Technology is seen today to revolutionize completely the manner in which enterprises carry out business. Technology is something that makes the running of a business a whole lot easier than usual, especially as it facilitates communication, the easy exchange of ideas and the signing of agreements and contracts in a far more efficient and effective manner than these could have been carried out before. Hence, technology forms a very crucial component of business activities. Small businesses in particular are seen to make use of technology in a variety of different ways, be it in the form of a mobile phone, an internet server, or a network computers that are being used to carry out the operations of the business enterprise. There is no business today that can be conducted and concluded without the help of technology. Even salary payments are made online in today’s day and age with the help of technological advancements.
There are a number of useful effects that technology is seen to have on businesses today. For one, the use of technology is something that can bring down the operating costs of a business quite considerably. Cooperation and collaboration is also something that is greatly facilitated among businesses through the use of technology. Different businesses are today in a position to interact and negotiate with one another on a regular basis because of the advancements that have been made in the domain of technology to facilitate the same. Business calls and meetings are carried out through the medium of Skype or Google Conference while business agendas and minutes are always drawn up electronically rather than being noted down by pen and paper. Technology thus plays a vital role if not the most essential role when it comes to the running of a business. This report engages in an in-depth literature review on the topic of the impact of technology on different businesses today, with special reference to how effective technology is seen to be for business enterprises. The report concludes with a discussion on the key findings and takeaways from the literature review.
Hypothesis 1 – Technology plays a vital role in ensuring smooth running of a business
Hypothesis 2 – Technology is not effective for the adequate running of businesses operations
Banner (2018), has carried out a seminal study on the growing importance that is associated with digital technology in the market place today. The author talks in detail about how the internet has managed to bring about great changes in the manner in which people carry out their communication and do business, especially the communication that is carried out between business owners and their various clients. Banner (2018), points out as to how the internet is here to stay and that without the presence of the internet, no business interaction or communication would be too successful today. In the view of Banner (2018), the internet is something that influences the way in which customers select their products and services by a considerable extent. This is something that he attributes especially to the emergence of smart phones, with almost every second person in the world today having a smart phone in their possession, with which they carry out business communication and interactions online. The author carried out the research by interviewing a number of well established companies about the current knowledge as well as use of technology in business activities. One of the most important things that the interviews conducted by Banner (2018), focused on was the various barriers that were faced by the owners of the company when it came to establishing a presence online for their various businesses. On the basis of the findings of the research, especially the feedback that was given to the researcher at the time of taking the interviews, a number of recommendations are made by Banner (2018), as to how best a business enterprise can make use of technology, and the digital presence in general, in order to improve business operations by leaps and bounds.
Walter et al. (2018), talking about the importance of business models in business operations today. The concept of a business model as well as the concept of a business model innovation is in their view something which is rooted in industrial economics, strategic management and corporate practice. According to Walter et al. (2018), business models are needed in order to communicate and convey business strategies in the most effective manner. If business models are not deployed in business communications then it become very difficult to conclude negotiations across the table. The research carried out by Walter et al. (2018), is what focuses on particular on the various effects that business models could have when deployed in a variety of business operations. The research is carried out with an emphasis on organizational design as well as governance in addition to the role that is played by customers, partners and stakeholders in the process of innovation, to see how this can end up leading to organizational sustainability. Walter et al. (2018), are also seen to focus a great deal on the way in which the performance of a business organization is influenced by a variety of business models, identifying the theoretical gaps that may exist in this particular area and shedding light on them. The aim of the research that is carried out by Walter et al. (2018) is to provide manufacturers in the developing countries of the world with useful insights using which they can be less dependent on OEM manufacturing and commoditized products while maintaining also a highly sustainable ecosystem at the same time.
