Information technology impacts most on service companies. New challenges being in the changing marketplace are brought about by changing client needs and advances in networking and multimedia applications such as the Internet. The exciting transformations in the modern office as it approaches the new Millennium, both in terms of seizing opportunities in the form of e-commerce and the processes and culture, are discussed. Particular reference is made to the power service industry due to the author's experience in the power utility, consulting, and international project development.
Introduction |Company Culture | The New Marketplace | A Tour of the Modern Office | E - Commerce in a Consulting Company | Conclusion - Which? and How? | References
Introduction
At the threshold of the new millennium, we face tremendous advances in information technology. Our working lifestyle is increasingly being dominated by personal computers, notebooks, sub-notebooks, scanners and high resolution colour printers, and digital cameras. Some of us are not so fortunate to have reached the pinnacle of success and be past the stage of counting on computers, and yet cannot figure out how to operate them. We are appropriately termed as computer infants, notwithstanding our physical age. However, the modern office is now more and more being run by young professionals whose lives revolve around electronic mail and Internet. It is inevitable that changes will be made to the modern office; hence, the subject of this Paper.
The software "Microsoft Office" is undoubtedly the most well known, if not the most popular computing package available for word-processing, spreadsheet, and database. Like the software version, the modern office must continuously be upgraded if it was to remain competitive. What are the areas that need reviewing?
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Company Culture
Before we look at the changes taking place in the office of a service company, let us consider the organic side of an organisation. The study of organisations, or commonly known as organisational behaviour, deals with the interactions between individuals making up the groups in the organisation. These interactions comprise power and influence [1], motivation, control, decision-making, rewards and punishment, and others. It is important because it affects the productivity and effectiveness of a company, and hence its ultimate survival. The environmental factors influencing organisational behaviour are the political climate in which the company operates, the state of the economy, social behaviour, and the technology that can be utilised.
The writer, Roger Lewin, [2] attributes the failure and success of several well-known companies, such as Apple Computer, Microsoft, Digital Equipment Corporation and IBM, to a similar concept. He likens business systems to ecosystems where companies must think of themselves not as machines but as organisms living in communities. In this way, they can rationalise that their fate will not be in the control of their CEOs as much as is commonly believed.
The behaviour of an organisation is manifest as the company culture. Research shows that very often, top management see themselves as outside of the culture. [3] Many managers talk of culture as indulgent, encouraging introspection and having little, if indeed anything, to do with the real objectives of the business. In fact, cultures are like personalities, and the successful ones are those who know enough of their strengths and weaknesses to build on the former and compensate for the latter. Strong cultures are like strong personalities and are better able to allow change in an organisation. Most of the time, the predominant culture and value systems are set by the owners or the chief executive of the company, and influence the company's mission. Therefore, the direction and goals of the company, as defined through its objectives, and exhibited in its management work processes, are very much dictated by organisational behaviour.
The company culture affects customers' perception of the service output much more than, say, of manufactured goods or consumer product. This is because each interaction between the service organisation and the customer is being individualised by the customer . In effect, the customer asks each time: " Does this organisation, does this person, understand me and my problem? Will they help me solve it?" The changing customer needs mean that the marketplace is shifting. Before we consider what the new market looks like for a consulting company, it pays to discard certain cultural traits and work processes which may impede change or are not welcome in the new office. These include:
Insufficient Empowerment: When management has an obsession to maintain control, bureaucracy sets in. Symptoms of such bureaucracy are: · the CEO perusing all in-coming and signing off all out-going mail. · need to refer to the "Top" for decisions, hence lack of finality in discussions · red tape in getting things done, e.g. ordering of stationary. · "me-too-ism" or parroting of superiors' ideas · lack of individual responsibility and initiative.
Power through Space: The "open office" concept is an anathema. The rank of a manager is assessed through the size of room he occupies.
"Scapegoat-ism" syndrome: In a risk-averse organisation, management is unforgiving on mistakes made. To avoid responsibilities and "pass the buck", employees tend to insist on the printed word and elaborate paper trails. Management tend to "witch hunt".
Do to be Seen: Another common attitude, it usually thrives in organisations where management does not sufficiently know what is happening, either through an overly flat hierarchical structure (hence, the chief executive has less time to deal with each of his managers), or where favoritism is practised. Ambition and self preservation gets the better of an employee's priorities rather than his company's goals and well-being.
"Information is Power": The less enlightened information companies have a tendency to keep information a closely guarded reserve of a privilege few. Hence, even when it becomes obvious that information and knowledge should be freely available in order that staff are competent, yet, the fear that these same staff may leave and bring along the knowledge with them, promote the practice of dispensing knowledge on a need-to-know basis. The benefits of information technology are also not availed of for the same reason.
