Impacts of emerging technologies and practices refer to the effects or consequences of adopting and integrating new technologies and methodologies. These impacts can be both positive and negative. They can influence different facets of business operations, strategies and performance. Evaluating these impacts helps you decide whether to adapt to them. The impact of emerging technologies and practices can vary depending on the organisation.
Evaluating the impact allows you to gauge how these align with the strategic objectives. This ensures they can harness opportunities and mitigate potential threats effectively. Likewise, evaluating impact facilitates informed decision-making. This enables you to allocate resources, manage risks and plan for necessary adaptations.
You must evaluate the impact of emerging technologies and practices' features and functions. It can help you determine their advantages and disadvantages to your organisation. Assess and document their potential impacts. Seek and obtain feedback on the assessment of the impact. The feedback will be valuable in the report.
Evaluating the factors of emerging technologies and practices helps you determine their advantages and disadvantages to your organisation. Advantages refer to the benefits, strengths or positive outcomes. You can achieve these by adopting or implementing a specific emerging technology or practice. These advantages may include the following:
- increased efficiency
- cost savings
- improved performance
- enhanced user experience
- competitive advantages
- alignment with organisational goals
On the other hand, disadvantages pertain to the drawbacks, weaknesses or negative aspects. These are associated with adopting and implementing a particular emerging technology or practice. These disadvantages could involve the following:
- increased costs
- potential security risks
- disruption to current operations
- resistance from employees
- misalignment with organisational objectives
Determining these advantages and disadvantages of emerging technologies and practices helps organisations. They inform whether the benefits of adopting these innovations outweigh the potential drawbacks. It is a critical step in the strategic planning and decision-making process. It ensures technology investments align with an organisation's goals and resources.
You must consider several factors to evaluate the purposes, features, functions, attributes and potential applications of emerging technologies and practices. Here are the factors to consider when evaluating the purpose of emerging technologies and practices:
This refers to how much the technology or practice aligns with the strategic goals and mission critical objectives
This refers to the degree to which the technology addresses the current industry challenges or trends. It also contributes to the organisation's competitive position.
This refers to whether the emerging technology or practice improves efficiency and productivity. It should streamline processes, reduce redundancies and enhance organisational performance.
Here are the factors to consider when evaluating features of emerging technologies and practices:
This refers to the extent to which the technology or practice performs its intended functions. It should meet the specific needs of the organisation.
This refers to the ability of the technology or practice to handle increased workloads. It should scale as the organisation grows without compromising performance.
This is the capability of the technology or practice to seamlessly integrate with existing systems and tools. It promotes compatibility and efficient data exchange.
Here are the factors to consider when evaluating the functions of emerging technologies and practices:
This refers to the degree to which the technology or practice performs its functions with minimal resource use. It ensures optimal performance.
This refers to the stability and consistency of technology or practice under varying conditions. These conditions are measured by factors such as:
- Mean time between failure (MTBF)
- Mean time to repair (MTTR)
This refers to the ease users can interact with and navigate the technology or practice. You must consider the interfaces, learning curves and user feedback.
Here are the factors to consider when evaluating the attributes of emerging technologies and practices:
This refers to the measures and features to protect the technology and its data. This includes security from unauthorised access and ensures data confidentiality and integrity.
This refers to the adaptability of the technology to changing business requirements and its capacity. These accommodate future technological advancements.
This measures how consistently the technology or practice performs its intended functions without disruptions or failures.
Here are the factors to consider when evaluating the potential application of emerging technologies and practices:
- Use cases: This refers to the specific scenarios or situations where the technology or practice can be applied. This is to address organisational needs. Likewise, consider its versatility across different business functions.
- Innovation potential: This refers to the capacity of the technology or practice to drive innovation within the organisation. These innovations can potentially lead to the creation of new products or processes.
