X204 Project

How is technology making the world a smaller place in terms of work?

The advance in technology has made us able to innovate without having to emigrate in means of globalization and domestically through companies and partnerships. Professor Fritz’s primary job is an example of this where she has not seen some of her co-workers for years or some at all.  This is a great example where technology is making the world a smaller place in terms of work where she is able to communicate effectively between brokers; prospects and colleagues to create detailed RFP’s.

The company I work for consists of about 200 employees in about 6 different locations. External communication is common with every employee through clients, prospects and strategic partners and there are many tools internally and externally that assist with this communication. Interactive client is a program that links a phone to Microsoft outlook enabling access to voicemails, call logs and faxes more easily. From my experience Microsoft outlook seems to be common with most companies where everyone that uses it can sync contacts, meetings and emails through various devices where everyone is familiar with the features.  HR departments use various programs like Paychex, a system on the Internet that direct deposits income and an employee has access to electronic records of their pay statement.  Your able to adjust hours, request permission for PTO and vacation days through your supervisor. For external use there are go-to meetings that mirror a person’s computer screen for assistance or presentation while providing multiple line conference calls and videoconferences. All of these examples have made it possible to work from home and has brought on the collaborative, agile, flexible workspaces within companies that allow employees to choose their workstations in dispersed locations within the company.

Search Engines and the Internet is another technological resource that’s made work a lot easier.  It seems like people joke around when someone asks a question they don’t know and someone responds just Google it. This is true because if an employee doesn’t know something common they can save the time and bother of a colleague by simply looking up a credible or non credible website that’ll provide them with the correct answer. Corporations are liable to include their fiscal reports on websites that are available to support a company or be analyzed for competitive reasons.  I use this example a lot when I need a phone number to call or I’m researching a geographically area in Kentucky or Illinois where I’ll use Google maps.  Healthcare industry and how there’s ever-changing programs in order to cut cost, constant studies in order to determine if these programs are working. There are whitepapers, daily articles, etc. that are key to be informed and apply these programs, techniques to hospitals, practices, health insurance companies. ACO’s are coordinating health insurance companies, doctors and patients to be interconnected while improving and these accountable care organizations have been made possible by advanced technology.

Social media like Twitter and Facebook are other examples that assist organizations to advertise or distribute their information. I’m going to refer to the National Journal Presentation for the 2012 Election, which was streamed through CBS, the Atlantic and the National Journal. In the presentation Adam Sharp of Twitter, explained how there was an Obama parody account that was created during the republican convention, which contained about 10,000 tweets and 20,000 followers by during the course of 21 minutes when Romney left the stage after speaking. Daniel Sieberg from google stated the innovative with social media and referring to twitter, there was a shift from a 24-hour news cycle to a 140-character cycle.  I do not use Facebook but do have a Twitter Account.  At first I used my Twitter Account to joke around with friends and followed random comedians, athletes and other parody accounts but this presentation made me look at Twitter as an opportunity from a professional standpoint and not strictly a personal standpoint where I can stay updated on current events. I still use Twitter for personal reasons but cut a lot of the nonsense out where I look at it as a resource rather than something to pass the time.

As I conclude, the research as made me realize how much technology has advanced.  More than I realize because I’m accustomed to it. I thought I had basic idea of what I was going to present about but the doors to many examples on this subject opened up as I started researching this topic.

Dan Christman

Works Cited

Ball, Molly, James Bennet, Ron Brownstein, Steve Clemons, Garance Franke-Ruta, Ron Fournier, Major Garrett, and Reid Wilson. “Twitter, Facebook & Social Media’s Impact, Election 2012.” N.p., 3 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Friedman, Thomas L. “It’s a Flat World, After All.” The New York Times [New York] 3 Apr. 2005: 1-7. Print.

Message from the Author

My name is Dan Christman and I am a junior at IUPUC. I’m working toward a business degree with a focus in Finance. I work for SIHO Insurance Services as a provider relations associate. In my free time I enjoy planning trips throughout the United States and I’m hoping to plan something outside of the US here in the next 5 years or so. I enjoy camping, hiking and visiting family. I also enjoy other activities which involves my roommates’ Golden Doodle, Barley. Thank you for your time and feel free to contact me if you’d like to know more about me or have any questions.