Introduction
A lot of suggestions have been given by people and organization on ways of transforming organizations. The main target of this strategy is to redesign business processes and business operations so as to give a firm a new look or achieve efficiency and profitability. I shall take a closer look at Oticon Company and the role of technology in transforming its businesses activities.
The current wave of changes in organization is a result of advances in technology which has been necessitated to cope with emerging demands. Fusion of business processes with technology is undertaken after careful research and taking into account the mission and strategies of the organization and whether the changes will impact positively on productivity and efficiency of business processes. Competition has become intense and conditions under which businesses operate have become complicated mainly as a result of easy exchange of information.
Oticon
Oticon is an exemplary organization that has successfully implemented information technology in its organizational structure. Griscom (2009) describes it as “a large Danish manufacturing company with a specialty in manufacture of hearing aids.”
It is ranked top five in the world in manufacture of these devices and has approximately one thousand three hundred employees with an annual turnover of close to ninety million dollars. It has an international presence because it exports products to over one hundred countries in the world.
Information technology has been integrated in allocation of projects. Top management appoints a leader to oversee the progress of the project. The project is publicized in electronic medium of the company which employees can access through their work stations. Employees are then allowed to sign up for projects they feel they can carry on effectively.
Ones they have subscribed for a project, they can only pull out with approval of the team leader. It works in a manner that if an individual comes up with an idea and has been approved by management, they become project leaders and people are recruited to work on it immediately. This approach helped Oticon improve greatly in responding to customer needs.
Oticon further embraced the idea that employees can work on multiple tasks that require different expertise. This can be embraced while participating in emerging projects. It will give a chance to employees to give their input in ways they are satisfied with.
Through this approach, the company is to benefit from a variety of skills of employees (Colette, 2000). This approach allows employees to advance their skills by working on a variety of projects. Kolind, the CEO dismissed the notion of sticking to one job.
It was noted that some employees from departments like accounting would contribute great ideas to the marketing department. Management believed that if employees chose to work on specific projects of their choice by signing up on them, they would do them better than when they were assigned.
Another technological strategy at Oticon was paperless offices. Workstations were introduced and any employee could access office applications at any desk because all documents could be accessed electronically.
Once an employee enters access code in the system, he or she can access the necessary information including organizers, public folders and tasks. All information is stored in a central processing unit which enables individuals to get access from any computer at work.
By using this approach, employees can group themselves to perform a particular task with much ease without carrying belongings. This is another indication of how information technology can make work efficient. I would propose to organizations to adopt technology as an enabling factor to their processes because it allows use of multiple options.
Role of IT in organizations
Use of information technology systems in organizations has grown over the years and has become an essential commodity. Information systems include different types of software applications designed to carry out major processes of organizations.
Information technology is a broad field that comprises mediums of communication and tools that link people with them. Recent studies found out that IT plays a major role in information exchange within the organization and outside.
By using information technology applications, an organization improves the quality and reduces the time with they perform tasks and decision making. Among the major benefits that come with use of information technology in an organization is efficiency and increased innovation.
Efficiency that comes with adoption of IT practices is reduction in operating costs and faster execution of tasks. In addition, IT enables employees collaborate with ease, improves the ability to code information of the organization and enables coordination (Lagace, 2003).
Technology has had a great impact on financial sector. Use of technology has brought about efficiency and speed with which business transactions are carried out in the financial market. For instance, introduction of the manner in which orders were taken by New Yolk Stock Exchange by telegraph gave them an advantage over Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
Were it not for the introduction of telegraph, the two competitors would be on the same level. Installation of the telegraph gave one an advantage over the other. This elaborates how important IT is to organization performance.
Conclusion
I would enjoy working in an organization that fully utilizes Information technology practices. From the discussion, I found out that this type of organizations executes at speed, encourages innovation and addresses the needs of customers.
References
Colette, W. (2000). Complexity of New Office Designs: Thinking Through Your Future Workplace. Searcher 8(10). Web.
Griscom, J. (2009). How Telecommunications Is Changing Work for Nonprofits. Web.
Lagace, M. (2003). Stuck in Gear: Why Managers Don’t Act. Harvard Business School – Working Knowledge For Business leaders – Research & Ideas.