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The Role of Technology in Contemporary Society
SECTION A
Question a.2
Kevin (2009) lets us know that technology is sometimes selfish as well as generous. This statement by Kevin Kelly is brought about by the fact that the use of technology can bring about various results. According to Kevin (2009), the various results that a technology gives may be positive or negative depending on what the user was aiming to achieve.
The varied results are usually brought about by the fact that technology may decide to act in a specific manner giving results which are modeled around it thus seeming selfish. On the other hand, technology may give us results that favor us thus ending up being generous.
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Question b.1
The work-life balance refers to the process of handling job and life simultaneously with satisfaction. This concept entails the ability of being able to get it right when it comes to priorities with regard to work and life. The concepts of work-life balance advocates for proper organization of work related tasks and life related affairs so that all objectives may be achieved.
In work and life balance, technology has been able to play a major role. To balance work and life, people have been able to use technology to stand in for them where they are required to do something related to work but family is the priority at a given point in time and vise verse. It is worth noting that it is a valid and important concept.
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Question c.1
Technology is playing a major role in changing the way children think. According to Taylor (2012), children are being affected by technology positively and negatively. Technology is been seen as a great influence of how the thinking of children develop. Taylor (2012) points out that the attentiveness; decisiveness and remembrance of children are often affected by technology. According to Taylor (2012), the manner and the level of technology use by children determines the effects caused to the thinking system of children.
Question d.2
The copyright laws are extremely important because they control and protect intellectual properties of people. The copyright laws are important because they encourage people to be innovative. With proper laws protecting innovative products of people, it will be encouraging for many to innovate since they would be protected too. Additionally, the copyright laws are important because they ensure that there is fair play in a given industry. The fairness is brought about by the fact that only original products borne from original ideas will be availed at all times.
Competition becomes fair since copying is made illegal. Another importance of copyright laws is that they give a clear guidance of the way enforcing should be done. This is because the copyright laws provide direction regarding the prosecution of an offender. I agree that the copyright laws are important. This is because with fairness in competition, encouragement of innovation and enforcement made possible by these laws, the world becomes a better place.
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Question e.2
Digital divide refers to the situation whereby there are challenges in finding and using information technology. The digital divide may be brought about by the lack of the information and communication technology devices or lack of the required skills. Having seen good progress in the entrance of technology in many parts of the world, the digital divide is taking a new perspective with focus being put on how much of devices and skills people have. The digital divide is important to social scientists because it gives them an opportunity to study and come up with solutions for bridging the digital gap.
Question f.1
One of the aspects of stem cell technology is that it has a broad use of embryonic cells. This has been able to court controversy from the fact that it has unethical approach. The use of fetus from terminated pregnancies is quite controversial. Secondly, the stem cell technology is known to use healthy cells for transplant. This aspect of this technology has been seen to be the cause of some mysterious disappearances of individuals to be the target of cell harvesting.
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Question g.1
The European enlightenment refers to the transition of the European society from old way of doing things to an approach which has voice of reason (Gillispie, 2013). The European enlightenment period refers to the duration when the European region was meeting the modern way of doing things.
Technology is one aspect of the world that was impacted positively by the European enlightenment. The enlightenment brought about new ideas regarding technology. Additionally, technology oriented research was also carried out thus giving technology an opportunity to grow.
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SECTION B
Question 1
The United States Office of Technological Assessment was mandated to handle matters touching on new technology and its impact for the purpose of facilitating congress in policy making. OTA was structured to give the congress an opportunity to obtain and understand technology related information in advance, holding a non-partisan position.
According to Rodmeyer (2005), OTA was dismantled following accusations that it was not necessary because it allegedly repeated functions of other business agencies. Rodemeyer does not approve the dismantling of the Office of Technological Assessment. His disapproval is brought about by his opinion that the congress lacks technological knowhow and OTA was offering reports without bias. According to Rodemeyer (2005), technological assessment has a dilemma based on independence of the officers.
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Question 2
Gordon (2013) argues that the economy of America is slowing down. According to Gordon (2013), the reasons causing the slow growth of the American economy include;
Increasing inequality- The lack of equity experienced by the American population has led to poor economic cooperation thus slowing down the economy.
