Communication Program: Job analysis
Introduction
In the current context of organizational structure, various dynamisms have been seen in the communication systems of different organizations. Most firms strive to have their information system in place so that they can ensure proper coordination of various activities in the best way possible. The affiliation that exists between the preservation of formidable information system and a profound measure of the performance of a company is deemed to be substantial (Etchells, & Baker, 2002). Most organizations have tried to improve their information systems by making sure that they take keen concern on the various technological advancements that are seen in the propositions postulated in the current global context. Innovations are deemed quite indispensable whilst tackling the concept of high-level performance in any corporation. The most important step of any changes is to look into the various benefits that a particular innovation brings on board about the costs that accrue to the inception of the same innovation (Mehta, Montoye, & Gallogly, 2011). The Sustainability is also imperative, and its gives the company an opportunity to build a strong competitive stance in the market. The reliability of the transformation to be authentic and to drive the company in line with meeting its goals is essential. In this paper, we take a keen study on the innovation that needs to be implemented to help in the creation of a profound management information system that would be deemed quite useful in ensuring that the goals of the firm are met efficiently (Rogers, 2014). The innovation under discussion is the inception of an enterprise resource planning system that would bring on board the automation of various office process and make sure that most firms get the best out of this new information system. In particular terms, we would look into the real content of the innovation and the categories of adopters that would readily adopt it. Additionally, we give an incisive look into the diffusion of networks that the change is deemed to take. Furthermore, leadership opinion and the factors in change agent success for innovation will be discussed in details by dwelling on the centralized and the decentralized systems that are available for the inception of the novelty.
The content of job analysis
In the modern framework of organizational administration, there is a necessity to computerize the various production processes to reduce the numerous instances of bureaucracy. Enterprise resource planning is one of the innovations in the business industry that would help in making sure that the business processes are fast enough to encompass both the notion of reduced workflows and the cost effectiveness. Using the new technology that has been brought out by many technicians in the IT industry, a business process such as the purchase, transaction recording, and real-time business analysis could be easily automated (Gifford, Holloway, Frankel, Albright, Meyerson, Griggs, & Vickrey, 2015). Thereby reducing the costs and time constraints associated with this new invention. The innovation is strictly geared towards creating a high level of efficiency in the various workflows in the organization that would eventually reduce the various costs related to the coordination of work processes. For there to be a coordination of activities in the departments such as the finance, the administration, production and even the sales and distribution departments, there is need to be a high sense of well-stratified information system that would be deemed quite efficient for the organization. The enterprise resource planning is one of the latest innovations in the data management system that is considered to be quite important when it comes to the proper utilization of the resources of the company. In this innovations, there is need to incorporate various parties who will be charged with various pertinent tasks that are deemed to provide a higher stance of proficient management (Egan, & Egan, 2008). The administration is accused of the mandate of making sure that the different feasibility studies are done to give way to the various issues at hand that could help the company move forward regarding speeding up the workflow processes.
In complex organizations, there is always the advent of bureaucracy in the organization where the firm is involved in great transactions which require authorization from various departments. With the current organizational context, permission is done on a standard basis which requires a high level of bureaucracy. At this point, the ERP is very efficient in allowing the authorization to be quite faster. This innovation is backed by the fact that the authorizations will be automated to bring on board the advent of efficiency in the workflows (Tracy, 2013). The notion of automation comes from the fact that most of the departmental heads are quite conversant with the technological advancement that is seen to be a very critical issue in management. With informed training and advancement, there is a high possibility of adoption of this program in the most appropriate manner. The program would come as software which is deemed to be installed into the company communication network. The companionability of this application with the current computer system of the enterprise is critical since it will determine how workable the whole system is. The enterprise resource planning software is fitted with high level of security gadgets which makes it quite safe while dealing with it. The automation of the authorization of various types of commands makes the whole system to be faster regarding feedback, and also they are deemed traceable back to the authorizer.
