IBM Consulting , rebranded in 2021 from IBM Global Business Services , is the professional services and consulting arm of IBM . It provides services to companies, global government organizations, non-profits and NGOs .
94-466: It has approximately 160,000 employees globally, with capabilities spanning strategy and management consulting , experience design, technology and systems integration , and operations. IBM's early involvement in IT services can be traced back to the mid-seventies and its Data Processing Support Services (DPSS) division. At the time, the company was under regulatory pressure to unbundle its support services from
188-482: A mixer which helped them to hide their cryptocurrency exchanges, to launder over $ 20.5 million in cryptocurrency, from Axie Infinity , and steal over $ 600 million worth of cryptocurrency from the game's owner. Because of this, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Blender.io, which marked the first time it has taken action against a mixer, to try to crack down on North Korean hackers. The privacy of cryptocurrency has been debated. Although many customers like
282-471: A Specialty". By inventing Scientific Management, also known as Taylor's method, Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the first method of organizing work, spawning the careers of many more management consultants. For example, one of Taylor's early collaborators, Morris Llewellyn Cooke , opened his own management consultancy in 1905. Taylor's method was used worldwide until industry switched to a method invented by W. Edwards Deming . The initial period of growth in
376-475: A failure to develop plans that are executable by the client. As stated above, management consulting is an unregulated profession; anyone or any company can style themselves as management consultants. A number of critical books about management consulting argue that the mismatch between management consulting advice and the ability of executives to actually create the change suggested results in substantial damages to existing businesses. In his book, Flawed Advice and
470-467: A form of corporate social responsibility . Other for-profit firms have spun off nonprofit consulting organizations, e.g. Bain creating Bridgespan . Many firms outside of the Big Three offer management consulting services to nonprofits, philanthropies, and mission-driven organizations. Some, but not all, are nonprofits themselves. As with all client-contractor work, liability depends heavily on
564-465: A general management consultancy, it originally specialized in technical research. As Arthur D. Little focused on technical research for the first few years, the first management consultancy was that of Frederick Winslow Taylor , who in 1893 opened an independent consulting practice in Philadelphia. His business card read "Consulting Engineer – Systematizing Shop Management and Manufacturing Costs
658-503: A gradual recovery in the consulting industry's growth rate in the intervening years, with a current trend towards a clearer segmentation of management consulting firms. In recent years, management consulting firms actively recruit top graduates from Ivy League universities, Rhodes Scholars , and students from top MBA programs. In more recent times, traditional management consulting firms have had to face increasing challenges from disruptive online marketplaces that are aiming to cater to
752-545: A higher cost-efficiency than if clients were to perform research themselves. Three consulting firms are widely regarded as the Big Three or MBB: The Big Four audit firms ( Deloitte , KPMG , PwC , Ernst & Young ) have been working in the strategy consulting market since 2010. In 2013, Deloitte acquired Monitor Group —now Monitor Deloitte —while PwC acquired PRTM in 2011 and Booz & Company in 2013—now Strategy& . From 2010 to 2013, several Big Four firms have tried to acquire Roland Berger . EY followed
846-525: A mix of both of these categories. In the modern economic environment, management consulting firms are typically classified under the umbrella term of corporate service providers . Consultants have specialized skills on tasks that would involve high internal coordination costs for clients, such as organization-wide changes or the implementation of information technology. In addition, because of economies of scale , consultants' focus on and experience in gathering information across markets and industries enables
940-490: A period of sustained double-digit annual revenue growth until the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . As financial services and government were two of the largest spenders on consulting services, the financial crash and the resulting public sector austerity drives hit consulting revenues hard. In some markets such as the UK there was a recession in the consulting industry, something which had never happened before or since. There has been
1034-494: A replacement for internal management. Unlike interim management , management consultants do not become part of the organization to which they provide services. Consultancies provide services such as: organizational change management assistance, development of coaching skills, process analysis , technology implementation, strategy development, or operational improvement services. Management consultants often bring their own proprietary methodologies or frameworks to guide