Dull education system-The American education system has not been able to produce competent citizens.
High levels of indebtedness of learners- The people in college have found themselves caught up in so much debt which they have to pay immediately they secure their jobs thus slowing their investment options.
High number of old people- The working American population is growing older day by day thus becoming less productive. This is being made worse by the fact that the education system is not producing productive people as before.
Poor education system has failed to push technology to higher levels, something which has ended p contributing negatively to the economic growth.
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Question 3
The argument that transformation from hunter-gatherer life to agriculture was the worst mistake in life is brought about by various arguments. The arguments in support of the hunter-gatherer life are that there was more leisure time, more sleep and less time for searching for something to eat. Additionally, the hunters and gatherers are argued to have enjoyed good diet emanating from the mixture of wild meat and fruits.
Question 4
In life, there are various forms of capital. These include social capital, human capital and cultural capital. Human capital refers to having the right people for a given task. It entails putting in place people of high competence levels. On the other hand, social capital refers to the individuals within a person’s social circle. Social capital is usually concerned with the input brought about by those within a social circle. Cultural capital refers to aspects of life that place individuals at the top of the social classes in the society. It entails having high levels of knowledge and skills among other attributes.
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Question 5
Robinson (2010) says that there is need to have a radical approach to education. Robinson (2010) argues that the thinking in education should have diversity. The diversity should be aimed at letting learners program their education towards having multi-solutions for a problem. Secondly, Robinson (2010) states that education should be planned in a way that supports industrial productivity.
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Voice Recognition Technology
The type of dictation system is Voice Recognition and it interfaces with Via Fly. This Voice Recognition type of dictation system was updated for the last time in the year 2009, and the type of reports it is used to produce are varied (Judith, Dictation Supervisor). In the transcription room there are five transcriptionists who work there, all female and should accomplish a set amount of work.
For instance, each of the female transcriptionists has to ensure that she finishes twenty five (25) medical records, and the productivity is controlled by the supervisor in the dictation area as well as quantity and quality of the reports. The Voice Recognition dictation system allows production of various reports that are subsequently dictated such as referral letters, discharge summary, medical reports, morbidity and mortality reports, consultations for both inpatients and outpatients, and death summary.
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The current dictation system has both strengths and limitations. Its strengths are: 1) it is most useful and there has been thorough familiarization among the transcriptionists with the system; 2) it is time-saving because medical transcriptionists are not required to spend any time informing doctors; and 3) copies of referral letters, medical reports, discharge summary as well as other documents can be accessed from the server at the medical transcription system and backup.
The limitations of the system include: 1) the system cannot be accessed or viewed by the medical transcriptionists while outside the hospital; and 2) the system cannot be accessed or viewed by the medical transcriptionists through Google Chrome or other efficient browsers, except only through internet explorer (Milstein & Bates, 2010; Moore & Fisher, 2012).
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The future plans with regards to the Voice Recognition dictation system is to ensure that there is implementation of a solution for medical digital dictation system, voice recognition, and operational interfaces entailing a Patient Administration System (eSIHI).
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Smart Technology and Strategy
Introduction
As the global front undergoes gradual revolution based on technological advancements, companies are increasingly investing in technologies that promise to increase efficiency, lower costs and increase productivity. Smart computers, wearable devices, surveillance devices, smart sensors, GPS, voice and face recognition and smart programs are continually being adopted to enhance automation and perform tasks that would otherwise prove challenging for humans.
Notably however, there has been slow progress in adoption of smart technology among modern organizations, despite the promise of reduced costs, increased competitive advantage, efficiency in operations and increased profitability. Similarly, organizations have been hesitant in adopting business strategies that endorse smart technologies. This is an interesting observation because it would be naturally expected that companies would strive to adopt technologies that will improve their competitive position.
Research however indicates that organizations are always willing to adopt new technology. The factors surrounding adoption of such technologies, positive or negative determine whether they will adopt the technology. This paper is an analysis of issues affecting organizations in the development of business strategies endorsing smart technologies.
