Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/magazine/mpc93jun.zip/PERADYMN.TXT

Text File | 1993-05-31 | 14KB | 211 lines

     The New Marketplace:
     by Robert C. Brenner

     While analysts, editors, and industry pundits debate the affect of
     the new political "leadership," I maintain that it really doesn't
     matter who is in the White House. A process is underway that cannot
     be stopped. It can only be helped or hindered by the party in power.
     This paradigm shift is causing a major restructuring of the American
     workplace. The phenomenon is so widespread and so pervasive that the
     way we organize to do business is changing forever. Alvin Toffler
     describes it as a shift in power from wealth to information. Other
     business analysts and futurists describe what we're experiencing as
     the greatest change in business structure in history. The current
     paradigm - the accepted way that we organize and conduct business -
     is being radically modified. Corporate America is restructuring
     itself to organize around technology. A hundred years ago, half of
     all American workers were engaged in agriculture. Since 1950, low
     skilled labor jobs began getting squeezed out of manufacturing.
     Starting in 1980, high skilled jobs began to disappear as computers
     and automation entered the workplace. Now, just since 1990, 70% of
     the manufacturing jobs eliminated in plant closings and layoffs have
     been white collar positions. Most of these jobs are gone forever. The
     change is being driven by the assimilation of microelectronic
     technology.  The computer revolution began as the 70s rolled into the
     80s. The introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 Marketplace continued on
     Pg 4 legitimized the acceptance of desktop personal computers in the
     offices of business America. Experts on the introduction of new
     technology point out that it takes a generation (20-30 years) for
     society to assimilate a major technological change and businesses to
     organize around the technology. The television was invented in the
     late 1940s, but it took until 1960 for TV to become commonplace. A
     nation cannot retool overnight. It will take until the end of this
     century for our society to fully assimilate desktop computing and the
     myriad of electronic products that interface and enhance the use of
     these machines. In parts of the U.S., many businesses still don't
     know how to employ computers to gain a competitive advantage. For
     the first half of most transitions to new technology, the general
     standard of living falls - it has.

     Smokestack Economy Crumbling In the past, the process to assimilate
     technology was accompanied by massive changes in the workplace
     today's paradigm shift is producing the same results. We're seeing
     corporate reorganizations, restructuring, and layoffs on a massive
     scale. Our smokestack economy is disintegrating as the pyramid
     organization structure, CEO at the top and workers at the bottom,
     begins to implode in upon itself. In trade publications, in almost
     every industry, you can read about corporate redesign and massive
     worker displacement.  The Wall Street Journal has reported
     fundamental changes in the U.S. job market. Our economy is rapidly
     becoming high-tech. As a result, jobs aren't being temporarily lost
     because of the recession. They are being permanently wiped out by
     better computers, improved machinery, and new ways of organizing
     work. This is shifting many educated people into unchallenging jobs
     or completely out of the workplace.  Add to this an uneducated
     underclass incapable of handling almost any high-tech job, and we
     find our country in an agonizing metamorphosis. Complete layers of
     management are being eliminated. Organization structures are
     flattening horizontally. We have not "bottomed" out in the
     elimination of the old "smokestack" types of jobs. This won't occur
     for several more years. But losing 'labor-intensive' jobs while
     gaining 'high-tech' jobs is producing a net loss of employment in
     the very industries that typically provide jobs for segments of our
     population not educationally suited for higher-tech work. Management
     and skilled jobs in the smokestack sector will continue to disappear
     no matter who runs our country. But new jobs are replacing the old.
     These new high value jobs are being created as fast as electronic
     technology becomes a part of our working life. With change comes a
     new workplace based on an electronic infrastructure and with workers
     who are no longer tied to a desk in a common location. The
     conventional job description and the department organization chart
     are disappearing as companies begin to reorganize. These new
     organizations will be able to instantly restructure according to the
     job. As information races throughout our world, value is being added
     to what we know (or can find out). Business power is shifting to
     those who can collect, maintain, and use information.

     Change:
     The Economic Battlefield
     This has presented the desktop publisher with an opportunity for
     profit that has never existed for the typical graphics designer and
     printer. Our world is entering an information war on an economic
     battlefield, and the DTPer has a commanding lead for top profits in
     the near future. Small businesses have traditionally operated lean
     and fast. The horizontal organization structure and rapid response
     capability enable our profession to succeed beyond our wildest
     imaginations. We accept and welcome change. Change is part of our
     professional lives. However, it is resisted in the bureaucracies of
     large companies and the government. Change is traumatic for workers
     in large companies. Thousands of experienced white collar workers
     are suddenly finding themselves "out of work" at 45 years old - too
     young to "retire" and too old to get rehired in the same type of
     work. Middle income jobs are being permanently eliminated by a need
     to organize around knowledge and the technology needed to move
     information. A recent article in Electronic Engineering Times
     reports that "three million managers have lost jobs since the mid
     1980s, and another 2.5 million will lose theirs by 1995 as companies
     downsize and flatten the pyramidal structure."  As old job positions
     go away, new jobs in information technology are being born and the
     appearance of these types of jobs will accelerate as the decade
     closes. By 2010, there will be a huge need for information workers.