The processes of implementation of these innovations entail the carrying out of a background check on the current information system regarding reliability, the usability, and the efficiency in ensuring a high level of workflows across the board. The background check on the current information system will help us reveal the various defaults that this type of information system has in regards to the maintaining the efficiency in the workflow and procedures of the company. The next step is to understand how the new regime of innovations would try to address these problems with keen attention to ensuring that the objectives of the firm are well up to date (Hillman, 2011). At this point, we would look into the diffusion networks that are presumed to be having an effect on the way in which the innovations should be incepted into the company.
Changes Agent roles
Change is barely if ever a smooth progression, particularly in business. For management change to emerge being a success, it ought to have four major features. Firstly there is needed visualization. The populace must be able to depict what the revolution will be and understand how they as personalities will fit into the innovative system. Additionally, there is needed to be an intention. This notion answers “why” mitigating the need for transformation. Thirdly, the change must have a stratagem, providing data on where, when and how it will be executed. The fourth feature of victorious change is the way in which the action should be taken (direction). Those citizens who drive change contained by a business are known as the change agents (Rogers, 2014).
In the implementation of change, the central vision for this innovation brought out by the enterprise resource planning is to see automated work processes with keen attention of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the company production. With this vision in place, the improvement will only be seen if the innovation is extensively diffused to a tune of 100% competency. Some of the most important issues that requires to be tackled is the inception of a well stratified and strategically-documented plan of implementation of the innovation (Henrichsen, 2009).
The principal purpose of this change is to streamline the different organizations’ structures into a highly automated scheme which are deemed to be quite relevant to the achievement of various production objectives and goals of the firm. One would ask the reason as to why the implementation of this innovation is very critical. In the recent past, most organizations have been faced with unprecedented incurring of costs that emanate from the bureaucratic nature of various organizational stances. Most managers take a longer time to authorize some of the pertinent issues that affect the production processes of the company (Schaller, 2012). The transcending effect of this Advent is that the company will incur the expenses like the stock out costs which will in turn eat into the enterprise’s profits. The coming up of a profound data structure is very essential in ensuring that the authorization is done in real time. The real-time execution of such duties makes the decision-making processes to be faster thereby reducing the stock out costs.
On the account of the strategy for implementation of this innovation, a thorough analysis would be done to come up with a schedule for execution of this project. A parallel changeover would be done in various parts of the organization to accentuate the compatibility of the whole project. Different parties are deemed to be implicated in the accentuating the change to effect this modernization in the organization. These parties include the strategic managers, the operational managers, technician or experts, subordinates and shareholders of the company. The roles and responsibilities of these parties in effecting the change for the innovation of the enterprise resource planning are as outlined below (Miller, & Lawton, 2002).
The technicians or the experts are charged with the responsibility of the documentation, the planning and the coming up with the best enterprise resource planning software that is very essential in implementing the same. In this prospect, the experts will carry out a business systems analysis with keen concern on the dynamism of the business at hand. Additionally, they would do the industry analysis on what has worked for the various institutions and what has not worked for the organizations concerning the innovation at hand (Havelock, & Zlotolow, 2005). In bringing on board a profound modernization in the computerization of the trade transactions, requires a high level of cost implication. The specialists will, consequently, do a cost-benefit investigation for the whole venture. In this prospect, the experts should ensure that the net present value of the advantages is higher than the initial and operational costs that come with this implementation. In carrying out this analysis, the professionals have to keep in mind the purpose of the firm and ensure that the objectives for the inception of the innovation are in line with the company’s goals. After writing and summarizing the vital points of the change, the experts will communicate their findings to the top level management (Henrichsen, 2009).
The tactical managers are always given the responsibility of making premeditated decisions. After the receipt of this project from the technicians, the management has to scrutinize the overall standing of the project in the improvement of both the productivity and the efficiency of the innovation to the company. In this prospect, the management would discern on whether the whole project is in line with both the short-term and the long-term objectives of the firm. This conception is quite imperative for the management since it dictates the sustainability of the business and how the corporation would be able to compete favorably in the industry. The shareholders are deemed to take an integral role in making sure that the enterprise objective of wealth maximization is adhered to (Rogers, Mortimore, Michigan State University., & Michigan State University, 1969). This notion has a transcending effect of making sure that the shareholders also take responsibility for the actions and decisions they take on investing in the innovation brought forward. The subordinates form a part of the decisive implementers of the entire ERP assignment. They form an integral part since they are directly involved in the various transactional processes systems that require real-time authorization. The most important aim of this scheme is to ensure that the delays brought out regarding information dissemination are reduced to provide a high level of efficiency of the company. In this sense, the bureaucracy would be automated in such a way that it gives much attention both to the timeliness and the efficiency of various production processes of the company (Vishwanath, & Barnett, 2011).
