Introduction
Where do you see yourself in the next decade with all these constant breakthroughs in technology? How are you coping with the changes in work structures and the invasion of technological trends? Do you think that technology is creeping into your life more than is necessary?
These questions beg our attention in the face of continuous technological advancements. Already, the industrial revolution, the green revolution, and digitalization have changed the historical idea of the workforce. The geopolitics after the world wars, decolonization, and globalisation have paved the way for multinational corporations. The e-commerce segment has opened up millions of jobs and revolutionised the global market. However, we haven't reached the end of technological breakthroughs.
Here are 7 important future-ready technologies that will revolutionise or reshape the workforce, management, and companies.
5G and Internet of Things
Source: Jeremy Bezanger Unsplash
At first glance, 5G seems like just another unimportant technological advance.
However, unlike static wired internet connections, 5G wavelengths can give connectivity to larger areas. 5G or 5th generation wavelengths in mobile internet connections can work wonders in the technology-dependent workforce and age. If you observe the recent past, you will notice three things.
First, the workforce has already been introduced to working from home during COVID-19.
Second, there are an increasing number of workers that have started working as freelancers (Source: SHRM.org).
And third, outsourcing some jobs like customer service and accounting has become the norm in many multinational companies. Often, these works are dependent on internet connections around the world.
All these have increased the demand and supply for wireless data. Unlike static fibre optics, wireless data (even with slower data speeds) can supply the data demands of entire villages, small towns, and city blocks. More than 55% of web traffic is through mobile internet (Source: Statista).
These shed light on the current workforce's dependency on the internet, especially mobile internet. More and more offices and jobs are moving into the virtual world. Now, employees can work from the comfort of their homes. Due to this, more remote jobs are created and popularised than ever before. Most of these transformations are happening at 4G wavelengths. Just imagine what a 5G backed workforce would look like! Especially, if you consider the speeds and reliability of 5G which is nearly 10 - 20 times that of 4G, you might guess what it can accomplish!
How it will affect management
5G will change the way offices work up until now. It can reduce or even nullify latency and make remote offices as real as traditional offices. It will create an exponential transformation in data speeds, which affects real-time/live events. A 5G-backed workforce will open up more job opportunities and create new job roles. There are technological solutions for virtually every aspect of a real-life office environment. 5G can enhance all these solutions. Management systems can still keep an eye on employee productivity with company-supplied devices and regular back checks. With the advent of 5G, the speed of offices will only increase exponentially.
The IoT, which is a dependent technology on wireless data, will be strengthened on the same scale. IoT is already popular in the smart kitchen, smart homes, wearables like watches and shoes, agricultural systems, and healthcare devices. Alexa is just an example of the popularity of IoT devices. With 5G, IoT technology can form the backbone of smart cities, self-driving highways, robot-controlled agriculture, factories, and industries. In scaling up the IoT solutions with 5G, man is limited only by his imagination.
Disadvantages
5G, though wonder of technological creation, is not free from errors. 5G waves have several negative effects on the environment and the health of life forms. Also, 5G waves are expected to cause cancer, tissue heating, sterility in men (Source: AustinFertility), and many more health risks (Source: Medical News Today). Because of these, 5G technology has been evoking fear and rejection from the scientific community and environmentalists. Though governments turn a blind eye toward the effects of 5G, only time can tell us if the advantages of 5G outweigh its disadvantages.
Artificial intelligence and management
Source: Marcus Spiske Unsplash
Stephen Hawking once said, “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks" (Source: CGTN). AI has always been Pandora's Box for curious scientists and programmers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are synonymous with each other. With Artificial intelligence, computers can think, decide, and act like human beings, on par with human minds, if not more efficiently. This technology has been making its rounds in Hollywood Sci-fi movies and books for a long time, instilling wonder, enthusiasm, and certainly fear among humanity. Currently, AI is nowhere near the thinking, decision-making and emotional intelligence standards of the human mind - a pinnacle of natural wonders. However, technology is making steady progress toward the dreaded self-awareness of AI. And mankind's curiosity, greed, or ability to solve problems in the name of the greater good cannot be underestimated.
How will it affect management?
