COURSE: ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
INTRODUCTION
There
is widespread research interest in information and communication technologies
(ICTS). According to Crede & Mensell (1998), ICTS are crucially important
for sustainable development in developing countries. Thioune (2003) notes that
for the past two decades most developed countries have witnessed significant
changes that can be traced to ICTS. These multi-dimensional changes have been
observed in almost all aspects of life: economics, education, communication and
travel.
In a technology-drawn society, getting
information quickly is important for both sender and receiver ICTS have made it
possible to quickly find and distribute information. Thoiune (2003) indicate
that many initiatives have been taken at the international level to support
Africa’s efforts to develop a communication infrastructure and these efforts
are designed to enable African countries, including Nigeria to find faster ways
to achieve durable and sustainable development.
Helmut
(1998) cited by Akpore (1999), stated that of the technology changes that have
influenced our lives in recent years, information technology (IT) has had the
greatest impact.
This will continue at least until the
end of the first half of the first century, when other major technological
breakthroughs in the area of new materials, Biotechnology, or energy, may
provide entirely new ways of living.
Annan
(2002) notes that the information society is a way for human capacity to be
expanded, built up, nourished, and liberated by giving people access to tools
and technologies with the education and training to use them effectively. There
is a unique opportunity to connect and assist those living in the poorest and
most isolated regions of the world. Informatization of society is a major
hurdle that most nations especially developing countries are encountering. The
information society or information age is a phenomenon that began after 1950,
which brings challenges as we seek to integrate and explain the universe to print
and multimedia sources.
These
technologies include: computer system, internet/electronic mail (e-mail),
mobile phone and fax machine.
COMPUTER
SYSTEM:-
Computers were originally used by scientists for calculating numbers, and have
gradually become useful in offices and industries. In recent times, simplified
models that can be used by almost everybody have become common in schools and
homes for accomplishing many varied tasks and applications (Madu 2000).
Tapohund
(1999) lists the uses that computers are now commonly put to correcting
letters, and reports, printing books, newspapers and magazines, drawing
pictures and diagrams, handling financial records in an organization.
INTERNET: The internet is
a global collection of many types of computers and computer networks that are
linked together. It is increasingly becoming the solution to many information
problem, exchange and marketing. (Adesanya, 2002). Internet pays significant
role in agriculture economy and business. Woherem (2000) states that with
internet connectivity, one can do business all over the world without physical
contact with the buyer or the need for a business intermediary.
MOBILE
PHONE: The
impact of mobile phone in the economy activities of nations, business and small
entrepreneurs is phenomenal according to Marcelle (2000) the availability of
this new technology has been reshaping the material basis of the society as
well as bringing about a profound restructuring of economic, political and
cultural relations among states Nigeria is not an exception.
Oji-Okoro
(2006) says that for large business. It is a means of providing service that
leads to an increase in profits.
FAX
MACHINE: Telefacsimile
system permits the transaction of images (photos, printed images, maps,
drawings) and their preproduction on paper at a remote receiver. This fax
system is widely available; most organizations have at least on fax machine.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Information:
These
are facts provided or learned about something or someone. It is what is
conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of things.
Information is available because it can affect behavior, a decision or an
outcome.
Communication:
Is
the imparting or exchange of information by speaking, writing, or using some
other medium.
Technology:
Is
the collection of tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and
procedures used by humans.
It
is also the purposeful application of information in the design, production and
utilization of goods and services and in the organization of human activities.
The
information and communication technology (ICT) sector has been a pioneer and a
powerful catalyst in addressing the needs and interest of low-income
communities in developing countries. But it was not always so only in the past
twenty years or so has a self-conscious appreciation for the ICT sector’s role
of expanding economic opportunity emerged.
HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
One
of the principal reasons is that much has changed in a short time in the
technology sector. 20 years are more like five generations. In the 1980s,
“Universal access” was a goal, but not the reality of the legacy PTTS, an
acronym for the firm providing “post, telephone, and telegraph” service. Smile
if you wish; the words and services to sound anachronistic so are the
technological and business contexts.
