The report helps in the overall analysis of the different kinds of impact of the technology on the nature of the work which is being performed by the different individuals along with the impact of the same on the entire society. This has been noticed that the technology, automation, artificial intelligence along with machine learning is reducing the number of the job opportunities in the present and this will happen in the near future. The organization which has been taken into consideration is Marks and Spencer which is situated in United Kingdom.
Overview of Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer are one of the major British multinational retailers which is being headquartered which was founded in the year 1884 and the areas which are served by the company is worldwide. The company is specializing in selling clothes, different luxury and home products in Leeds (Marksandspencer.com. 2018). The revenue which has been earned by the organization is £10.622 billion till the year 2017 and the number of the employees working in the organization is 85436 till the year 2017.
Impact of Technology in Changing Nature of Work and Society
Craig, Nevin and Odum (2014), has commented that there is no such secret that the information technology has had major impact on the entire society along with in the entire workforce in both positive and negative manner. There are both positive and negative impacts of the technological advancements on the workforce along with the different employees working in the organization as well.
Positive Impacts of Technological Advancements on Workplace and Employees
Lee et al. (2015), has commented that the entire impact of technology on the business will help the business to grow from small to large corporation. In case of Marks and Spencer, this has been seen that due to technological advancements, the company has grown so huge and this has increased the overall productivity and profitability in a positive manner. M&S has tried to focus on the planning and managing the different activities in the organization which has helped them in retaining the employees and there was less resistance to the change from the focus of the employees (Sonnenwald 2016). In M&S, this has been analysed that there are different positive aspects which has taken place inclusive of the following:
Firstly, due to the advancement of the technology, there has been increase in the efficiency in the tasks which are being performed by the employees in an appropriate manner. Technology has simplified the different job functions and this in return has improved the overall performance of the job and strengthen and improved the job satisfaction among the different employees (Umble and Umble 2014).
Secondly, Yueh, Lu and Lin (2016), have commented that automation is the other aspect which has helped the organization in automating the different functions in a positive manner which previously required the different employees. In case of M&S, this has been seen that there are different tasks such as data entry and analytics along with contact management and book keeping which is done by the technological aspects and this has made the tasks much easier in nature.
Lastly, Rafferty and Jimmieson (2017), have opined and commented that the communication is the other aspect which has been improved in the workplace and this has enhanced the overall productivity of the organization. Due to proper planning and management of the different activities, this has helped M&S in managing the tasks in much easier manner. Emails has replaced the paper mail along with faxes and this has accelerated the communication process in a positive manner.
Negative Impacts of Technological Advancements on Workplace and Employees
M&S communicates with the different customers along with the employees working in the organization in an easy manner which helps them in managing the tasks efficiently. While implementing the technological aspects in the organization, there was huge resistance among the different employees working with the respective organization and this affected their morale in performing the different tasks (Harris et al. 2015).
Due to the advancement of technology, this has allowed their company to move forward and the company is running smoothly and efficiently. At first, there was no such motivation which was being provided to the different employees working in the organization and this has created tension of resistance among them. Due to the same, Oldham and Da Silva (2015), have opined that there is resistance to change among the different employees as they are insecured about their job position in the workplace.
In case of M&S, this has been seen that there can be resistance to change among the different employees as they will be insecured about their job position. There will be increased stress among the employees as there will be extra tension of interactions between the other clients and the employees working with them which will cause additional stress (Craig, Nevin and Odum 2014).
Secondly, there can be disconnectedness among the different employees in the organization as the usage of the laptops, mobiles and other appliances will be efficient in sending information within a span of time. However, there will be less connection between the different employees and this can lead to workplace dissatisfaction in a huge manner (Lines et al. 2015).
In M&S, this kind of situation will be faced by the employees working in the organization as there will be no such connection between the superiors and peers. Due to the disconnectedness, this will lead to boredom and less productivity in the organization as well.
Impact of Technological Advancement on Society
Galluch, Grover and Thatcher (2015), have commented that there are different impacts of the advancements of the technology on the society which is inclusive of the different positive along with negative aspects. The technological advancements which is inclusive of the usage of the mobile phones and the other devices or gadgets have lessen the meeting of the different individuals in person.
Furthermore, this has been noticed that due to the technological advancements, there are different economic and social changes which is affecting the thought process of the different individuals in a huge manner. The skills related to communication is the other issue which is being felt by the different individuals while communicating with one another as this is hugely impacting the society (Ezugwu et al. 2016).