Uhl et al. (2016), talk about the importance of different types of technological trends and the ways by which these technological trends can be exploited for the purpose of attaining excellence in business. An important overview of all the essential concepts that are used in business are provided for the benefit of the reader right at the very outset of this work, after which focus is placed on the importance that is associated with digital technology. The most well known technological trends of today’s day and age are those that are highlighted a good deal by the authors, with all the key characteristics of digital enterprises being summarized adequately enough by them. The various steps that need to be taken on the part of a business enterprise in order for it to become a digital enterprise have been outlined with care by the authors in this novel piece of work. Emerging opportunities are analyzed, that can be used by a firm in order to leverage innovation management. The important role that innovation has to play in global businesses today, particularly the beneficial impact that it has on the running of a business have been explained in detail by Uhl et al. (2016), with care.
Moreira and Da Silva (2018), have researched on the element of internationalization in different business to business markets. The research places special importance on the development of new products like technological products if a business has to succeed in the market place and sustain itself in the market place over the long term. Moreira and Da Silva `(2018), argue, that the competitive challenges that are faced by global markets in today’s day and age especially by medium and small sized business enterprises are those that can be met well enough only if new organizational approaches are implemented for taking on the different challenges that arise in the international markets. On the basis of one particular case study, this piece of work reviews all the essential literature that there is on different types of internationalization theories. Moreira and Da Silva (2018) make use of resource based perspectives of the firm and network based approaches in order to examine collaborations in the area of new product development, and how collaborative processes can have a vital role to play in the internationalization of any SME.
Anderson et al. (2016), talk about the importance of technology, knowledge, innovation and international connectivity in their research study. According to them there are many relevant ideas and concepts that are floating around in the field of international business and which have found manifestation in number of core or essential concepts such as knowledge, innovation and technology. The authors argue that while all of these concepts are those that have evolved in a slow and steady manner over the ages, the link that remains between international connectivity and international business is something that remains until date quite genuine. This research is one that takes a detailed and in depth look at how this evolution of concepts has taken place by studying literature pertaining to the subject matter as published over a period of fifty years. The Journal of World Business and the Columbia Journal of World Business are the two important journals that have been focused upon by the author with the objective of the authors being to propose or offer a research agenda that can be used by people in the years to come. Anderson et al. (2018), have managed to progress using two crucial steps. Firstly, a scrutiny has been undertaken as to how IB literature has managed to progress as well as to expand in the last fifty years, by laying special emphasis on the different articles that have been published for this purpose in the Journal of World Business and the Columbia Journal of World Business.
Kasemsap (2018), is a researcher who focuses on the importance that is given to electronic commerce and modern business in the country of Thailand. What the process of e-commerce is all about and the importance that this process has to play in the conducting of business operations in Thailand, is something that has been well pointed out by Kasemsap. E commerce is essentially, as argued by Kasemsap (2018), a process that involves the buying and the selling of goods and services using electronic platforms or systems like the internet and a computer. The system of e-commerce is something that has proven to be of great importance in the modern day and age, with plenty of companies professing an interest in the development of internet stores for their goods and merchandise. Shoppers tend to prefer the process of e-commerce a lot in comparison to conventional shopping, as argued by Kasemsap (2018), due to the convenience and the ease that is associated with the process. Kasempsap (2018), argues how this convenience involves customers being able to save a lot of time and money in the purchase of products, since they get to do their shopping from the comfort from the home or the office rather than from a physical store. Kasemsap (2018), concludes with the argument that the process of e-commerce is something that has the potential to improve the performance of an organization, while gaining sustainable competitive advantage at the same time in modern business activities.
Keeble and Wilkinson (2000), have compiled research on the growing importance that technology based medium and small sized enterprises seem to have in the European economy. The growth and the expansion of such regionalized clusters of the very technology intensive firms has been exemplified by the researchers in a number of different regions such as Goteborg, Munich, Oxford and Cambridge. It highlights the emergence of the new industrial spaces in areas that had been previously non-industrial areas. The authors argue that while it is usually the large firms that are associated with the growth of such new industrial spaces that are brimming with technological activities of various kinds, a substantive number of new, small and innovative enterprises are also involved in different types of technologically advanced manufacturing as well as service oriented activities.
