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... s that provide services to firms in the export sector such as maintenance, marketing or computer services. On the one hand, locations and corporations are increasingly interdependent through supranational organizations, regional integration, strategic alliances, and the flow of investments, technologies, ideas and people. The boundaries of both corporations and states are increasingly porous and imprecise, because businesses use alliances and outsourcing, and countries are rarely technologically self-sufficient. On the other hand, locations remain distinct and idiosyncratic, with innovation systems largely nationally bound. Knowledge creation suffers from 'inertia' and, because of the systemic nature of learning, continues to be concentrated in a few locations and firms.
Two rapidly growing trends globalization and technological innovation are having an enormous impact on the very fabric of the way business is conducted. As each reinforces the other technology enabling firms within an industry to capture economies of scale and scope by going global; global firms relying on technological innovation to enhance their capabilities continuous strategic and organizational change across all industries will result. This dynamic environment motivated the research documented in Globalization, Technology, and Competition, which explores the dramatic influences of these two important forces on the structure of industries, the strategies of firms competing in these industries, and the organizational forms needed to support the new creative strategies of these firms. Focusing on information technology and telecommunications, the contributors address how innovations in these technologies are stirring firms and industries to react. This restructuring is pervasive, changing forever the ways in which people work together, suggesting substantially different organizations to support their efforts, and shifting the basis of the strategies pursued by firms in these industries to new concepts of competitive advantage.
The distinguished contributors to this volume include executives from leading companies that have built integrated computer and telecommunications networks for global competition; executives from the companies providing computers, telecommunications, and software to enable global competition; and academics and other professionals who are studying these industries and their confluence. Survival in the new global business market calls for improved productivity and increased competition. Indeed, firms that have upgraded their products, used technology skillfully and sought niche markets have not only survived, but prospered. However, the down side of increased productivity is the elimination of many jobs in manufacturing, transportation and other high-paying industries. Just as globalization presents Canadians with both challenges and opportunities, so too does technology.
Ever since the beginning of the first industrial revolution in the 18 th century, the introduction of new technologies has meant both the transfer of jobs from one sector to another (from agricultural labour to the production of farming equipment, for example) and the ultimate creation of more jobs throughout society. o The service sector is the largest generator of jobs and many of the jobs created in this sector do not demand high-level technical skills. o Growing manufacturing companies in high-tech sectors also need workers in clerical, finance, shipping / warehousing , sales and marketing fields. Innovations in Technology: Introduction to the Information Era While globalization and the other trends discussed in this chapter will have a huge impact on workers and the labour market, the changes will be small compared to the radical changes brought about by the spread of information technology. Job forecasters believe that those who can figure out how the revolution in information technology will affect hiring practices in their field, will be in a position to take advantage of many opportunities. There is an explosion of knowledge that is becoming more and more available to the public due to technological advances, and it is changing the power base and the way people tackle their problems.
This includes career decision making. Toffler traces the spread of knowledge which was once only accessible to the few, thus supporting a pyramid structure with power resting at the top. He talks of changes in the behaviour and demands of the general population as the information became more accessible to them. The Information Industry An entire industry, the information industry, has grown out of the ability to access and the demand to acquire information instantaneously. Data-base companies, such as Canadian Info Mart, International Data Corporation (IDC), Northern Business Information (NBI) and Dialog, provide articles and reports, topics covered in the newspapers, bibliographies, etc. , through a computer or telephone inquiry service.
Some information sellers are very specialized such as those that cater to the medical field, architecture, law and even to counsellors. data-base company as small and specialized as a computerized list of boats for sale across Canada can succeed because of its ability to reach the equally small, specific target audience. This new technology has implications for all of those involved: the clients, the counsellor and the employers posting openings. For example: o Clients have more up-to-date information as well as more responsibility for determining for themselves the most appropriate jobs to apply for. o Fewer CEC counsellors are needed, and the counsellor jobs that remain demand higher skill levels because the only clients receiving counselling are those most at risk and in need of direct intervention.
o Employers must take on more of the screening process themselves. For manufacturing companies, the speedy access to massive amounts of information has bestowed power to increase quality and quantity of products, to receive orders from around the world and to reply the same day, to use billing systems that co-ordinate orders and invoices for multi-branched worldwide companies. Research and development companies can receive data from the source before it is even published, making vital information available instantaneously. The general public receives information from media that affects spending habits, charity choices, political decisions and social opinions. Expanding high technology has had a significant impact on virtually all industries. The changing nature of work is evident in the automation changes in the processes of design, manufacturing and quality control, in offices and in transportation, communications, health care and retail services.
Tradespersons are finding that the new fabrication materials and computer-based processes are increasing the complexity of their trades. For example, machinists now need computer training to use computerized numeric control (CNC) equipment in manufacturing. As technology advances, new, faster, better goods and services are available and in demand. To fulfill consumer demand, there is another shift in the labour market toward workers who are trained in the skills that can provide such goods and services.
Although a field may suddenly need people trained in new methods, the technology itself may lessen the number of workers needed in that field.
Free research essays on topics related to: manufacturing companies, labour market, goods and services, technological innovation, global competition
Research essay sample on Goods And Services Technological Innovation
