Study Series – Fourth Issue
The fourth edition of the study series focuses on the future of work in software development and examines how artificial intelligence is changing the tasks and roles of IT professionals.
The study focuses on the question of which tasks AI systems and AI agents can already support today, and where human experience and responsibility remain essential. The study is based on qualitative interviews with IT professionals, additional discussions with experts, and validation sessions with practitioners.
A key image in the study is the metaphor of mountain climbing. AI is described as a mountain guide who knows the trails, makes suggestions, and can provide support in difficult sections. However, responsibility for the destination, route, and safety remains with the people working with the technology. Dr. Florian J. Meier, author of the study, summarizes the development as follows:
“With AI, the role of IT professionals is increasingly shifting from simply following the path to taking responsibility for the route and the destination.”
Dr. Florian J. Meier
Study Series – Third Issue
Future of Work and Sustainability
Work and sustainability – how do they go together? The latest edition of the study series deals with the question of how sustainable development can be integrated and shaped in the world of work.
The focus is on three key topics:
- Social sustainability: Digitalization is fundamentally changing working environments, education and social participation. Digital technologies can be designed in such a way that they reduce social inequalities and promote social justice. For example, online education services can make it easier for people in rural areas to access high-quality education. At the same time, there is the challenge of ensuring that all population groups benefit from the advantages of digitalization and that no one is left out.
- Economic sustainability: Technological innovations help to increase efficiency and create new
business models. However, in order to achieve long-term economic success in the digital age, companies must
ensure that they do not operate at the expense of future generations. One example of this is the development of
circular economy models, in which products are designed in such a way that they can be reused or recycled. - Ecological sustainability: Digitalization has the potential to make more efficient use of resources and reduce
environmental impact by reducing travel and remote working. However, the increasing energy requirements of digital infrastructures require new solutions. Innovative approaches to improve the use of renewable energies or the implementation of energy-efficient technologies are crucial to minimize the ecological footprint of digitalization.
This issue shows: Sustainability is no longer a marginal issue, but a central design field for the future of work – with clear social, economic and ecological dimensions.
Study Series – Second Issue
Future of Work and Artificial Intelligence
The Schöller Research Lab’s “Future of Work” study series, published in April 2024, highlights current topics at the interface between work and artificial intelligence (AI). The series is largely supported by Prof Dr Sven Laumer, the chair holder, and doctoral students Florian J. Meier, Bastian Brechtelsbauer, Sindi Biba, Sebastian Schötteler and Tim-Julian Schwehn.
The issue focusses on three central areas:
- Office, Home Office and Hybrid Working: Examining hybrid meetings where participants interact physically and virtually, with a specific look at the challenges and the development of a process model to overcome these challenges.
- Enterprise Social Networks (ESN): Analysing the openness of collaborative tools such as MS 365, Slack or Confluence and discussing typical pitfalls and solution strategies for companies.
- People Analytics: Research into the role of AI in HR, including quantitative and qualitative studies on topics such as AI as a demand or resource, changing roles through digital transformation, fairness of AI in recruiting, and AI and the future of learning.
These key topics illustrate the versatile application of AI in the world of work, from the optimisation of hybrid working models to the implementation and use of ESN and data-supported HR work (people analytics). Both the opportunities and challenges that AI brings to the working environment will be discussed in detail. Particular attention will be paid to fairness and transparency in the use of AI tools as well as the need to continuously adapt roles and skills in HR to digital change.
Study Series – First Issue
Hybrid work: The big deal or the great depression?
This study was conducted over the last months in collaboration with Florian J. Meier and Tim-Julian Schwehn and focuses on four major topics:
- Negative sides of hybrid work as perceived by the general public: based on a sentiment and topic modeling analysis of over 30,000 Twitter tweets on the topic of hybrid work, we identified five major thematic clusters reflecting risks and challenges of this work mode.
- Hybrid work: the way forward: we conducted 20 in-depth interviews and analyzed how different companies deal with the challenges of hybrid work. In the process, we identified five dimensions and solution approaches that we address in our study.
- Leadership and hybrid work: we conducted 24 in-depth interviews in one company and focused on the topic of leadership in hybrid working environments. We identified six areas of tension in leadership when online and offline work environments merge into a hybrid form.
- A new phenomenon called Commute Regret: In the last part, we looked at the phenomenon of people regretting commuting to the office. We conducted an empirical study with over 300 participants to determine the causes and consequences of commuting.
Three years ago, Dell’s COO said, “Work is something you do, an outcome, not a place or time.” This defines work as a combination of people, tasks and technology. However, our studies show that this is only partially true in hybrid work environments. The human-task-technology paradigm transforms into a human-task-technology-space-time paradigm, as the dimensions of space and time are no longer constant.