Implications of Transition from an Industrial Era to One of Information
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057462 |
| Pages | 3-4 |
| Date | 01 January 1987 |
| Published date | 01 January 1987 |
| Author | Robert Reck |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Implications of
Transition from
an Industrial Era
to One of
Information
by Robert Reck
Index International, London
Information technology is rapidly becoming a powerful
driving force in the modern world, stimulating new modes
of behaviour and creating new business opportunities. It is
essential for business and corporate managements to
understand that technology, not in the sense of its nuts and
bolts,
but by perceiving its influences within the social
sphere and potential within their own businesses.
The technology has emerged from its initial stage as a clever
labour-saving and cost-cutting function and now exerts an
all-pervasive influence which encompasses corporate
organisation and structure, product development,
manufacturing processes, distribution, customer relations,
retailing,
marketing and advertising. As the impact of the
information era permeates into society, it will induce
structural changes, new desires and attitudes, to which
successful businesses must respond. The momentum of
interaction between technology, business and society is
likely to accelerate in the years ahead.
This transition from an industrial to an information era is
evidenced by the decrease of industrial employment and
increasing employment of service and information workers
throughout the Western world. Over the last few years, there
has also been a radical growth of computer literacy, which
will have an increasing impact as today's young emerge into
adulthood.
Coupled with this is the development of user
friendly languages which even computer illiterates can
manage (i.e. cash dispensers). At the same time, certain
social trends can be identified which are dependent on, re-
active to, and influence developments in information
technology.
The profitability of many business organisations will depend
largely on the ability to identify these trends and apply
information technology imaginatively and strategically to
their advantage.
The social trends can be summarised under the headings
customisation, decentralisation, self-help, communication,
participation, and equally important, information overload,
and the change from an industrial to an information
application may be contrasted as follows:
standardisation—customisation
centralisation—decentralisation
dependence—self-help
transportation—communication
autocracy—participation
information scarcity—information overload.
The search for individualised products and an individualised
life-style is one of the characteristics of modem society;
although much of it is mass induced (eg. jeans, punk), the
aim is genuine enough. Sophisticated data-gathering
techniques and processing capabilities allow marketing
organisations to develop a detailed understanding of the
actual,
as opposed to the perceived, needs of existing and
potential customers. Armed with more detailed knowledge,
market-oriented manufacturers can produce customised
products to appeal to different segments of the market.
(Fifteen years ago women were blonde or brunette and
nobody bothered much about men's hair; now we
appreciate that women and men have many kinds of hair
requiring different shampoo treatments )
The introduction of robots into factories will considerably
reduce the size of minimum economic runs and will enable
much more profitable product proliferation. Information
technology also plays an increasingly important role in
linking consumer and manufacturer (facilitating retailer
ordering and stock management, so that retailers can
control a wider product range), and in reaching consumers
through advertising, or directly via mail/telephone/PC/video
catalogue ordering.
The dissatisfaction with large, centralised organisation has
been an important political factor over the last decade on
both sides of the Atlantic. In the business
field,
it is
evidenced in the renaissance of small businesses, many of
which have grown big enough to threaten the older,
established dinosaurs, both in the market-place and in the
take-over battles which have dominated the London stock
IMDS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY • 1987 3
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