How to determine who is impacted by the introduction of new technology into an organization

TLDR: A case study from the banking industry is used to highlight the many areas of an organization impacted by the introduction of a new technology for processing checks and a framework is described which organizations might use to determine who is impacted by this change and to what extent.

Abstract: With the development of new being commonplace today, many organisations and businesses are faced with the daunting problem of how to go about introducing these technologies. One of the problems lies in determining the impact of the new technology on the work processes and productivity of their employees. Introducing a new technology to the workplace is a multidimensional problem that is addressed through a number of specialized disciplines including change management, project management, and business process reengineering. A key step any organization needs to make in properly introducing a new technology to the workplace is to assess who will be impacted directly or indirectly by this change and how. This is a critical concern for organizations as they increasingly move to data rich, networked environments since both the number of individuals affected and the pace of change will increase greatly. In this paper, we concentrate on describing a framework which organizations might use to determine who is impacted by the introduction of a new technology and to what extent. We use a case study from the banking industry to highlight the many areas of an organization impacted by the introduction of a new technology for processing checks. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the issues associated with self-managed change versus change management in collaboration with vendors and/or consultants.