The study utilized a number of different search terms in order to search peer reviewed literature on the topic of the research, that this is the impact that technology is seen to have on the useful running of a business. Some of the search terms that were used in order to generate secondary literature on the subject matter are, “Business Marketing”, “Communication in Business” and, “Information Technology in Business”. The research was carried out in two different stages. The first stage involved looking up all possible sources of secondary and peer reviewed literature on the subject of the usefulness of technology in business. The second stage entailed selecting the most relevant pieces of secondary literature out of the entire list of secondary sources compiled, after which the chosen pieces were analyzed in detail.
The literature that has been reviewed does a good job of revealing the intricate role that technology plays in the smooth running of a business. The highlighted research works that have been reviewed as a part of this study indicate well enough that technology has a crucial role to play in ensuring the successful outcome of business operations and the more advanced technology is, the better this is for the running of a business (Britton, 2018). Electronic businesses are far more successful as these provide customers with the easy option of shopping from their homes and offices, of buying goods and services as and when they need to through a simple click of the mouse of the use of a smart phone (Heimonen & Takanen, 2018). The conveniences that are offered by e-commerce for instance, are not the same as the conveniences that are offered by a regular conventional business (Kasemsap, 2018). Hence, a technology-based business is definitely likely to prosper a great deal in the market place. The literature reviewed indicates that many technological developments and advancements can still take place, such as the use of business models in business operations for instance, that can positively impact the outcome of a business enterprise or organization (Benitez et al., 2018). If business owners learn to be innovative about the manner in which they do their business, then they can experience a greater rate of profit (Kitsios & Kamariotou, 2018). Customers are always interested in products and services that are novel in some form or the other, that is, products and services which stand out in the crowd by virtue of their use and their appearance (Adekanye & Rahman, 2018). The more technologically innovative a firm is when it comes to the manufacture of goods and services, the better it is likely to do in the market place, especially if it able to address at the same time, the many obstacles that are associated with the use of technology in business (Lee et al., 2018).
While the literature that has been reviewed above has managed to do a successful job of pointing out the importance that technology has to play in helping small sized businesses and large sized businesses to grow and develop, there is little emphasis on the challenges and the barriers that technology can also pose on the running on a business (Popovic et al., 2018). For instance, transactions and business negotiations are those that can come to a complete halt if the internet servers fail to work successfully ever (Lee et al., 2018). Ecommerce platforms will come to a standstill and will not be able to generate any revenue at all, should a technological glitch ever occur (Mckeown et al., 2018). While the various researchers have done a great job of showing how technological advancements are inter linked with the success of a business enterprise, more emphasis should also be placed on the difficulties and obstacles that can also be posed by such technological advancements (Piercy, 2018; Richards et al., 2019). After research on the barriers associated with technology, researchers should focus on developing suggestions and recommendations as to how these barriers must be overcome (Gu et al., 2018). This is because it is not enough to state that barriers exist but to also develop ways and means by which the barriers can be overcome, so as to facilitate both business owners and customers who otherwise benefit from the advancements in technology in business operations, in the long run (Olvido & Sanchez, 2018; Sasidharan, 2019).
Conclusion
Thus, there are quite a few wonderful beneficial impacts that technology can have on different businesses in today’s day and age. Technology has a particularly important role to play when it comes to the effective running of a business enterprise. It provides a firm with the fuel and the resources and the leverage that it needs in order to compete well enough in the market place. The more technologically advanced a business is, the greater will be the number of clients that it can attract to its goods and services over the long term. It is important to remember not only to focus on technological advancements and progress if a firm is to grow and prosper but to also address the challenges and the difficulties that can arise when making use of advanced technology for the running of a business. The difficulties for this purpose must be identified well enough by the firms in question after which methods and approaches can be adopted as to how best the challenges can be overcome and that too within a short period of time, rather than over months and years.
References
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