Benefits for Business Communication

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The evolution of language has promoted the significant innovation in communication. The extension of global market requires businesses to apply new technology in transferring and exchanging information. Erik (2012), Brynjolfsson (2012) and Andrew (2012) all stated that automation is encroaching on our lives faster than ever. Most of companies replaced human resources with a modern automatic system. The financial transactions between companies are now conducted through automatic system, robotic process automation is adopted in product manufacturing, computer technology is exploited for information storage and exchange. Indeed, a research conducted at the Center for Digital Business proved that “the digital revolution is accelerating”. This research also firmly established a fact that computers are now capable of doing things that only humans used to be able to do. This paper would present the positive and negative effects of innovative technology network on the advancement of business communication.

On the one hand, the technology innovation brings potential benefits for business communication. Firstly, the rapid growth of technology leads to the expansion of business opportunities. The proportion of technology users increased significantly over the past few years. A research conducted in American houses reported that 76% of families owning a computer in 2011, compared with only 8% in 1984 (File, 2012). The Internet usage among that number was presented 72% of households, up from just 18% in 1998 (File, 2012). Another study in 2013 founded that 90% of American adults had a cell phone of some kind, and for people under the age of 44, the number was closer to 97% (Madrigal, 2013). The number of people using mobile phone is increasing, especially in younger generations.  According to a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, people from the age of 8 to 18 spent about 7.5 hours on media than on any other activity (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). The late 2000s witnessed thesexpansion of cellphone and social media usage in the communication network. Companies now could promote new products/ services to international market, develop online distribution channels via social media. The social media recently is a key competitive advantage of business. Moreover, the technology development not only allows companies expand global market, but also establish new business relationship with foreign partners without face-to-face meeting. Secondly, technology could control and increase the speed of exchanging information. The outset of Internet has provided a new information resource for both individuals and businesses. Email was one of the biggest breakthroughs in communication when the internet was commercialized. It is possible for companies to send messages and letters in a matter of seconds to foreign partners and stakeholders. Email enables companies to send a package of document and contracts which made mail by post redundant. Furthermore, a firm could arrange and organize meeting through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This could allow business reduce the amount of meeting time and increase the speed of exchanging information, which enhances the efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, technology improves the progress of information process. In the past, people utilized calculators to analyze the data and evaluate mathematical model. However, technology innovation changed the method of calculation into automatic process. Some of alternative software has been developed to process information and data such as Microsoft Excel, Power Point or Microsoft Word. This would improve productivity as well as reduce workload related to data analyzing for employees.