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Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] Date: 11 January 2016, At: 19:36
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Your Job & How Technology Will Change It:
Surviving & Succeeding in the New Work World
James L. Morrison
To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2015) Your Job & How Technology Will Change It: Surviving & Succeeding in the New Work World, Journal of Education for Business, 90:6, 347-348, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1020279
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2015.1020279
Published online: 25 Mar 2015.
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Book Review
Lieberman, Richard. Your Job & How Technology Will Change It: Surviving & Succeeding in the New Work World. Oxford, England: JKS Communications. (2014). 171 pp. ISBN: 978-1-85252-742-6 (paperback). $22.50.
AN AMAZING FORECAST OF THE NEW WORKPLACE ENHANCED BY EXTRAORDINARY
TECHNOLOGY
This is a different kind of book than those typically reviewed in theJournal of Education for Business. It is con-cise, focused, and somewhat shocking and may be consid-ered to be more appropriate as an assigned complementary reading in an undergraduate business course rather than a typical textbook. The content is intriguing and reflects pro-found changes resulting from the emergence of new robust technology that will change the way work gets done, the way employees communicate with one another, and the way employees match their personal digital skills with workplace demands. The backdrop for the insightful analy-sis by Lieberman is based on the reality that the digital gen-eration, consisting of those individuals born in the 1980s, is currently entering into the workforce. In this regard, their individualism and digital lifestyles are going to result in radical changes in the way we design, produce and distrib-ute products and services globally. This target audiences for this publication are business faculty and administrators in universities who are in charge of putting together pro-grams to prepare individuals for employment in a radically changing workplace. Also, this text is helpful to practi-tioners who are currently leading organizations and com-peting with a new kind of rival for market share.
Based on his research of senior business executives, Lie-berman perceives a new and different workforce emerging that reflects a need for a new kind of organizational leader. His findings indicated that those business executives specif-ically over 40 years of age are generally either unaware or uninterested in adapting to changes resulting from the amazing capacity of new technology. One of his conclu-sions was that this nonrecognition of likely changes result-ing from enhanced technology will result in a massive number of business failures. Moreover, Lieberman points
out that even if leaders do recognize these potential changes but refrain from training their workers to adapt to new alter-natives for getting work done, they are also likely to fail. In his research of both senior leadership and relatively new employees in a number of companies, he found that there is a significant discrepancy between young workers and older executive as to how to take advantage of technology for assisting in getting work done.
The text consists of only five chapters describing how technology will completely change the nature of work. In Chapter 1, Lieberman describes a scenario whereby tech-nology actually enables individuals independently to deter-mine where, when, and how to do the work expected of them. In this regard, the new robust technologies will elimi-nate the need for a central workplace. To him, it is likely that workers and bosses may be located in different parts of the world. Robotic assistants, 3D printing, virtual confer-encing, and instant access to current information are exam-ples of what is driving changes in the design of work and its accomplishment. Lieberman identifies numerous new but soon to be available technologies that will spur change in the workplace. This first technology identified is the development of carbon nanotubes that will result in creating smaller transistors that have a yearly exponentially faster processing speed than current ones. Closely following is the design of quantum computers that do not use digital technology. These computers will be able to solve problems that classic computers do not have the power to do. The third technology is the availability of inexpensive and intel-ligent sensors. These electronic sensors will show up in greater numbers in automobiles, appliances, office equip-ment, and robotic assistants, among many other products. These sensors will enable on-demand access to print, images, and videos. Of significant importance will be the emerging of virtual video conferencing whereby coworkers can meet whenever and wherever they want. A fifth tech-nology is artificial intelligence whereby individuals will have the capacity to plan, search, evaluate, and analyze information almost instantaneously. Therefore, the worker will have numerous ways to both actually see and interact with content as decisions are made.
Lieberman proceeds in Chapter 2 to explain why radical changes in the workplace will actually occur no matter who is leading an organization. The game changer is enhanced
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 90: 347–348, 2015 CopyrightÓTaylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1020279
employee productivity and reduced costs resulting in increased profits. Lieberman suggests that those companies that do not adopt new technology will be overwhelmed by their competitors. He goes through a litany of examples where technological advances have already spurred radical changes in the workplace. He references an array of exam-ples of changes for accomplishing work as a result of the agricultural revolution followed by the industrial revolu-tion, the information revolurevolu-tion, and the current technologi-cal revolution. To Lieberman, the new technology will be totally different from the past in that the virtual workplace will result in gathering together the best employees from all over the world. The integration of the socially digitized global worker with virtual technology will redefine the workplace. Who or what kind of worker will be affected is the topic of Chapter 3. Lieberman depicts radical changes in every business function from accounting and finance to design to manufacturing and marketing. Issues of privacy, operational openness, and instant performance measures are discussed in detail. In Chapter 5 Lieberman sets the framework for the emergence of a new kind employee with an entrepreneurial mindset that connects that worker to the customer no matter what role is played in an organization. This match should produce a process of designing products that meet the special needs of each customer. For example, office furniture such as chairs can be immediately designed and manufactured to fit the height, weight, and personal desires of the user quickly. In this regard, suppliers, design-ers, manufacturdesign-ers, and salespeople will create instanta-neous reaction teams for meeting customer preferences.
In the concluding chapter, Lieberman provides sugges-tions of how to prepare ourselves to meet the enhanced demands of the new workplace. The enhanced employee needs to be adept at using technology for social networking, prioritizing tasks and managing time and effort, and learning how to gather new knowledge continually using cyberspace tools. Some other intriguing competencies delineated by Lie-berman include expanding interpersonal skills to include
charm, diplomacy, and likeability; being proactive in learning new technology as it emerges; and being capable of develop-ing a diverse social workgroup with individuals who are dif-ferent in race, nationality, age, socioeconomic background, and gender.
The strength of the episode into the future is the numer-ous examples of companies who have adapted to new tech-nology for generating a different kind of workplace. Examples include large companies such as IBM and Ama-zon as well as smaller software development companies such as Quriky, Yammer, and Doximity. There are also many other stories related to small entrepreneurs who built their businesses into larger entities by adopting new enhanced technologies. A weakness to the publication is it lack of attention to the consequences of adopting this tech-nology, such as those aspects that may be detrimental to getting work done. These include electronic bullying, dif-ferent cultural expectations, corporate espionage due to open work environments and lack of acceptance due to a generational gap. While privacy issues are somewhat addressed, prevention of their abuse in an open environ-ment is not discussed. However, this episode into the future is a must read for those in the academics who are providing educational experiences to assist their students not only to get a job, but also to maintain employment over a career. The author appears to be emphasizing the need to be a good critical thinker capable of differentiating between right from wrong, data from hype, and peer–organizational accountability from personal greed. These topics can easily generate much discussion as faculty interact with students. Identifying a new work skill set clearly delineated in the text is extremely helpful. This publication is beneficial for those who want to be on top of their game and on the cut-ting edge of the future.
James L. Morrison
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware, USA
348 BOOK REVIEW