- Costs: This refers to the financial considerations associated with adopting, implementing and maintaining. This includes the following:
- total cost of ownership
- initial investment
- operational costs
- scalability costs
- budget alignment considerations
- financial sustainability
Evaluation Form
To evaluate these, you can use an evaluation form. This form can vary depending on the organisation and the factors you will consider. However, here is an example you can use:
Aside from these, you can also follow methods to evaluate the features, functions, purposes, attributes and potential applications of emerging technologies and practices. These can help you determine their advantages and disadvantages relevant to your organisational context.
Methods to evaluate the emerging practices and technologies
Here are the methods you can use to evaluate the emerging practices and technologies:
| Method | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Case analysis | This identifies, defines and analyses specific scenarios in which a technology or practice is applied. It helps you understand its functionality and utility in practical contexts. |
| Technical assessment | This evaluates the aspects and specifications of a technology or practice comprehensively. It determines the technology or practice's technical feasibility and performance. |
| User experience testing | This assesses how users interact with a technology or practice. It focuses on the usability, accessibility and satisfaction of the user interface. |
| Surveys and feedback | These involve gathering input from stakeholders through questionnaires, interviews or forms. You can gain insights into their opinions and experiences with technology or practice. |
| Security audits | This examines the security measures and practices associated with a technology or practice. It identifies vulnerabilities, assesses compliance and enhances data protection. Reveal potential applications that require stringent data protection and cybersecurity measures. |
| Cost-benefit analysis | This is a financial evaluation method. It compares the costs of implementing a technology or practice with the expected benefits. This helps organisations determine the economic feasibility and value of the innovation. |
| SWOT analysis | This strategic method stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It involves the systematic evaluation of a technology or practice. This identifies internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. |
After evaluating these, you must document the entire evaluation process. You can include all the criteria, findings and insights for each emerging technology and practice. This documentation serves as a reference.
Now, you can assess and document the potential impacts on current technologies and practices. Potential impacts are the expected or likely consequences, effects or outcomes. These might result from adopting or integrating an emerging technology or practice.
Emerging technologies can have significant impacts on current organisational technologies. They can potentially lead to both opportunities and challenges.
Here are some examples of potential impacts on current technologies and practices:
Emerging technologies can enhance the efficiency of current systems. They can automate routine tasks and decision-making processes.
Emerging technologies can provide deeper insights into organisational data. They improve decision-making and business intelligence.
Emerging technologies can strengthen the security of existing systems. These can protect against evolving cyber threats.
Emerging technologies can lead to cost savings. They can reduce the need for on-premises infrastructure and maintenance.
Emerging technologies can enable current systems to scale easily. They can handle increasing workloads and data volumes.
Emerging technologies can enhance existing applications' user experience and increase customer satisfaction.
Integrating new technologies with current systems may pose integration challenges and compatibility issues.
Emerging technologies may raise data privacy concerns. It requires organisations to adapt their data protection measures.
Emerging practices can significantly impact current organisational practices. This can influence how work is done, how teams collaborate and how strategies are executed. Here are some examples of potential impacts on current technologies and practices:
- Secured and streamlined processes: Emerging practices can lead to a more secure and streamlined software development process. This can reduce vulnerabilities and security risks in current practices.
- Enhanced cybersecurity measures: Emerging practices can strengthen the protection of sensitive data and information. Likewise, it can influence how data is accessed and shared.
- Sustainability plans: Emerging practices can lead to more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. This can influence resource consumption and sustainability efforts across the organisation.
- Cost-efficiency and scalability: Emerging practices can lead to more cost-efficient and scalable solutions and technologies. Likewise, it alters how applications are developed and deployed.
- Teamwork: Emerging practices can encourage teamwork. This can lead to more innovative solutions and collaboration across different departments.
- Benchmarking: Emerging practices can help organisations compare their performance against industry standards. This can influence strategic decision-making.
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Research approaches
Assessing the potential impacts of emerging technologies and practices on current organisational technologies and practices is crucial. There are various research approaches to assess the potential impacts of emerging technologies and practices.
