Post-module assignment cover page

“Name JC van Rensburg”

“Student number 10628”

“Company MTN South Africa”

Management of Technology and Innovation
“Programme Learnership”

“Module Management of Technology”

“Workshop date 23 May 2018”

“Facilitator Jayesh Reddy”

“Submission date 22 June 2018”

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assignment I read the Learning Contract provided at registration in terms of the
following:”

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my own, unless otherwise stated.”
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understand the content of this module and have integrated and
applied this content in my assignment.”

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learning level of this programme and integrated them into this
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criteria against which my assignment will be assessed.”

“I acknowledge that by submitting this assignment electronically I have de facto signed

the declaration that the work is my own unless otherwise stated.”

“Signature: JC van Rensburg” “Date: 22 June 2018”

Sensiti The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management (Pty) Ltd

Registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private
vity:
higher education institution under the Higher Education Act, 1997.
MTN Registration Certificate No. 2004/HE07/003
Interna
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 MOTI – Post Module
Assignment

Management of Technologies

Completed by: JC van Rensburg

Completed on: 22 June 2018
Due Date: 22 June 2018

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 Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1
Technology in the Workplace....................................................................................................3
Ethical Issues............................................................................................................................ 6
Benefits of Implementing New Technology...............................................................................6
Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Technology....................................................8
Integrating Technology into Business Processes......................................................................8
Benchmarking........................................................................................................................ 9
Execution............................................................................................................................... 9
Support Teams.................................................................................................................... 10
Expectations........................................................................................................................ 10
Training............................................................................................................................... 10
Integrating New Technology and its Impact on Innovation, Systems and People...................11
Benefits of Change.............................................................................................................. 11
Benefits of Process Improvement........................................................................................11
Benefits of Training.............................................................................................................. 12
Key Technology Drivers for Business.....................................................................................12
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 13
References............................................................................................................................. 14

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 Introduction

What would happen if companies understood their own employees better than they
understand their customers?

This may be regarded as a simple question, because we intuitively already know the answer
and the benefits.

It’s actually why Amazon does such a good job of showing us what we interested in, why
Facebook curates our news feed for individual relevance, and why applications like Spotify
and Netflix are actually differentiated on algorithms that are learning our preferences to
customise our experiences.

At home we have choice. We choose to do business with companies that have figured out
how to personalise our news, shopping, entertainment, travel and other needs.

BUT, then we go into work…...

At work, it’s one size fits all; policies, processes and tools. To effectively address this type
of issue, we first need to understand why roughly 70% of staff today are disengaged at work.
This is going to require people at work to resolve this issue. These people will be part of
organizations, and these organizations will have managers and management is a
technology.

When we think about technology more broadly, the human being has made incredible
progress over the last 100 years. Think about the state of medicine, automotive, aerospace,
and contrast that with work then and work now:

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 If you consider how technology has radically transformed industries and contrast that with the
fact the management of technology has not kept pace. In other words, technology has
evolved, but the management of technology has not.

Industries are rapidly evolving and work has not. Organizations today are drowning in
processes. They have processes for everything; process for planning, a process for
budgeting, process for performance reviews, and process for approvals. A process to change
processes and process on how to communicate and how to train to change processes. This is
simply too many processes!

Leerom Segal, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Klick Inc. was
invited to the TEDGlobal University to share his thoughts on management technology.

In his sharp talk, Leerom Segal asked members to think of management at work as a tool that
should be adaptable, reactive and need of an upgrade. He discussed the importance of
knowing employees as much, if not more than customers, and using the data to implement
empathetic and progressive leadership.

In the high-performance world of formula one racing, Ferrari has been doing it for a very long
time. They were the first to build a data centre to collect and analyse telemetry (remote
monitoring of dozens of sensors in the car during an actual race), weather, and strategic data
in real time so they can coach the drivers by whispering in their ear things like they can skip
the pit or go harder on the brakes.

UPS, the Global Leaders in shipping and logistics, has a program called Orion (or On-Road
Integrated Optimization and Navigation) where they collapsed eighty pages of math into a
heads-up display which enables drivers to optimize delivery routes in regard to distance, fuel
and time.

The results say that drivers get home earlier to see their families. Mileage is down which is
good for profit in the environment, customer satisfaction is up where it should be, and they
have been saving lives through an insight which they didn’t have which is most accidents were
happening during left hand turns.

So, what’s next?

