TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES NOW IN THEIR INFANCY

Alvin Toffler, in his book The Third Wave, develops the concept of the electronic cottage. At some distant time, he predicts, most employees will work in their own homes, where electronic equipment will permit instant communication with and directions from a central management source. Teachers will teach from their homes. Production workers will use sophisticated equipment to produce parts for a company miles away. Commuting to factories, skyscrapers, and other workplaces will be a thing of the past for many. People who live together will work together.

The electronic cottage may or may not become a reality, but many other changes will occur. Transportation, manufacturing, banking, medical, retailing, education, and government facilities are feeling the impact of change. As a management person, you will be caught in the middle. When sweeping changes come from above, it will be your responsibility to see that they are accepted by those who work below you. Even more critical, you will need to teach employees new techniques and procedures so that change can take place. Wherever you work as a supervisor, technological change will make your role more difficult. You can view these changes as opportunities to prepare yourself for a higher position, or you can take a negative view and eliminate yourself from the race.

When May heard that her firm would adopt a more sophisticated computer system, her first reaction was negative. As an operations officer, she knew the change would involve substantial new responsibility for her. She would have to undergo additional training that would be difficult. Besides learning new skills, she would have to spend many hours of additional time helping her nine employees adjust. At first she even considered changing her career. But after talking things over with a close friend, she decided to turn the announcement into an opportunity. She said to herself, “If computers are going to dominate this industry, then I am going to dominate the computers so that I can use my skills to increase my upward mobility.” She promptly enrolled in an Institute of Financial Education course that would improve her skills with computers. She also enrolled in a general course in data processing at a local college, and she welcomed the information provided by the computer firm. May was determined to take advantage of change to improve her own future. Her superiors were quick to recognize her positive attitude toward changes over which they, too, had little control.