AI surprisingly has a more common end-user base than we think. AI chatbots, Alexa, Siri, Google recommendations, Netflix, Spotify, shopping websites' recommendations, security checking systems for online transactions, fitness trackers - the list goes on. While these are more about end-user applications, AI is already learning how to do repetitive tasks in its own way. For example, it is reimagining the Human Resources Managers' roles with custom job description writing apps, onboarding management apps, and company culture apps. Repetitive management jobs will all be taken over by AI apps in the next few decades, forcing Management professionals into more creative, analytical jobs that need a "human" element. Until then, management professionals will be working alongside AI as hybrid workers, as it's already happening in many companies.
Disadvantages
Currently, AI technology is in its primitive stages of development. It is only taking baby steps towards uncontrolled awareness. However, nothing seems to stop breakthroughs in AI technology. Though the self-awareness problem of AI is still a threat far away, nothing will stop that from eventually becoming a reality. Just like atomic bombs, moon landings, and medical breakthroughs, self-aware AI will be a reality someday. Only, imposing ethical laws and regulations on R & D departments can prevent or control the self-awareness of AI.
Virtual Reality and management
Source: Lucrezia Carneloz Unsplash
Virtual Reality is not a new technology. It has been here for a while now. But with the entry of Silicon Valley giants into augmented reality, things are expected to change soon. Moreover, hardware prices are getting lower, and processing speeds are getting faster with every technological advance. Modern video games have undergone a massive surge in popularity. Virtual chat rooms and office spaces are coming into reality in many parts of the world. Oculus, Microsoft Mesh, and Facebook's Metaverse are some examples of this.
How will it affect management?
Virtual Reality solutions can move the office further into the digital world. It has already happened after the pandemic that the majority of office workers prefer to work from home (Source: Flex Jobs). Office meetings, business meetings, classrooms, EduTech systems, and government offices are some of the spaces in which this technology will change. With Extended Reality (XVR), management systems undergo a massive transformation. This technology nullifies the travelling time for business meetings as those meetings can be held through XVR and 5G. With VR, international business trips have become a thing of the past.
Disadvantages
Virtual reality can be a threat to the younger generation of children. Many Virtual Reality chat rooms are used to influence assisted suicide, paedophilia, self-harm, and violence (Source: Mirror). This is especially harmful to minors. Many chat rooms are used to spread propaganda and deliver hate speeches (Source: NYTimes). Without strict laws, these spaces can become the catalyst for psychological human catastrophes like wars and genocides. There is also the possibility of inception with immersive virtual reality, where a user loses his ability to tell apart the virtual world from the real world. Its sub-branches like immersive VR sleep aids can be misused by authoritarian governments and propagandists (Source: Popular Mechanics).
Blockchain
Source: Shubham Dhage Unsplash
Blockchain technology is most notable for the creation and subsequent popularity of crypto currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In simple terms, it is a completely decentralised, public, digital ledger that relies on computer nodes spread across millions of volunteers' computers worldwide. Due to its open-source nature, public timestamps, and heavy-duty encryption, Blockchain technology is much desired among security-loving organisations (which mean all of them). Virtually anything of value, like patents, copyright, intellectual property, and, of course, crypto currencies, can be traded on this network and tracked down to the source.
Blockchain technology can transform businesses, organisations, and management systems. It eliminates transaction costs and adds speed and security to those transactions. Blockchain technology can reduce the roles of banks and money exchanges and save time and transactional costs. It can put an end to the nightmare of data breaches. With Blockchain technology, supply chains that use digitalization will be more transparent than ever. Healthcare data breaches and voting fraud can all be ended with the application of Blockchain technology (Source: Investopedia). These can revolutionise management systems in the relevant industries, creating technology-related jobs.
Disadvantages
Even with all these benefits, Blockchain technology lacks awareness, scalability, talent pool, and laws and regulations. Many countries, like China and Qatar, have restricted or completely banned this technology (Source: Economic Times). Without government initiative, the advantages of Blockchain technology will go largely unnoticed by the general public. Those who know can and will use the technology for unethical businesses and transactions. Crypto currencies were and still are the favourites of underground terrorist organizations, paedophiles, and international mercenary groups on the dark web. When a high potential technology like Blockchain is isolated to be used exclusively by criminals, the results will be more catastrophic than governments think (Courtesy: Ross King, AIT - INTERPOL).
