Impact of Digital Technologies on the Workplace Transformation Assignment Sample

Introduction of Impact of Digital Technologies on the Workplace Transformation Assignment

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Section One: Reasons for choosing this project

Reasons for choosing the project (e.g. links to other subjects you are studying, personal interest, future plans, knowledge/skills you want to improve, why you feel the topic is important)

Reason for Choosing the Topic

The workplace and world have to experience essential changes due to the extensive use of information technologies and the internet. In the present-day, digital technology creates an impact on the entire society and economy from various aspects. Nowadays, it is difficult for an organisation to perform without interacting with the customer with the help of an internet connection. Related to the work world, from the application of jobs to employee engagement and retention in every process, the contribution of digital technology has been seen (Udovita, 2020). It allows making a more flexible relationship between the staff and the company, and the uses of technology allow more employees to do their work more effectively and quickly. Social media has a significant impact on organisational transparency. Before using social media, companies released and produced the most information related to their business activities. The impact and uses of social media change it through building the own website of an organisation. By building an effective website, consumers also can describe and rate their experience with various types of services, products, and tourist experiences.

Consumers also can take an overview of services and products of an organisation due to the growing internet use and building of several websites. It also has a great contribution to the marketing and communication process of the respective organisation. All of the mentioned reasons show the significance of the concerned study. An online platform can consider the key component within the aspects of the digital economy that operates on two sides of a market (Attaran et al. 2019). One side of the concerned market is made up of consumers; the other side considers the service providers. Within the mentioned two factors, the online platform act as the intermediate and has a great contribution to overall business processes. The progress in technology always creates effects on the labour market with the influence on jobs and several requirements. The influence of IT-based technology, including machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence, and also 3D printing, has also been seen within the current work process and will be increased in demand in future also (Nadkarni and Prügl, 2021). 

The transformation of digital technology also can create value for stakeholders in the long term aspects. It also aims to accurate and innovative practices that can quickly adapt to changing uncertainness or any requirements. Transformative technologies also change the entire workplace setting at an exponential speed. Collaboration between several enterprises can offer several modern ways of engagement with customer bases. Innovative practices also can create several valuable insights. The application of digital technology within a business operation can allow an organisation to transform its manual business process (Schwarzmüller et al. 2018). An employee within an organisation needs to work in a collaborative way. A collaborative approach requires an encouraging environment of work and engagement of the employee. Using various effective tools can improve communication and collaboration approaches within the office. On the other hand, cloud-based services are also economical that allow businesses to choose the services to meet their needs. The organisation can streamline their infrastructure and IT costs with the help of effective technological uses in business. Innovation also can signify the heart of any digital transformation. By enhancing internal communication and increasing varying knowledge, companies can work with several innovative plans and ideas.

A digital and integrated workforce becomes more usable and stronger every year, and it enables organisations to keep a very potential team logistically and move them towards the same goal. The aspects of mobile computing have seen rapid growth within the network of different workers. Various teams from several locations can work remotely by staying connected with the employees and team members via email, Skype, cloud-stored files and others (Kim, 2020). Various organisations, with the help of technologies, can create a digitally integrated workforce that offers seasoned professionals, technical experts, innovators and others from different locations within a single platform, despite the fact that its digital technologies influence the workplace culture with a new focus on mission, purpose, and integration of work life. 

Rapid technological advancement by using smart technology, cloud computing, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, and others has an impact on various fundamental changes. The researcher of the concerned study selected the topic as it has a great impact on present workplace transformation due to the potential influence of the COVID19 pandemic. Recent reviews and studies of digital transformation put their primary focus on a strategic and business level with the integration of factors related to employee and business operations.

Section Two: Precedents and sources

Use of key literature sources and precedents to support your project objectives

Digital Technology and WorkPlace

The technology is used to create new value in the business models and customer experience and enhance internal capabilities to support the core operations of the organisation. Digital technologies are used both in offline business as well as online, which follows the traditional organisations along with the digital-only organisations. Jackson (2019) opined that digital technologies are used to keep essential data safe along with maintaining high security and privacy of various works and files. Not only that, with the use of digital technology, the efficiency in doing work and the speed of work completed gets increases a lot more than can be thought of (Udovita, 2020).

From small workstations to multinational organisations, every business is turning itself up digitally with the help of new advanced technologies. And digital transformation is like a cultural transformation that makes the organisation challenge the status quo, get accustomed to failure and do experiments again. Research studies show that transforming a workplace digitally and the consequences vary from company to company and organisation to organisation. It is hard to define the transformation in a workplace as the meaning of change is different for different individuals (Jackson, 2019). Sometimes while transforming into digital space, the fundamentals on which the organisation was based gets changed, irrespective of how old the fundamentals were and how religiously people followed them. To survive in the high paced market with many competitors, waiting to pull each other down, outgrowing an organisation is very important, to stay back in the competition as well as in the market and usage of digital technology or digital transformation of the workplace is a very important aspect.