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#17327838378151128-466: A result of their exposure to and relationships with numerous organizations, consulting firms are typically aware of industry " best practices ". However, the specific nature of situations under consideration may limit the ability or appropriateness of transferring such practices from one organization to another. Management consulting is an additional service to internal management functions and, for various legal and practical reasons, may not be seen as
1222-410: A rise in extremism, while others see it as an opportunity to usher in a post-scarcity economy . Some segments of the 1960s hippie counterculture grew to dislike urban living and developed a preference for locally autonomous , sustainable , and decentralized technology, termed appropriate technology . This later influenced hacker culture and technopaganism . Technological utopianism refers to
1316-411: A rise in social media's cultural prominence, with potential repercussions on democracy, and economic and social life. Early on, the internet was seen as a "liberation technology" that would democratize knowledge, improve access to education, and promote democracy. Modern research has turned to investigate the internet's downsides, including disinformation, polarization, hate speech, and propaganda. Since
1410-517: A role. The invention of writing led to the spread of cultural knowledge and became the basis for history, libraries , schools, and scientific research. Continuing improvements led to the furnace and bellows and provided, for the first time, the ability to smelt and forge gold, copper, silver, and lead – native metals found in relatively pure form in nature. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper
1504-521: A source of ideas. Futures research methodologies include survey research , modeling, statistical analysis , and computer simulations . Existential risk researchers analyze risks that could lead to human extinction or civilizational collapse, and look for ways to build resilience against them. Relevant research centers include the Cambridge Center for the Study of Existential Risk , and
1598-466: Is always beneficial, that scientific openness is always preferable, or that they can afford to wait until a dangerous technology has been invented before they prepare mitigations. Emerging technologies are novel technologies whose development or practical applications are still largely unrealized. They include nanotechnology , biotechnology , robotics , 3D printing , blockchains , and artificial intelligence . In 2005, futurist Ray Kurzweil claimed
1692-499: Is an interdisciplinary subfield of ethics that analyzes technology's ethical implications and explores ways to mitigate the potential negative impacts of new technologies. There is a broad range of ethical issues revolving around technology, from specific areas of focus affecting professionals working with technology to broader social, ethical, and legal issues concerning the role of technology in society and everyday life. Prominent debates have surrounded genetically modified organisms ,
1786-740: Is creating both new opportunities and new obligations for us, opportunity for greater productivity and progress; obligation to be sure that no workingman, no family must pay an unjust price for progress." upon signing the National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress bill. With the growing reliance of technology, there have been security and privacy concerns along with it. Billions of people use different online payment methods, such as WeChat Pay , PayPal , Alipay , and much more to help transfer money. Although security measures are placed, some criminals are able to bypass them. In March 2022, North Korea used Blender.io ,
1880-519: Is engaged mainly with aim to find hidden weak spots and improve performance, while the reactive consultant engagement is mostly aimed at solving problems identified by external stakeholders. Marvin Bower , McKinsey's long-term director, has mentioned the benefits of a consultant's externality, that they have varied experience outside the client company. Management consulting could be classified into two categories: Management consulting often involves
1974-555: Is the sailing ship ; the earliest record of a ship under sail is that of a Nile boat dating to around 7,000 BCE. From prehistoric times, Egyptians likely used the power of the annual flooding of the Nile to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely built irrigation channels and "catch" basins. The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia used a complex system of canals and levees to divert water from
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#17327838378152068-513: Is the stone tool , used during prehistory , followed by the control of fire —which in turn contributed to the growth of the human brain and the development of language during the Ice Age , according to the cooking hypothesis . The invention of the wheel in the Bronze Age allowed greater travel and the creation of more complex machines. More recent technological inventions, including
2162-483: Is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals , especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines , and intangible ones such as software . Technology plays a critical role in science , engineering , and everyday life . Technological advancements have led to significant changes in society. The earliest known technology
