Research Paper on "Technology in the Workplace"
Research Paper 9 pages (2715 words) Sources: 6
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Technology in the WorkplaceThe last thirty years have seen a dramatic transformation of the workplace, because the advent of ubiquitous personal computing and the inter-connectivity offered by the internet has meant that practically every workplace increasingly depends on information and communications technology at every level of its operation. Prior to the 1980s, computers and software were generally designed for specific applications, and were not found outside of a few math and science-intensive industries. However, as technology has become cheaper, computers have become more generalized, while software for nearly any task has been developed. As a result, the technological innovation of the last few decades represents a shift the scale and scope of which has not been seen since the Industrial Revolution (Harpaz, 2005, p. 570). In terms of organizational behavior in the workplace, this increasing reliance on technology presents both a boon and a challenge, because while new software and technology, when implemented well, offers the potential for increased efficiency, precision, and communication, it simultaneously introduces new avenues for inefficiency, waste, and human resources conflicts. By examining case studies regarding the integration of new technologies into a variety of industries alongside more general considerations of technology's influence on organizational behavior, it is possible to identify certain general best practices that will allow organizations to improve the functioning of the workplace while minimizing the risks associated with untested or novel technologies that might otherwise detract from organizational cohesion.
To begin this examination of te
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for organizational students and scholars, the idea of people having emotions -- a psychic and physical reaction subjectively experience and physiologically involving changes that prepare the body for immediate vigorous action -- is confusing and disturbing [because] organizations are about organization, about control. (p. 1343)
Previous considerations of emotion were limited because "in the interest of control, both management and scholars would prefer to tightly delineate the emotions that can enter the work setting;" for example, while "employees have always been allowed to be happy or content," anger or frustration were considered emotions unacceptable in a work environment (Rafaeli, 2004, p. 1344).
However, if one approaches these "negative" emotions from a broader perspective, it becomes clear that rather than undermining control and organizational coherence, they can actually contribute to the overall endeavor. Anger can be a powerful motivator, and frustration is often the seed that germinates into innovation. Furthermore, less dramatic emotions and activities that are frequently viewed as disruptive or harmful can actually be beneficial in the long-term. For example, things as simple as doodling or daydreaming born out of boredom, while frequently viewed as distractions, have actually been shown to stimulate areas of the brain that are important for seemingly unrelated tasks, ultimately increasing efficiency and employee contentment in the long run; perhaps the most frequently cited example of this is Bill Gates' tendency to doodle constantly (Russo, 1998, p. 39). These new insights into human emotion demand an entirely new approach to ostensibly counterproductive behaviors and tendencies, because new technology and practices have demonstrated that what might be counterproductive in excess can actually contribute to productivity in moderation and within a well-organized framework.
The recent recognition of emotion's role in organizational behavior has led to the development of the notion of "emotional labor," meaning "organizational requirements from employees to regulate their emotions in a way that will promote organizational goals," and the idea of emotional labor has serious consequences for the application of technology in the workplace, mainly because this technology has disrupted a number of traditional structures and boundaries (Rafaeli, 2004, p. 1349). Where in the past employees and management could rely on a relatively distinct work/non-work boundary that would help individuals to regulate their emotions according to what was expected inside and outside the workplace, new technology, and particular mobile communications technology, has meant that the traditional physical and temporal boundaries between work and non-work no longer exist (Harpaz, 2005, p. 570).
As a result, individuals increasingly view their work as a more integrated aspect of their overall life, leading to what one might call emotional diffusion, wherein individuals are more willing to bring the full range of their emotions to bear when dealing with workplace issues. For example, the advent of e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging has broken down traditional communication barriers, allowing for more rapid communication but bringing with it a tendency towards informality and the danger of misinterpretation or miscommunication. This is only one of the examples of the mixed blessings technology brings to the workplace, and by examining case studies from two different industries will allow one to better understand not only the general impact of technology on the workplace, but also the best practices and attitudes to ensure that new technologies contribute to, rather than detract from, ideal organizational behavior.
