2010  Industrial  Technology  Speciman  Exam  Sample  Answer  Discuss the issues that the management of the company needs to consider before the introduction of new technology.

This sample answer was constructed from a cross section of student work and is one opinion on what would receive good marks for this section.

There are many issues that need to be considered before the introduction of the new technology.    

In  terms  of  structural  factors,  better  communication  can  become  take  place  due  to  new  technology,  when  referring  to  better  communication,  new  technology  can  include  smartphones,  tablet  computers  and  etc.  This  can  allow  for  flatter  structures  in  the  structure  of  the  company  by  reducing  middle  management  due  to  increased  communication  from  the  new  technology.  The  only  downside  to  this  would  be  costs  to  incorporate  such  technology  would  be  quite  high  but  the  positives  in  this  case  do  outweigh  the  negatives  as  effective  communication  is  essential  in  a  company  and  should  be  a  high  priority  

 

Another  positive  impact  new  technology  such  as  the  above  could  have  on  the  company  would  be  making  the  company  more  efficient  in  a  lot  of  aspects,  for  example,  the  company  could  become  more  efficient  in  decision  making,  communication  and  even  production,  efficiency  is  very  important  for  a  company  because  in  some  cases  they  can  produce  more  or  the  same  amount  with  lesser  resources  and  money.  By  increasing  communication  throughout  the  business,  and  falattening  the  structure,  the  company  needs  less  people  to  consult  before  making  a  decision,  in  turn  leading  to  a  more  efficient  problem  solving  process.    

A  brand  new  technology  could  improve  the  production  capacity  of  a  company,  which  all  companies  strive  for.  The  new  technology  may  be  a  renewable  energy  source  (solar  panels,  wind  power)  and  can  let  the  company  save  more  money  through  saving  on  traditional  power  costs,  therefore  making  it  efficient,  by  uses  less  resources,  spends  less  in  the  creation  for  their  product.  By  being  a  “green  product”  and  marketing  as  such,  the  company  could  also  sell  more  goods  through  this  new  technology,  then  the  company  becomes  exceedingly  efficient.  

Staying  in  the  positive  aspect,  companies  introducing  new  technology  can  use  the  environmental  factors  to  their  advantage.  They  can  promote  things  such  as  the  use  of  recyclable  materials  that  are  used  in  the  technology  and  this  could  also  relate  the  managing  and  sales  how  it  can  be  taken  to  a  positive  level.  More  and  more  people  are  starting  to  raise  awareness  about  the  welfare  of  the  nature  and  this  could  be  used  to  the  company's  advantage.  This  will  also  be  a  positive  level  when  it  comes  to  the  government  legislation  as  it  will  be  more  likely  to  be  approved  seeing  that  what  the  company  will  be  introducing  would  be  of  the  government's  favour  thus  creating  a  better  look  for  the  company.  

 

 

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Comment: Names  factor  

Comment: Identifies  effect  

Comment: Gives  example  

Comment: Syllabus  reference.  

Comment: Discussion  (Negative)  

Comment: Discussion  (positive)  

Comment: Link  to  efficiency  

Comment: Eg  of  new  technology  

Comment: Link  to  environmental  

Comment: Link  to  marketing  and  higher  sales  

Comment: Marketing  linked  to  environmental  factors  

The  management  of  the  company  must  ensure  that  the  new  technology  is  producing  the  company's  product  at  the  same  rate  or  faster  than  the  current  technology.  This  is  an  important  issue  as  it  determines  the  speed  of  the  products  being  produced  and  how  many  is  produced  affects  the  money  made  by  hoe  much  is  sold.  Production  time  must  also  be  addressed  for  the  reason  that  longer  production  time  will  result  in  a  larger  energy  consumption,  and  requiring  more  staff  to  be  present  to  ensure  smooth  operation.  

However a possible setback would be the installation time or the time it takes to implement the new technology and the time it takes for the technology to be up and running completely. Without the right training this can take days weeks and even months. Training can be another setback, the time it takes for people to be trained to use the new technology costs time and money which can sacrifice the overall productivity of the company.  

Finally  wages  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  Training  costs,  installation  costs  and  the  cost  of  the  new  system  altogether  will  affect  the  company  for  a  certain  period  of  time.  Installing  the  new  system  will  cut  out  of  valuable  production  time,  as  will  the  training  of  new  staff.  In  order  to  ensure  that  everyone  knows  how  to  operate  the  new  system  will  take  quite  some  time.  In  this  case  operation  may  slow  down  for  a  period  of  time.  

Problems  that  may  occur  when  integrating  these  new  production  techniques  are  the  high  possibility  that  employees  may  have  to  be  laid  off  due  to  unnecessary  numbers  of  personnel  because  some  may  be  replaced  by  machines.  Installing  this  technology  may  discontinue  the  work  of  employees.  There  would  be  training  needed  to  learn  how  to  use  the  new  technology  and  orientation  for  OHS  principles  and  requirements,  such  as  handling  of  materials,  signing,  safe  working  practice/  first  aid  tutorials  and  purchase  of  PPE  (personal  protective  equipment).  This  is  a  sociological  issue  as  workers  should  not  be  disadvantaged  by  changes  in  technology.  

Sociological factors of a company concern the employees and the workplace community. The introduction of new technology can either be beneficial or negative towards these factors of the company depending on the employees themselves. The new technology can be negative in a sense that it has disrupted the organisation and brought down an overhaul of production techniques which need to be learned. The new technology can also increase the workload for each employee or cause the company to hire more staff. The employees will have a negative attitude towards the new technology if it drastically changes the workplace function and when the workers aren’t happy, the company will not run smoothly. However if the new technology, after being learned, assists and relieves the workload by being more efficient then past times, than the employees will have a positive attitude towards the workplace community which means more productivity and happier workplace.  

Another  topic  which  affects  the  personnel  is  OHS  or  Occupational  health  and  safety.  An  obvious  issue  that  may  affect  the  employee  is  physical  damage  from  the  new  tech.  For  example,  the  handling  of  certain  materials  and  technological  equipment  may  be  harmful  to  the  employee  if  not  conducted  correctly.  So  safe  practice  training  should  be  compulsory,  even  for  pre-­‐exsisting  employees  as  it  would  be  a  good  move  for  the  company  in  terms  of  certain  issues,  i.e.  if  someone  is  injured,  the  company  can  claim  they  were  trained  sufficiently  and  they  were  at  fault.  Personal  protective  equipment  should  also  be  compulsory  for  certain  tasks  in  the  workplace  and  provided  by  the  employees.    

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Comment: Production  (really  well  explained)  

Comment: Installation  time  

Comment: Link  to  training  (personell)  

Comment: Cost  issue,  linked  to  new  staff/training  

Comment: Personell  issue.  

Comment: OHS  

Comment: Personell  

Comment: Workplace  environment/culture  

Comment: OHS