The intended delivery/ communication system,
The enterprise resources planning system is one that traverses the whole organizational structure. In this aspect, every stakeholder of the company should appropriately get the information on how this system should be implemented and the implication of each stage of implementation. Even as change takes place, the most important question is how the dissemination of information about the changes is effected to the various parties concerned. It should be noted that the best way in which the company should inculcate communication structure is a profound slice diagonal channel which is deemed quite substantial for the use by the various stakeholders in the organization. As outlined in the above instance of a communication network, the experts should give a detailed report about the innovation through one on one communication with the top-level management concerning the precepts of the project and how successful it could be implemented. The one on one communication with these strategic managers should be done after the copies of the whole analysis of the project have been supplied to the directors, and they are deemed to have read and scrutinized the entire project. The issuance of this project details before the general meeting is for the company managers to be quite familiar with every prescription of the project and it also allows them to prepare questions that they might want to address to the expert panel when they meet. In the one on one meeting with the managers, the experts should give much attention to the clear outlining of the much details of the project with the use of the visual arts, the PowerPoint presentations and factual connotations that would help in understanding the total prescriptions of the whole project. These interactive activities employed in communications acts as good grounds for correction and modification of the entire project in coherence with the perception of the managers in meeting the objectives of the firm.
The most suitable communication tools that should be used between the directors, the subordinates and the experts is through the use of print media such as posters which should be placed on notice boards on how the implementation of the ERP would be utilized. The roles of each subordinate in this whole activity would be communicated through the use of the emails where they would be able to read and understand their responsibilities. Additionally, an interactive social media platform would be created so that any employee who has any queries about the whole system could get the real time help from the discussion that they have on the forum. On the account of the way in which the systems would be interacted to bring the notion of high level of coordination of activities, there will be a weekly review of the development of the implementation process and the best way forward would be brought out in the event of any mishap.
Flow charts, the power point presentation, and video recordings will be used in making sure that the employees understand the prescriptions of the whole project and how successful it will bring productivity. It order to reduce the advent of resistance to change, various training will be initiated to educate the various employees on the technicalities of the whole project and how they are supposed to handle each point of technical difficulty. Additionally, the training should be done through public lectures where every participant is allowed to ask a question about the implementation stance of the whole project. The transcending effect of the entire scenario is that the company will in the long run have a high sense of understanding of the mission and the vision of which the whole project would be installed in the enterprise. In this prospect, every stakeholder will appreciate the inception of the entire project, and it will now be their obligation to make it work wholeheartedly.
Potential adopters of the innovation
As connoted by Rogers, many potential adopters could see this innovation as an opportunity of a lifetime and effect the change on the precepts of this innovation. The categories of the forthcoming adopters are entirely reliant on the character traits of these implementers and their social status. The first cluster of forthcoming adopters is the innovators. These groups have high societal, economic state of affairs and are deemed to be risk takers. Their high societal status allows them to quickly consumer the drawbacks that come due to the failure of the innovation they engage. A closer look at this specific type of changes of initiation of the software, the modernization adoption efficiency, is deemed to have a 62% rate of adoption. This low percentage is because these innovators are also quite ambitious and hence would rush into implementing the whole project without explicitly designing the precepts under which this entire project would be compatible with operational and the organizational context of the company. Again the main reason for this course is because the whole project of creation and the implementation of the innovations is quite costly and very complex. More time and investigation is required for the efficient implementation to be done which the innovators do not have. The low adoption rate in this prospect usually culminates into failed diffusion (Robinson, 2009).