Research approaches refer to the various methods and strategies. They investigate and study emerging technologies and practices within the ICT sector. They involve systematic gathering, analysing and interpreting data to gain insights.
These methods help you determine emerging technologies and practices in the ICT sector. Likewise, you can determine their potential impacts on current technologies and practices. Potential impact refers to the expected or likely consequences, effects or outcomes. These might result from adopting or integrating an emerging technology or practice. Here are the common research approaches you can use to assess emerging technologies and practices and their potential impacts:
Literature review
This involves a comprehensive analysis of these sources on emerging technologies and practices:
- existing literature
- research papers
- academic journals
- reports
It seeks to summarise, synthesise and critically evaluate the knowledge and findings within the field. This assesses potential impacts by examining the findings and insights in the literature. It can reveal the advantages and limitations of adopting emerging technologies or practices.
Expert review
This involves interviews or consultations with the following individuals:
- subject matter experts
- industry professionals
- thought leaders
This can help you gather opinions and expert knowledge about emerging technologies or practices. This assesses potential impacts by drawing on the experience and knowledge of experts. They provide insights into the practical implications and the expected consequences of adopting new technologies or practices.
Benchmarking
This involves comparing an organisation's current performance or practices against best-in-class ones. This highlights the disparities between current practices and those of highperforming organisations. It shows the potential for improvement by adopting emerging technologies or practices. It provides insights into the following:
- potential efficiency gains
- performance improvements
- alignment with industry standards
Case studies
These involve the in-depth analysis of specific real-world cases or projects. You can gain insights into the adoption and impact of emerging technologies or practices. These provide concrete examples of how emerging technologies or practices influence an organisation. Studies can include influences on the following:
- processes
- performances
- outcomes
Competitive analysis
This involves examining competitors and industry leaders. It can help you understand their strategies, investments and the technologies or practices they adopt. This shows how industry leaders' choices of technologies or practices influence their competitive edge and market position. It offers insights into the strategic implications of adopting new innovations.
Gap analysis
This compares the current state of technologies and practices with the desired state of the emerging ones. It identifies gaps and areas that need improvement. Gap analysis provides a structured approach. It assesses how emerging technologies and practices can bridge the discrepancies between current and desired states. It helps you understand the specific areas that may benefit from adopting these technologies and practices.
Pilot testing and prototyping
This allows organisations to experiment with emerging technology and practice in a controlled environment. It helps assess its real-world impact on current technologies and practices. Likewise, it identifies unforeseen issues. This provides firsthand experience of how the technology and practice interact with existing systems and practices. Pilot testing allows you to uncover potential challenges, advantages and areas for optimisation.
Stakeholder feedback and surveys
These provide valuable insights into the emerging technology's potential impact. These stakeholders can include individuals who will be affected by the technology and practice's adoption, such as:
- employees
- end-users
- department heads
These ensure the human and cultural aspects of technology and practice adoption are considered. These help identify user concerns, expectations and perceived benefits. These allow organisations to address them proactively.
Change management assessment
This is a structured evaluation process that organisations use. They assess the impact of proposed changes on their current operations, employees and culture. This helps organisations anticipate the human and cultural impacts of the technology and practice's adoption. It identifies areas that may require adjustments and ensures a smoother transition.
Cultural fit assessment
This is to gauge its compatibility. Assess how well the emerging practice aligns with the organisation's culture, values and work processes. It determines if the practice will harmonise with the current organisational culture. It also determines if cultural adjustments are necessary to maximise its effectiveness.
Documenting the potential impacts of emerging technologies and practices
Documenting the potential impacts of emerging technologies and practices on current organisational technologies and practices provides a reference for decision-making and communication. There are steps you can follow to document these potential impacts.
The steps can vary depending on the organisation. However, here are the general steps to document these potential impacts:
- Create a structured document or report to record the assessment findings. This document will serve as a comprehensive reference for the organisation.