100 Years ago, Henry Ford said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have
said faster horses.”

Well email is the “faster horse”. What makes it worse is it gives us the illusion we going faster,
while allowing others to reprioritize.

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 Organizations need to re-think their policies, processes and tools. More importantly
challenge their way of thinking.
Albert Einstein said “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we
created them.”

Management of technology got us this far, but it will require progressive and empathetic
leadership combined with the right tools to reengage the 70% to collectively work on all the
important issues/challenges organizations face.

Technology in the Workplace

Technology can either hinder or improve the employees’ productivity but, if technology is
properly used, it would definitely have a positive impact.

In a workplace, using technology correctly will:

– Promotes easy and fast collaboration of tasks.

– Ease of communication and fast job outputs.
– Better data security.
– Creates an open, communicative environment and expands networking.
– Time efficiency.
– Quality training sessions help understand new technology.
– Supports innovation.
– Reduces costs.
–
– Motivated employees.

Technology has been a great advancement in the world of organizations and ways of
managing work. As companies develop, the impact of technology in the workplace increases.

In my opinion, one of the greatest technological inventions of our time is the invention of digital
devices. The digital device such as the cell phone, laptop and tablet has vastly improved our
communication and improved efficiency.

As a result of the success of technology, disadvantages may also appear. It is a double-edged

sword as it causes multiple distractions and interruptions.

The main disadvantages of using technology:

– Deterioration of large-scale interpersonal relationship skills.

• These relationships are very important in the world we live in, where everyone
depends on others to survive.

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 – Disruptive Productivity.
• The internet has provided many benefits throughout the workplace and through
the creation of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, all
are known to be “time wasters”. Although companies may block these sites,
employees may still use their own devices. It has become harder to keep
people focussed on work.

– High levels of stress; too much work and more prone to errors.
• This happens, because of work overload as employees can manage their work
from just about anywhere via their email, text messages, What’s App, video
calls etc. and not allowing separation between their working time with their rest
time.

Telecommunications is an all-encompassing word. It means everything from satellites,

landlines, the internet, and other devices moving voice or data through lines or wirelessly.

Whether communications be a smart phone, email or internet, the reliability of these systems
is the direct responsibility of the voice and data communications team at MTN.

MTN’s group technology vision, “To pro-actively support MTN to become a leading
convergence
player in emerging markets by becoming an agile and service centric organisation that utilises
relevant technologies to create business value while improving cost efficiency,” plays the key
driver for its technology evolution, driving growth through connectivity, communication and
collaboration solutions over world-class ICT infrastructure.

There is a continuing decline in the use of landlines, and a continuing rise in the use of
wireless, internet, satellites and entertainment.

The landline is quickly becoming a thing of the past and being rapidly replaced by the Smart
Phone for consumers and on the commercial side by VoIP (Voice over Internet Provider).
Technology now allows for terrific telephone calling sent through the internet by way of
packets of data.

Technology is making great strides in the way a global telecommunications infrastructure

works. MTN offers the use of its software as a service instead of hardware. In other words,
software as a network or software-driven that replaces vast banks of switches, hardware and
equipment.

Emerging companies like AT&T has built one of the world’s largest wireless networks. AT&T
also purchased one of the largest satellite distribution companies in the world, Direct TV, to
boost its already existing delivery of television and entertainment over its systems.

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 Innovation therefore plays an important role in technology management. It also therefore key
to be able to identify and analyse different phases of growth and the decline of a certain
product or service.

One such tool aimed at identifying and analysing data to help marketers make long term plans
and design company strategies around existing products and new product launches was
commonly known as the Diffusion of Innovations Model by Everett M. Rogers in 1995.

Figure 2: The Diffusion of Innovations Model

The most striking feature of the diffusion theory is that the innovation-decision depends
heavily on the innovation-decisions of the other members.

The rate at which technology is developing, mutating and adapting is so fast that you can’t
help but be swept away in a tidal wave of progress whether we ready for it or not. Technology
has literally changed every aspect in the way businesses operate. And never before in history
has that change occurred so quickly.

Here are some ways technology helped change business:

1. Cloud Computing - Cloud computing allows any size business, large, medium or
small to move some of their operations to third party servers via internet connectivity.
Not only does this allow for variable data packages, but also for quick on demand
expansion and mobility without the fear of downtime, crashing or data loss.

