...Week 8: Current Event Four Changes in Technological Progress and its Contribution to Economic Growth This paper addresses this question by looking at how the behavior of labor productivity grew at a significantly faster rate in the late 90's. The New Economy hypothesis to be examined is whether investment in IT caused the acceleration in productivity. The evidence suggests a growing consensus on two conclusions (Feroli 2001). Information technology is an important factor in the recent acceleration productivity growth (Feroli 2001). Both the production and the use of IT contributed to the productivity revival (Feroli 2001). Information-led development (ILD) most commonly refers to a development strategy whereby a developing country makes a primary economic policy focus the creation and development of a national information technology (IT) sector with the express aim of relying on this sector as an engine of growth (Wikipedia, 2009). While forecasting productivity growth is a chancy and often unsuccessful enterprise, there is some reason to believe that the acceleration in labor productivity could persist for several more years (Feroli 2001). This guarded optimism is informed by recurrent them in the literature that investments in IT manifest themselves in higher productivity with a lag of a few years (Feroli 2001). Information technology can affect aggregate labor productivity through two channels: the production...
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...A perception of today’s society has made clear the multitude of changes in our everyday lives over the course of the last decade; arguably as a direct result of technology. We are constantly reminded of the technological advances when attempting to complete the simplest of everyday tasks, viewing entertainment, and all other various forms of entertainment. Nearly everything we do on a daily basis requires some form of technology; cell phones, emailing, vehicles, computers, even schools are all the result of technological advancements that would not have been possible without the significant strides that have been taken in both the business and scientific worlds’. Understanding that technology carries such significance in our lives, can we fathom even just one day without any form of technology? For any business, technology impacts internal and external users alike; companies should take heed to view any new technology they want to implement from all aspects. The company should conduct research to ensure any technological changes will ultimately benefit their customers, employees, and potential customers. One of the most important things to do as a business owner is to ensure that all updated technology is done so in such a way that is conducive to new and repeat business; by maintaining customer awareness, this will aid in the IT team developing the most beneficial technological advances while also discovering new ideas for improvement. * A business should introduce a...
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...labor and material costs, the profit is only from 25 cents to 30 cents. Production at both the company’s plants total 12,500 pairs per day. SHOE CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS offers 100 to 120 different products to customers each year. Being a small shoe producer, the President Allison, feels that the only way for a small independent company to be competitive is to change styles frequently, taking advantage of the flexibility of a small organization to create designs that appeal to customers, while other big companies produce large quantities of stable shoes which cuts the prices of constant changes in production processes and sales representatives. The new shoe design launch includes a number of bureaucratic steps which slows down the process and makes some employees to feel that the final approval is just a snap judgment of the president. The firm’s structure is vertical with centralized decision making and there exists some serious employee or interdepartmental conflicts. The president recently hired some consultants and installed sophisticated computers to initiate internal communication but the there is a resistance to change. 1. Leadership errors: Even though in the case, the management decides to innovate, it is also mentioned that the President of the firm sometimes wishes to produce only stable shoes. There is also an absence of leadership which supports the use of technology. It is also evident in the case that sometimes the President makes a snap judgment to decide the design...
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...Technological change in pakistan Pakistan is the country where development is continuously in progress, Pakistan is still an under developing country and is in a process of making their way towards the road of technology, especially from the last two decades of the twentieth century. These two decades can be regarded as the decades in which computer culture got its place Twenty years before there was no concept of software’s, mechanical devices and computerized system. Now every work is done by machines. Farmers had to do all works by their own hand that’s why they had to spend all the time on their fields. In short every department has changed promptly and all the manual work has been converted into computerized systems or done by machines. It is need of this era, everyone want to fulfill their needs in moments. Technology has revolutionized the way creative practitioners work for many generations before us. Although there are both desirable and undesirable changes Take a look at the powerful inventions that have changed society and ask what role design research played: Internet: The best example of it is World Wide Web through which we connect to the whole universe. For all of us, it has become a part of life. How many times have we found ourselves completely at a loss because our connections were down? Now on internet there are many platforms without which we can’t spend a minute like social media, blogs etc. In Pakistan there was just line connections and which was...
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...made everyday life more convenient. Texting on phones and connecting on social networking sites requires very little effort. Technology has changed all of our lives and made it much easier to function throughout the day because of it. It is far different from how it was 10 years ago, everything is so much faster and smaller. At one time, every adult had one of those Nokia phones that could withstand a nuclear bomb. With all of the new technology that was coming on to the market, it was difficult to see what else the technology world could do to help improve lives. Yet, things like the iPhone have been created, which has completely evolved today’s society into a cyber-society. People live through phones, but it is not the most important technological creation. In the last couple of years, technology has done things that people could have never imagined in the 1990’s, even at the turn of the century, more people used to do things by hand and face to face. Now, computers are everywhere, even in your local McDonald’s, with internet that works at incredible speeds. Phones answer questions, and also do many other tasks that people never thought possible. Now there is access to online banking, email and social networking sites right from a phones. Another really huge advance that has been made technologically is the sharing and listening of music. Spotify is a huge advancement in the music world; music is very important to a lot of people and having a portable way to listen to any song...
