Advances in technology over the last two decades have transformed the world of work and commerce, driving wave of economic growth and opportunity worldwide, dramatically changing many industries and opening new competitive opportunities for organizations small and large. Many of these services (tweeting, texting, search, email, instant messaging, fax, voice mail, and social networking) could become commodities in the future. Increased competition could even make search (search engine), currently the biggest money-spinner on the web due to search-linked advertising, into less of a differentiating factor. Applications like telephony (VOIP), broadband access, and even video itself will dramatically drop in price, in some cases becoming free; as competition to provide them increases and as technology advances continue.

However, in-terms of affecting ones work-life as it makes it difficult to escape work for an evening or weekend, it has the following advantages and disadvantages.

Pros
Advances in technology make it possible for workers to be almost anyway but be connected to their office. CEOs that travel a lot can still keep in touch with their managers and employees and expect them to use the same technology. Mobile phones and high-speed Internet connections enable telecommuters to conduct business, speak to clients, and access information as if they never left the office.

Two company employees trying to solve a challenging issue might find instant messaging the shortcut to addressing such issues, which some accompanies see as a barrier to the problem-solving process.

At global level, the coordination of dispersed work-groups comes handy through increased use of video conferencing, emails, live chats, and other computer-based team tools. For example, Centralized voice mail storage can be a reliable and inexpensive model for information control. Centralization can reduce the cost of storage, strengthen corporate audit procedures, and facilitate productivity improvements through global access that enables practical uses such as division-wide broadcasts. A regional sales vice president can easily deliver important voice-mail notices to employees across all appropriate sales offices: if having more timely information can improve sales performance, she can directly improve sales productivity.

More efficient office space use: email, instant messaging, fax, and voice mail and rich application-sharing environments diminish the need for travel and face-to-face consultations; mobility solutions enable convenient access to information at a anywhere, and tools for better information management enable more efficient workspace design. Hence, reduce overall office operational costs in-terms of office equipment and size; reduce real estate costs; and reduce infrastructure costs since most of these services are wireless.

It accommodates different work/life styles, hence, reducing employee turnover and increasing employee retention and productivity. That is, working mothers or parents in general are given flexible hours to accommodate their parental obligations. Therefore, they can do some of their work from home and not miss much in their children’s life.

Cons
Increased complexity of work: Employees need to know more, not only to do their jobs and tasks, but also to work effectively with others on teams. Employees have to keep up-to-date with technological advancement. Hence, Individuals working longer hours to compensate for lack of time to do individual tasks

It leads to loss of opportunity to develop service provider-client relationship trust through face-to-face interaction. In the old days, deals a sealed by the handshake and a smile. Now, this gives an opportunity for scam artists to hind screen to carry their dubious activities.

Employees may not comply with rules and regulations or orders, but rather to be committed to organizational goals and mission. The blurring of boundaries of organizational hierarchy created by these phenomena will also affect organizational roles. As employees gain more decision authority and latitude, managers become more social supporters and coaches rather than commanders.

References:

Alliance for Work-life Progress http://www.awlp.org/

Stair R., Reynolds, G. (2006). “Principles of Information Systems, 7th Ed.” Massachusetts:
                  Thomson Course Tech