Advantages and disadvantages of technology in business communication

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of Technology is Business Communication

1. Advantages and Disadvantages
of Technology in Business
Communication

2. Communication and Technology
•Information–CommunicationTechnology(ICT)isageneral
expressionforavarietyofdifferentcomputer,informationand
communicationdevices,applications,networkandservices.
CommunicationTechnologyhasbecomeimportantinourdaily
lives.Bothindividualsandbusinessusecommunication
technologytogetwhattheyneed.
•Communicationtechnologyinanorganizationinvolvesthings
likeVoicemail,Email,Teleconferencesetc.Alltheseformsof
communicationwillassistinthegrowthofanorganization,but
theyalsohavetheirdownsides.

3. Advantages
Financial Savings
Speeds the sending
of information
Improves
organizational
communication
Speeds decision
making in an
organization
Increases
participation in
organizational
processes
Influences the way
people interact in
organizations
Provides a voice to those
who normally would not
speak up in groups

4. Financial
Savings
Perhapsthebiggestadvantageoftheimprovementof
technologyinbusinesscommunicationisthefinancial
savingsitaffordssmallbusinessesandglobalcorporations
alike.Tasksthatoncetooklargesumsofmoneymaynowbe
completedwithatouchofabuttonforpennies.Thishas
allowedsmallbusinessestobettercompetewithlarger
organizationsintheglobalmarket.
BeforeVoiceofInternetProtocol,orVoIP,technology,placing
alongdistancetelephonecallwasanexpensivegesture.
CurrentVoIPandcellulartelephonetechnology,however,has
madeflatratesforlocalandlongdistancecallscommon
place.Thesamecanalsobesaidforcorrespondence.Not
longago,theonlywaytosendlettersordocumentsfromone
locationtoanotherwastoengageapostalormessenger
service.Theemail,however,haseliminatedtheneedto
transporthardcopies.Furthermore,manyemailservicesare
free.

5. Speeds the Sending of Information
Communicationtechnologytoolslikeelectronicmailand
textmessagingsystems,speedupthesendingofinformation
withinandoutsideoftheorganization.
Alsowiththeuseofdecentralizedcomputingsystems,
sharingofinformationwithinanorganizationisveryfirst
becausealldataisaccessedfromonecentralunit‘’Database’’
anditissharedacrossdifferentdepartmentswithinthe
organization.

6. Improves Organizational Communication
Communicationtechnologyhelpsinthecreationofashared
informationenvironmentinanorganization.Organization
informationisorganizedinonecentrallocation,allowingany
oneaccessthatinformationastheyneed.Alsotechnologieslike
electronicmail,willenablelowlevelemployeescommunicate
withthemanagerwithoutanyneedofhavingadedicatedtime
formeeting.Thisallowsinformationtofloweasilyfromthe
bottomtothetopwithoutanybarriers.

7. Speeds Decision Making In An
Organization
Since communication technology speeds the transfer of
information, employees in an organization can easily consult
each other and analyze information in a shortest period and
make a decision.Also with the use of (OLAP)Online
analytical processing, employees can perform queries on a
database to get data about a specific clientor matter and
make a quick decision basing on the data retrieved from the
database about that specific client or matter.

8. Increases Participation In Organizational
Processes
Everyemployeewillhaveaspecifictasktocompleteandall
thiscanbemonitoredremotelybythemanager.Soallparties
willbeactivesincetheirworkisbeingmadesimplebyeasy
communication.
Employeeswhoareshytoaskforadviceandhelp,willuse
toolslikeelectronicmailorinstanttextmessagingservicesto
askforhelpfromtheirworkmateswithintheorganization,
theycanalsousethesamemediastoparticipateindecision
makingandcreativedesignchallenges.

9. Influences The Way People Interact In
Organizations
Letslookatanorganizationwereyouonlyseetheoperations
managertwiceaweek,bythetimehecomes,everyonewill
needtospeaktothemandtheywillhavelesstimeforeachof
you.Butwithelectronicmail,youcansimplydraftanemail
andsendittoyoursuperiororworkmate.Inthiscase,they
don’thavetostopwhatthey’redoingtoattendtoyour
matter,butyouwillgetaninstantreplyandcontinuewith
yourwork.

10. Provides A Voice To Those Who Normally
Would Not Speak Up In Groups
Face-to-face communications tends to be difficult to some
people, so the use of communication technology will help
them communicate effectively at work. Some employees
might have a fear of face-to-face expression, but these
employees might have relevant suggestions or
contributions which can help the organization grow, so
they can easily use technological tools like electronic mail
to voice out their concerns.

11. Disadvantages
Poor Substitute to
FTF Communication
Difficult to Train
Employees
Expensive
Less Secure Work-Life Imbalance

12. Poor substitute for face-to-face
(ftf) communication
Sinceemployeesareusingmachinesto
communicate,theygetlesstimetotalktoeach
otherandknoweachotherbetter.Thishas
resultedintoincreasedbadrelationshipsatwork.
Eventhoughtheshyoneswillbenefitfromthis
technology,buttheywillalsobedeniedthe
chancetolearnhowtointeractwithothers.

13. Difficulty Training Employees
Ifanorganizationdeploysanew
communicationtechnologysystem,theywill
havetopayanextrafeetotrainemployeesin
theorganizationtousethattechnology
effectively.Sometimessomeemployeeswill
notlearnasfirstasotherswhichmightledto
joblosses.

14. Expensive
Itcanbeveryexpensivetoinstallanewcommunication
technologysysteminaverybigorganization.Let’ssaythatan
organizationhasover50employeesandtheywantthemtoaccess
informationfromacentralizedlocation.
Theywillhavetocreateastrongdatabasewhichwillhandleall
thequeriesmadebytheseemployeesinaminuteaswellthey
havetobuyacomputerforeachoftheseemployees.

15. Security Issues
Sinceinformationhasbeencentralizedunderonedatabase,itis
exposedtopeoplewithwrongintentionwithintheorganization.Also
informationcanbeattackedbyahackeroravirusandalldatawillbe
lostinaminute.Sotheorganizationmustpayanextracosttokeep
thisinformationsafe.
Sensitiveinformationcanbeeasilysharedanddistributed
withinabusinessthroughemail.Itdoesnotmatteriftheemail
issentaccidentallyordeliberately,theharmisthesame.

16. Work-Life Imbalance
Employeeswhoreceivework-relatedcalls
outsideofnormalworkhours,whetherona
company-providedphoneorapersonalcell
phone,mayfeelanimbalancebetweentheir
workandpersonallives.Itcanbedifficult
foranemployeetoenjoytimeawayfrom
workwhenherdutiesspilloverintofamily,
socialandresttime.