2010

Industrial Technology Speciman Exam Sample Answer

Discuss the issues that the management of the company needs to consider before the introduction of new technology.
This sample answer was constructed from a cross section of student work and is one opinion on what would receive good marks for this section.

There are many issues that need to be considered before the introduction of the new technology. In terms of structural factors, better communication can become take place due to new technology, when referring to better communication, new technology can include smartphones, tablet computers and etc. This can allow for flatter structures in the structure of the company by reducing middle management due to increased communication from the new technology. The only downside to this would be costs to incorporate such technology would be quite high but the positives in this case do outweigh the negatives as effective communication is essential in a company and should be a high priority Another positive impact new technology such as the above could have on the company would be making the company more efficient in a lot of aspects, for example, the company could become more efficient in decision making, communication and even production, efficiency is very important for a company because in some cases they can produce more or the same amount with lesser resources and money. By increasing communication throughout the business, and falattening the structure, the company needs less people to consult before making a decision, in turn leading to a more efficient problem solving process. A brand new technology could improve the production capacity of a company, which all companies strive for. The new technology may be a renewable energy source (solar panels, wind power) and can let the company save more money through saving on traditional power costs, therefore making it efficient, by uses less resources, spends less in the creation for their product. By being a green product and marketing as such, the company could also sell more goods through this new technology, then the company becomes exceedingly efficient. Staying in the positive aspect, companies introducing new technology can use the environmental factors to their advantage. They can promote things such as the use of recyclable materials that are used in the technology and this could also relate the managing and sales how it can be taken to a positive level. More and more people are starting to raise awareness about the welfare of the nature and this could be used to the company's advantage. This will also be a positive level when it comes to the government legislation as it will be more likely to be approved seeing that what the company will be introducing would be of the government's favour thus creating a better look for the company.
13/3/11 8:39 PM Comment: Names factor 13/3/11 8:39 PM Comment: Identifies effect 13/3/11 8:39 PM Comment: Gives example 13/3/11 8:39 PM Comment: Syllabus reference. 13/3/11 8:41 PM Comment: Discussion (Negative) 13/3/11 8:41 PM Comment: Discussion (positive) 13/3/11 8:41 PM Comment: Link to efficiency

13/3/11 8:43 PM Comment: Eg of new technology 13/3/11 8:44 PM Comment: Link to environmental 13/3/11 8:44 PM Comment: Link to marketing and higher sales 13/3/11 8:49 PM Comment: Marketing linked to environmental factors

The management of the company must ensure that the new technology is producing the company's product at the same rate or faster than the current technology. This is an important issue as it determines the speed of the products being produced and how many is produced affects the money made by hoe much is sold. Production time must also be addressed for the reason that longer production time will result in a larger energy consumption, and requiring more staff to be present to ensure smooth operation. However a possible setback would be the installation time or the time it takes to implement the new technology and the time it takes for the technology to be up and running completely. Without the right training this can take days weeks and even months. Training can be another setback, the time it takes for people to be trained to use the new technology costs time and money which can sacrifice the overall productivity of the company. Finally wages must be taken into consideration. Training costs, installation costs and the cost of the new system altogether will affect the company for a certain period of time. Installing the new system will cut out of valuable production time, as will the training of new staff. In order to ensure that everyone knows how to operate the new system will take quite some time. In this case operation may slow down for a period of time. Problems that may occur when integrating these new production techniques are the high possibility that employees may have to be laid off due to unnecessary numbers of personnel because some may be replaced by machines. Installing this technology may discontinue the work of employees. There would be training needed to learn how to use the new technology and orientation for OHS principles and requirements, such as handling of materials, signing, safe working practice/ first aid tutorials and purchase of PPE (personal protective equipment). This is a sociological issue as workers should not be disadvantaged by changes in technology. Sociological factors of a company concern the employees and the workplace community. The introduction of new technology can either be beneficial or negative towards these factors of the company depending on the employees themselves. The new technology can be negative in a sense that it has disrupted the organisation and brought down an overhaul of production techniques which need to be learned. The new technology can also increase the workload for each employee or cause the company to hire more staff. The employees will have a negative attitude towards the new technology if it drastically changes the workplace function and when the workers arent happy, the company will not run smoothly. However if the new technology, after being learned, assists and relieves the workload by being more efficient then past times, than the employees will have a positive attitude towards the workplace community which means more productivity and happier workplace. Another topic which affects the personnel is OHS or Occupational health and safety. An obvious issue that may affect the employee is physical damage from the new tech. For example, the handling of certain materials and technological equipment may be harmful to the employee if not conducted correctly. So safe practice training should be compulsory, even for pre-exsisting employees as it would be a good move for the company in terms of certain issues, i.e. if someone is injured, the company can claim they were trained sufficiently and they were at fault. Personal protective equipment should also be compulsory for certain tasks in the workplace and provided by the employees.

13/3/11 8:46 PM Comment: Production (really well explained)

13/3/11 8:45 PM Comment: Installation time 13/3/11 8:45 PM Comment: Link to training (personell)

13/3/11 8:48 PM Comment: Cost issue, linked to new staff/training

13/3/11 8:50 PM Comment: Personell issue. 13/3/11 8:50 PM Comment: OHS

13/3/11 8:50 PM Comment: Personell

13/3/11 8:51 PM Comment: Workplace environment/culture

13/3/11 8:52 PM Comment: OHS