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Bring on the Cybermen
13 Mar 2008
Large corporations with more influence than governments, implanted bio-chips driving employee efficiency in the engineering sector and new open business structures are just some of the predictions from a new study by the Chartered Management Institute. The study, called ‘Management Futures’, analyses current trends and the views of business leaders to predict what the world of work will look like in 2018.
The findings imply that holograms, robots and ‘intelligent’ computers all have a role to play in the engineering sector’s future business landscape. However, CEOs in the sector will be more concerned by changes to current business models, trade blocs and the UK’s ability to compete on a global scale.
Trade blocs, within and across markets, are expected to experience more competition and conflict. According to the engineering sector executives surveyed, global corporations will exert more influence than governments (57 per cent) and surveillance of work will increase on all levels (93 per cent). The data also suggests that the marketplace will be heavily influenced by new players from Brazil, Russia, India and China. Business models will change their nature too -
becoming more open to external influences. 61 per cent predict that environmental concerns and regulation will create products with longer lifecycles
Some of the scenarios predicted range from terrorists attacking the internet, bringing work to a halt, through to a world dominated by digitally controlled employees. With this in mind, the study calls for a focus on ‘intellectual property banks’ to balance requirements for openness with business protection and argues that ‘brain enhancement technology’ must be monitored to avoid misuse
A small proportion in the sector think that holograms (35 per cent), robots (38 per cent) or implanted bio-chips (12 per cent) will be used to drive business efficiency. However 61 per cent argue that ‘virtual businesses’ will be commonplace and 77 per cent say the nature of work in 2018 will lead to increased ‘virtual contact’
57 per cent of executives in the sector expect working from home will be commonplace to reduce the carbon footprint. 79 per cent suggest work-life balance will be the key to job choice
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