The first case study comes from 2011, and examined organizational citizenship behavior in the information technology industry itself. Organizational citizenship behavior denotes those behaviors that contribute to the overall functioning of the organization but which are not part of the formalized system of management, and is an increasingly important element of the workplace as new technologies allow individual employees to function more autonomously, and thus outside the usual system of oversight, including reward and punishment. The information technology industry offers the ideal location in which to study the relationship between technology in the workplace and organizational citizenship behavior for two reasons. Firstly, as would be expected, the information technology industry is by nature on the cutting edge of technological integration in the workplace, and secondly, the information technology industry actually has notably lower levels of organizational citizenship behavior than other industries (Moore & Love, 2005, qtd. In Chou & Pearson, 2011, p. 1).
While the 2011 study ostensibly focused on the demographic reasons for this markedly lower interest in organizational citizenship behavior among information technology professionals, it actually revealed a number of important insights into the relationship between organizational behavior and information technology itself. Most important in the context of this study was the finding that better familiarity with "new it related knowledge and skills" did not actually correspond to higher levels of organizational citizenship behavior (Chou & Pearson, 2001, p. 8). One might expect that familiarity and comfort with the most relevant technologies would actually increase communication, loyalty, and cooperation, because individuals would be able to use new technologies in the workplace seamlessly, without having to deal with the frustration and hindrances that frequency come with learning new skills, but in actuality, this familiarity and comfort with new technologies actually correlated with less organizational citizenship behavior.
Although the study does not go into the possible reasons for this correlation (as it was merely an ancillary discovery somewhat unrelated to its core focus), based on the other findings it seems reasonable to presume that familiarity with new technologies and skills, particularly in the information technology industry, actually led individuals to view their own success apart from that of their organization (Chou & Pearson, 2011, p. 8). In other words, the sense of autonomy offered by familiarity with new technologies seems to have discouraged commitment to the organization as a whole, because information technology professionals did not view themselves as dependent on their organization, and thus felt free to leave or else only give their organization the bare minimum required to satisfy formal systems of participation, reward, and punishment. While this phenomenon has only recently been considered in organizational behavior scholarship, anyone who has seen the stereotype of the isolated and ostracized it department in countless movies and television shows will recognize it immediately.
One must be careful when analyzing the results of this study, because at first glance it might appear as if some level of intentional difficulty in adopting new technologies could be beneficial for organizational behavior by forcing employees to become more dependent on the organization (analogous to the planned obsolescence of many technologies that forces consumers to repeatedly upgrade). While this might… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Technology in the Workplace" Assignment:
This paper has to include the research topic(Technology in the work place), it should have a PURPOSE, a SCOPE OF THE PAPER,COHERENT,(meaning logically consistent), WELL-ORGANIZED, PARAGRAPHING & CLEAR TOPIC SENTENCE, TRANSITIONS (smooth connections), SIX(6) RESEARCH ARTICLES(reference), INTEGRATES RESEARCH, EVIDENCE, GENERALIZATIONS, VIVID DETAILS & EXAMPLES),DIFFERENCES OF OPINION(this differernce is clearly stated), SUMMARY, POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS, QUOTATION, SUMMARY, and PARAPHRASING SKILLS, CLEAR ISSUES, OBJECTIVE DATA, SOUND REASONING, ENOUGH INFROMATION(for audience to understand), REFRAINS FROM NON-ARGUMENTS OR CLAIMS(without supporting evidence), No # on the Cover Page, it needs a MAIN IDEA (statement), ATTENTION_GETTER, a brief INTRODUCTION, body Cited Scholarly Infromation. a CONCLUSION, and REFERENCE PAGE.
How to Reference "Technology in the Workplace" Research Paper in a Bibliography
“Technology in the Workplace.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2012, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-workplace/51504. Accessed 5 Jul 2024.
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