Impact of Technology on Business Essay

Every functioning business in the world today uses some sort of technology in order to help them accomplish their goals. Before the age of technology, it was much harder for businesses to thrive because it was harder for them to advertise to their customers, communicate with their business partners, store information, and much more. Today businesses have all those things, and it has never been easier to start up a business, maintain it, and have your business prosper because technology is there to help. Technological advancements have made positive impacts in the business world in ways such as computers, transportation development, and smart phones. Computers and the Internet have helped businesses thrive more and more through out the years. They have done this in many ways, including making it easier to communicate through Emails, storing information without breaking a sweat, allowing businesses the opportunity to have a online store, and making it easier to start up a business successfully by researching your market needs and identifying your consumers. A research done by the Radicati Group said that â€Å"there are over three billion active Emails in the world today, and there is projected to be over 4 billion e-mails by 2014. † (Radicati, Sara. â€Å"Email Statistics Report. â€Å") This means that more and more people in our world today are becoming tech-savvy, which is good for businesses all across the globe. A countless amount of businesses today use Email as a form of communication between them and their business partners, their own business employees and their customers. Firms Email their customers to keep in touch with them, and remind them that they value their customers. Businesses also Email their customers to inform them of sales, special deals, and new products. Emails also help businesses by helping them communicate to their employees and their business partners. Businesses use Emails to communicate almost all of the time, they use Email for their everyday communication of business goals and even for times of crisis. Another study from the Radicati Group said that there are about 294 billion Emails sent per day, and that a majority of those Emails are sent by businesses. Radicati, Sara. â€Å"Email Statistics Report. â€Å") Email is a very reliable and speedy form of communication that is used by businesses and without it businesses wouldn’t be the same. Another use for computers that has had a significant impact on businesses in today’s world is digital storage. Businesses are able to store information such as their customer’s information, financial data, and future business plans. An article from Marketingzone. com said â€Å"most important part of marketing is collecting and saving customer information. (â€Å"How to Collect and Save Customer Information | MarketingZone. â€Å") A customer’s information includes things such as phone numbers, home addresses, and Emails. The reason this information about the businesses’ customers is so important is because it is essential to keep a customer’s interest in the company. With phone numbers, the firm is able to call or text their customers and advertise or let them know of a special sale. Storing a customer’s home address is a very significant way for businesses to advertise because it helps enable a way to advertise through mail. Advertising through mail is extremely effective because it makes it so the customer can have a physical relationship with the advertisement, the customer has to pick up the mail and look through it, therefore, the firm makes sure that they are seeing the information given in the advertisement. Having a customer’s Email address is important because it helps the business communicate with their customers while allowing them to do more such as sending links with more information or links to the businesses website. The Internet has allowed many businesses to create their own personalized website and online store. These websites are extremely helpful for today’s businesses because it allows their customers to search and browse inventory, compare products on the website, and then choose and order a product online and have it shipped to the customer’s home address. Purchasing desired products has never been easier thanks to the Internet. These websites have made it so convenient for consumers and also have lower prices than the store. An essay titled â€Å"The Internet Has Helped Businesses Reduce Overhead Costs in the Wholesale Industry† stated that online websites and stores have increased the annual revenue of many businesses, and is becoming a necessity for businesses to have. (Genco. â€Å"The Internet Has Helped Businesses Reduce Overhead Costs in the Wholesale Industry. â€Å") The Internet has also helped businesses flourish by enabling them to research their market needs and help them start-up successfully. Before starting up a business it is essential for a business to discover the geographic and demographic of the potential market. Businesses need to research the best location to open up their store and what their typical customer is like in terms of gender, age, and social class. This research is made easier with the help of the Internet, and without having the Internet; businesses would have a much harder start-up process. Computers and the Internet are two technological advancements that have improved the world of business. These two genius inventions have helped businesses in marketing, communication, start up, and just their every day process of running a business and with the help of these inventions, the business world will continue to blossom. Technological advancements in transportation have greatly escalated today’s businesses by getting rid of trade barriers, and with shipping. Transportation has greatly progressed businesses because it helped the business world get rid of the trade barriers that restricted its full potential. With the introduction of cars, planes and boats, businesses have been able reach out to other countries and make business partners and long lasting relationships with other nations. These forms of transportation helped ensure that all isolated countries in the world would begin to come out of their shell, and begin trading and making business agreements with the rest of the world. If it weren’t for transportation and the globalization of industries, the businesses in the US wouldn’t be able to benefit off of what other countries have to offer such as labor, resources, and property. Labor in different countries may benefit a firm because in poverty-stricken countries jobs are scarce and many inhabitants are willing to work for low wages, and since it is in a different country, there are no minimum wage issues and the firm saves money. This is called outsourcing, a process where businesses contract jobs in foreign nations, thus allowing them to pay cheap wages and expand their product globally at the same time. Businesses also expand globally now by seeking out country’s natural or manmade resources such as oil, coal, copper, gold, timber, iron, mercury or precious stones and gems. All of these resources can be beneficial to businesses and that’s what makes all of these resources desirable. A report written by Julliete Jowit said â€Å"The Living Planet report calculates that humans are using 30% more resources than the Earth can replenish each year, which is leading to deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species. † (Jowit, Julliete. ) This means that more and more businesses are looking to other countries to help with the need for natural esources. In certain countries, their most desired attribute is land. Land is a very crucial component to a businesses success because each firm needs property to build their manufacturing sight, and in some cases the land is needed in order to make prerequisite commodities for their final product in order to cut out the middle man and save money. Land in other countries also plays a huge role in the multiplying of franchise names, which include fast food restaurants, clothing stores, and many other stores. An example of a fast food chain that has expanded throughout the world is McDonald’s. McDonald’s Fast food restaurant serves over 64 million people every day in over 31,000 restaurants in 119 diverse countries. (â€Å"McDonald’s. