Communications Revolution and its Impact on Managing Organisations Effectively
| Date | 01 July 1991 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635579110008913 |
| Pages | 15-19 |
| Published date | 01 July 1991 |
| Author | John E. Bredehoft,Brian Kleiner |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Communications
Revolution and
its Impact on
Managing
Organisations
Effectively
John E. Bredehoft and Brian Kleiner
COMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION
AND ITS
IMPACT
ON
MANAGING ORGANISATIONS EFFECTIVELY
15
Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 91 No. 7, 1991, pp. 15-19,
© MCB University Press Limited, 0263-5577
I
f businesses are to succeed, they will need
to keep pace not only with technological
improvements themselves, but also with
ways of dealing with these new opportunities.
The last 40 years have seen advances in communications
technology as well as changes in business communications.
It is difficult to pinpoint one particular technological
development that launched the information age. John
Naisbitt considered the launching of Sputnik in 1957 as
the turning point, since Sputnik made global satellite
communications possible. Others have advanced 1970 as
the year, since that was the year in which the microchip
was invented. Of course, many other technological
innovations have taken place, including the computer, the
microcomputer, computer networking and conferencing,
electronic mail, on-line financial databases, transaction
systems, television and VCR, audioconferencing,
telephone advances including cellular phones, facsimile
machines and so forth, and (lest we forget) the bleeper.
All of these advances are used in business today. Not only
are existing businesses using the available technology, but
entirely new industries have come into being. Sales
information from the other side of the country (or the
world) is reaching corporate headquarters more quickly
and in ever-increasing amounts. Telemarketing companies,
computer software firms, and laser printing service
bureaux are but three examples of
new
industries brought
about by the communications explosion.
However, the technology itself
did
not cause the rapid rise
in business communications; in fact, it could be argued
that business communications needs helped to spur the
technological advances. For example, when Manufacturers
Hanover Corporation first adopted computers in the 1960s,
it did not do so because computers were the newest
technological gadget; it adopted computers to meet a
pressing business need, namely, to control an increase
in paper work.
No matter what the cause, however, it is clear that
business communications are very different from what
they were 40 years ago. Don A. Dillman has identified
11 specific effects of the information age. These can be
summarised into three main categories.
• The first effect has been on the speed of business
communications. Information which once took days
or weeks to travel from one place to another can
now reach its destination in seconds. As we shall
see,
the speed of business communications also
affects the rate of change in the business
community.
• The second effect has been on the distance over
which timely information can be transmitted. Not
only can a Los Angeles corporate office receive
useful data from a division in Hong Kong or Paris,
but (perhaps more surprisingly!) that same Los
Angeles corporate office can receive useful data
from an entry-level office worker in Victorville.
Miniaturisation of technologies has contributed to
this.
• As the speed and the effective distance of business
communications increase, this naturally leads to an
increase in the volume of communications.
Companies which were once starved of information
are now smothered in it.
What implications do these effects of the communications
explosion have on the effective management of
organisations? This article will examine organisational
management in the midst of the communications
explosion, paying special attention to the problems and
opportunities caused by the increased volume of
communications. First, however, speed and distance issues
will briefly be considered.
Speed and Distance of Communications
As mentioned above, information that would take days or
weeks to travel by mail can now arrive in seconds via
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