2256-481: Is the largest cause of long-term economic growth. Throughout human history, energy production was the main constraint on economic development , and new technologies allowed humans to significantly increase the amount of available energy . First came fire, which made edible a wider variety of foods, and made it less physically demanding to digest them. Fire also enabled smelting , and the use of tin , copper, and iron tools, used for hunting or tradesmanship . Then came
2350-429: Is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives . Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice and accessing consultants' specialized expertise regarding concerns that call for additional oversight. As
2444-487: The Ancient Greek word tékhnē , used to mean 'knowledge of how to make things', which encompassed activities like architecture. Starting in the 19th century, continental Europeans started using the terms Technik (German) or technique (French) to refer to a 'way of doing', which included all technical arts, such as dancing, navigation, or printing, whether or not they required tools or instruments. At
2538-600: The Information Age and the birth of the Internet . The Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, and later the launch of crewed missions to the moon in the 1960s. Organized efforts to search for extraterrestrial intelligence have used radio telescopes to detect signs of technology use, or technosignatures , given off by alien civilizations. In medicine, new technologies were developed for diagnosis ( CT , PET , and MRI scanning), treatment (like
2632-558: The Minoans on the Greek island of Crete built a 50 km road leading from the palace of Gortyn on the south side of the island, through the mountains, to the palace of Knossos on the north side of the island. Unlike the earlier road, the Minoan road was completely paved. Ancient Minoan private homes had running water . A bathtub virtually identical to modern ones was unearthed at
2726-618: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers for irrigation. Archaeologists estimate that the wheel was invented independently and concurrently in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq ), the Northern Caucasus ( Maykop culture ), and Central Europe. Time estimates range from 5,500 to 3,000 BCE with most experts putting it closer to 4,000 BCE. The oldest artifacts with drawings depicting wheeled carts date from about 3,500 BCE. More recently,
2820-611: The World Economic Forum 's "The Future of Jobs Report 2020", AI is predicted to replace 85 million jobs worldwide, and create 97 million new jobs by 2025. From 1990 to 2007, a study in the U.S. by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu showed that an addition of one robot for every 1,000 workers decreased the employment-to-population ratio by 0.2%, or about 3.3 workers, and lowered wages by 0.42%. Concerns about technology replacing human labor however are long-lasting. As US president Lyndon Johnson said in 1964, "Technology
2914-864: The dialysis machine , defibrillator , pacemaker , and a wide array of new pharmaceutical drugs ), and research (like interferon cloning and DNA microarrays ). Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are needed to make and maintain more modern technologies, and entire industries have arisen to develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools. Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education – their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require sophisticated general and specific training. Moreover, these technologies have become so complex that entire fields have developed to support them, including engineering, medicine, and computer science ; and other fields have become more complex, such as construction, transportation, and architecture. Technological change
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3008-402: The lever , the screw , and the pulley ) were combined into more complicated tools, such as the wheelbarrow , windmills , and clocks . A system of universities developed and spread scientific ideas and practices, including Oxford and Cambridge . The Renaissance era produced many innovations, including the introduction of the movable type printing press to Europe, which facilitated
3102-445: The printing press , telephone, and the Internet , have lowered barriers to communication and ushered in the knowledge economy . While technology contributes to economic development and improves human prosperity , it can also have negative impacts like pollution and resource depletion , and can cause social harms like technological unemployment resulting from automation . As a result, philosophical and political debates about
3196-399: The smelting of ores, along with the use of a wind-drafted clay kiln , which released lead into the atmosphere and the sediment of rivers. Philosophy of technology is a branch of philosophy that studies the "practice of designing and creating artifacts", and the "nature of the things so created." It emerged as a discipline over the past two centuries, and has grown "considerably" since
3290-406: The 1970s, technology's impact on the environment has been criticized , leading to a surge in investment in solar , wind , and other forms of clean energy . Since the invention of the wheel, technologies have helped increase humans' economic output. Past automation has both substituted and complemented labor; machines replaced humans at some lower-paying jobs (for example in agriculture), but this