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Discussion
Design
The functional attributes of a smart technology are critical in promoting customer satisfaction and will certainly affect the buyers purchasing behavior (Youngmo, Mingook and Sungjoo, 2014). Perceived usefulness will be based on the technology design and for smart technologies to be effective, they must be tailored towards the user’s needs and thus designed according to the user specifications.
According to Slaten (2015), organizations must analyze the needs of the company before embarking on any smart technology investment. This way, they are able to identify a design that will best deliver the intended objective while deriving the best value from it. Ho-Chang et al (2014) notes that failure to carefully consider the objectives of the organization will lead to bad investment and the company will soon incur more expenditure in upgrading their smart technology or fail to achieve expected outcomes.
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After-sales support
Technology is highly complex and the need for professionalism in maintenance of technological devices is inevitable. After-sale support remains one of the most important aspects of a sale in acquiring smart technologies because organizations need to be assured that providers will help them solve any issues that may emerge after acquisition of the technology. It also ensures that the smart technology is professionally installed and hence avoids instances where the technology fails to serve the intended purpose.
Organizations must choose vendors that offer the best after-sales package in order to benefit fully from maintenance service. Youngmo, Mingook and Sungjoo (2014), note that after-sale service maintenance is one of the leading drivers for adoption of smart technology, because customers want to be assured that they will not need to incur additional maintenance costs.
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Organizations are however faced with a new trend in smart technology, where after-sale service is often kept to the minimum. Smart technology is a strategic move from traditional technology, and is designed in such a way that users can trouble-shoot and solve problems through what is known as ‘do-it-yourself’ (TWICE, 2015). This is especially so where technology is imported and the seller may not be in a position to deliver the products or install them personally.
In such a case, smart technologies are usually accompanied by manuals that users can read to guide them through the system in order to come up with solutions for any issues encountered (TWICE, 2015). The company may also give additional guidelines on their website for customers to follow in addressing any issues. This means that in certain smart technology devices, there is minimal after-sales service compared to traditional modes of technology. This could pose a challenge to individuals who are not technologically savvy, such that they may end up paying for services
Marketing
Marketing plays a significant role in influencing customer behavior and decisions. In this relation, the ability of the marketer to provide the needed information and convince the customer determines whether they will purchase the product (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater, 2009).The smart technology market is highly saturated and there are numerous products in the market (Porter and Heppelmann, 2014). While some promise to execute the intended objectives, there have been claims of deceptive marketing where the word ‘smart’ has been deceivingly used to take advantage of customer naivety.
As a result, a significant number of organizations have spent high amounts of money to purchase technology that does not add much value to their organization. The same amount of money could have been used to get a greater bargain and more capabilities from smart technologies. Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of such marketing tactics and therefore take more time to do market research before investing in smart technology (Porter and Heppelmann, 2014).
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Human Resource
Strategies that endorse smart technologies are highly influenced by the impact of these technologies on the organization’s human resource component. Adopting smart technologies requires a significant level of knowledge, which in most cases needs to be transferred to users before smart technology can be introduced (Shelton, 2014).
Based on a research by Avanade (2016), organizations expect significant changes in terms of skills requirement following adoption of smart technologies in order to effectively blend the technologies with humans. 61% indicated that they would require additional problem solving skills, 59% would require data analysis skills, 51% would need to improve critical thinking skills and 51% would require collaboration skills.
This would mean additional costs for training as well as more time consumed in away from work activities. Shelton (2014), notes that in order for a firm to consider a strategy that incorporates smart technology, it must ensure that all probable users of the technology have adequate knowledge and skills to operate and execute tasks using the smart technology. This not only has an impact on costs but it also requires that the company invests in a workforce that is technologically savvy and can therefore adopt easily to constant changes in technology (Mithas, et al, 2010).
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Avanade (2015) notes that one of the main issues affecting organizations in their decision to adopt smart technology is that they have not made adequate plans to address ethical workplace dilemmas. One of these is the fact that the use of smart technologies mostly involves adoption of devices and intelligent automation, such that computers can perform functions and make decisions that are technically done by humans.
This has raised ethical concerns based on the replacement of human capital by machines. Avante (2015) postulates that the adoption of smart technology has to a great extent been viewed as a threat despite being presented as a strategy that could help retain critical talent within organizations. Organizations adopting smart technologies are basically replacing the need for a workforce and this could have an impact on overall levels of unemployment (Khandelwal, 2015). Developing strategy that incorporates smart technologies is therefore an issue for organizations because they must show responsibility for their employees’ job security.