The
PTTs, comprising much of the ICT sector of their day, were landline-based and,
to a large extent, government-owned and managed services were expensive and in
most parts of the world had deteriorated to the point where quality could be
described as atrocious if it has ever been good. Data Network capability was
non-existent. Technology innovation to say nothing of business model innovation
was slow. The name of the game was rent-seeking; that is extracting every
dollar of revenue as possible from sunk-cost infrastructure, and as a means to
that end, suppressing any new potentially competitive technology, service, or
business model, often using the power of the state for the purpose.
The
rate of technological innovation in ICT has accelerated dramatically and the
sector today is orders of magnitude larger than it was 20 years ago. And it
encompasses a more diverse universe of players than ever before. Today, the
sector includes hardware, software, the internet, technology and content,
application and support service provided by entities ranging from corporate
giants to garage entrepreneurs to individual developers and open-source
Networks. Relevant content and applications are integral parts of the value
proposition and the “network effect” is crucial-technology only increases
productivity when lots of people share access.
As
a result, collaboration has become a key business strategy. Some of the largest
and most successful firms have established themselves as “keystones” within
vast “business ecosystem” in which independent partners, other firms and even
users provided content, applications, and services, thereby increasing the
value of their technologies. This report, while acknowledging the incredible
diversity in the nature and size of firms in the ICT industry will focus on
such large firms whether national, regional or multinational.
THE 21ST CENTURY ICT IN BUSINESS
The
role of ICT in our business and society in the 21st century will be
in many aspects different from the current role of IT considering the
development of IT within organizations in the past it is easy to speculate
about the importance of ICT for the functioning of organization in the future.
Although they may be differences in speed for the different industries and
individual companies, ICT, increasingly penetrates “the heart of organizations.
In
the seventies IT was but a means of mechanization. Companies developed their
‘bread and butter systems’. Bookkeeping and payroll-administrations were the
common application of IT.
In
the eighties organizations became aware of the need to integrate their
applications; the different data-definitions for instance ‘employee’ in the
separately developed applications for payroll.
In
the nineties organization became aware of the fact that ICT was a means for
drastic improvement of their business process. ‘Business process redesign’
became the new buzzword, characterizing the drastic impact of ICT or
organizational design.
Today,
ICT has a growing impact on systems, skills, structure and staff and on the
shared values of the organization. Undoubtedly, in the coming decade, the use
of ICT will prove to be a strategic dimension of business development and it
will drastically impact the style of management.
THE ROLES OF ICT
IN BUSINESS
Unbound from the structures of the PTT
days, ICT has become the foundation of every sector of every economy everywhere.
The reasons for this are, by now, fairly well-known, but demand brief
repetition here.
Information
and communication technologies:
·
Reduce
transaction costs and thereby improve productivity.
·
Offer
immediate connectivity – voice, data, visual – improving efficiency,
transparency and accuracy.
·
Substitute
for other, more expensive means of communicating and transacting, such as
physical travel.
·
Increase
choice in the market place and provide access to otherwise unavailable goods
and services.
·
Widen
the geographic scope of potential markets.
·
Channel
knowledge and information of newly produced goods and services to man.
·
ICT
enables organizations to decrease costs and increase capabilities.
Productivity:
Technology
appreciations such as relational database technology computer-aided designing
word processing, spreadsheets and other software programming, increase
productivity of business.
Monitoring:
ICT
is used for monitoring areas of the company that are not utilizing resources
efficiently, for instance, Dell made use of real-time inventory and supply
monitoring to produce only that number of computer system that were demanded by
Dell customers, reducing the cost of overproduction.
Business
Performance Management: According to bestpricecomputers.co.uk, BPM is
defined as a management culture which helps business to optimize their
performance by analyzing process using applications like OLAE (Online
Analytical Processing) and EIS (Executive information System).
E-Commerce: E-Commerce is
buying and selling services and goods over the internet. Online operations
reduce the time and personnel required for business processes. It also reduces
cost in areas like labour, document preparation, and telephoning and mail
preparation.
Advertising: Information and
communication technology has introduced several new methods of advertizing
particularly through the internet. Business increases their income through this
method of advertizing.
These
attributes underlie important part ICT have played in firm and macro-level growth.
At the macro level, various studies have shown significant, positive impact on
GDP from information technology, telecommunications and mobile
telecommunications investment, in both developed and developing countries. At
the level of the firm, World Bank surveys of approximately 50 developing
countries suggest that “firms using ICT see faster sales growth, higher
productivity and faster employment growth”.
