TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

It is widely known that small and medium enterprises play an important role in the vitality of local economies around the globe.

I was recently reminded just how important SMEs are as growth engines of our economies and that very moment I got stuck to this very famous quote “I think, therefore I am” a theory of existence proved by philosopher Rene Descartes.

I am referring to this quote because technology has taken the responsibility of every business organisation to show their actual existence.

Technology is viewed as a means to save time and effort. In recent past it is seen that technology is transforming innovation at its core, allowing companies to test new ideas at speeds and prices that were unimaginable even a decade ago. They can stick features on Web sites and tell within hours how customers respond. They can see results from in-store promotions, or efforts to boost process productivity, almost as quickly.

Advancement of technology has increased the level of competition and performance in various sectors of industry by broadening their innovation capacity.

Technology beyond the use of emails alone, has helped to move some businesses past the word of mouth and traditional print advertising approaches by introducing social networking platforms, e-commerce tools, customer relationship management techniques and other internet based activities that help spread the word about the business thus enhancing reach and online visibility.We all understand that technology has become the backbone of every organisation. But we still lack by using it in appropriate way. Let us now understand how technology helps us in expanding and controlling our business:
Marketing and customer acquisition is expensive and time consuming as it is usually based on referrals and not a structured activity defined by a specific process.

Due to new technologies doing business is more easy and cost saving. Now communications are instantaneous, huge amounts of information move through email and the Internet and powerful tools are in the hands of owners and employees. Innovations in technology have improved operations at companies of all sizes and helped turn small local businesses into global businesses.

We have observed there will be better payoffs for customers. Their likes and dislikes will have much more impact on companies’ decisions. In globally competitive markets, they will ultimately end up getting products and services tailored to their needs.

Earlier there were no employee bank accounts; attendance records were maintained manually and employee were recruited via reference. These things were time consuming hence HR could not work much on the growth and welfare of staff.

But after coming up of new technologies a new modern market has taken place where the responsibilities of HR has changed which include recruitment and training, oversight of legal and regulatory compliance, benefits administration and the safeguarding of confidential employee information, along with many more.

Technology slowly making its way into the supply chain the logistic operations have become more beneficial and informative.Logistics businesses totally depend on I.T. services to maintain high efficiency standards and ensure good service to customers.Social networking websites, apps has improved market logistics operations by linking the numbers of your supply chain through network communications which has also increased the productivity and reduced the time.

According to Federal Bureau of investigation annually uncountable cargo theft takes place. But now technology has made logistics more secure. This can be done by attaching a transmitting device to cargo so as to track and monitor cargo all through its journey, using wireless communication.

Hence, technology is leveling the small business playing field. Today’s entrepreneurs are using technology that, just a few years ago, was the exclusive property of large enterprises As technology becomes cheaper, more powerful and more accessible, the costs of starting and operating a business decrease, while the opportunities for small business innovation increase.

The growth of Internet, broadband networks, social networking software and mobile computing are obvious examples of trend that is powering the business organisations. It has also helped in enhancing small business innovation opportunities in manufacturing logistics, customer service, finance and almost every other business activity.

PUBLISHED ARTICLE: http://smbconnect.in/blog/technology-and-innovation/