Other ethical issues include the capability of smart technology to cause embodiment, where humans become detached from the real world due to their obsession with machines or their incapability to live without them; and excessive reliance on technology to enhance conscientiousness and thus limit critical thinking and ability to make decisions.
Guthrie (2013) refers to this concept as outsourcing of conscientiousness to machines, which can easily erode our capacity to understand and accept human faults and idiosyncrasies. It has been argues that human beings will soon be enslaved by technology and be unable to perform any organizational function without the help of their smart devices. This means that they would be out rightly incapacitated and unproductive as long as machines are unavailable.
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Security
The issue of technology security has been a major issue affecting endorsement of smart technologies in business strategy. While a company would be interested in a technology that increases efficiency and makes business easier, it is more concerned about the security of such systems, including their ability to protect vital information from intruders (Howard, 2015). This comes at a time when cyber crime has become highly rampant in the technology industry, with organizations losing confidential information to hackers and unauthorized users (Wedutenko, 2015).
Smart technologies are prone to security issues and high level protection measures are required to ensure that the organization’s data is safeguarded. Whether an organization is capable of securing its data to ensure that it is not used, shared or accessed illegally is quite uncertain. Organizations that consider adoption of smart technology must consider the issue of security and how it can be enhanced before actually endorsing it in business strategy.
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Security goes beyond protecting personal data from outsiders. Michelfelder (2011) raises an ethical issue of how organizations actually make use of the information they have to conduct activities that users would be opposed to. An example is the use of CCTV, body scanners, GPS and tracking devices which are either secretly placed to monitor employees or to make secret investigations.
Facial recognition technology has also come under scrutiny, with concerns on whether individuals would actually be comfortable with their facial images being stored in databases (Michelfelder, 2011). According to Guthrie (2013), information gathered from these machines has on many occasions been shared and even sold to third party users. This further raises questions on whether people actually have any privacy in the modern world of smart technologies.
Cost implications
Smart technologies require a significant amount of investment, both in terms of acquisition and maintenance. Slaten (2015) describes the field of smart technologies as one that is constantly changing and where new versions, modifications and advancements keep emerging. This means that once a company takes on the smart technologies path, it must be ready to continuously reinvent their systems, update software and upgrade hardware to keep up with the times (Slaten, 2015).
Consequently, maintaining smart technology is a capital-intensive investment, given that companies must strive to keep up with new advancements. Unlike assets, technology is not a onetime investment and users must be ready for regular changes that require investment. Failure to update would render current systems obsolete and this to a significant extent affects the firm’s competitiveness (Mithas, et al, 2010).
Furthermore, changes are often unpredictable and organizations cannot effectively budget for future financial requirements. This is a major issue impacting development of strategies endorsing smart technologies and companies have to consider the cost implications before such undertakings can be included in strategy.
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Smart technologies also require uninterrupted Wi-Fi internet connection. There are two cost implications related to this requirement. Firstly, organizations must source for reliable internet connection from vendors, which will ensure that their devices work effectively to address organizational objectives. This has a cost implication because the most reliable wireless internet providers are also likely to be more expensive. Secondly, internet failure could lead to a significant data loss, consequently costing the company.
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Conclusion
Smart technology remains an interesting component of technology and a great consideration for modern organizations. Adoption of smart technology however requires careful scrutiny to ensure that an organization can effectively understand the issues affecting endorsement of the technology into business strategy. This explains the slow pace in smart technology adoption that has been witnessed among modern firms.
In this discussion, various issues including human resource, design, after-sale service, security, marketing and cost implications are identified. These issues often inform organizations’ decision to endorse smart technology. An organization that seeks to include smart technology in their business strategy must effectively evaluate and balance these issues to ensure that the company will benefit from such an investment.
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Youngmo, K., Mingook, L., & Sungjoo, L. (2014). Service-Oriented Factors Affecting the Adoption of Smartphones. Journal Of Technology Management & Innovation, 9(2), 98-117
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