- Categorise the potential impacts into logical groups. For example, you can have sections for technology impacts, process impacts, cultural impacts and so on.
- Provide detailed assessments of the impacts within each category. Include specific observations and insights about how they may affect current systems.
- Use visuals, such as charts, graphs and diagrams, when possible. They illustrate potential impacts. Likewise, include real-world examples or case studies to make the document more relatable.
- Quantify the potential impacts if possible. For example, quantify the following:
- Estimated cost savings
- Increased productivity
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Offer recommendations or suggested actions for each potential impact. This may include strategies for the following:
- Mitigating risks
- Capitalising on opportunities
- Adjusting current practices to align with the changes
- Document any dependencies or interactions between different impacts. For example, how a technology change might affect a change in workflow.
- Include details about change management strategies to address cultural and human impacts. Describe how the organisation plans to support employees through the transition.
- Assign ownership for addressing each impact. Specify which department monitors or manages the potential effects.
- Include a timeline for the implementation of changes if applicable. This helps understand when different impacts are likely to occur and when they need to be addressed.
Following these steps will help you create a comprehensive and dynamic document. This captures potential impacts. It is also a strategic tool for managing technology and practice changes effectively.
Activity 1 - Case Study
After assessing and documenting the potential impacts of emerging technologies and practices, you can seek and obtain feedback. Feedback refers to opinions, comments and insights provided by the organisational representative. This is regarding the assessment process and its findings. It is a process where representative expresses their concerns and recommendations. The feedback can be about assessing the impact of emerging technologies and practices.
This feedback is from the organisational representative. An organisational representative is an individual within an organisation. They have a stake in assessing the impact of emerging technologies and practices. They might belong to different departments, levels of the organisation and roles. These individuals can vary depending on the organisation. The organisational representative can be either of the following:
These can include senior management, C-suite executives and department heads. They make strategic decisions and have a holistic view of the organisation.
These are frontline employees who the changes will directly impact. They can provide insights into how the technologies and practices affect their daily tasks.
These include IT professionals, data analysts and technology specialists. They can offer insights into the technical aspects of adopting emerging technologies
These are individuals responsible for specific processes or workflows that may be affected by the changes.
These are the teams who implement the changes. These can include project managers and those overseeing technology or process upgrades.
These are experts who ensure the changes align with quality standards and requirements.
You can follow some practices when seeking feedback from an organisational representative on assessing the impact of emerging technologies and practices. These practices ensure that you seek feedback effectively. These practices may vary depending on the organisation or industry. However, here are common practices you can follow:
- Communicate the purpose of seeking feedback. Explain how the input will be used to improve the assessment and the decision-making process.
- Develop well-structured questions about the specific aspects of the assessment. This makes it easier for representatives to provide relevant feedback.
- Employ a variety of feedback collection methods. These can cater to different preferences and needs.
- Seek feedback at points when representatives have enough information to provide informed input. Timing is crucial.
- Make the feedback process accessible to the representatives. Note their schedules or accessibility needs.
- Provide various channels for feedback submission, including in-person, online and offline options. This allows you to accommodate their communication preference.
- Ensure the representative that their feedback will be treated confidentially. This will encourage open and honest input.
- Share the collated results of the feedback with staff after the process. This improves transparency and ensures staff members realise their time was used effectively.
Methods to obtain feedback
Create structured surveys with specific questions related to the impact assessment. Surveys can be distributed electronically or physically. They are an efficient way to gather standardised feedback.
Conduct one-on-one interviews with the key organisational representative to seek feedback. Interviews allow for open-ended discussions and the exploration of unique insights.
Organise dedicated feedback sessions where representatives can provide feedback in a collaborative setting. This encourages discussion and the exchange of ideas.
Create online platforms where representatives can post their feedback and engage in discussions. This approach can foster continuous dialogue.
Set up dedicated email addresses for feedback submission. This allows representatives to share their thoughts privately and directly.
