Abstract
Technological advances have made possible industrial and commercial applications of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and highly integrated manufacturing systems. It has also freed business activity from a focus on place, as both work activities and markets have been able to harness information and communication technologies in order to operate remotely. As a result, researchers have highlighted a phenomenon of ‘smart’ working. Some have pointed to a fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) in which ‘smart’ factories use robotics to achieve high performance. There is now a suggestion of progress towards Industry 5.0, in which technological and social systems work in harmony to deliver personalised mass customization of products and services. This paper examines these developments from the perspective of unique, individual understandings of work roles and sustainability, posing the questions ‘Smart’ from whose point of view? Do smart systems promote sustainable organizations? How should design of smart systems be approached? It suggests that contemporary socio-technical systems approaches to organizational analysis are the best way to support harnessing of smart technologies in organizations.
Highlights
The term ‘smart working’ has been used to describe an evolutionary change taking place over a number of different dimensions in the world of work (Boorsma and Mitchell 2011)
An important point that must be recognized when considering pursuit of benefits from smart working is that every engaged stakeholder will have a personal, unique view of what is desired in context, and this will be subject to redefinition and change over time
A contemporary socio-technical perspective can be seen as a cornerstone of discussions about smart working in the context of Industry 4.0 and 5.0
Summary
The term ‘smart working’ has been used to describe an evolutionary change taking place over a number of different dimensions in the world of work (Boorsma and Mitchell 2011). They are the outcomes of designing organizational systems that facilitate customer-focused, value-creating relationships that are good for business and good for people’. Some enterprises have hesitated to proceed with such initiatives, fearing that they may become dependent upon technologies that are understood imperfectly by managers; and there has been anxiety in society more widely at the possibility of mass destruction of traditional employment opportunities In service industries, such as banking for instance, there are examples of whole processes becoming automated through use of intelligent agents that can read and assimilate text rapidly and can observe human-customer interactions in order to learn by experience. The paper considers the need for socio-technical, systemic approaches to organizational transformation, before attempting to draw some conclusions
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