Introduction
Technology has brought about significant improvements in different areas of our daily lives. Almost everything we do today relies on technology. This has improved the infrastructure and communication policy all over the world. Everyday a new modification in terms of technology is invented to make life easier and convenient. However, as the saying goes, every coin has two sides. The adoption of technology in our day to day lives has affected the way we relate with other people, friends, family members as well as institutions. This paper will focus on the impacts of technology on our relationship with specific businesses or organizations such as banks, schools, and places of worship and our favorite places of shopping. It will elaborate whether technology has strengthened or weakened the relationship with these areas. It will also evaluate the impact of technology on the relationship with friends, family, colleagues and business associates as well as the community. The impact of technology to build our businesses and personal relationships will also be discussed versus how technology has weakened these relationships. The last part of the paper will analyze the steps that can be taken to use technology including social media to reduce any negative impacts (Pompian, 2008).
Relation building with businesses is a very vital aspect as it helps establish a deep network that will facilitate the growth and marketing of the company. Business networks require participation as it provides firms with valuable assets such as knowledge, new ideas, sources of funding and necessary skills and expertise. These assets are very important in building the business performance and enable the firms to remain competitive. Most of the information used in decision making in organizations is sourced from the informal networks rather than formal reports. Close ties with these specific businesses refers to factors such as the time invested in the relationship, the level of intimacy or familiarity between the parties involved. Technology has enabled businesses and organizations to acquire development ideas from the informal sector. The institutions such as banks reach out to their esteemed customers via email or even websites to inform them on development strategies. In return the customers respond and give insight on the developmental strategies that should be implemented in the businesses. Institutions such as places of worship have also adopted technology to facilitate their activities. This has been seen through the use of advanced technology to spread the gospel (Shroff, 2008).
The relationship with specific businesses is affected by technology in that most of these businesses require people to know each other well enough. They also require maintaining close ties which can be hectic in that it needs much investment of time and effort. People have lacked the trust to rely on technology that much when it comes to relationships with businesses. Technology has to some extent strengthened and weakened the relationship people have with specific organizations. Over the time, people have failed to maintain close ties and thus failed to invest more time and effort in the network between them and the businesses. It is not easy to trust people via social networks and hence the relationship with these organizations has been weakened.
Similarly, technology has affected relationship with family, friends, and colleagues as well businesses associates. Technology has introduced a policy where people need to keep in contact with their friends, associates and colleagues. This can be a challenging venture. However, technological developments and the growth of social media are enabling people to make innovative forms of business interactions and carry out other activities. This has facilitated new types of business relationships. Social networking has enabled people to develop ties with others as well as provide information related to their businesses. Technology has enabled business associates to develop the skills needed for business relationship building and online marketing since most of the information is available in the internet. Friends and family members may interact via the social networks without having to meet physically. In addition to this, technology has helped people to interact and share ideas thus boosting the community based development. For instance, a political leader may use technology to gain ideas on the development of their area of jurisdiction. They may also use it as a channel to address the issues arising in their community instead of physically appearing for public gathering every time (Tausch, 2011). Technology has also affected the relationship with family, friends and colleagues in that people may lie about their where about since there is no physical contact or means to trace down the truth. The social media interaction has deceived many people as most people lie about themselves with the aim of achieving particular objectives.
The use of technology in the growth of businesses has helped in that, it has helped build and maintain a network that generates value. Companies have created specific social media management roles that develop and maintain a strong and positive online presence and personality. It has also facilitated important cultural and structural changes that are necessary to support the types of skills necessary for relationship building. The critical steps in building relationships such as changes in the leadership and management styles are often necessary to promote openness and transparency that are important in creating success in the business environment. The social media can be used as a channel for promoting or rather marketing the business where the presence of employees should be used as a way of reflecting the online activities of the company. The company managers should ensure that this policy is communicated to the employees in order to draw the line between professional and personal relationships. The representatives in the social media should interact with uttermost diplomacy and sensitivity. Business managers should let their customers know them and interact through these channels.
References
Pompian, Michael M. (2008). Using Behavioral Investor Types to Build Better Relationships with Your Clients. Journal of Financial Planning, 21(10), 64-76.
Shroff, F. T. (2008). Modern banking technology. New Delhi: Northern Book Centre.
Tausch, Nicole; Hewstone, Miles; Schmid, Katharina; Hughes, Joanne; Cairns, Ed. (2011). Extended contact effects as a function of closeness of relationship with ingroup contacts.Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(2), 239-254.
