed and stolen within a click of a mouse. While in technology
enormous amount of data can be stored in virtually no space, this has posed a
great threat as competition among various industries steepens in industrializing
and industrialized worlds. Almost entirely any business is built on robust and
fundamental guidelines and business secrets crucial for any company to
differentiate itself and have a competitive advantage. Stealing of information
is lethal to any company establishment and can easily lead to collapse
especially in the highly dynamic telecommunication industries (Sengupta,
2007) .
The
corporate world has been in constant wars to hire and retain IT professional staff
that are highly competed for in the given market niches raising competition
among companies to retain them. This has led to increased costs in the part of
information technology that has led to increased cost on produced goods and
services hence reducing competitiveness in applying technology in business.
These IT experts who hire their services to competing companies may act against
the interest of the given companies since any company wishes to be distinct and
established in its own niche with minimal competition (Hill, 2005) .
IT
has promoted companies competitive advantage through data keeping and accounting and
marketing. With the available data processing software’s companies have been
able to easily collect and analyze financial data. Usually this was a niche for
manual accountants who mostly spent a great deal of time doing repetitive tasks
that lead to huge inventory in terms of resources to undertake this department.
Software’s and applications have been established to handle huge chunks of
data, carry repetitive tasks at low costs and with high speeds enabling
companies to analyze re (Hill, 2005) levant information
without taking too much time or resources (Sengupta, 2007) .
IT has contributed and supported
companies to garner competitive advantage in manufacturing processes. Modern
manufacturing systems such as the use of computer aided design and computer
numerical control has enabled companies to test variety of modeling designs at
short time frames and little costs. It can be noted that to survive in any
industry, a company’s financial power may not be great impact as its
adaptability may be to ensure success. Any company that fails to adapt fails in
the long run, with modern computing in manufacturing companies can easily
design and test various design modifications and implement easily without
having to lay costly, expensive and time consuming machinery and installations (Hill, 2005) (Sengupta,
2007) .
Information Technology has enhanced
product performance such as machines acting like robots with interactive
display and audio e.g. car dash boards. Washing machines are customizable to
various cloth materials for maximum efficiency; of recent we have seen machines
become interactive as it can be attributed to manufactured items. A company
that introduces of says a smartphone with an eye detection or voice recognition
technology reaps the benefit of increased consumer base thus getting a
competitive edge in the industry. Most notably is the locomotive industry where
transmission systems have been computerized to automatically change gears.
Information technology has enabled
transforming a product and its value chain through use of bar code readers to
access more info on a product and getting feedback if it is genuine online,
this has made it easy to get feedback. While the value chain of any product has
in the past been hard to monitor, determine the product cycle and provide extra
information to a consumer computer technologies have made it a reality. Product
information is a key to sale, consumer choice and requirements for any viable
product (Sengupta, 2007) .
Information technology has proven
extremely important in advertising, while in the past it has been a costly
endeavor to reach to a given traffic, today it is a reality. Companies have
been able to achieve laser targeted adverts to potential consumers based on
data that they get online from browsing records. Most companies today are going
in online advertising thus enjoying cheap advertising and are able to reach
more customers. Some companies have also purely capitalized on selling products
online such as software’s that can be sold without retail outlet and thus
enabling them to carry their businesses efficiently (Sengupta,
2007) (Graduate
School of Business Administration, 2015) .
Here
is a detailed scenario of a disadvantage and procedures that may be undertaken
to mitigate risk. In the event that internet security is compromised and has
resulted in money laundering e.g. in
banking where money can be transferred online from a client’s account to an
anonymous account illegally, the company is deemed to suffer losses as it will
be required by law to compensate its clients. Taking this scenario, an IT
professional would be required to access a similar fictitious scenario and
imagine of greater magnitude. This would require hiring hackers who mostly get
involved in such malpractices and hiring them to research methods to attack the
existing systems while at the same time offering solutions to the problems.
Such method would be beneficial as such since loopholes would be eradicated.
Hackers may be prosecuted under law, however before it’s too late they harm
your company it would be worth contracting them to seal a loophole.
To
capitalize on a market advantage to advertise a product can be leveraged to
reap the maximum out of a given product.
Companies are finding online advertising worth the investment as they
can easily reach customer base through television, cell phones, GSM messages,
computers and other digital media. The
greatest asset of any company being its customer base, online advertising can
be leveraged to reach the maximum possible laser targeted traffic at low costs
and build a reputable public image and thus driving sales. It can be noted that
today companies are willing to invest millions of dollars in online advertising
as opposed to the past where this field had attracted less attention. Since the
existing infrastructure in online advertising and the rise of platforms such as
social media of say Facebook, twitter and Instagram, companies can reap the
benefits and have an extremely competitive edge.
It
therefore goes without say that information technology holds great potential in
the business world that has yet to be exploited to its maximum potential. The
world today is revolutionizing to a global village with telecommunication
industry getting the most attention, corporate world can now link with
consumers in real world this holds a bright future in the whole of computing
industry that has yet to be fully exploited (Graduate School of Business
Administration, 2015) (Sengupta, 2007) .
REFERENCES
Graduate School of Business Administration, H. U.
(2015). Harvard business review. Journal, magazine : Periodical.
Hill, C. W. (2005). International business :
competing in the global marketplace. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Karakaya, F., & Kaynak, E. (1995). How to
utilize new information technology in the global marketplace : a basic guide.
New York : International Business Press.
L.P., B. (2015). Business week. Journal, magazine :
Periodical, 60.
Sengupta, J. (2007). Dynamics of entry and market
evolution. Basingstoke, Hampshire: New York : Palgrave Macmillan.
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