yim tan cheng posted dec 12 B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Part One)

Yim Tan Cheng posted Dec 12, 2021 1:12 PM

Provide a brief overview of the company you have chosen for your project; where is it headquartered, and what are the services or products it provides?

The company I have chosen is Randstad.  This global company specializes in staffing and recruiting services and provides solutions in human resources.  It has 48 office locations across 37 countries and the headquarter is in TC Netherlands. The HR services offered are staffing, inhouse, professionals, global businesses, and digital services.  Its mission is “Human Forward” – “Combine the power of today’s technology with our passion for people.” According to Ranstad.com, “In 2019, Randstad helped 2,000,000 candidates find a job with one of our 280,000 clients – and trained more than 350,000 people. 

Pick an aspect of the Fourth IR (advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, or another technology).

o How could this impact a company’s strategic planning?

o Specifically, how could this aspect play a role in the strategic planning for your company?

o Within your company, what are two dangers of this aspect of the Fourth IR?

Artificial intelligence (AI) particularly in machine learning (ML) is “the machine’s ability to keep improving its performance without human’s having to explain exactly how to accomplish all the tasks it’s given” (2019, Harvard Business Review Press).  This is has been applied in customer retention with customers’ purchase history to predict future purchase behavior in other e-commerce companies like Amazon.  AI can help support Randstad’s strategy planning in maximizing future employment and contribute to economic growth by increasing the company’s market share and improving product development. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning will help the company in its strategic planning by perfecting the match between candidate and client and optimizing the hiring process and employee retention.  The risk with AI  and ML comes in when there’s a breach of the data used for AI and ML because we need to protect our customers’ and suppliers’ privacy data.  Another risk with AI and ML is losing market share for filling jobs that are currently being replaced by these technologies such as translation and security.

Randstad.com

Harvard Business Review Press. (2019). Artificial Intelligence?: The Insights You Need From Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review Press.

Randstad Company Profile – Office Locations, Competitors, Revenue, Financials, Employees, Key People, Subsidiaries | Craft.co

10-1 Discussion: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Part Two)