2. Mobile Solutions - Mobile friendly websites and applications.

3. Connectivity – Technology has also increased the ease in which we can stay in
touch. Whether it’s having our co-workers and employees available via video call at a
moment notice or to send targeted emails to customers. The rise of mobile technology
has almost blended perfectly with the communications software to create a hyper real
web of real time information.

4. Decreased Downtime – The rise of technology does have its shortcomings in

business alike. There doesn’t seem to be any downtime for individuals anymore. We
always have access to our emails, text or work via the smart phone, laptop or tablet.

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 5. Social Impact – The rise of social networks has made the connected world smaller
allowing for customers to connect with us at anytime, anywhere.

More and more business that fail to adapt are going to find themselves left behind while the
savvy ones who want to keep up will reap the rewards.

We don’t have to rebuild the business from the ground up, we just have to know how
technology effects business and how to use this technology to our advantage.

These are just a few ways how technology is fundamentally changing organizations not just
here at home, but all around the world.

Ethical Issues

Another important aspect to the ever-changing world of technology and innovation is ethics in
the workplace.

Well having technology play such an integral role throughout the workplace, using the
utilitarianism theory to explain some of the ethical issues:

Utilitarianism, at its most basic, states that something is moral, or good when it produces the
greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. It's a theory of normative ethics
that asks whether a specific action is good or bad, moral or immoral.

Good employees employ good business practices. It’s up to the business owner to make sure
the team knows the rules of the tech game at work. Teach them, be open and honest. Be
respectful of employee integrity. We may see fewer distractions and increased
productivity.

We cannot have control over technology and innovation; the better way to understand this is
to adapt and change. The role of ethics in technology is of managing rather controlling the
same. Continuous monitoring is required to keep track of latest innovations and technological
changes and for ensuring fair practices.

Benefits of Implementing New Technology

When introducing new technology into the field, no matter how new, the most important thing
to remember is, it will only be achieved if it makes the life of the user easier.

Telecommunication organizations like MTN (Mobile Telephone Network) are always in the
race to effectively try to improve its products and services to their end users and by
downplaying its competitors.

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 Ranging from products like voice and data price plans designed especially for consumers and
corporate customers alike. By connecting more users, the company can begin to generate
positive income while occupying more market share.

But, what about reverse logistics?

Companies are often quick to launch new products and services. Considering the
implementation of new tech, although it shows positive innovation, it would be seemingly
unrealistic to think that after implementing new tech, there would be no disadvantages. The
thing to keep in mind is to ensure that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and the
best way to ensure this is by getting the involvement of the whole team before the new
business plan goes live.

It is the front facing employees that tends to have a little more insight to possible challenges
and have the know how into how to address them.

These products and services offered need to undergo vigorous testing.

A significant and distinctive example of implementation of new tech without being subjected to
extreme testing is the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Samsung attempted to make the users life
simpler and convenient by manufacturing a more efficient battery, resulted in making a very
literal ticking time bomb. This may have been detrimental for the brand.

Because of this the phones became unstable to the point of incendiary. As a result, the tech
was completely scrapped. The lesson is still just as important and relevant today. If new
technology that’s being introduced hasn’t been thoroughly tested and doesn’t make life more
convenient for the end user, then it will certainly not succeed.

Organizations must develop quality training programs. If everyone involved is well informed
about how to use the technology, pushback against the implementation will likely be less. It
will also help with the understanding of how to effectively and quickly resolve problems -
reverse logistics.

Furthermore, employees who undergo training with the new technology, not only will their
productivity increase, but their level of skill as well; better customer service habits and on
selling.

It's extremely important for organizational leaders to recognize the importance of training their
employees on new technology and to take a proactive approach.

Every company has competition, whether local or global. Even if you don't have competition
because the product or service offered is so unique and new, you are probably competing with
yourself and against time and money.

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 Employees who do not receive training may become resistant to change and become
stagnant. This can really have a negative impact on performance since technology is driving
so many changes in work place.

To be able to understand the new technology is more important than ever for an organization
to stay competitive and survive.

Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Technology

Technology is changing learning in corporate settings. New technology has influenced the
delivery of training.