The
attributes listed above are also critical in expanding individual economic
opportunity, enabling people to enhance their knowledge and skills; identify,
apply and quality for better-paying jobs; use their disposable income more
wisely manage their own business effectively, and tap into broader markets for
their goods and services. In developing countries, ICTs offer tremendous
potential to eliminate or at least work around a number of critical obstacles
to economic growth.
ICT
HELP ADDRESS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY OBSATCLES LIKE:
1.
Geographic
Isolation: ICTs
collapse distance and time, overcoming geographic isolation and substituting
for expensive travel and lost work time. For example, ICTs can facilitate
information exchange, long-distance money transfers, tax returns and other
governmental business, even medical diagnosis.
2.
Lack of
competition and high process for consumers: Faced with few options in the
marketplace, the poor often pay more, in absolute term for what they buy.
Broad, real time access to market information and transaction capability
through telephone and the internet effectively increase competition allowing
consumers to maximize their incomes and driving reduction in process over time.
3.
Lack of
information and low prices for producers: The internet and mobile phones
can give farmers, fishermen, and other local producers access to market
information for multiple, competing marketplace, enabling them to get the best
prices for their goods.
4.
Legal exclusion:
A
mobile phone is no substitute for clear title to land but a mobile phone with
camera can document that specific people live in a particular place and this
can facilitate access to land title validation. We are also seeing water and
electricity payment made by mobile phone used to document and serve as proxy
for legal status.
5.
Political voice: Mobile phones, the internet and text messages
are all now tools of knowledge acquisition and political empowerment.
Repressive governments are deeply concerned that these tools are in the hands
of the disenfranchised, as they are proving to be powerful means by which to
organize, amplify and transmit needs and demands, both domestically and
internationally.
6.
Social capital: Maintaining
strong family ties is critical to mental and physical well-being especially
while working away from home. ICTs allow people to pursue economic opportunity
wherever they find it (or at least, they reduce the social or familiar cost of
doing so).
USES OF ICT IN
BUSINESS
1.
Promotion and
orientation: When
customers need a product or service they usually orient themselves, which
suppliers are able to deliver the product or service under what condition.
Suppliers therefore offer customers information about their products and
services through different channels like advertising in papers commercials on
television, information document or a conversation between (an employee of) the
supplier and the customer.
ICT
enables new channels for this orientation. The internet and other electronic
channels like electronic kiosk are new ways for the exchange of product
information. Video phone via the internet will support remote sales
conversations between customers and companies on the internet a new type of
companies emerges in the role of intermediate between suppliers and customers.
These intermediates collect the information about a certain type of product of
all suppliers and offer this to the customer. The customer has now an overview
of the products of all suppliers. This makes it easy for the customer to
compare the different offers.
2.
Buying and
selling: After
orientation the customers chooses one or more potential suppliers for the
delivery of a product or service and asks for a quotation or offering. The
customer uses these offerings to decide which supplier may deliver the product
or service.
ICT
also offers new ways for buying and selling, internet, electronic kiosk and
call center are currently the new sales channels call centers and internet will
emerge to one channel with video-phone via internet. The supplier can offer his
regular customers access through an extranet. The extranet is used for special
offer and services for the regular customers.
3.
Production and
delivery:
The supplier produces the product and delivers it to the customer. The support
of ICT will totally change the production process. An internet with groupware
and workflow applications supports the co-operation of employees. Electronic
message switching is used for the communication between the automated processes
of customers and suppliers. ICT will help to organize a flexible
computer-controlled delivery process. This makes is easy to change the pattern
of co-operation between employees. The result is the end of the current
conveyor-belt mass-prod-action system. ICT supports an agile organization,
which is able to deliver the customer tailored products and services by simply
planning and executing the right process pattern for the production and
delivery of every individual product.
4.
Creation of
awareness: - ICT
is used to create awareness of products to the general public through
advertisement on radio, newspaper, television, internet etc.
5.
Decision making:
ICT
aids decision making in that an often quoted saying that says “knowledge is
power” so by having key information in the hands of managers and decision
makers they can make informed decisions and ambiguity is lessened.
6.
Provides
information for staff: ICT helps employees and managers have information at
the finger tips via business letters, reports and memos or sales figure
spreadsheets or customers databases.
7.
Maintains
business records: ICT
can help keep updated records on employees, competitors and customers.