3384-429: The 1970s. The humanities philosophy of technology is concerned with the "meaning of technology for, and its impact on, society and culture". Initially, technology was seen as an extension of the human organism that replicated or amplified bodily and mental faculties. Marx framed it as a tool used by capitalists to oppress the proletariat, but believed that technology would be a fundamentally liberating force once it
3478-445: The 1980s based on the academic work of Joel Stern , Bill Alberts, and Professor Alfred Rappaport . Other consulting firms including McKinsey and BCG developed VBM approaches. Value-based management became prominent during the late 1980s and 1990s. The industry experienced significant growth in the 1980s and 1990s, gaining considerable importance in relation to national gross domestic product . A period of significant growth in
3572-480: The Management Trap , Chris Argyris believes that much of the advice given today has real merit. However, a close examination shows that most advice given today contains gaps and inconsistencies that may prevent positive outcomes in the future. Ichak Adizes and coauthors also criticize the timing of consultant services. Client organizations, which are usually lacking the knowledge they want to obtain from
3666-610: The Neolithic but was originally used in the preceding Mesolithic in some areas such as Ireland. Agriculture fed larger populations, and the transition to sedentism allowed for the simultaneous raising of more children, as infants no longer needed to be carried around by nomads . Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could participate in hunter-gatherer activities. With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in labor specialization . What triggered
3760-677: The Palace of Knossos. Several Minoan private homes also had toilets, which could be flushed by pouring water down the drain. The ancient Romans had many public flush toilets, which emptied into an extensive sewage system . The primary sewer in Rome was the Cloaca Maxima ; construction began on it in the sixth century BCE and it is still in use today. The ancient Romans also had a complex system of aqueducts , which were used to transport water across long distances. The first Roman aqueduct
3854-471: The Paleolithic era include clothing and shelter. No consensus exists on the approximate time of adoption of either technology, but archaeologists have found archaeological evidence of clothing 90-120 kya and shelter 450 kya. As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 380 kya, humans were constructing temporary wood huts. Clothing, adapted from
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3948-502: The Stanford Existential Risk Initiative. Future technologies may contribute to the risks of artificial general intelligence , biological warfare , nuclear warfare , nanotechnology , anthropogenic climate change , global warming , or stable global totalitarianism , though technologies may also help us mitigate asteroid impacts and gamma-ray bursts . In 2019 philosopher Nick Bostrom introduced
4042-625: The academic discipline, as in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In the 20th century, as a result of scientific progress and the Second Industrial Revolution , technology stopped being considered a distinct academic discipline and took on the meaning: the systemic use of knowledge to practical ends. Tools were initially developed by hominids through observation and trial and error . Around 2 Mya (million years ago), they learned to make
4136-493: The agricultural revolution: humans no longer needed to hunt or gather to survive, and began to settle in towns and cities, forming more complex societies, with militaries and more organized forms of religion. Technologies have contributed to human welfare through increased prosperity, improved comfort and quality of life, and medical progress , but they can also disrupt existing social hierarchies, cause pollution, and harm individuals or groups. Recent years have brought about
4230-460: The alteration of matter at the atomic and molecular level in various disciplines including computer science, engineering, and biology. And engineering ethics deals with the professional standards of engineers, including software engineers and their moral responsibilities to the public. A wide branch of technology ethics is concerned with the ethics of artificial intelligence : it includes robot ethics , which deals with ethical issues involved in
4324-467: The atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect . This continues to gradually heat the earth, causing global warming and climate change . Measures of technological innovation correlates with a rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Pollution, the presence of contaminants in an environment that causes adverse effects, could have been present as early as the Inca Empire . They used a lead sulfide flux in
4418-490: The belief that technological development is a moral good , which can and should bring about a utopia , that is, a society in which laws, governments, and social conditions serve the needs of all its citizens. Examples of techno-utopian goals include post-scarcity economics , life extension , mind uploading , cryonics , and the creation of artificial superintelligence . Major techno-utopian movements include transhumanism and singularitarianism . The transhumanism movement
