Managing For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 15. Harnessing the Power of Technology

In This Chapter

• Using technology to help you

• Understanding the pros and cons of technology

• Improving efficiency and productivity

• Networking your organization

• Developing a technology plan

You've gotta love technology. Unfortunately, like everything else in life, technology has its good and bad points. On the upside, computers make our work lives much easier and more efficient. As long as your computer doesn't crash, it remembers everything you've done forever and makes completing repetitive tasks (like merging a letter with a 1,000-person mailing list) a snap. On the downside, computers can be an enormous waste of time. Instead of working, some people spend a significant portion of their workdays checking their Facebook accounts, bidding on items on eBay, and keeping track of the latest celebrity gossip.

You may automatically assume that your employees are more productive because they have computers at their fingertips, but are you (and your organization) really getting the most out of this innovative and expensive technology? Given how much money most companies invest in their information technology systems, hardware, and software, that can be a million-dollar question. Or more.

In this chapter, we explain how to harness information technology — technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms. We examine the technology edge and consider how technology can help or hinder an organization. We look at how technology ...