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...life leaves changes as the only constant. It is paramount to note that individuals and institutions that choose to meddle through turbulence find it very difficult to survive. Indeed there are many reasons that inspire change. According to McKinley survey on change management (2006) organizations will change to reduce costs, to move from a good performance to a great performance, turn around a crisis situation, and catch up with rivals or to direct part of the organization. In doing so according to Davis and Holland (2006) organizations use systematic methods to ensure that the organizational change is guided in a planned direction, conducted in a cost effective manner and completed within a targeted time frame with desired results. Further Todd A (2008) focuses on the people aspect by arguing that change management is a structured and systematic approach of achieving a sustained change in human behavior within an organization. The success of implementing change is generally associated with those who facilitate the change process. The change agent is defined here as a manager who seeks “to reconfigure an organizations roles, responsibilities, structures, outputs, processes, systems, technology or other resources” (Buchanan and Badham, 1999) in the light of improving organizational effectiveness. The role of change agents as facilitators is extensively discussed within a rational framework. For example, Buchanan and Body (2002) list competencies of effective change agents as clarity...
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...Ashton Javier, Director for Facilities and Safety, is in a dilemma on what to do to turn around the company’s warehouse and storage system. III. Objective The primary aim of this analysis is to determine whether demand and inventory are in balance or not in the company and what course of action is to be undertaken to resolve the existing problem on storage and delivery of products. IV. Areas of Consideration 1. Panasonic Philippines, a branded name electronics manufacturer in Pasig, has been one of the leading electronic firms in the country. 2. Their products could not be shipped out of door because of poor storage and delivery system. V. Alternative Courses of Action Advantages | Disadvantages | 1. Technological changes will benefit the company because of its rich and deep stock of content. * Layout Master IV Simulation Software can implement new distribution design * Panasonic was able to increase the customers’ orders daily from 250 to 570 * The Technology eliminates order...
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...Technological Change and Economic Growth Without economic growth a country cannot grow itself as a whole. To understand the role of technological change in economic growth, we must first explore economic growth. Economic growth is the increase in a nation’s real gross domestic product per person over time. There are two types of growth, the positive and the negative. Some of the positive effects are better living standards, better health care, and material abundance. It also has negative effects such as environmental destruction, and increased income inequality. With each invention over the past 150 years or so, it has made economic growth easier. Even little things can make a big difference in production which can lead to greater production and more profit which in turn helps the GDP grow as well as the economy. There are tradeoffs with the technology growth, for example the invention of the cell phone. It makes everything so much easier and more convenient, but because of that people are getting rid of their household lines, thus causing phone companies to lose money, with less profit coming in they are forced to lay off people. Another way to look at it is, that those cell phones now create new jobs for people because they need to be manufactured and produced. This provides jobs and the company profits helping the economy grow. With how fast technology is expanding and making its way into the work force and making everyday lives easier it is also costing us as well. People...
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...Chapter 11 Managing Change and Innovation True/False Questions 1. Organizational change refers to the adoption of a new idea or behavior by an organization. Answer: True Level: 1 Page: 392 Type: F 2. Redesign and renewal of the total organization is addressed by operational change. Answer: False Level: 1 Page: 393 Type: F 3. Given that external problems are beyond the control of management, when organizations are caught flat-footed, failing to anticipate or respond to new needs, no one can be blamed. Answer: False Level: 2 Page: 393 Type: F 4. Forces for organizational change exist both in the external environment and within the organization. Answer: True Level: 1 Page: 393 Type: F 5. After the need for change has been perceived, the next part of the change process is implementing change. Answer: False Level: 2 Page: 394 Type: F 6. New department technologies, demands by labor unions, and production inefficiencies are all examples of some external forces. Answer: False Level: 1 Page: 394 Type: F 7. A performance gap is a disparity between the performance of the company when compared with a competitor. Answer: False Level: 3 Page: 395 Type: F 8. The disparity between existing and desired performance levels is the performance gap. Answer: True Level: 1 Page: 395 Type: F 9. The process of learning about current developments inside and outside the organization that can be used to meet...
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...Management, 10e (Robbins) Chapter 12 Managing Change and Innovation 1) The change in demand for health care technicians is an example of an economic change. Answer: FALSE Diff: 3 Page Ref: 259 Topic: The Change Process 2) The "calm waters" metaphor of change is consistent with Lewin's concept of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Page Ref: 259 Topic: The Change Process 3) In the "white-water rapids" metaphor of change, managers should expect change at any time, and it may last for unspecified lengths of time. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 260 Topic: The Change Process 4) Organizational change can be any alterations in people, structure, or technology. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 262 Topic: Types of Organizational Change 5) Any manager can be a change agent. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 261 Topic: Types of Organizational Change 6) Changing structure includes any change in structural variables such as reporting relationships, coordination mechanisms, employee empowerment, or job redesign. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 262 Topic: Types of Organizational Change 7) Computerization is a technological change that replaces people with machines. Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 262 Topic: Types of Organizational Change Skill: AACSB: Technology 8) Competitive factors or new innovations within an industry often require managers to introduce new equipment, tools...