4512-490: The brand name ISSC, Integrated Systems Solution Corporation. Also in 1989, IBM introduced Business Recovery Services, an offering that enables a business to continue operations in the event of an unplanned outage or disaster. In 1992, the company formed IBM Consulting Group, as a new management consulting organization with service lines in Business Transformation and IT Strategy Consulting. This initiative
4606-557: The city-state of Ur dates to around 3,429 BCE, and even older fragments of wheel-thrown pottery have been found in the same area. Fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery, but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels , windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources. The first two-wheeled carts were derived from travois and were first used in Mesopotamia and Iran in around 3,000 BCE. The oldest known constructed roadways are
4700-535: The communication of knowledge. Technology became increasingly influenced by science, beginning a cycle of mutual advancement. Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, the discovery of steam power set off the Industrial Revolution , which saw wide-ranging technological discoveries, particularly in the areas of agriculture , manufacturing, mining, metallurgy , and transport, and
4794-546: The consultant, cannot correctly estimate the right timing for an engagement of consultants. Consultants are usually engaged too late when problems become visible to the top of the client's organizational pyramid. A proactive checkup, like a regular medical checkup, is recommended. On the other side, this opens additional danger for abuse from disreputable practitioners. ISO published the international standard ISO 20700 Guidelines for Management Consultancy Services on June 1, 2017, replacing EN 16114 . This document represents
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#17327838378154888-464: The consulting business. In 2000, Andersen Consulting broke off from Arthur Andersen and announced their new name Accenture . The name change was effective starting January 1, 2001, and Accenture is currently the largest consulting firm in the world in employee headcount. They are publicly traded on the NYSE with ticker ACN. The industry stagnated in 2001 before recovering after 2003 and then enjoying
4982-724: The consulting industry was triggered by the Glass–Steagall Banking Act in the 1930s, and was driven by demand for advice on finance, strategy and organization. From the 1950s onwards, consultancies expanded their activities considerably in the United States, and also opened offices in Europe and later in Asia and South America. The management consulting firms Stern Stewart, Marakon Associates , and Alcar pioneered value-based management (VBM), or "managing for value", in
5076-444: The design, construction, use, and treatment of robots, as well as machine ethics , which is concerned with ensuring the ethical behavior of artificially intelligent agents . Within the field of AI ethics, significant yet-unsolved research problems include AI alignment (ensuring that AI behaviors are aligned with their creators' intended goals and interests) and the reduction of algorithmic bias . Some researchers have warned against
5170-488: The early 1980s was driven by demand for strategy and organization consultancies. The wave of growth in the 1990s was driven by both strategy and information technology advice. In the second half of the 1980s, the big accounting firms entered the IT consulting segment. The then Big Eight, now Big Four , accounting firms ( PricewaterhouseCoopers , KPMG , Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ) had always offered advice in addition to their traditional services, but after
5264-409: The exact nature of the value of such a service model may vary greatly across markets and its description is therefore contingent . Management consulting grew with the rise of management , as a unique field of study. One of the first management consulting firms was Arthur D. Little Inc., founded in 1886 as a partnership, and later incorporated in 1909. Although Arthur D. Little later became
5358-502: The first international standard for the management consultancy industry. An international qualification for a management consulting practitioner is Certified Management Consultant (CMC) available in the United States through the Institute of Management Consultants USA . Additional trainings and courses exist, often as part of a MBA training; see Master of Business Administration § Content . Technology Technology
5452-553: The first stone tools by hammering flakes off a pebble, forming a sharp hand axe . This practice was refined 75 kya (thousand years ago) into pressure flaking , enabling much finer work. The discovery of fire was described by Charles Darwin as "possibly the greatest ever made by man". Archaeological, dietary, and social evidence point to "continuous [human] fire-use" at least 1.5 Mya. Fire, fueled with wood and charcoal , allowed early humans to cook their food to increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient value and broadening
5546-517: The fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to migrate out of Africa around 200 kya, initially moving to Eurasia . The Neolithic Revolution (or First Agricultural Revolution ) brought about an acceleration of technological innovation, and a consequent increase in social complexity. The invention of the polished stone axe was a major advance that allowed large-scale forest clearance and farming. This use of polished stone axes increased greatly in
