Business Automation and Its Effect on the Labor Force: A Practical Guide for Preparing Organizations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Business Automation and Its Effect on the Labor Force informs business managers on new technologies that can make their industries more efficient. This book provides a primer on quantum computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, and sensors. As a business management book, managers can start planning for the future. The author predicts when the advanced systems would be ready to use. Getting a clearer picture of what is on the horizon, business managers can determine how many workers and machines will be needed. Managers will learn how to calculate the optimal mix of workers and machines.

Key Book Highlights

• Covering labor and technology in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, transportation, hospitality, health care, office administration, and education.
• A review of the evolution of systems, machines, and devices from the past to the present, and where the latest advancement is headed.
• A visual timeline showing when new systems and machines would be available for eight industries in the next 25 years.
• Succinct descriptions of eliminated jobs, retained jobs, and new roles for workers.
• A simplified method to calculate the costs of operations, allowing business managers to compare human productivity against machine productivity.
• Labor market information in context of technological innovation for state workforce agencies and local workforce development boards.
• Lists of occupations with Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes for labor economists, workforce development specialists, and job seekers.

Edward Y. Uechi is an Information Technology (IT) manager, an inventor, and the author of Public Service Information Technology: The Definitive Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology for Cost-Effective Operations and Services (Routledge/Productivity Press, 2020). He has worked on government-funded assignments, providing IT technical assistance, organizational development, and management training to government agencies and private companies. He has led a project to manage the agricultural production process with a computer-based information system that all actors in the supply chain from a small-scale farmer in Africa to an international distributor in Europe can use. He brings a combination of expertise in IT and organizational development with emphasis on business process reengineering to advise public organizations and private companies on IT modernization efforts. His level of guidance is marked by high practicality that allows organizations to make substantial improvements to operations with relative ease and low cost. Edward has been dedicated to the ideal of public service since 2005, taking on challenging assignments to strengthen institutions and to develop global friendships in Iraq, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda.

In 2015 and 2018, utility patent applications had been filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for two computer-based systems that Edward invented to improve agricultural production and payment processing.

Edward earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution from San Diego State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.