Ways to Reduce the Negative Impacts of Advancements of Technology from Employees
There are different techniques which can be applied in order to reduce the different negative impacts of the technological advancements from the employees working in the organization. Galluch, Grover and Thatcher (2015), has commented that there are different motivational aspects which can be used and applied by them in managing the stress and gaining more competitive advantage in an effective manner.
Firstly, Hacker (2017), has opined that the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory can be applied by the organizations which can help in making the employees feel that they are the major assets of the organizations. In case of M&S, this is the major responsibility of the higher authorities to adopt the Maslow’s hierarchy theoretical aspects which is inclusive of the analysis of the different needs which will be beneficial for them in managing their tensions and their concerns in a positive manner. The motivational aspects will be helpful in managing the overall performance of the organizations as the employees will be relaxed and this will not affect the productivity of the organization as well.
Secondly, Ezugwu et al. (2016), have opined and hypothesised that while implementing the change, this is necessary for the higher officials to provide different career opportunities to the employees as sacking the different employees will cause ineffectiveness in the organization. In the future, this can be seen that there can be different technological advancements which will reduce the number of employees and this can affect the productivity and profitability of the company adversely. In case of M&S, this can be seen that the behaviour of the employees plays a major role in managing the different aspects in a positive manner.
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that the technological advancements play a major role on the employees along with in the organization. There are different positive and negative impacts of the same on the employees as they are the ones who will be affected the most in a negative manner. It can be seen that due to the technological advancements, there are various resistance to change among the employees which can cause huge issue on the overall productivity and profitability of the organization.
From the above scenario of M&S, this is seen that there are various aspects of technological advancements, which will be helpful for the success of the organization in a positive manner. However, on the other hand, there are different negative impacts of the same on the performance of the employees which will be ineffective for the entire organization. Proper motivational theories can be taken into consideration which will be beneficial for the overall effectiveness of the firm in a positive manner. Lastly, there is huge impact of the technological advancements on society which is creating huge impact on the culture and ethics of the individuals in a huge manner.
References
Craig, A.R., Nevin, J.A. and Odum, A.L., 2014. Resistance to Change. The Wiley Blackwell handbook of operant and classical conditioning, p.249.
Ezugwu, A.E., Ofem, P.O., Rathod, P., Agushaka, J.O. and Haruna, S., 2016. An Empirical Evaluation of the Role of Information and Communication Technology in Advancement of Teaching and Learning. Procedia Computer Science, 92, pp.568-577.
Galluch, P.S., Grover, V. and Thatcher, J.B., 2015. Interrupting the workplace: Examining stressors in an information technology context. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 16(1), p.1.
Hacker, S., 2017. Pleasure, power and technology: Some tales of gender, engineering, and the cooperative workplace. Routledge.
Harris, K.J., Harris, R.B., Carlson, J.R. and Carlson, D.S., 2015. Resource loss from technology overload and its impact on work-family conflict: Can leaders help?. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, pp.411-417.
Sonnenwald, D.H., 2016. A Darker Side of Human Information Behavior in the Workplace: a Call for Research on Workplace Bullying Information Behavior. 42(1), pp.55-59.
Lee, M.K., Kusbit, D., Metsky, E. and Dabbish, L., 2015, April. Working with machines: The impact of algorithmic and data-driven management on human workers. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1603-1612). ACM.
Lines, B.C., Sullivan, K.T., Smithwick, J.B. and Mischung, J., 2015. Overcoming resistance to change in engineering and construction: Change management factors for owner organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), pp.1170-1179.
Marksandspencer.com. (2018). Marksandspencer.com Welcome to Marks & Spencer. [online] Available at: https://www.marksandspencer.com/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].
Oldham, G.R. and Da Silva, N., 2015. The impact of digital technology on the generation and implementation of creative ideas in the workplace. Computers in Human Behavior, 42, pp.5-11.
Rafferty, A.E. and Jimmieson, N.L., 2017. Subjective perceptions of organizational change and employee resistance to change: Direct and mediated relationships with employee well?being. British Journal of Management, 28(2), pp.248-264.
Umble, M.I.C.H.A.E.L. and Umble, E.L.I.S.A.B.E.T.H., 2014. Overcoming resistance to change. Industrial Management, 56(1), pp.16-21.
Yueh, H.P., Lu, M.H. and Lin, W., 2016. Employees’ acceptance of mobile technology in a workplace: An empirical study using SEM and fsQCA. Journal of Business Research, 69(6), pp.2318-2324.
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