8.
Provides
effective communication: ICT and all the communication devices it offers,
allows people all over the world to keep in touch no matter the location or
time zone. This is the essence of the global market and the 24/7
world we live in.
9.
Through
the help of webcams companies can hold meetings in different location without
the inconvenience and cost of having to travel. E.g. many UK-based Australian
companies such as National Australia Bank use video conferencing to hold
meeting across the hemispheres.
10. It provides e-commerce: It is the act
of buying and selling online. E-bay is one of the most famous examples of
e-commerce. Buying and selling via websites offers great advantage to both
customers and firms as saving can be passed on to the people who buy the
product making goods and services cheaper.
BENEFIT/ADVANTAGES OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS.
1.
Speeds the
sending of information: communication technology tools like electronic mail
and text messaging systems speed up the sending of information within and
outside of the organization. Also with the use of decentralized computing
systems, sharing of information. Within an organization is very fast because
all data is accessed from central unit “Database” and it is shared across
different departments within an organization.
2.
Improves
organizational communication: Communication technology helps in the
creation of a shared information environment in an organization. Organization
information is organized in one central location, allowing any one access that
information as they need. Also technologies like electronic mail, will enable
low level employees communicate with the manager without any need of having a
dedicated time for meeting. This allows information to flow easily from the
bottom to the top without any barriers.
3.
Speeds decision
making in an organization: since communication technology speeds the transfer
of information employees in an organization can easily consult each other and
analyze information in a shortest period and make a decision. Also with the use
of [OLAP] on line analytical processing employees can perform queries on a
database to get data about a specific client or matter and a quick decision
basing on the data retrieved from the database about that specific client or
matter.
4.
Increase
participation in organization process:Every employee will have a specific task
to complete, and all this can be manager. So all parties will be active since
their work is seeing made simple by easy communication employees who are shy to
ask for advice and help will use tools like electronic mail or instant text
messaging services to ask for help from their workmates within the organization,
they can also use the same medias to participate in decision making and
creative design challenges.
5.
Supports open
discussion:
Most organization has used the internet to create organizational forums where
members to the organization can discuss about various issues and get a
solution. In this case members can suggest on areas of improvement within the
organization.
6.
Influences the
way people interact in organization: Let’s look at an organization were you
only see the operations manager tune a week, by the time he come, everyone will
need to speak to them and they will have less time for each of you. But with
electronic mail, you can simple draft an email and send it to your superior or
workmate. In this case they don’t have to stop what they are doing to attend to
your matter, but you will get an instant replay and continue with your work.
7.
Quality and
accuracy:
Machines are capable of producing the same standard of product over and over
again which reduces human error and therefore reducing waste.
8.
Lower Labour
Cost: Machines and technology can
replace some human tasks and over time this will make some employees redundant.
This saves the business paying wages for labour.
9.
It
helps the organization to do more work in a shorter amount of time. It also
improves a company’s efficiency by developing automated process to take burden
off your staff. In turn your employees are free to work on their things while
the computer runs their reports, creates queries, tracks projects and monitor
financials.
10. ICT protects the
electronics information of an organization from being hacked according to an
“Article in Science Daily”.
11. Improvement in Agricultural Products: Due to the fact
that ICT is being used in industries to produce goods and services, it will
help improve the agricultural product as production will increase, quality will
as well increase.
12. Customer Relation: it helps the producer and the
consumer to relate, thereby making the producer closer to its customers without
physical contact.
13. Increased Income: Because machines are being used
at the workplace leading to more productivity and sales it will cause the
income of the organization to increase.
14. It helps in the
creation of innovation.
15. ICT makes the
mobility of goods and services easy and fast to the final consumers or too far
away countries.
16. It creates
business relationships between states.
17. New industries: As well as providing a boost to
existing industries, such as manufacturing and shipping, heavy adoption of ICT
has spawned new industries all of its own.
18. Increase Performance: ICT helps to
increase the performance of staffs in a company.
19. Cost reduction.
20. Knowledge
management.
DISADVANTAGES OF
ICT IN BUSINESS
1.
Poor substitute
for face-to-face (FTF) communication:- Since employees are using machines to
communicate they let less time to talk to each other and know each other
better. This has resulted into increased bad relationships at work even though
the shy ones will benefit from this technology, but they will also be denied
the chance to learn how to interact with others.