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The New Marketplace
One of the results of privatising the power sector has been the increase in the number of consulting opportunities. The development of private power projects is a complex process. In the past, utility companies built large power plants by employing consultants to design the plant and manage the construction. They usually operate and maintain the plants themselves. I.P.P.'s do not usually have utility backgrounds and so do not have the required expertise to handle power projects. Because of this, they also prefer others to share risks that have hitherto been assumed by the utility companies. Hence, consulting assignments range from design concept, detailed design, review of design, market studies, cost and economic analyses, feasibility studies, project management ,and audit of design, construction and operation and maintenance. There is a wider range of clients: the developer, the EPC contractor, the financier, and the regulator. The clients' needs in their respective tasks are different. Some of the new demands imposed by clients are: · Sharing of risk with the client · Fast turn around time · Conversant with commercial, financing, legal, and insurance issues · Expertise in a wide range of subject areas
Yet, it is still recognised that the ability to retain full independence is one of the most important functions supplied by a consulting company. [4] The challenges faced by power consultants therefore become greater. Consultants need to understand the client's business, understand his priorities, and address the issues most pertinent to the client. Engineers need to become more aware of the customer's perceptions. To compete, the engineer must have the expertise to be able to write the grid code, tariff structures, and an overview of how the different parts of the system will interact with each other. Increasingly, the cliché is found to be true: the strength in the industry is the people. The ideal consultancy firm would have several norms: acceptance that there is always room for improvement, technical excellence, quality of product as the starting point of offering services, and ability to bring added value right from the invitation stage by making imaginative solutions. It becomes increasingly important to check if opportunities presented are real, and identify which opportunities should be pursued and which should be left. [5]
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A Tour of the Modern Office
The prevailing concept in office design at many technology companies is: "Workplace as playground." Some may have begun life amidst game rooms with Nintendo machines for executives to have "workouts" or a chance to enter a whimsical escape zone and blow off steam like a frustrated adolescent. Technology start-up firms are famous as unconventional work spaces. Some firms struggle to preserve a freewheeling feel as they mature, outgrow their original offices and move into new, larger buildings. They begin to have to make compromises, such as eliminating the game room.
The result is a new office culture that values such grown-up virtues as keeping work on track and paying bills on time, while still evoking a college dorm atmosphere. Firms are creating "neighborhoods" of work spaces in open areas, replacing closed offices. At the same time, some long-established technology companies born of a strait-laced culture of military contracting, are moving toward this same goal. In their case, it means striving for a smaller, homier ethos in their buildings. Such companies usually resist any appearance of "going corporate". It is a dynamic evolution, partly because they specialise in things that often must be reinvented every few months. Recruiting and retention of staff who have to be culled from a limited pool of professionals become the culture of necessity.
This then is the Modern Office which small service companies must reckon with. Clearly, the negative attitudes and processes outlined earlier cannot play a role in the new office. Some form of re-engineering of traditional attitudes must be carried out urgently. It is not intended that smart business clothes be replaced by jeans and turtle-necks. Constant reminders and enforcement still have to be made of the core work behaviors: "team player", "self-management and initiative", "customer service", "innovation and adaptability", "interpersonal skills" and "integrity" as well as leadership qualities of "courage", "composure", "vision", "care for people", "team player," "technical competence" and "managerial aptitude". If before, these core attributes are enshrined in company mauals and circulars, now, they can be hung as placards (as is done at American On Line, a leading Internet Service provider in the U.S.) to keep individuals focused. A remark made at American On Line was: "When you're growing so fast, it's easy to forget what you're here for". [6]
The hardware in the Modern Office also evolves to foster cozy and collegial environments to counterbalance their lifeless office park exteriors. Increasingly, such offices are characterized by communal or "podded" work spaces and common areas, with the idea of accommodating the team-based management structure preferred by many tech companies. Some firms have eliminated the closed environment and replaced it with "neighborhoods," rows of open cubicles in homey proximity. People are able to walk down the hallways and meet their neighbors. A new teamwork paradigm with the work space is continually being encouraged.
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E - Commerce in a Consulting Company
As a quick introduction, the Internet started in the U.S., and was quick to be used in the developed English-speaking countries. The idea behind its creation was that the Internet was free. The aim behind the development of the Internet was to share and communicate. Almost every country in the world today with computers and decent telecommunications infrastructure is on the Internet. Instead of academicians, researchers and students, the principal users are now commercial organisations. So far, the major use is to build brands and market share. The revolutionary changes occurring with Internet and electronic networking are derived from advances in multimedia - e.g. DVD, CD-ROM, Video-conferencing - and increase in commercial activities (commonly known as electronic commerce or e-commerce) on the Internet, and communicating via telephony through the Internet and using electronic mail (e-mail). These changes are having an irreversible impact in the office of consulting firms. It is no longer a question of "If" or "When"; rather, it is urgently "Which" or "How". The opportunities offered by the Internet and related networking technologies are illustrated in the following paragraphs. They are but a few of the IT developments making available improved ways to communicate and do business.
