Reinventing Jobs : A 4-Step Approach for Applying Automation to Work

Automating production and services does not always mean the loss of employees. Jesuthasan and Boudreau (USC) outline four steps to strategically reinvent jobs to optimize human and machine interactions. Companies should deconstruct jobs by finding which tasks are best suited for automation, assess which tasks improve work performance and value, consider ways to automate, and finally change the organization. Additional considerations such as the repetitive and interactive nature of jobs underlie the four steps. The authors discuss corporate activities such as oil drilling, surgeries, insurance claims processing, cancer treatment, parking, and designing buildings in light of technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, drones, robots, the internet of things, ATMs, and self-driving cars. Short examples from companies such as Pacific Gas and Electric, Haier, and the Ocado Group highlight advantages and challenges of reorienting corporate production and services. Most of the book focuses on general "how-to" steps to apply automation rather than detailed case studies. The book is easy to read, and includes several summary tables showing the four steps and the complications associated with them.