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Chapter 9: Technology and Business

The History of Technology

Technology Influences Businesses

  • Technology refers to the tools and machines that people have invented to make life easier.

  • Perhaps the most common technology staple in businesses today is the computer.

  • Even the simplest invention can have a huge impact on business.

  • Telephones were so useful that making them became a big business.

    • Companies specialized in making them.

    • Machinists were needed to make parts.

  • There was a constant demand to produce new and more efficient tools.

  • In time, cordless phones, cell phones, and radio telephones became useful tools for business and consumers.

  • Since the invention of the telephone, countless new inventions have changed the way we live, work, and do business.

  • Business and consumers constantly demand smaller, faster, cheaper, and more powerful electronic devices.

Technology and the E-Workforce

  • The e-workforce consists of people who work with computers while doing business.

  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 77 million workers use computers daily.

  • Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, which uses the Internet to do business, means businesses can reach customers directly anywhere in the world.

  • Innovation means more jobs and more people learning new skills.

  • Technology allows people to work easier and faster.

  • A digital workflow links all the steps in a process digitally.

    • Paper workflow, sending information in paper form, requires workers to exchange many pages of paper.

    • By switching to a digital format, less paper is involved.

E-Commerce

The Importance of Virtual Business

  • The ease of doing business via the Internet has created a boom in new online businesses.

  • A start-up is a newly formed business that is usually small.

  • Everyone hooked up to the Internet is a potential customer.

  • E-tail is electronic retail.

    • E-tailers sell products over the Internet through e-commerce.

  • This type of company is called a multi-channel retailer.

    • It uses several methods to sell products.

  • Businesses often call their stores and warehouses brick-and-mortar, referring to the actual buildings.

  • Businesses that also use the Internet are called clicks-and-mortar operations.

    • Bookstore chain Barnes & Noble is a clicks-and-mortar company.

  • E-tail benefits include convenience and choices

  • E-tail disadvantages include buying power, additional charges, immediacy, and relying on observation

  • Businesses find that customers want to buy more goods and services online.

  • Using their computers, people can now purchase an e-ticket, or electronic ticket.

    • Approximately 70 percent of travelers in the United States now shop for airline tickets online.

Chapter 9: Technology and Business

The History of Technology

Technology Influences Businesses

  • Technology refers to the tools and machines that people have invented to make life easier.

  • Perhaps the most common technology staple in businesses today is the computer.

  • Even the simplest invention can have a huge impact on business.

  • Telephones were so useful that making them became a big business.

    • Companies specialized in making them.

    • Machinists were needed to make parts.

  • There was a constant demand to produce new and more efficient tools.

  • In time, cordless phones, cell phones, and radio telephones became useful tools for business and consumers.

  • Since the invention of the telephone, countless new inventions have changed the way we live, work, and do business.

  • Business and consumers constantly demand smaller, faster, cheaper, and more powerful electronic devices.

Technology and the E-Workforce

  • The e-workforce consists of people who work with computers while doing business.

  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 77 million workers use computers daily.

  • Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, which uses the Internet to do business, means businesses can reach customers directly anywhere in the world.

  • Innovation means more jobs and more people learning new skills.

  • Technology allows people to work easier and faster.

  • A digital workflow links all the steps in a process digitally.

    • Paper workflow, sending information in paper form, requires workers to exchange many pages of paper.

    • By switching to a digital format, less paper is involved.

E-Commerce

The Importance of Virtual Business

  • The ease of doing business via the Internet has created a boom in new online businesses.

  • A start-up is a newly formed business that is usually small.

  • Everyone hooked up to the Internet is a potential customer.

  • E-tail is electronic retail.

    • E-tailers sell products over the Internet through e-commerce.

  • This type of company is called a multi-channel retailer.

    • It uses several methods to sell products.

  • Businesses often call their stores and warehouses brick-and-mortar, referring to the actual buildings.

  • Businesses that also use the Internet are called clicks-and-mortar operations.

    • Bookstore chain Barnes & Noble is a clicks-and-mortar company.

  • E-tail benefits include convenience and choices

  • E-tail disadvantages include buying power, additional charges, immediacy, and relying on observation

  • Businesses find that customers want to buy more goods and services online.

  • Using their computers, people can now purchase an e-ticket, or electronic ticket.

    • Approximately 70 percent of travelers in the United States now shop for airline tickets online.

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