THE MANAGEMENT STYLE UNDER THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Abstract

The main assets and the primary drivers of the Industrial Age were machines and capital. People were necessary, but replaceable. This is because machines controlled the speed of workers’ labor through the assembly line, and management controlled the speed of workers’ labor through the quota system. In other words, management used the carrot-stick approach to motivate employees so they could perform the physical labor needed to produce the products and services. In the Fourth Industrial Age, however, knowledge workers produce most goods and services with their mind. Thus, the challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is how companies can secure talent acquisition and motivate their knowledge workers to release their human potential. This article consists of four related topics. First, there are similarities between the four industrial revolutions and the five ages of civilization. Therefore, we may infer the opportunities of the four industrial revolutions through the characteristics of these five ages of civilization. Second, product life cycle theory explains the major reason for the rise and fall of many products and/or companies. When companies face a do-or die situation, the theory explains why they must take big risks to avoid failure. Third, we will use the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) as a case study to explain why the company became one of the World's top 3 automakers according to sales in 2022. Fourth, this article discusses how business leaders can secure talent acquisition and self-motivate employees to make their market-creating innovations successful. Keywords: fourth industrial revolution, Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), knowledge worker, talent acquisition, self-motivation, product life cycle theory, and automobile industry.