The role of technological development in organizational productivity

The technological developments have always given new direction to human endeavours since the dawn of civilization. Industrial revolution 1.0 had substantial impact on life of people through steam; Industrial revolution 2.0 made the life of people easier with the help of electricity and with the advent of information and communication technologies, industrial revolution 3.0 has virtually made entire globe a small village, rather geography has become history. During all these last three industrial revolutions, if any one thing was constantly increasing, it was the productivity of human endeavours! With the next wave of cutting-edge information and communication technologies paving way for Industrial revolution 4.0, higher level of productivity in human endeavour without digitalisation is unimaginable. And this has created a new shift in all walks of life including leading and managing of organizations for better productivity.

Since the dawn of human civilization, productivity of human endeavours have been one of the key concerns for the efficiency and efficacy of institutions created over a period for the larger benefit of humanity. Whatever it takes to increase output through available limited resources comes under the umbrella of productivity. It could be at individual level, it could be at organizational level and it could be at society level, community level, national level etc. For a common man, if he/she is able to do more with less, he or she is more productive. If an organization can produce more with same resources as compared to other organization, that organization is more productive. Similarly, national productivity, productivity of a society and humanity as a whole can be assessed over a period. In early days, tools available to augment human capabilities were very limited hence productivity was of lower order. With the passage of time, as humanity progressed through the various industrial revolutions, various institutions came into being for the larger benefit of humanity. During Industrial Revolution 1.0, when businesses were powered mainly by steam based manufacturing, production, distribution and marketing systems; productivity of plant, machinery and people were the main concern for the businesses.

During the Industrial Revolution 2.0 when businesses were mostly powered by the electricity and became more complex and automated, availability of uninterrupted power supply became the key factor for the organizational productivity.

The developments in electrical and electronics powered by electricity gave birth to the Industrial Revolution 3.0, businesses are powered by cutting edge Information and communication Technologies (ICT) wherein businesses and people become more connected and productive as compared to what they were during previous industrial revolutions.

The fast paced development in the field of technologies especially in the area of information and communication technologies, we are virtually on the cusp of Industrial Revolution 4.0 wherein every living and non-living beings will be able to talk to each other; men, machines and robots powered with artificial intelligence equivalent virtually to human brain will work together and entire world will be interconnected irrespective of geography, businesses, nations and communities. The way we do business will be different all together; the skill set required to succeed will be different, the pace of change will be faster than before on and top of all this, businesses would be expected to have higher order of on demand productivity to fulfil the aspirations of customers and other stakeholders.

Therefore, in-order to ensure higher productivity through various cutting-edge technologies especially through digitalisation, we need to have holistic approach for digitalisation as part of business/organizational strategy wherein various aspects need to be taken care keeping present and future aspects of organizational vision and mission. And, productivity enhancement through digitalization must reflect in every action towards materializing the organizational goal(s) by everyone irrespective of rank and file. Be it while handling human resources right from hiring to retiring, be it while handling finance, be it while designing and developing products, services, systems, organizational structure and strategy or be it while building organizational capabilities in terms of skills, staff and style of leadership in tune with the organizational needs in line with overall contextual demand of business environment.

The pivot of organizational wheel rests on its people’s skills & capabilities.  It is Human Resources which play crucial role as one of the key factors for organisational performance and productivity. And, certainly digitalisation is going to empower people to harness the inherent potential hidden within them for higher order of organizational productivity. Like the skilled workers of the first industrial revolution, today’s factory and back office workers are seeing tasks once managed by humans being handed over to robots and Artificial Intelligence bots. They are hearing about the factory of the future powered by cutting-edge technologies like ChatBot, Robotic Process automation (RPA), Internet of Things (IOT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Additive Manufacturing (AM), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) etc.

Present and future businesses of Industrial revolution 4.0 are going to face more pressure to optimize and produce more with less as compared to businesses which were created during Industrial Revolution 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. In addition to the productivity of plant, machinery and processes, man-power productivity is going to take more critical role as now a days works need to be done even without physical presence. The highly mechanised, autonomous & robotized workplace are going to be a new normal in days to come with higher order of productivity. For example, in an interconnected modern refinery, operation performed with the help of smart systems assisted with sophisticated robots can help reduce manpower requirement with overall increase in productivity. Therefore, with progress in technologies, productivity is increasing day by day. Technology has become more strategic factor for productivity as compared to earlier days. Technology adoption, especially digital technology, has become everybody’s job, not one man or one department’s job in order to ensure higher order of productivity. It has become leadership’s top priority to enhance the productivity of the business to win the trust of its customers and stakeholders. And the customer and stakeholders’ trust can’t be won without ensuring connectivity with them through digital technologies 24X7 to know their changing pulse of aspirations; In fact, it is impossible without embracing digitalisation in holistic and sustainable manner. Hence, higher order of organizational productivity without digitalisation is next to impossible especially when we are at the cusp of Industrial revolution 4.0. Let’s together develop digital mind set and be the digitalisation champions and help in enhancing the productivity of the great organization which we belong to!

“Think digital, Feel digital, Act digital and Accept digital for better Productivity”!

“Create digitally, Store digitally, Share digitally, and Accept digitally for better Productivity”!