The information age is the age we are living in right now. I have provided a picture of just a few various routes through the internet. This is the time when everyone is able to transfer information freely to other people; whenever they want. We use it in our everyday lives. Everyone I am sure has checked their cell phones for any missed calls, emails, or texts. This is the greatest example of us putting the information age to the test. In the business world and in this class we have used the conference call to be able to communicate with each other. I don’t think we could go without any of our technology. We have become so used to having everything at our fingertips and instantly, changing and going back to “snail mail”, would be quite difficult.
The biggest impact on managers that I see is the ease of communication. You can talk to all of your employees, whether they are there or not, and let them know all the information at once. You can do this all without leaving the comfort of your desk. Also, this has allowed a lot more individuals to be able to work from home. I think this would be an especially nice perk. You also are going to be able to work with constant change. I think this is a good thing. You can always find newer and better ideas for your products and business. You have to be able to predict the trends. What is going to sell? What isn’t going to sell? This does make things a little harder, because you may predict the wrong thing. The information age is always a great thing to help managers keep their production rates up. Being able to communicate faster you have a better chance of making things happen faster.
Managers have had to develop a lot, especially in the last 10 years. It is really easy for my generation to catch on quickly to technology because we have grown up with it, but what about the managers who have had to relearn everything they ever knew? This would take a lot of time and effort to develop these new skills. I think you have a greater responsibility because everything isn’t cut and dry. You do have to make decisions because you have so many options available to you. You would also need to be familiar with all different forms of communiation and be ready to use them whenever you needed too. This means going from making a phone call to holding a meeting via webcam. Managers also must be technically inclined. Things are going to mess up and happen, you need to have the knowledge of how to keep going and the ability to adapt.