2.
Difficulty
Training Employees:-
If an organization deploys a new communication and information technology
system, they will have to pay an extra fee to train employees in the
organization to use that technology effectively. Sometimes some employees will
not learn as fast as others which might lead to job losses.
3.
Not Safe:- Since
information has been centralized under one database it exposed to people with
wrong intension within the organization. Also information can be attacked by a
hacker or a virus and all data will be lost in a minute. So the organization must pay an extra cost to
keep this information safe.
4.
Expensive:- It can be very
expensive to install a new communication technology system in a very big
organization. Let’s say that an organization has over 50 employees and they
want them to access information from a centralized location. They will have to
create a strong database which will handle all the queries made by these
employees in a minute as well as they have to buy a computer for each of these
employees.
5.
As
technology improves, tasks that were formally performed by human employees are
now carried out by ICT devices. Automated telephone answering system have
replaced live receptionist in many organizations, this leads to elimination of
jobs and in some cases, alienation of clients.
DRAW
BACKS OF ICT IN BUSINESS.
1.
Financial Cost:-
The
initial outlay of buying of a new equipment is normally expensive as well as
maintenance cost.
2.
Demoralize
Staff:- Employee’s
motivation may suffer if part of their job is replaced by ICT. This de-skilling
of their job may make workers feel they are vulnerable to being made redundant.
3.
Breakdowns:- Machinery and
equipment may suffer breakdown which will affect production.
4.
Resistance to
Change:-
When introducing a new technology employees may feel threatened or may not wish
to learn something new. This can create tension. Also there will be training
issues that need to be addressed.
CHALLENGES TO
BUSINESS FROM THE USE ICT
a.
There
is a danger of systems breakdown and possible loss of information.
b.
It
is difficult to keep information secure when doing business electronically.
Competitors may gain access to important information.
c.
Computer
systems are always in danger of being affected by virus.
d.
Customers
and marketers do not have the technology needed to do business in this way.
e.
Internet
technology may allow global companies to dominate business.
f.
There
are still legal and other technical questions to be resolved about
international electronic transactions.
g.
Companies
and individuals receive large quantities of unwanted communications, known as
electronic junk mail of spam.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING A METHOD OF
COMMUNICATION.
1.
The message: The nature of the message or
information. If it is a long message, then written communication would be
better because it can be read several times by the recipient.
2.
Urgency: If it is important that the message is
delivered quickly then a speedy method such as telephone or email should be
chosen.
3.
Confidentiality: If the content needs to be kept
secret then a private meeting should be chosen or a message sent by courier.
4.
Records: Sometimes having a copy of the
communication and proof that it was not sent and received is important. Then a
method such as letter, email, fax, or registered mail should be used, if it is
important that no record is kept, then a private meeting should so be held.
5.
Cost:
A business should choose the method of communication that carnes the
lowest cost while still delivering the
message effectively.
6.
Timing: If the time of delivery of
communication is very important then a method such as courier may have to be
chosen.
7.
Destination: Some forms of communication are suited
mainly to local destinations while others can service almost any part.
8.
Feedback: If feed backs is needed from the
receiver or it is a series of exchange is needed then email would be better
than regular mail.
9.
Legal Requirement: If there is a dispute with
another business, then formal registered letters may be sent to them to ensure
that there is a record and also to provide proof of delivery. Certain contracts
will always be in written form. For example, the purchase of property and
insurance policies.
BARRIERS TO
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION.
On
many occasion, when people communicate, they are not useful. There are many
reasons why their communication may have failed. There are referred to as
barriers to communication. For example:
a.
Not listening: If the
receiver of the message is not listening to the message. This may happen if for
example the sender and the receiver are angry at one another.
b.
A poorly
composed message:
perhaps being too long, too technical, unclear, poorly translated or in some
way difficult to understand.
c.
Feedback: If the
receiver needs to give feedback to the sender but has no way of doing so then
the communication will breakdown.
d.
Timing: The message
may be sent too late for the receiver to act on it or at time. When the
receiver is very busy and unable to deal with the communications.
DATA PROTECTION ACT 1988
Many organizations both commercial and
non-commercial collect and store information on computers about individuals.
Several problems may arise for their individual:
·
A
persons privacy might be violated
·
A
person may start receiving junk mails.
