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01/22/2019

Trends in Business: Automation and the Future of Business

From OSAE Partner MBAResearch

Have you ever thought: “If I just didn’t have to spend so much time on (insert dull, routine tasks here), I’d have time to really excel at my job”? Soon, many of those mundane activities will become automated. Automation saves time, effort, and money. The ability to automate tasks and processes is increasingly important to businesses’ efficiency and competitiveness. Plus, with advances in technology, it’s becoming much easier to do so.

What does automation look like?

The level of automation varies, depending on technology and the complexity of the tasks. It could be as simple as setting automatic replies to emails, or as complex as programming robotic process automation software to analyze data. About half of the activities that workers do today have the potential to be automated. Current technologies are best suited for routine tasks that require little creativity or higher level thinking. These include physical labor, data processing, and data collection.

Who does it affect?

The first fully-automated businesses have emerged—businesses that have no human employees at all. Read more about these businesses here: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-organizations-will-produce-in-an-autonomous-future/. While this isn’t possible for most companies, automation has affected or will affect most occupations and industries. Financial services, customer service, manufacturing, and health care will be particularly impacted. Employees at all levels, even at the highest levels, will see their jobs change due to automation.

In a recent focus group with executives from the financial industry in Kentucky, a debate broke out about the future of bank tellers. Some in the group felt the job would become fully automated; others saw an even more important role for tellers beyond automation. The Wall Street Journal frames the issue by identifying a trend in which some bank tellers are getting raises as they deal with higher level consumer issues. OceanFirst now has a “certified digital banker” course to help tellers become more comfortable with automation and prepare themselves to help customers address increasingly complex financial issues.

The idea that jobs will be replaced by automation has sparked fear. It is true that 15% of the global workforce could be displaced by 2030 due to automation. However, only about 5% of occupations could be fully automated with current technology. It is much more likely that certain tasks will become automated, freeing up workers’ time to be more creative and strategic. Less than half of all companies expect to decrease their workforces due to automation in the next five years. Furthermore, many new jobs and industries will be created, leading to labor demand growth of 21–33% of the workforce. The growth will presumably offset any jobs lost. Around 3% of the workforce will need to change their occupations by 2030 to fill the opportunities created by automation.

Benefits of automation


Challenges to implementing automation


What should businesses do to prepare?


For more: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/ai-automation-and-the-future-of-work-ten-things-to-solve-for.

Classroom Implications

Students should understand the ways that jobs are going to change with widespread automation. This will help them focus on developing the skills that will become even more important in the workforce. These include creativity, interpersonal communication, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking—as well as the technological skills to work with automation.

Please select this link to read the original post from OSAE Educational Partner MBAResearch.

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