Em ployee
Control

Continuel Em ployee
Feedback Access

TEC HNOLOG Y

Reduced Realistic
Adm in Experiance

Em ployee
Choice

Figure 3: Technology-based training methods

Technology today has made several benefits available to employees:

1. Control over when and where employees receive training.

2. Using expert systems to access and gain knowledge.
3. Using virtual reality applications and simulations, the learning environment can look,
feel and sound just like the workplace.
4. Training programs allow employees to choose what the type of media; print, sound,
video etc. that they want to use.
5. All training material can be handled electronically, reducing the amount of paper work.
6. Employees training, progress and accomplishments can be monitored online and can
be delivered to trainees rather than requiring them to attend at central location.

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 This type of training is beneficial as it allows for immediate feedback on employees
understanding and links the learners with a formal training event should the need for a formal
session arise.

Integrating Technology into Business Processes

Change that occurs in business organizations generally drives advances in technology. One
of the ways to stay competitive in today’s ever changing business environment is to stay on
top of the tech world that impacts the industry.
Considering the impact on organizations, its employees, customers, suppliers and the
stakeholders, the business strategies including that of acquiring the new technology must be
guided by the business best practices at all times.

Technology: Through the years

Figure 4: Technology – Advancement in years

Benchmarking

Strategy-centric projects implementing new technology should align its goals and objects
according to the company’s goals and business objectives.

Following the example of:

A company’s business objective may be to roll-out new data packages to cater for a specific
market. This particular objective may increase the efficiency of the associated business
processes and help decrease production costs and time if new technology is implemented.

Execution

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 Necessary time-frames to execute on implementing of new technology may be determined by
factors involving:

– The complexity of new technology.

– Requirements based on replacing old technology.
– Level of importance the new technology plays in accordance to the company’s
business processes.

Before rolling-out of the new technology, product or service, a phased in implementation

process allows rigorous testing of the new technology’s capabilities. The process helps with
the delivery and integration of the new technology within budget and time frames.

Support Teams

In support of the new technology, a 24/7 support service may be provided through the
developer or supplier. It is not the most cost-effective approach to develop in-house support
teams to support delivery of new technology, unless technical support personnel already exist.

Monitoring and management of new technology can be redistributed through outsourced

partners. This may include support for:

 Technology infrastructure.
 Hardware.
 Software.
 Applications.
 Communications.
 Customer service desk.

Expectations

Organizations will have to plan ahead and set realistic expectations about the impact of the
new technology. Individuals, employees and customers, will also have to adapt to the
changes.

Risks involving the failure of new technology may arise and therefore increased costs.
Management should perform Risk Assessments and develop contingency plans in response
to worst-case scenarios.

Training

Most importantly, personnel must be briefed and well versed on how to properly use and how
to apply the changes created by the new technology.

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 To make life much more efficient, convenient and providing better service to the end users (or
customer), business must also inform them of the changes and improvements to business
processes and procedures created by the new technology.

Building positive relationship with customers is just as important as introducing new

technology. You can’t have one without the other.

Integrating New Technology and its Impact on Innovation, Systems and People

For any organization to remain relevant and competitive and to meet their customer
expectations and needs, businesses need to adapt to an ever-changing global economy.

To remain competitive, organizations must continually evolve its technology and make the
required changes to both their processes and procedures. Organizations must skilfully
introduce new technology and manage any challenges when implementing the changes.

Managing this kind of change properly may provide remarkable benefits and have a positive
impact on organizational innovation, systems and people. Problems may arise when new
technology is implemented without proper management and training of their employees.

Benefits of Change

There are a lot of benefits to both the organization and its employees because of the change
in technology. Technology change may increase efficiency, improve the quality of processes
and customer service, roll-out or launch new products and services to market faster and
develop the much-required skillset of employees’.

New technology may also offer benefits like enhanced communication, cost reduction and
help bring in new innovation quicker.

More organizations are adopting to new ways of work such as telecommuting. With this idea
in mind, technology may increase employee engagement and productivity. This benefit may
allow employees to work from home at times more convenient to them, regardless of location.

The use of new technology may help make organizations more nimble and adaptable to the
changes known to their comparatives.

Benefits of Process Improvement

Gaining better market share, organizations must look at more creative and effective methods
of improving their processes.

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 New technology may once again help to improve processes by either changing them or by
creating a new one altogether. This is usually achieved by aligning the strategy and vison of
the organization.

Sometimes the strategy and vison may be reviewed to accommodate the new technology in
order to deliver better quality products and services.
The new technology tool, once selected and approved, must be communicated and
introduced to the employees.
The impact to business when organizations fail to properly introduce their planned changes
successfully, may result in possible market share loss, stakeholder credibility, negative staff
morale and loss of key personnel.