As per Attaran et al. (2019), many stakeholders think that investing in the digital transformation is a long term beneficial investment which will slowly but surely give high-profit returns. Ten variants need to be kept in mind while opting for the digital transformation; vision, while transforming into digital transformation, the goals and wants and after-effects should be clear in the head. Executing digital transformation without having a clear idea leads to disconnecting with the employees as well as bearing unwanted losses and giving explanations to the clients and customers for the errors when the cause (Attaran et al. 2019). Strategy, going digital, helps the employees to be more efficient at work, but having an outline or blueprint on how to do it and discussing the pros and cons of the transformation with all the different departments, gives a clear idea about what the employees want and how they will take the transformation. Along with these personas, metrics, employee experience, organisational changes, and training to understand the transformation, processes, information and technology are important aspects to keep in mind while opting for digital transformation.

Digital transformation of a workplace is always important depending on the kind of business it does, but with transformation and coming out of the initial problems and understanding, there is plenty of opportunity and new work culture with better and more efficient working systems and ethics (Baptista et al. 2020).

Implementation of Digital Technology in Work Place

With each passing year, office buildings and workplaces are getting more attractive, where technology plays a huge role. Technology has helped organisations to upgrade their workplace by providing the necessary amenities and privileges for their employees, which in turn helps the organisation to build a strong employee-workplace relationship. Apart from that, the technology has helped to restructure the workplaces by installing electronic devices like television and digital gaming devices, where the employees can spend some leisure time during their recess period or in between work (Attaran et al. 2019).

Researchers Haddud and McAllen (2018) opined that technology has helped to improve the whole communication system within the workplace. In other words, the methods and the mode of communication have transformed drastically with the help of technology. One of the most important aspects of technology in the workplace is the increase in workflows in terms of speed, quality, and quantity. The improvement of workplace planning and the coordination software is an example of the positive impact of technology pon the workplace (Brown et al. 2020). Unlike the earlier time, it does not require several weeks or days to repurpose any workspace or to change the dynamics of any office.

Various studies also describe that the managers and the senior officials can easily adapt to the conditions of the workplace in a few minutes, which helps in reducing the time for executing a task within or much before the stipulated time frame. The employees can easily connect using their intranet network, where doubts and queries get resolved easily and effectively much faster, as compared to the times when the employees travel to the other employee's desks for solutions to issues related to work. The technology used in the workplace helps to reduce the complexities of the agile environment, which enables the employees to work much faster and efficiently (Attaran, 2020). In other words, the productivity of the organisation improves with the help of technology.

Technology has acted as a catalyst for improving efficiency and productivity. In recent years, it has been almost impossible to carry out a task without computers or email. Technology touches each aspect of work. It helps determine how, where, and even how the organisations can accomplish their goals and objectives. The impact of technology in the workplace has increased the profound flexibility of the workplace drastically. With the help of technology, employees can connect with themselves on a constant basis (Haddud and McAllen, 2018). With the help of innovations in the field of computing, technology has helped the employees to remain connected with each other through software and an implication used by their employer, and every data regarding tasks are collected and recorded by the organisation by using the decentralised server network of the organisation itself.

Implementation of digital technology on the employees and organisation

Technology plays an important role in helping organisations achieve their goals and sustain themselves in the market by having an edge over their competitors. Researcher Brown et al. (2021) Technology has been very useful in connecting the employees of the organisations through an intranet, where each employee can able to discuss details about their work, sitting in a different location or a different building within the same office premises (Narayanamurthy and Tortorella, 2021). Technology has helped the organisation upgrade the methods and the process of conducting business activities. It is a well-known fact that technology helps to improve the livelihood of humans by reducing the time and effort for the execution of a task. Human beings started relying on technology from a very early period, and the relationship of human beings with technology is becoming stronger with each passing day. The use of technology in the professional field has evolved the approach adopted by organisations across the world. Technology had made organisations conduct their business activities more effectively as compared to the time when the use of technology was not very popular among organisations (Kretschmer and Khashabi, 2020). This study will highlight the use and the impact of technology in workplaces, helping organisations to achieve their goals easily and effectively

Earlier, organisations used to rely on the traditional methods of marketing, which proved to be very tedious and, at the same time, lacked direction, which made the marketing employees work extra hours without the possibility of a positive outcome. Different researches explain that by seeking the help of technology, companies have changed their marketing approach by switching to a more efficient form of marketing, which easily attracts a large number of consumers. Among the digital marketing strategies adopted by the companies, the most popular and widespread use of marketing is social media marketing. Companies use technology to collect and acquire data about their rivals and set strategies accordingly (Osmundsen, 2020).

