Effect of Technology Development on Management Consulting Profession Essay

Effect of Technology Development on Management Consulting Profession - Essay Example In addition, as technological innovations become available, possibilities increase and so does the cost but what technological advancements has given to management analysts, that not only has helped them in boosting their managerial skills by analysing and proposing alternatives to improve an organisation's structure but has also enabled management consultancy to acquire a division that would help reorganize the structure of the firm and eliminate technological complexities. Information technology cannot by itself change the inherent inflexible nature of its tools but any profession particularly on the management side whether it be financial management, strategic management or consultant management by using the developing trend of information technology can change its effect with respect to any organization infrastructure in such a way that they use these tools in two ways. "First, by reengineering the way that existing tasks are carried out. Second, by creating new tasks and opening up consultancy opportunities that were not previously possible. Changes in various management use of computer technology have enabled technological developments to be implemented in general". (Margetts, 1999, p. 17) If we consider the development of technology from management point of view, it is obvious that today organisations of all kinds have taken on new functions and new techniques that would otherwise have not been possible without merging and cooperation of information technology. Information technology in private sector companies is now widely recognised as a crucial element in a company's business strategy and the reason is transparent for the way technology has boosted the growth of consultant management, is incredible. "It is now a truism that information technology has transcended its established administrative support functions and has moved towards playing a more central role in business operations' that has not only modified its organisational structure but has also taken part in increasing the ratio of contended customers". (Margetts, 1999, p. 23) Let us take an example of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): "EDI has made it possible for two trading partners to exchange their information of trade or business transactions such as orders and invoices which otherwise would have taken umpteen effort and time. Today EDI has been widely accepted as an essential business tool used to facilitate inter-organisational transactions and sometimes to enhance internal operations by integrating internal and external systems". (Chen, 1998, p. 68) It has potentially reduced the transaction costs by eliminating duplication of effort involved in re-keying documents generated by computer in the first place. In this aspect, the development in technology started in 1980s, which first brought a dramatic increase in the use of the Internet, a global research network, consisting of a loose confederation of inter-connected networks providing services such as file transfer and electronic mail. After Internet the vast technological change was felt and re alised by the then consultant management when the use of databases, online and offline processors for report writing and interactive communication was introduced. "Prior to this, it was the consultancies who set the