Humans and machines
The role of people in technology-driven organisations
A programme of research, sponsored by Ricoh, on how organisations are dealing with the challenges posed by human and technology interaction
Posted 5 Mar 2013
Humans and machines
The role of people in technology-driven organisations
Humans and machines: The role of people in technology-driven organisations is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by Ricoh. The report consists of a series of articles examining issues posed by human-technology interaction in selected sectors (financial services, healthcare, education and manufacturing) and their implications for decision-making, customer relationships and other areas. The sector-specific articles are also being published separately, and can be found here under the "Thought Pieces" tab.
The analysis in the report is based on a two-pronged research effort. The first is a survey of 432 senior executives (including 63 from the financial sector; 40 from healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals; 50 from education; and 80 from manufacturing), conducted in November and December 2012. The sample is global, with roughly equal numbers emanating from Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. All respondents are at a senior level: 50% hold C-suite or board positions. They hail from over 20 different industries, with the aforementioned ones being the most heavily represented. Just over half of the firms in the survey (53%) have annual revenue in excess of US$500m, with nearly one in five having US$10bn or more. Complementing the survey was a series of 20 in-depth interviews conducted with prominent business and technology thinkers as well senior corporate executives across different sectors.
