Information Technology Benefits

Information technology provides companies with the ability to process large amounts of information and do so in a way which presents the information in a clear and concise manner to employees. Anticipated benefits of implementing an information technology system include improvements in productivity, better profit performance, and a higher degree of accuracy among information within the firm. The ability to share information among employees is also enhanced.

Computers have become smaller over the decades, and now personal computers are often linked together across wide geographic areas to create networks. These networks provide additional benefits to organizational performance, such as data integrity and enhanced productivity. By using a broadband network, users can share a greater range of voice, data and video services, including videoconferencing. Software has kept up with advancements in hardware so that today's office productivity packages make it easy to create multimedia "documents" which can be sent across an internal network, or the Internet.

Productivity typically improves in organizations which implement information technology, although there can be some loss of productivity during the "learning curve." Data integrity is greater when companies take advantage of the benefits that information technology offers, and displaced employees can often be relocated to the MIS department (which now typically has a greater demand for workers).

in all three locations. Impact of Information Technology on Organizational Performance While information technology provides considerable benefit to organizations, the eventual dependence on technology which may result can be problematic. Tasks which were once performed manually are now automated; if the computer system is unavailable, the tasks cannot be done. Staffing becomes more difficult because the training required to perform tasks is more complex than in a manual system. Checks and balances which may have existed in a manual system are also lost (or replaced) in an automated system, and while computers eliminate some types of fraud and embezzlement, they also enable other types. Of all of these issues, the one which may be most problematic is the overreliance of companies on their information technology. When the computer is not working correctly, companies face severe difficulty. Those staff members working in departments with access to the database management system (such as accounting) are the ones who feel the direct effect of the database. Some of these workers may lose their jobs as the database system makes the entire department more efficient and productive. Other individuals will need to be retrained in

Category: Science - I