Narayanamurthy and Tortorella (2021) explain that the use of several software and applications had made the organisations execute a work much faster as compared to the time when almost every job was done manually and mechanically. It has become easier for the companies to keep track of the performance of their employees daily, where they are not required to collect the data manually from the senior managers and the team leaders. In other words, technology is pivotal in generating huge revenue for the organisation by providing a clear vision for achieving its organisational goals and objectives (Smirnova et al. 2019). The use of technology has made organisations achieve their goals more efficiently by gaining a competitive advantage over their rivals in the market. The implication of digital technology has enabled companies to manage the organisations effectively by keeping a track of their activities, including the performance of the employees. Any task can be executed and completed at a much faster rate and more accurately as the data and the output that is obtained by the use of software and application are deemed to be almost accurate, which in turn predicts the performance of the organisation in the future, based on specific performances.

Section Three: Activities and timescales

The time scale of the concerned project is provided as follows, with a detailed description of how the researcher worked.

Figure 1: Activities and Timescales

(Source: Created by the Author)

The entire methodology of the project base on which the researcher will conduct the concerned project is also essential to discuss; therefore, various methodologies are also discussed as follows:

Research Philosophy

The philosophy of research is the way and belief of the researcher based on which information and data about the phenomena can be gathered, analysed and used. Philosophical thinking of a research project cans strongly impacts of thinking of the researcher by creating a clear formulation and problems and ideas. Research philosophy can be categorised into four types positivism philosophy, pragmatism philosophy, interpretivism philosophy, and Realism philosophy (Bleiker et al. 2019). The researcher of concern will consider interpretivism philosophy as the philosophy that considers human interest within the study.

Research Approach

The entire procedure and plan involved a detailed data collection method of analysis, data collection, and interpretation. The research approach also can divide into three types such as the inductive, deductive and abductive approaches of research. The inductive research approach starts with theories and observations proposed towards the end of a research process as the observational result. The deductive research approach is associated with the process of investigation. Researchers adopting the deductive approach can start their research projects with several social theories. Within the abductive approach, the process of research has been seen to start with various surprising facts, and research provides their explanation (Coy, 2019). The researcher of the concerned study will adopt an inductive research approach throughout the study.

Research Design

The design of research refers to the techniques and framework of market research selected by the researcher. The design of research can be several types, such as descriptive design, experimental design, correlation design, explanatory design, and diagnostic design. Each research design has its qualities with different application approaches in the research study. In the design of descriptive research, the researcher has been seen to describe the phenomena in detail. Within the approach of experimental research design entire study needs to carry out with the utilisation of a scientific approach and sets of variables. The correlation design of research finds out the correlation between several variables without manipulation and control. The explanatory design of research explores phenomena that have no adequate explanation. The researcher of the concerned study will adopt a descriptive research approach within the present study.

Research Method

The research method is specific procedures to analyse and collection of data within research. Developing and choosing an effective research method is another essential part of the design of research. Research methods can be two types such as qualitative method and quantitative method (Gone, 2019). Qualitative analysis has extensive uses for recognising ideas, words, and experiences based on existing information. On the other hand, the qualitative method uses statistical data and numbers to understand and explain the study of research. The researcher of the concerned study will adopt the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The use of both quantitative and qualitative methods within the research study can enhance the value of fundamental research.

Data Collection

Data collection is measuring, collecting, and analysing accurate information within the research by using techniques. Data collection is a crucial part of the research study, and the researcher of a study can follow the right data collection approach for a logical explanation of the research topic. Data collection also can be of different types, such as the primary collection of data, secondary data collection and others (Epstein and Salinas, 2018). The researcher of the concerned study will use primary and secondary data to analyse the entire research study. Conducting a survey and interview, the researcher of the present study will collect primary data and, using existing information and previous studies, the researcher will also adopt a secondary data collection process.

Sampling Techniques

Sampling techniques are the process of collecting data from a selected group of participants (Aguinis et al. 2021). Within the concerned study, the researcher will conduct an interview and a survey by using the online process. The interview will be conducted with three managers of an organisation, and in the survey, the researcher will allow 20 respondents. At least five research questions will be arranged by the researcher within the respective study for conducting the survey.

Reference List

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Attaran, M., 2020, July. Digital technology enablers and their implications for supply chain management. In Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal (Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 158-172). Taylor & Francis.

Baptista J., Stein M.K., Klein S., Watson-Manheim M.B. and Lee J. (2020) Digital work and organisational transformation: Emergent Digital/Human work configurations in modern organisations. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 29(2), p.101618.

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