IT Policy – Technological Innovation Discussion Board

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IT Policy – Technological Innovation Discussion Board

I’ve provided 2 discussions that need to be responded separately. This week’s discussion is the following: IT can be described as having three waves: automate individual functions, integrate value chains, incorporate IT into product and service offerings. Give an example of each (automate, integrate, incorporate) for specific businesses and cite your sources.

Discussion 1:

The business that I have chosen for the three waves of Information Technology (IT) is AstraZeneca. As Wilkins (2017) mentions, original pharmacies were limited to communities that housed primitive herbal medicines. Eventually, community pharmacies evolved into local pharmaceutical manufacturers where multiple humans were needed to process one container of medicine at a time (Wilkins, 2017).

Fast forwarding to the last few decades, large pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca began automating the manufacturing practices for individual service lines within the industry using robotic technology (Wilkins, 2017). AstraZeneca was able to integrate robots into complementary service lines and value chains such as research and design, distribution, and packaging operations (Wilkins, 2017; Taylor, 2015). The largest advancement is the incorporation of robotics technology within this industry; it is estimated that robots handle over a third of typical pharmaceutical packaging operations at conglomerates such as AstraZeneca (Wilkins, 2017). Within this last wave of technological innovation, there are implications that could have a positive or negative impact: advancements in medicine, less jobs, more production, high production equipment costs, etc. (Wilkins, 2017).

Discussion 2:

Pat’s Pizza is a restaurant nearby that we frequent on the weekends or if I am working at home. This business uses the three waves discussed in the discussion for this week. (automate | integrate | incorporate) Through IT, you can either place online or by using the mobile app they have available. If you sign up to become a member, (this is normally done by people that frequently purchase items from this store) you gain points for each order you place. When you gain a certain number of points, you can exchange them for free food or money off of your order. You can sign up for free as long as you have a valid email.

Utilizing the mobile app or website shows how this organization demonstrates the automate wave. By ordering food this way, you are cutting out having to drive to the store, place your order and wait in line. Integrated is demonstrated by the points and free food accumulated by customers when they purchase food. The status of your order can be tracked on the app or the website by using the tracker. It basically lets you know when the order is being made, when it leave the store and when it is on the way to you. I believe this is utilizing the incorporate wave.