Discussion Essay
The impact of new media on organizational strategies and structures
by Karlotta Jobe
November 7, 2001
The development of new media technologies has influenced many environments and has rippled standard operating procedures in various organizations. The rapid growth of these new technologies promotes significant changes within the organization both internally and externally. The fundamental building blocks of organizations will have to find efficient and effective ways to adopt their infrastructure to operate in this new wired world.
Organization Strategy -- The implications of the Internet (primarily) for organizations create vast new challenges and opportunities. Understanding the impact of new technologies, it is also important to understand that technology innovations influence how firms manage the organization. The business models are being reevaluated and adopted to this new environment. The technology advances that are currently affecting the business field include the Internet, the Intranet, video-conferencing, and video-streaming, just to name a few. The Internet has fostered an entire new arena in which organizations can communicate and operate. The opportunity for e-learning is a growing idea for continual education and training within organizations.
An organization's strategy is usually discussed as their own identifiable resources. These resources become their core competencies which give the organization competitive advantages. The core competencies must be specific to the organization and difficult to create, buy, substitute, or imitate. The information technology that has exploded and has changed the dynamics have directed organizations from thinking of resources as tangible assets, but rather intangible assets such as brand image, corporate culture, information and knowledge and how these are utilized and managed. Information was viewed as a cost, a resource to support activities. Now, information is able to be captured, manipulated, stored, and exchanged in such manners that it is viewed as a source of value creation and not a cost. There will be a shift in strategy to utilize these information technologies and also a rate of adoption to these technologies depending on organizational strategy defining its culture.
Strategy decisions analyze new environments due to the Internet and other media technologies. First, is the increase rate of change in new product introduction due to the shifts in customer preferences. The Internet has provided immediate access not only for the organizations, but for the consumers in making intelligent buying decisions. The organization also has to be able to justify business, environmental, and socially based decisions due to the increase in media technologies providing 24 hour news and consumers having a global broadcast channel. Second, is many boundaries are being blurred and overlapping. The industry boundaries are converging and national boundaries are being erased. Finally, is the increase rate of change and the challenge for organizations to respond timely, understanding time is money. The strategies of organizations need to take notice of the changing environments and the impact that the new technologies have not only on them, but the industry, the marketplace, and the world.
The organization also needs to recognize that there are immense changes and adaptation occurring internally, but the information technologies also impacts their external clients which in turn impact them. Technologies like the Internet, and wireless satellite communications have inspired the creation of innovative products and tools to utilize these technologies, such as PC, PC Notebooks, Palm Pilots, Cellular Phones with additional features, and Video-streaming. These technologies provide organizations with tools to respond and compete in the global marketplace. However, there is a dynamic shift in the role of the organization and the role of individuals dealing with information technologies. In previous generations, individuals were recipients of innovative technology created by the organizations. Individuals, with the conception of the Internet are now driving the innovation process and the organizations are responding. The Internet has empowered consumers with perfect information and zero search costs, currently. The Internet has provided greater flexibility in practices and in individual interactions within the organization and society for that matter. Again, aligning the organization's strategy has to also include the implications of external client behaviors, enabled by the new information technologies, on the organization.
Organization Structure -- Once the strategy is adopted by the organization the structure has to enable the organization to operate effectively ensuring the two coincide to play out its vision and mission. The structure of the organization is vital in adopting information technologies. This can include their electronic data interchange in the supply, ordering, and delivering process, but also the internal communication process using a Intranet and tools like video-conferencing or video-streaming. Each organization maintains its proper flows of communication, however with the new technologies there are many cost saving, efficient and effective ways to adapt quicker and communicate with both the internal and external client. Structure supports which technologies will be incorporated into the organization and to what extent they will be used by the organization. The structure also provides avenues for managing the information and the technologies.
Strategy and Structure share vital roles in developing organizations. The increase rate of change and instability due to rapid growth of technologies has many organizations analyzing their strategies and structure to remain competitive with its core competencies as chief driving forces. Many new technologies have allowed organizations to operate more effectively and prof itably. This will only continue in the future and will dictate organizations to continually adapt to its changing environments in an entire new wired world.
References
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Hamel, G. (1998 DEC.) The E-Corporation. Fortune.
Porter, M.E. (1990) Competitive Strategy New York. Free Press.
Winter, S.G. (1987) Knowledge and Competence as Strategic Assets. The Competitive Challenge. Cambridge.