     Politicians Continue To Blow Smoke

     Retraining America is on the agenda of politicians and corporate
     leaders. The problem is that Washington is still focused on
     addressing production line smokestack industry solutions. They want
     to create jobs for low skilled workers. They don't explain that
     these jobs are rapidly moving off-shore or to Mexico. The proper
     solution is to help workers learn how to collect, move, and use
     information. Brain-power is becoming the highest form of economic
     advantage. Another problem, and one not addressed by our recent
     presidential candidates, is the fact that many of the blue collar
     workers who have seen their jobs disappear are not easily
     retrainable to handle technical work. A recent study discovered that
     almost 40% of displaced blue collar workers are functionally
     illiterate. Another 40% are marginally illiterate. While Washington
     and many corporate managers continue to think in terms of moving men
     and materials, a smokestack mentality, the real product of our
     future is information. Our schools still haven't grasped the concept
     that education must be changed. President Clinton boasts that he
     will create millions of jobs. The problem with this concept is that
     he will create jobs paying minimum wage. The lower income level of
     society will grow to bursting. Only 730,000 out of the projected
     6.5 million new jobs that are expected between now and the end of
     the decade will be middle income jobs (paying over $25,500 a year).
     The higher paying jobs will be those closely associated with the
     Information Revolution. And few businesses are better positioned to
     optimize profits in this new economy than the desktop publishers and
     multimedia designers of today. Unemployment is moving from
     quantitative to qualitative. There will be plenty of work and money
     to be earned for those who possess the skills to handle information.

     Our Transition
     Into The Future
     Customers are asking for more than just output products; they also
     want answers. It is this information that can add value to your
     products and services. You must be prepared to charge for this
     information. From today on, it is knowledge, rather than cheap
     labor, that will embody and add value. When you describe the
     benefits of your services, be certain to point out the time that can
     be saved by the knowledge and experience that your shop can offer.
     Many customers don't yet understand the value of information. They
     soon will. Information is becoming a value-added commodity. The rate
     of technological change has become white hot and business success
     will depend more on electronic highways than ever in history. The
     way you organize your shop - equipment layout, hardware and
     software used, telecommunication capabilities available, etc. - will
     directly determine your bottom line. You must be able to rapidly
     shift work flow patterns and be sensitive to customers who expect
     hand-holding and fast turnaround. You can help our nation transition
     into its inevitable future. Emphasize the critical value of human
     resources and conduct worker cross-training. Support work-at-home,
     flexitime, and job sharing. Form strategic alliances and organize
     your shop around the technology that is available. In this way, you
     can increase productivity and meet the ever changing demands of a
     fickle customer base. We need vision in our profession. A lack of
     vision in the leadership of corporate America means that many large
     companies will no longer be around by the end of this decade. As
     reported by Shearson Lehman Brothers recently: "There's a long-term,
     secular change sweeping the industry, and some com-panies aren't
     going to make it." You can.  The restructuring of American business
     does not remove the need for good document design and publishing. As
     companies shrink their graphics staffs, offer to support an
     outsourcing arrangement. Consider hiring the displaced graphics
     designers and DTPers as you go after projects that continue to be
     created inside these new organizations. Become expert in explaining
     the advantages of outsourcing DTP work. Learn about and use
     telecommunications - modem and fax. Have freelancers work from home
     within or outside your city. Modem transfer has become accurate,
     fast, and convenient. Be open to telecommuting. Only by taking a
     leadership position and developing vision can you help your shop
     and our nation through this economic and social upheaval. You can
     win. We can all win.

     U.S. To Play
     A Dominant Role.
     The U.S. will soon become one of the most competitive nations in a
     world in which information plays a dominant role. Our world is
     rapidly becoming a global village with global customs and porous
     borders. The rich flow of information is producing a world of many
     unequal groups that are rapidly becoming aware of each other. While
     everyone seeks economic well-being and a secure lifestyle,
     information technology and the desktop publisher possess the keys to
     success in the world of tomorrow. The pursuit of wealth is shifting
     to a pursuit of information. The application of information will
     determine who are the millionaires of tomorrow. Your company can be
     like a weed in an open field. With the sun and water of information
     management, you can experience amazing growth. In the 1980s, small
     businesses operating on their own created most of the jobs. It will
     also be small businesses that create most of the new jobs in the 90s.
     Information is changing the relationships of management to worker,
     citizen to government, and even the balance of power in our
     shrinking world. Alliances, partnerships, and joint development will
     reshape the way we do business. As we enter the 21st century, you
     can position yourself and your company to lead the profession in the
     application of information. Power is shifting, and those who possess
     the know-how in collecting, processing, and distributing information
     will be the decision makers of tomorrow. Organize around the
     technology and you'll win. Remain stagnant, and you'll soon be
     pushed off the path to success.

     Robert Brenner is President of Brenner Information Group, an
     information collection, packaging and distribution company located
     in San Diego. He is the author and Publisher of Modems Made Easy and
     Pricing Guide for Desktop Publishing Services. His many activities
     include computer systems integration and teaching project
     management and desktop publishing at local colleges and universities.
     Professor Brenner can be contacted by writing to him at 13223 Black
     Mountain 1-430, San Diego, CA 92129, or by calling  him at
     [phone].