Benefits of Training

Training on new technology needs to take place once the decision for the change(s) has been
communicated to employees’.

It is best practice to complete a training needs assessment to determine what needs to be

covered, who should attend the training, how it should be delivered and when it should be
delivered; allowing enough time for the training to be delivered and practiced before
implementation occurs.

The benefits of training can directly impact employees’ intentions on how to use the new
technology as well as their understanding of just how important and useful it will be not only to
the organization, but to their customers.

Key Technology Drivers for Business

You heard the saying, “Turnover is vanity. Profit is sanity”.

This expression reminds us that it’s much more important to focus on improving profit than it is
to improve turnover or sales.

Customers are changing and a great product is no longer enough. Failing to meet their
expectations will impact the bottom line. The competition also is changing. Being bigger may
have been better, but today being SMARTER and FASTER win the race.

Today some products and services are just not profitable. For this reason, organizations need
to optimize profit in order to grow and sustain itself. Technology is changing and will change
the way we work.

The McKinsey Corporation predicted that 45% of knowledge workers will be redundant over
the next 5 years.

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 What does that mean besides a “good eye catcher” for a headline?

We need to dig deeper and understand the context of the changes. In my opinion, every
economy will find a way to deal with these changes and see them as opportunities.

Technology is a key driver of innovation and is the heart of any technology organization.
Below are 10 key technology drivers that have the biggest impact on business today:

1. Productivity – Measuring economic growth by how efficiently inputs are converted

into outputs. This is a key driver.
2. Finance – One of the most important aspects of any organization. Have the right
accounting expertise or hire highly qualified people.
3. Growing Profit – Getting more customers and getting customers to spend more.
4. Customers – Invest in customers, learn what they want and keep record or an
updated customer base which is essential for ongoing expansion and sustaining the
organization.
5. Products and Service Offering – Incorporate systems that can analyse products and
services well, perform research on current markets and trends and what type of
technology is available.
6. Sales – Converting sales leads into sales.
7. Marketing and Branding – The link between the needs of the customer and
customers response to its products and services.
8. Strategic Vision – This is the organizations formal business plan providing support,
continuity assurance and sales that may be reviewed yearly or as and when new
business process owners come on board.
9. Technology – Cloud technology, robust email and good IT security system to save
guard all important information not only the organization, but its customer too.
10. Training & Development – Ensure staff are well versed in all systems, sales,
products and services for sustainability and growth.

These are all simple stuff that works!

Karlee Weinmann said, “If we just focus on trying to improve, small improvements in multiple
areas will lead to huge gains and huge yields.”

When you have a game plan in position for success and follow directions accordingly, any
business continues to experience passive residual success. It's all about humility, following
protocol, and being open to adapting to new and healthy business patterns.

Conclusion

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 The biggest challenge for any organization is managing employees’ acceptance of
technology change such as internal conflict or resistance by staff to the change.

When considering a new technology, organizational management should examine staff

training, communication and a multi-generational work force.

To address these areas, management may consider to develop a well-defined implementation

plan, an effective training schedule and open communication between employees and
management.
The number one benefit of technology is that it empowers people to do what-ever they want
to. It’s all about potential; being productive and creative.

In conclusion, “Technology is cool, but you've got to use it as opposed to letting it use
you.” – Prince.

References

Rogers, E. M. Diffusion of Innovations. Reviewed by Orr, G. 18 March 2003. Available at:

http://www.stanford.edu/class/symbsys205/Diffusion%20of%20Innovations.htm (Accessed on
19 June 2018).

Gleeson, P. How Does Technology Improve a Business? 15 March 2018. Available at:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/technology-improve-business-2188.html (Accessed on 19
June 2018).

Braathe, R. Two Common Technology Based Training Methods To Know About. 5 June 2016.
Available at: https://www.albany.com/hr/2016/06/two-common-technology-based-training-
methods-to-know-about/ (Accessed on 20 June 2018).

Weinmann, K. 12 Key success areas that drive business growth. n/d. Available at:
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/12-key-success-
areas-that-drive-business-growth/ (Accessed on 21 June 2018).

Mellen, C. Top 10 drivers to enhance Company Value. 26 January 2017. Available at:
https://www.valuationresearch.com/pure-perspectives/top-10-drivers-enhance-company-
value/ (Accessed on 22 June 2018).

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