D. Technology can have a vital influence on a business. To maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, many businesses must implement new technology into their business. A technological audit will identify the quantity and quality of the business’s technology. It also allows for upgrades and maintenance of technological equipment. With Red Rock considering the introduction of new wine making technology, there are many costs relating to technology that Red Rock have to take into consideration. These costs include:
• The capital cost of buying the new technology - this can get very expensive
• Maintenance costs – quality of their products can decrease
• Training employees to use the new wine making technology – this can be expensive and very time consuming, therefore decreasing productivity
• Licensing of the new product can be costly
• Redundancy payouts – once Red Rock put into place this new wine making technology, they may have to make some of their employees redundant. This can affect Red Rock’s employment relations as staff morale due to redundancy around the workplace will be affected
• Changeover costs.
However, despite all these costs to the business, Red Rock’s new wine making technology could ultimately have the potential to improve the efficiency of the business and improve their production substantially. This could ultimately increase the productivity of the business, motivate staff and improve employee morale. Management of Red Rock need to be able to coordinate the introduction of new technology to minimise any potential disruptions to the business’s core activities and their prime function.
Another influence on the employment relations of a business is changes in organisational behaviour, and the styles of managing employees. Improving the structure of a business and how it motivates employees can increase business effectiveness and help it to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. Lately,...