5640-441: The hypothetical risk of an AI takeover , and have advocated for the use of AI capability control in addition to AI alignment methods. Other fields of ethics have had to contend with technology-related issues, including military ethics , media ethics , and educational ethics . Futures studies is the systematic and interdisciplinary study of social and technological progress. It aims to quantitatively and qualitatively explore
5734-419: The identification of problems and to serve as the basis for recommendations with a view to more effective or efficient ways of performing work tasks. The economic function of management consulting firms is in general to help and facilitate the development , rationalization and optimization of the various markets pertaining to the geographic areas and jurisdictions in which they operate . However,
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#17327838378155828-497: The increasing number of freelance management consulting professionals. The functions of consulting services are commonly broken down into eight task categories. Consultants can function as bridges for information and knowledge, and external consultants can provide these bridging services more economically than client firms themselves. Consultants can be engaged proactively, without significant external enforcement, and reactively, with external pressure. Proactive consultant engagement
5922-488: The introduction of skyscrapers accompanied by rapid urbanization. Communication improved with the invention of the telegraph , the telephone, the radio, and television. The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission in the Atomic Age led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power . Analog computers were invented and asserted dominance in processing complex data. While
6016-508: The invention of vacuum tubes allowed for digital computing with computers like the ENIAC , their sheer size precluded widespread use until innovations in quantum physics allowed for the invention of the transistor in 1947, which significantly compacted computers and led the digital transition. Information technology, particularly optical fiber and optical amplifiers , allowed for simple and fast long-distance communication, which ushered in
6110-404: The issue more thoroughly; others fear that directed evolution could lead to eugenics or extreme social inequality. Nanotechnology will grant us the ability to manipulate matter "at the molecular and atomic scale", which could allow us to reshape ourselves and our environment in fundamental ways. Nanobots could be used within the human body to destroy cancer cells or form new body parts, blurring
6204-513: The late 1980s these activities became increasingly important in relation to the maturing market of accounting and auditing . By the mid-1990s these firms had outgrown those service providers focusing on corporate strategy and organization. While three of the Big Four legally divided the different service lines after the Enron scandal and the ensuing breakdown of Arthur Andersen, they are now back in
6298-690: The line between biology and technology. Autonomous robots have undergone rapid progress, and are expected to replace humans at many dangerous tasks, including search and rescue , bomb disposal , firefighting , and war. Estimates on the advent of artificial general intelligence vary, but half of machine learning experts surveyed in 2018 believe that AI will "accomplish every task better and more cheaply" than humans by 2063, and automate all human jobs by 2140. This expected technological unemployment has led to calls for increased emphasis on computer science education and debates about universal basic income . Political science experts predict that this could lead to
6392-417: The next technological revolution would rest upon advances in genetics , nanotechnology , and robotics , with robotics being the most impactful of the three technologies. Genetic engineering will allow far greater control over human biological nature through a process called directed evolution . Some thinkers believe that this may shatter our sense of self, and have urged for renewed public debate exploring
6486-419: The notion of a vulnerable world , "one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default", citing the risks of a pandemic caused by bioterrorists , or an arms race triggered by the development of novel armaments and the loss of mutual assured destruction . He invites policymakers to question the assumptions that technological progress
6580-443: The number of foods that could be eaten. The cooking hypothesis proposes that the ability to cook promoted an increase in hominid brain size , though some researchers find the evidence inconclusive. Archaeological evidence of hearths was dated to 790 kya; researchers believe this is likely to have intensified human socialization and may have contributed to the emergence of language . Other technological advances made during
6674-507: The oldest-known wooden wheel in the world as of 2024 was found in the Ljubljana Marsh of Slovenia ; Austrian experts have established that the wheel is between 5,100 and 5,350 years old. The invention of the wheel revolutionized trade and war. It did not take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads. The ancient Sumerians used a potter's wheel and may have invented it. A stone pottery wheel found in