Automation and Robotics
Source: Possessed Photography Unsplash
Automation and Robotics are similar in that they do repetitive tasks much more efficiently and cost-effectively than humans. However, they are different from AI in that they lack the advanced decision-making and emotional intelligence capabilities of AI. Often, AI is used with both automation and robotics. Automation can be software or hardware-backed. Robotics is mostly hardware-backed. Both automation and robotics have the potential to reinvent many industries. Modern customer care services are equipped with automation software. Robotics is being used in the military, bomb squads, remote surgeries, etc.
As technology advances, more and more manual work is expected to be taken away by robots (Source: Saviom). Much like AI, robotics will force manual labourers into human-only roles. Complete automation of manual work can make humanity more productive than ever. It can help with the colonisation of other planets, space travel, and a new age of exploration that includes all of the solar systems. This helps in creating more management jobs on top of robotics managers and technicians. There will always be more possibilities for utopian mankind than for the coexistence of humans with these technologies.
Disadvantages
Labour laws, labour movements, and threats to human economies will have the final say in the complete automation or robotization of the workforce. Economies and the well-being of society must be considered before removing the human workforce from these job roles. But the main disadvantage of automation and robotics, if ever it happens, is that they will deprive humanity of what truly makes them human. Work, overcoming obstacles at work, finding meaning and purpose in work, satisfaction and personal development at work, connections, relationships, and friendships in the workplace will all be deprived of humanity (Source: Science Direct). The mere existence of humanity on the planet can be questionable without any input or worth from humanity. Manual labour certainly gives humans jobs, a sense of pride, and physical fitness. All of these can pose serious threats to the automation and robotization of the world.
Quantum computing
IBM Q System Source: IBM research, Flickr CC2.0
Quantum computing is an emerging branch of supercomputers with exceptional processing speeds and computational capacities. Unlike traditional silicon-based computers, quantum computing relies on a range of quantum physics and superconductor circuitry or tapped atomic ion technologies. Though ordinary users will never need such computing capacity, large corporations, governments, and scientific agencies will use it to transform the world.
Quantum computing can be extensively used in the healthcare industry to develop new drugs or in DNA research. It can detect network intruders and financial fraud in the digital world. Traffic management and route optimization capabilities can change the logistics and Supply Chain industries.
On the downside, quantum computing becomes a powerful weapon in the hands of authoritarian governments and dictators. Free speech on the internet and freedom of the press can be suppressed. With quantum computing, recommendation systems can more efficiently brainwash the public through social media platforms (Milano, S., Taddeo, M. & Floridi, L. Recommender systems and their ethical challenges. AI & Soc 35, 957–967 (2020) DOI.org).
3D Printing
Source: Wikimedia Commons CC2.5
3D printing is an underrated technology that has huge potential in changing the corporate world, especially the Logistics and Supply Chain industry and healthcare industry. The technology is also known as additive manufacturing. Through 3D printing, we can create 3D objects with the help of a digital design file. It can transform manufacturing and freight movement. Factories can print virtually everything, including food, automobiles, houses, weapons, and human tissue! With such potential, 3D can take the industries and their respective management systems by storm. It will create faster freight movement through digital files and revolutionise the Healthcare industry with tissue printing.
On the downside, it can take away millions of jobs in the Logistics and Supply Chain industry more than it creates. This can be more of a problem for blue-collar workers than for management professionals in the industries that 3D printing impacts. There is also the possibility of rampant counterfeiting and weapon printing. Such acts will pose threats to the intellectual property rights and internal security of many countries. This is why strict laws and licensing should be applied to the technology even from the beginning. Again, the environmental impacts of the printers must be considered in a world where climate change is threatening logistics and resource supply (Source: Mohr and Omera Khan, TIMreview - Google Scholar).
Conclusion
Unlike the previous millenniums, the modern world is capable of inventing and refining technology much faster. What was once thought to take a century is being realised within a decade. With innumerable tools, statistics, scientific knowledge, and talents from all over the world, technological advances are far easier than ever.
With each such breakthrough, the companies, management, and workforce will undergo certain changes. These can result in either desirable or undesirable outcomes. Heavily investing in technology and neglecting the human workforce can topple economies, societies, and countries. Though technology can transform humanity and certainly, management systems and workforces, care must be taken in implementing these technologies. Management must be willing to consider the well-being of their human workforce over the wealth and profit that technologies bring.
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