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...of ICT on globalisation There is no doubt that scientific advances and technological change have been, are and will remain in the coming years important drivers of the globalisation process. They have been conducive to the creation, distribution and exploitation (in a positive sense of the word) of knowledge in such a manner that they have served as a major source of competitive advantage, wealth creation and improvement in the quality of life. The growing impact of ICT (information and communications technologies) on globalisation can be evidenced by the fact that it has led to a rapid application of recent scientific advances in new products and processes, a high rate of innovation across various countries, as well as a shift to more knowledge-intensive industries and services, together with rising skill requirements. In this day and age there has been a growing realisation that science, technology and innovation have served as the key to improving a nation's economic performance as well as its citizens' social well-being. For this reason government - irrespective of its political ilk and orientation - must serve as a facilitator, enabling business and consumers to adapt to the demands and opportunities of the new economy. When talking of globalisation one must not only assess it as a phenomenon but stock must also be taken of its vital and important policy implications. The impact of policy changes in any one country or region can be translated via global capital markets...
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...Michelle Sustayta Professor Elahi English 201 16 July 2013 Technology: Beneficial or Harmful? Throughout the vast history of humanity, humans have always used their innovative and cognitive skills to create tools to better improve their chances at survival on this planet. This technology advancement first began in the Stone Age when man fist discovered that stone could be utilized as both a harvesting tool and hunting weapon; which gradually developed into spears, bows and arrows, and swords. And as time pressed on, one of the most important and influential inventions since the beginning of time was designed in the shape of a circle: the wheel. However, unlike in earlier times, the evolution of technology in the past 60 years has been growing so rapidly that society has scarcely been able to keep up with it on a global scale. And due to this accelerated development of technology, accurate assessment and critical reflection on our dependency of these new technologies has been greatly hindered. So if one were to consider all the consequences and results of today’s technology objectively, could our dependency on modern day technology be viewed as positive or negative outcome? Both sides of this argument have solid, valid claims, but do the pros outweigh the cons or are the benefits of technology not worth the potential harm it can cause to our society. As the advancement of technology drastically rises, society’s dependency for these technologies also rises, however...
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...assignment. Superintelligence A Superintelligence is “any intellect that vastly outperforms the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom, and social skills”; however, this definition leaves open how the super intelligence is implemented – it could be in a digital computer, an ensemble of networked computers, cultured cortical tissue, or something else. The ethical issues surrounding the creation of these machines with general intellectual capabilities that far outstrip those of humans are very different and have far greater implications than current ethical dilemmas. Superintelligence would not be just another technological development; it would be the most important invention ever made, and would lead to explosive progress in all scientific and technological fields. The superintelligence would be able to conduct research with superhuman efficiency. It also could have the potential to surpass humans in the...
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...ethical questions that are being asked are needed and to plan ahead for this event in human history will need to be closely considered and controlled. There is also religious considerations, will the religious community embrace or repulse this science? Does this make us more Godlike and are we competing with God by bending his natural ways? I will evaluate both sides of this controversy and leave you to decide based on the information I present. Ray Kurzweil, author of “The singularity is near” explores the possibility and firmly believes that the singularity is nearly here. The technological singularity is a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence, radically changing civilization, and perhaps human nature. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence may be difficult for a human to comprehend, the technological singularity is often seen as an occurrence (akin to a gravitational singularity) beyond which the future course of human history is unpredictable or even unfathomable. Included in this...
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...New IT Technologies University of Phoenix CMGT/583 – IS Intergration Instructor: New IT Technologies Technology is constantly changing and evolving which makes it hard for users to keep up. As new developments in technology arise, old ones either stay behind or are incorporated to supplement new ones. This is called convergence. Technological convergence is defined as the combining of two or more different technologies or services to create a new product (). Nowadays, technology convergence has been very successful acting as a stepping stone. Convergence has allowed consumers to enjoy the convenience of incorporating the best features to enjoy a better product. The truth is that technology convergence offers convenience, efficiency and new opportunities to both the consumer and provider (). As consumers, we are constantly looking to buy the latest technological invention or upgrade to the newest technological discovery. It almost seems like a race or competition, consumers are so quick to jump into the newest advance or discovery and often do so without being informed or conducting research. Often, consumers rely on other opinions to help them decide what product they should buy. The Iphone 5 is an excellent example, it’s such a popular item, people are buying it without even testing it out. They don’t know if there are any glitches that need to be fixed. However, consumers are buying...
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