t which argues that the increase in technology also increases the need for new types of managers who can manage both people and technology with equal skill. The increase in technology can be said to have the effect of greatly reducing the time once allowed for the decision-making process.
Previously, information technology was a "servant" of business, and was used to enhance and improve strategic management decisions. In the 1800s, the telegraph, for instance, reduced the time needed to exchange correspondence between customers and suppliers, which greatly enhanced the efficiency of doing business.
The development of the typewriter speeded up the very task of writing letters and maintaining company records, and this machine helped reduce errors caused by such "human vagaries" as different handwriting styles. The development of the telephone, in many instances, replaced the need for typed messages, and businessmen could exchange ideas and communicate in what was "real time." However, there was still a need to follow up these verbal communications in writing, and these written agreements still had to rely on transportation by land mail, often referred to in computer jargon as "Snail Mail."
The development of the fax machine helped solve this problem, allowing written agreements to be transported around the world in real time. At the same time, the development of the computer shortened the amount of time needed to do standard management tasks such as supervise "numbers-crunching" and customer record keeping.
It was at about this time in management history that some of the problems that managers face today concerning the control and utilization of Information Technology (IT) began emerging. New types of decision-making were called for concerning new types of questions, such as how to plan for, implement and account for IT costs, how to develop and coordinate information systems, when and how should changes be to exis...