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. ) Without the evolution of transportation and the reduction of trade barriers and other restrictions on foreign countries, franchises and other companies would not be capable of extending over the world. Shipping is another way that the invention of high-speed transportation has transformed the world of business. Having the capability to send products across the globe in just a few days is extremely helpful to every company and it’s customers. It assists businesses in spreading popularity, and also helps businesses sell more of their products. Distributing products through transportation has increased brand name awareness for many companies by increasing their popularity. With the help of shipping, more and more firms have been able to distribute their products all over the world, to a variety of different customers, which has severely increased their popularity. The progression of shipping has allowed companies to sell more of their products because it helps them distribute their products to customers who aren’t close to a store that sells the merchandise. 34 Percent of all shoppers prefer to buy their commodities on the Internet and through online shopping, and 80 percent of online buyers were motivated to buy through the Internet because of shipping. (Charleton, Graham 34% of Shoppers Prefer to Buy Online: Report) Shipping offers a sense of convenience to some purchasers because it allows them to buy merchandise without going out to help with their busy schedules. Technological advancements in the transportation industry have helped businesses achieve more sales, get better brand recognition, gain more customers, and create more business partners. The invention and development of smart phones has assisted businesses by making it extremely easy to communicate with partners, deal with doubts and complaints of customers, and has also helped with smart phone applications. Smart phones such as iPhones, Blackberries, and Droids are essential equipment to businesses men and women because they help them communicate. These smart phones help business men keep in contact with their coworkers and business partners by allowing them to call, text or email while on the go. Collaborating with coworkers and business associates is made easy because all they need to do to call, text or email their significant other to keep up with their work. The ease of communicating between business associates allows many businessmen to work while they are at home, on vacation, or anywhere for that matter. Smartphones can help business productivity by providing the means for employees and entrepreneurs and owners to stay in touch with their primary contacts even while away from their place of business. This allows enterprises to grow even while on the move, which gives them a very competitive advantage in today’s world. † (How Smartphone Help Business Productivity | Planet Antares Scam Tips. ) Smart phones also help through means of communication because they allow companies to video chat. Video chat has dramatically increased the efficiency of businesses by allowing them to have a business meeting, even while they are 10,000 miles apart. Video chat is used between all types of business associates and gives all companies a sense of convenience. An article from Huddle. com said â€Å"A company could have an office in China, one in the UK, and one in the US, and they can all collaborate on projects as if they were in the same office together. † (Eddington, Joe. â€Å"How Can Web Conferencing Help Your Business? | Huddle’s Blog. â€Å") Video chat also helps businesses save money by allowing them to communicate and have business meetings without having to travel to a different country or state. Communicating through smart phones has also enables customers to call, email or even video chat with companies when they have a complaint or problem with a product. When a customer has a predicament, it is a simple as either a phone call or email to the company to help them go through trouble-shooting steps to solve their problem. â€Å"Business Support Systems (BSS), and Operation Support Systems (OSS) are two types of support offered by today’s businesses that are essential to help create and maintain customer relationships. (BSS: Business Support System | NetworkDictionary. ) Another way that businesses show support to their customers is by offering live video chat support. Many businesses have live chat links on their company’s website, which allow customers to have a one on one conversation to solve their problem. All of these benefits are given to consumers thanks to the advancements of smart phones. Contrary to the benefits of communication from smart phones, the ability to use applications on iPhones, Blackberries and Droids have also had a significant outcome on today’s firms. Applications on these smart phones assist consumers by allowing the companies to service their customers through the app, or by letting customers purchase merchandise through the application. IPhone, blackberry, and Droid apps all help businesses service to their customers by allowing them to conveniently use the service given from the company on their smart phone. An example is the banking company â€Å"Chase†, who allows their customers to deposit check and transfer money to different peoples accounts through their smart phone apps. (Bruene, Jim. â€Å"Chase Bank’s Jot App Shows the Future of Mobile Transaction Processing (NetBanker). ) By allowing these services through their applications, businesses like Chase Banking help create a positive relationship with their customers. An essay titled â€Å"The Effectiveness Of Branded Mobile Phone Apps† said â€Å"Smart phone apps focus attention on the user, and therefore encourages making personal connections with the brand. † (Duane, Varan, et al. â€Å"The Effectiveness Of Branded Mobile Phone Apps. â€Å") These applications don’t just allow their customers to enjoy services offered by companies, but they also empower their customer to purchase goods with the help of apps. An article written by Christina Warren said, â€Å"Over the last few years, in-app purchases have become an increasingly common way for mobile app developers to enhance their mobile products and services. † (Warren, Christina. â€Å"4 Ways In-App Purchasing Will Change Mobile. â€Å") Many big name clothing brands, equipment-selling companies, and even restaurants allow smart phone users to purchase their product through smart phone apps. An example is Dominoes, whose app lets users order and pay for pizza all with the help of their apps. Dominoes made over 1. million dollars off their iPhone application last year. (Kats, Rimma. â€Å"Domino’s Pizza IPhone App Generates More than $1. 3M in Sales. â€Å") Smart phone applications have changed businesses all over the world by allowing them to sell their products and services through the benefits of their applications. Smart phones have helped businesses become more effective by allowing them to communicate between business associates and customers and with the help of applications. Technological advancements have helped businesses develop and progress through out the years of the technology era. These developments include computers and the Internet, the improvements in transportation, and the inventions of smart phones. These inventions and creations have helped businesses sell more of their products and services, helped create brand awareness for companies, and assisted in creating and maintaining positive relationships with their customers. A world without technology would make a huge difference in business because without technology, these companies wouldn’t have Emails, computer storage, online stores, globalization of their company, shipping, rapid communication or smart phone applications.