6768-553: The privacy of cryptocurrency, many also argue that it needs more transparency and stability. Technology can have both positive and negative effects on the environment. Environmental technology , describes an array of technologies which seek to reverse, mitigate or halt environmental damage to the environment. This can include measures to halt pollution through environmental regulations, capture and storage of pollution, or using pollutant byproducts in other industries. Other examples of environmental technology include deforestation and
6862-417: The progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as Uruk , and the first civilizations, such as Sumer , is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly hierarchical social structures and specialized labor, of trade and war among adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges such as irrigation , are all thought to have played
6956-409: The range of plausible futures and to incorporate human values in the development of new technologies. More generally, futures researchers are interested in improving "the freedom and welfare of humankind". It relies on a thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of past and present technological trends, and attempts to rigorously extrapolate them into the future. Science fiction is often used as
7050-401: The reversing of deforestation. Emerging technologies in the fields of climate engineering may be able to halt or reverse global warming and its environmental impacts, although this remains highly controversial. As technology has advanced, so too has the negative environmental impact, with increased release of greenhouse gases , including methane , nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide , into
7144-454: The role and use of technology, the ethics of technology , and ways to mitigate its downsides are ongoing. Technology is a term dating back to the early 17th century that meant 'systematic treatment' (from Greek Τεχνολογία , from the Greek : τέχνη , romanized : tékhnē , lit. 'craft, art' and -λογία , 'study, knowledge'). It is predated in use by
7238-649: The role of management consultants is rapidly changing. Moreover, with more online platforms that connect business executives to relevant consultants, the role of the traditional 'firm' is being questioned. Large management consulting firms and professional networks have adopted a structure of industry-specific branches, with one branch per industry or market segment served. As such, the firms utilize their ability to serve as knowledge brokers within each market segment and industry addressed. Some for-profit consulting firms, including McKinsey and BCG , offer consulting services to nonprofits at subsidized rates as
7332-509: The sale of hardware. Additionally, with the launch of its early teleprocessing and database products, such as CICS and IMS, many customers could acquire the expertise needed to build their applications only through hiring consulting services directly from IBM. Later, in 1989, Eastman Kodak Company and IBM completed an agreement by which IBM designed, built and managed a new state-of-the-art data center for Kodak in Rochester , New York under
7426-703: The same time some other Big Four accounting firms were selling off their consulting arms (this was in order to avoid conflicts of interest in light of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ). PwC's consultancy business was sold to IBM for approximately US$ 3.9 billion in cash and stock. This nearly doubled the number of consultants within IBM Global Services, adding 30,000 consultants in 52 countries. In 2016, IBM announced its planned acquisition of Promontory Financial Group in September 2016 and completed
7520-462: The scope of the contract deliverables has been proven to be of considerable difficulty, also in management consulting. For this reason, it is important that clients procuring management consulting services think twice about what type of help they need, so that the scope, length and content of contract reflects such need. Management consultants are sometimes criticized for the overuse of buzzwords , reliance on and propagation of management fads , and
7614-537: The stone-paved streets of the city-state of Ur, dating to c. 4,000 BCE , and timber roads leading through the swamps of Glastonbury , England, dating to around the same period. The first long-distance road, which came into use around 3,500 BCE, spanned 2,400 km from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea , but was not paved and was only partially maintained. In around 2,000 BCE,
7708-403: The subject of contract terms. While the management consulting service provider for obvious reasons has a business reputation to protect, legally there is little protection for the client. This is due to the scope of the contract being the only thing subject to potential insurance claims as well as lawsuits. As with other client-contractor relationships, settling for liabilities that exist outside
7802-476: The time, Technologie (German and French) referred either to the academic discipline studying the "methods of arts and crafts", or to the political discipline "intended to legislate on the functions of the arts and crafts." The distinction between Technik and Technologie is absent in English, and so both were translated as technology . The term was previously uncommon in English and mostly referred to