The early adopters have the belief of leaning more on the judgment leadership for them to begin adopting this kind of the innovation. In accordance with Rogers, the early adopters have the high monetary liquidity, the high societal status, and advance education. One most important thing about these categories of adopters is that they are deemed to be quite discreet in making their choices of the implementation of the innovation as compared to the innovators. In this prospect, they are inclined to give more second thought to the whole accomplishment stance. The adoption rate for this category is 84% for this type of innovation (Radnor, Feller, Rogers, & Northwestern University Evanston, Ill. 1978). The relatively high adoption rate is because these adopters are quite aware of the dynamisms of the market, and they are prepared to understand it and make sure that they tackled them in the most appropriate way possible. Additionally, they take a longer period to espouse it than the innovators since they spend some more time to premeditate upon it prior to adoption.
The subsequent category of adopters for this modernization is the early majority. This class usually waits longer to adopt the change by studying the progress of the early adopters and the innovators. It should also be noted that they take a longer time to approve this project to give much attention to the challenges that the innovators and the early adopters have had and how they are deemed to understand and tackle them in the most appropriate way possible. This category comprises of the personalities who are risk unenthusiastic. They would only adopt the whole project if they can mitigate and reduce the various risks that come with it. The implementation efficiency for this category is deemed to be 95%. The high effectiveness in adoption rate is because they have tried and established the various means and ways in which they can successfully achieve the 100% optimal point of passage by looking at the failures of the early adopters and the innovators (Greenhalgh, Robert, & Bate, 2008).
The late majority and the laggards would eventually have to adopt this innovation after they have seen the benefits from those who have used it. The adoption will be forced by inevitability to transform. Failure for them to adopt this real innovation will render them obsolete. The notion is brought to book by the connotation that the technological advancement is quite dynamic and requires preparation for change at any point in time. As it stands, the adoption efficiency is deemed to be higher than that of the innovators since they will just be copying the already established innovation into their system (Valente, 2009).
The diffusion
In integration and adoption of this class of change, various issues need to be investigated. Opinion leadership is one of them. Opinion leadership is seen to influence the rate of diffusion of the whole project since it is a virtue that would either de-motivate or motivate the inception of the entire project. The parties’ concerned need to be lobbied to accept the various connotations brought out by this innovation. Creating the transformation that is needed, there is variable confrontation to revolution that would render the whole scheme unattainable. With the profound opinion, leadership, it only means the organizational fraternity could be much willing to effect the change that comes with the implementation of the innovation with much ease (Robinson, 2009).
Another salient factor that should be noted in diffusion, the principle of homophily which is the degree to which the individuals in an organizational context who interact with each other are deemed to be similar regarding the specific attributes such as the education, beliefs, social status, among others. In this prospect, the organization should build a formidable organizational culture and norm which indeed could be used in making sure that the company drives the needs, preferences and wants of the employees into one accord that would help them think in almost the same way (Robinson, 2009). For the company to achieve this, it has to ensure that it allows a high sense of participation of the employees in the decision-making that in the long end makes them feel part and parcel of the organization. It is a fact that homophilous individuals have the tendency of effectively communicating with each other in the most appropriate way possible. The creation of a high level of homophilous environment makes the adoption efficiency to be quite high (Valente, 2009).
Conclusion
In a nutshell, most organizations have tried to improve on their information systems by ensuring that they take keen concern on the various technological advancements that are seen in the propositions postulated in the current global context. Modernizations are quite indispensable whilst tackling the notion of high level of performance in any company. The most important step of any changes is to look into the various benefits that a particular innovation brings on board about the costs that accrue to the inception of the same innovation. The Sustainability is also imperative and, its gives the company an opportunity to build a strong competitive stance in the market. The reliability of the transformation to be authentic and to drive the company towards meeting its objectives is critical. The acceptance rates of a range of projects are affected by the compatibility of the modernization and the organizational structure plus the personality of the adopters in question. The dissemination efficiency of the modernization postulated is reliant upon the judgment leadership and the existence of the homophilous stakeholders in the organization.
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