Use collaboration and project management software. These allow representatives to share feedback in real time.
After obtaining feedback, you can incorporate the feedback into your report. The report is a comprehensive document summarising the assessment of the impact of emerging technologies and practices. It is a central storage of information, insights, findings and feedback related to the impact assessment.
The report aims to offer a clear and well-documented overview of the assessment and its implications. This report can refer to the document you accomplished when you documented the assessment of potential impacts. The key components of the report can include the following:
- Introduction: This outlines the purpose of the assessment, its scope and the importance of obtaining feedback.
- Methodology: This describes the methodologies employed in conducting the assessment. It includes the tools used for feedback collection.
- Assessment finding: This summarises the key findings of the impact assessment. It highlights potential impacts on current technologies and practices.
- Feedback collection: This section includes a compilation of feedback obtained from the organisational representative. It provides both qualitative and quantitative insights.
- Analysis and synthesis: This contains the identified common themes, areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
- Recommendation: This offers recommendations for potential actions, adjustments or strategies. This helps address concerns and leverage opportunities.
- Action plan: This outlines the steps to be taken in response to feedback and recommendations.
- Implication and impact: This discusses the implications of the assessment on organisational technologies and practices. The report highlights how feedback has influenced these implications.
- Communication and change management: This may address communication strategies and change management plans. These ensure representatives are informed and supported during technology adoption or practice changes.
- Conclusion: This summarises the key takeaways and emphasises the importance of continuous assessment. Ensure that individual responses are kept confidential.
This report ensures transparency by documenting the feedback. It is a reference for all stakeholders involved in the assessment, helping them understand the process and its outcomes. The report also shows the organisation's commitment to responsiveness and continuous improvement.
Incorporating feedback into a report is a structured process. It ensures the feedback is effectively integrated into the assessment findings and recommendations. There are steps you can follow to incorporate feedback into a report. These may vary depending on the organisation. However, here are the general steps you can follow:
Step 1. Collect and analyse feedback
Collect and analyse the feedback obtained from the organisational representative. Ensure the feedback is well-documented. Likewise, use techniques to identify key themes and patterns. The analysis of feedback can include the following:
- Quantitative analysis examines data using numerical values and statistical methods. It focuses on measurable and objective data—for example, the production percentage increased after adopting an emerging technology.
- Qualitative analysis examines non-numeric data, such as text or spoken language. This can identify themes, opinions and insights. It aims to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter through interpretation—for example, analysing feedback to identify concerns about emerging technologies.
Step 2. Categorise feedback
Categorise the feedback into relevant themes or areas. This step helps in organising and addressing feedback effectively.
Step 3. Prioritise feedback
Prioritise the feedback based on its significance and relevance to the assessment objectives. Feedback that addresses critical concerns or valuable opportunities should be given higher priority.
Step 4. Provide context
Ensure that each piece of feedback is presented in context. Explain how the feedback was collected, who provided it and the specific assessment areas to which it relates.
Step 5. Integrate feedback with assessment findings
Integrate the feedback into the assessment findings. This means connecting feedback comments and insights with specific assessment results. For example, if feedback highlights a concern about data security, you must link this feedback to the report section on data security impacts.
Step 6. Amend recommendations
Revisit the recommendations presented in the report after integrating feedback. You can adjust them in response to the feedback. Recommendations must be refined, expanded or modified based on representative input.
Step 7. Outline actionable next steps
Outline the actionable next steps derived from the feedback. Define what changes or strategies will be implemented in response to the feedback. This step can also include the following:
- enagage key stakeholders including the organisational representative. Discuss how the feedback has been incorporated and the rationale behind the decisions
- develop a plan to track and measure the impact of the feedback-driven changes. This includes setting clear success metrics and timelines for assessing the adjustments
- communicate the incorporation of feedback back to the representative and organisation. Likewise, explain how their input influenced the assessment.
Activity 2 - True or False Quiz
