Information Technology has had many results in business relating to availability of information and reduction in costs. This includes relocation of production and customer care centers, and better knowledge of the field, improving the efficiency of decision making. It has also restructured company and management staffs, highlighting a trend toward less hierarchical organization, more and facilitated information sharing, and better management of human resources; and commercially, it has meant the extension of market potential (through e-commerce), a reduction in logistics expense, development of more innovations in service in answer to the needs of consumers, and improving the image of the company as an innovator. Limits of investment in Information technology consist of a number of problems with the return.
First is the cost of material, of software and its maintenance and renewal. Second, it is not unusual for a company to have equipment that is in excess of its needs, and the underuse of software. Third is the cost of training staff, factoring in their resistance to change. Fourth, there are often costs generated by the modification of structures, by the reorganization of work, and by the overabundance of information. Fifth, cost associated with keeping up with the steady pace of innovations, with processors doubling in speed every two years. Finally, it can be all the more difficult to quantify or predict returns on new products. Parallel areas of investment that can be equally beneficial include Research and Development, as well as Training of staff, and business, organization or logistic training.
The globalization of Information Technology, allowing 24 hour a day access from anywhere in the world, to a set of resources in both data and computing power, has led to negative effects in terms of safety and ethics, made wose by the internationalization of certain actions, like blackmail, fraud, subversion, etc. While various governments can attempt to impose security or minimal standards in the virtual world through various methods, none has the capacity to do so on a worldwide basis.
Information Technology’s effect on the public
The new Information and Communication Technologies are famously influential on processes of creating and changing currents of public opinion. Common objects like the television, radio, telephone and computer are now constantly transmitting messages, trying to persuade the listeners, viewers or users of these media. Whether through text messages, emails, blogs, or any other areas of the Internet, people can be influenced almost without being conscious of it, saying they believe an account because “it was in the news media” or because “they saw it online.” If the world wide web can be a path to knowing what to believe for many people, so too many do not realize when they are being deceived or manipulated, amid the confusion between the communication channel or transmitter of information, and those who generated the message (which is often omitted or not explicit enough). Depending on ones age, social status, level of education and studies, as well as life and work habits, Information Technology can have more of a major impact or less, and there are differing opinion on the various ways it can be changed.