7896-465: The transaction in November 2016. In October 2021, IBM Global Business Services was renamed IBM Consulting after the spin-off of IBM's Global Technology Services division into Kyndryl Holdings . IBM Consulting has three main divisions: Over the years of its operating, IBM Consulting acquired numerous formerly independent consulting companies: Management consulting Management consulting
7990-615: The trend, with acquisitions of The Parthenon Group in 2014, and both the BeNeLux and French businesses of OC&C in 2016 and 2017, with all now under the EY-Parthenon brand. In 2013, an article in Harvard Business Review discussed the prevalent trends within the consulting industry to evolve. The authors noted that with knowledge being democratized and information becoming more and more accessible to anyone,
8084-527: The use of robotic soldiers, algorithmic bias , and the issue of aligning AI behavior with human values. Technology ethics encompasses several key fields. Bioethics looks at ethical issues surrounding biotechnologies and modern medicine, including cloning, human genetic engineering, and stem cell research. Computer ethics focuses on issues related to computing. Cyberethics explores internet-related issues like intellectual property rights , privacy , and censorship . Nanoethics examines issues surrounding
8178-506: The value judgments that shape technology. Cultural critic Neil Postman distinguished tool-using societies from technological societies and from what he called "technopolies", societies that are dominated by an ideology of technological and scientific progress to the detriment of other cultural practices, values, and world views. Herbert Marcuse and John Zerzan suggest that technological society will inevitably deprive us of our freedom and psychological health. The ethics of technology
8272-527: The widespread application of the factory system . This was followed a century later by the Second Industrial Revolution which led to rapid scientific discovery, standardization, and mass production. New technologies were developed, including sewage systems , electricity, light bulbs , electric motors , railroads, automobiles , and airplanes. These technological advances led to significant developments in medicine, chemistry , physics , and engineering. They were accompanied by consequential social change, with
8366-529: Was "freed from societal deformations". Second-wave philosophers like Ortega later shifted their focus from economics and politics to "daily life and living in a techno-material culture", arguing that technology could oppress "even the members of the bourgeoisie who were its ostensible masters and possessors." Third-stage philosophers like Don Ihde and Albert Borgmann represent a turn toward de-generalization and empiricism, and considered how humans can learn to live with technology. Early scholarship on technology
8460-523: Was built in 312 BCE. The eleventh and final ancient Roman aqueduct was built in 226 CE. Put together, the Roman aqueducts extended over 450 km, but less than 70 km of this was above ground and supported by arches. Innovations continued through the Middle Ages with the introduction of silk production (in Asia and later Europe), the horse collar , and horseshoes . Simple machines (such as
8554-513: Was compensated by the creation of new, higher-paying jobs. Studies have found that computers did not create significant net technological unemployment . Due to artificial intelligence being far more capable than computers, and still being in its infancy, it is not known whether it will follow the same trend; the question has been debated at length among economists and policymakers. A 2017 survey found no clear consensus among economists on whether AI would increase long-term unemployment. According to
8648-475: Was led by Robert M. Howe, IBM vice-president and general manager of IBM Consulting Group. The group was rebranded to IBM Business Innovation Services in 2001, and then IBM Business Consulting Services. As the management consulting became more entangled with more technology delivery, the integrated organization became known as IBM Global Business Services. In 2002, IBM acquired the management consulting and technology services arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers , around
8742-536: Was probably used from near the beginning of Neolithic times (about 10 kya). Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of alloys such as bronze and brass (about 4,000 BCE). The first use of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1,800 BCE. After harnessing fire, humans discovered other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power
8836-649: Was split between two arguments: technological determinism , and social construction . Technological determinism is the idea that technologies cause unavoidable social changes. It usually encompasses a related argument, technological autonomy, which asserts that technological progress follows a natural progression and cannot be prevented. Social constructivists argue that technologies follow no natural progression, and are shaped by cultural values, laws, politics, and economic incentives. Modern scholarship has shifted towards an analysis of sociotechnical systems , "assemblages of things, people, practices, and meanings", looking at
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