·
Information
may be passed to who have no right to it.
·
Information
about them maybe incorrect of out of data.
The
data protection act 1988 was passed to protect individuals when information is
kept on a computer about them.
Terms
used in the Act:
Data subject: this is an
individual about whom personal information is kept.
Data controller: is the person
who controls the use of personal information held about individuals on a
computer.
Data processor: is a person or
organization which process personal information held on a computer for a data
controller.
EFFECTS
OF ICT IN BUSINESS
Introducing ICT into modern business can
have both a positive and negative impact on workers and the organization
itself.
A. FOR EMPLOYEES
1.
Redundancy:- ICT and Machines
can do many tasks or activities that employees can do, and they can work 24/7
without needing a break.
2.
Retraining:- New ICT that
is introduced into an organization will mean training for employees in how to
use the new technology.
3.
Flexible
working:-
New technology offers the potential of home working or teleworking. This means
employees may be able to work out with their normal workplace but maintain an
ICT link with their supervisors.
B. FOR EMPLOYERS
1.
Delayering:- Departments
may merge or be reduced, this is added to a reduction in workers and promote
posts may end up restructuring the organization and the removal of levels for
management.
2.
Narrowing of
span of control: With
fewer employees, and therefore fewer subordinates, the span of control (the
number of people who report to a manager) may marrow.
3.
Decentralization:- Improved
technology offers films the opportunity to move decision making from
headquarters to local branches which normally results in being more responsive
and being able to cater for local needs. This is especially important for
multinals operating in different countries with different customs, traditions
and cultures.
THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF ICT IN ENTERPRISES
The
question of the significance of ICT for business and society is not only an
economic issue; it is just as important in a business management context.
Information and communication technologies not only pay an essential role for
entire industries and sectors, they are equally important within individual
enterprise. As part of the ‘Life to study’, the 1,559 ICT executives were also
asked about the strategic importance of ICT in their company.
STRATEGIC
RELEVANCE OF ICT TODAY AND IN 5 YEARS TIME
A total of 79% of the executive
rate the strategic importance of ICT for the success of their company asVery
high or high; in the United Kingdom, it is 87 percent, and 77 percent in
Germany, or slightly more than three-quarters of the importance of ICT to rise
even further. Internationally, around 84 percent of the surveyed executives
states that they expect (strongly) in their company in the next five years.
·
ICT and
Competitive Ability:
According to the
executives ICT will be particularly important with respect to competitive
ability in the fields of “increasing performance”, “cutting costs”, and
“knowledge management”.
·
Great
Significant for Corporate Development:
ICT executives
believe that the greatest influence that ICT will have on their enterprise’s
ability to remain competitive in the future will be by increasing performance
(72%) and achieving cost savings (70%) through ICT, as well as knowledge
management (69%). In this connection, the participants of the think tank noted
that the debate on building competitiveness must not be limited purely to
cost-savings and exploiting the cost-cutting options that are available and
neither should ICT be limited to the status of a tool for reducing costs. At
the heart of competitive skills and ability lies the enterprise’s innovative
capabilities and those are often also the result of its use of ICT.
“ICT is often viewed merely as a tool to
cut costs but in reality, it is the innovation potential opened up by ICT that
determines an enterprise’s future competitiveness”. (Professor Roman Beck, Goethe
University Frankfurt)
·
Influence of ICT
on Innovation and Competitive ability:
A total of more
than two thirds of those questioned (67%) expect that ICT will greatly
influence the competitive ability of their company in the future with respect
to “Innovation”. In the USA, 76% of those who took part in the survey share
this opinion.
This opinion is
obviously shared by the ICT executive in the big enterprises. Overall, more
than two thirds of the executives surveyed (67%) believe that it is through the
lever “innovation” that ICT will have the greatest influence on the
enterprise’s future competiveness. In the United State, the survey believes
this; and in Spain and France, the innovation potential of ICT and the
significant influence of this area on competitiveness are also acknowledged:
Innovation is seen as one of the top three (3) areas with a (very) strong
influence on competiveness. In contrast, German ICT executives believe that the
biggest effect that ICT has on their enterprise is the area of flexibility,
efficient process design and customer services.