New Presentation Tools: It is so easy to use multimedia that one wonders why overhead projectors are still commonplace in business presentations. Software such as Microsoft Power Point simplifies the process of modifying content and provides interesting new features to add professionalism to presentations. CD-ROMs allow interactive presentations while DVDs give excellent quality in sound and graphics.
Electronic Networking: Networking is the linking of computers to undertaking communication and processing functions. It can also link to other networks including the largest network of all, the Internet. Linkage within a company can be done either through a Local Area Network (LAN) or, alternatively, the Intranet. Networking allows information to be put in contextual and business-related terms to enable companies make better decisions faster. It is especially useful for consulting firms where project teams set up to service particular projects work in joint effort over large commuting distances. There will be less need for face-to-face meetings as discussions can be via e-mail or video-conferencing. It will permit working from the home; thus, a larger pool of home-based labour is created. International collaboration of consulting firms is seen as the rage of the future as geographical distance diminish in importance compared to telecommunication "distance".
The Internet as a new Telephony Utility: It is likely that the shape of tomorrow's telephone will be unrecognisable to us today. The telephone service today consists of a network of copper cables terminating in telephone sets. In the near future, Internet may serve as the backbone of telephony, thus, the new term "network utility" which service is provided by companies who look after the network services needed to expand the usage of Internet to include more than just e-mail but video-conferencing as well. After all, who cares how the telephone system works as long as it works! Likewise, companies need not be concerned with setting up the network as long as they can communicate via e-mail and video-conferencing.
Information Dissemination on the Internet: It is possible to search for ("surf") almost any information over the Internet, and usually the information is provided free of charge. As far as the consulting industry is concerned, this is both bad and good news. International borders become dismantled even before you have GATS (General Agreement in Trade in Services) in place as certain consulting services can be provided over the Internet. Clients increasingly are able to rely less on consultants for their information needs. On a much brighter note, consultants readily can avail themselves of an almost infinite pool of timely and inexpensive knowledge, and are therefore able to up-date and upgrade their knowledge and expertise. This will also enhance operational effectiveness, analytical processing and decision support for a firm.
Marketing on the Internet: Companies are finding it very cheap to advertise on the Internet. The exposure gained may be limited by the number of Internet service subscribers in any one place, but a global company will obviously derive the greatest benefits as it can reach the whole world. It is extremely simple for anyone to search for this company, respond to its offers through e-mail and even pay for its services through credit cards or "cyber cash" in the very near future.
Recruiting through the Internet: Companies have begun to make use of the "interactivity" of the Internet to conduct on-line assessment of prospective employees. This saves both time and expenses, and possibly permit a wider pool of labour who are IT literate. Several approaches can be used. One approach is to include an on-line assessment form for candidates to fill in and submit directly to the recruiter. Standard formats are already available over the Internet (e.g. at the careerRA website). There are even sophisticated assessment tools to screen college graduates or conduct personality tests. It is easy to review a candidate's communication skills by including in the on-line form write in a short paragraph , justifying, for example, why he should be recruited.
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Conclusion - Which? and How?
This Paper has outlined several opportunities afforded to consulting firms, especially those servicing the electricity supply industry. The workings of the modern office may sound attractive to some, but to many, it could pose a culture shock in management terms. It is intended that this Paper creates a need to re-assess the office as a working place of the future, in the light of the technological advances in IT which will forever change the way we conduct our business. The key to survival in the new competitive environment must be which technology to adopt and how to go about it in the most cost effective way.
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References
1. Sandra Dawson, Analysing Organisations, Macmillan Education Ltd (1986) (Click here to go back)
2. Roger lewin, It's a Jungle Out There, New Scientist Planet Science, November 29, 1997 (Click here to go back)
3. Ken Irons, Managing Service Companies: Strategies for Success, Addison Wesley (1994) (Click here to go back)
4. Electricity International,The Changing Role of the Consultant in the ESI, April 1995 (Click here to go back)
5. Electricity International, The Rise of Consultancy, November 1997 (Click here to go back)
6. Mark Leibovich, In the Tech Workplace, It's 'Neighborhoods', Not Offices, The Washington Post (November 24, 1997) (Click here to go back)
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1st December 1997