Enterprise
mobility, i.e. the integration of ICT solutions in the enterprise is one of the
key future trends in IT (Information Technology). For three in ten executives
(mentioned by 30%) mobility is rated particularly high in Spain (30%) and
France (31%) but in Germany, the United Kingdom and United States, mobility is
mentioned by more than one in four of those surveyed as one of the top 3 future
fields in CT.
·
Significant of
ICT at Individual Job level
A job micro
level ICT is also rated as very important: in total more than three quarters of
all IT users surveyed (77%) state that ICT plays a decisive or very important
role for their everyday work. In Germany, 81 percent of IT users hold this
opinion. Seventy-nine, 79 percent of all IT users state that they depend on the
internet and telecommunications for their present jobs.
The new
technology changed the way they work, where they work, and how they work. For
example, one in four of the IT users (28%) state that they can no longer keep
their professional and private lives strictly separate. In Spain and United
Kingdom, 30 percent said that this separation was no longer possible. One in
five (21%) often works from home, nearly as many (19%) frequently work while on
road, e.g. at the airport or on train. Around 42 percent of all IT users
surveyed are convinced that mobile working brings or would bring career
benefits – an opinion shared by one in two of ICT users in Great Britain. For
every second user (54%) it is important or very important to be able to access
the necessary information and programs anywhere and at all times, i.e. to have
mobile access to the programs and information. The significance of mobile work
is particularly high in Spain where around 70% of the users surveyed state that
mobile work was especially important.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF ICT IN BUSINESS
To compete in the global market place,
companies use websites to provide ordering information and product list online,
allowing monetary exchange with customers, websites also allow companies to
receive valuable feedback on customer needs and ideas for improvement. Through
e-mail, faxes, and telecommunication devices, business generate greater
accessibility through almost instantaneous communications.
·
Business
corporations maximize their commercial advantage by making the right use of IT
tools. For instance, Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc. introduced the online
selling concept for personal computers. Today, customers around the globe order
Dell products from the comfort of their homes via the internet.
·
Business
Software
Organizations
use different software packages for variety of tasks and activities.
1.
Word Processing:it is used in
business to create and type up business letters, memos and reports.
2. Spreadsheets: are used to calculate financial
information such as sales figures, cash budgets and also to create bar charts
and graphs from such data to make any findings or results easier to understand.
3. Databases: are used in organization to keep
records of employees such as their address, date of birth and medical
information. Customers’ records may also be kept in order to build up a picture
of what the customer orders and regularly buys.This could aid targeting of
future products of appropriate customers. Also linking a database to a word
document, Mail-merge makes standard letters feel more customized and personal.
4. Desktop Publishing: software is
used to create professional newsletters, staff magazines, books or other
publications
5. Presentation
Software is mainly used by business people to communicate or present
information on new products or market research findings to customers, clients,
employees or management. It can be used for training purpose also.
CONCLUSION:
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) has done a lot of upgrading in the various companies of the world. As a
matter of fact, firms using ICT see faster sales growth, higher productivity
and faster employment growth. The roles it has played in business cannot be
overemphasized. It has helped underdeveloped countries develop their business
enterprise; it has brought close relationship between countries in different
parts of the world. More business software should be put into business
activities to ensure high productivity.
Because it helps
to improve the standard of living of people in the society, small businesses in
undeveloped places try to ICT into their business.
ICT also helps
in creating new innovation and this help in developing undeveloped countries.
Though ICT has its demerits but its merits outnumber the demerits.
REFERENCES
·
Prof.
dr. D.B.B. Rijsenbris Life Studies (Life
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·
Ehow
(Driven by Demand Media) ©1999 – 2015
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Post
from Karelika Ramey in Techucation,
Nov. 30, 2012.
·
Information
and communication technologies for development in Africa by Ramat Mulo Throune.
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Anna,
K (2002) information and communication development: information society summit
p.7
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Akpore,
A.S (1999). Basie Librarianship: modern technologies in information work.
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Crede,
A, and mansell, R (1998) Knowledge societies in a nutshell: information
technologies for sustainable development. Ottawa Canada: IDRC.
·
Oji-Okoro,
M. (2006) mobile telephony and sustainable livelihoods on Nigeria: case studies
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·
Monday
Obiadjeuwe Obgonna, Delta state university, Abraka Nigeria follow.
·
Esoswo
Fransisca Ogbonna. Delta state University, Abraka Nigeria.