1、Prof.Dr.Anna SchneiderTrier University of Applied Sciences,Trier(Germany)19 September 2023Picture Markus Spiske from unsplashDigitalization and its impact on workplacesKey results of a seven country survey2This report presents novel data on digitalization and its impact on the workplace.It draws on

2、a survey of more than 13,000 workers in seven countries(China,France,Germany,Greece,Italy,the UK,and the US)and uses a new approach to assess digitalization and digital skills.Digitalization is clearly making waves in China,with the average reliance on digital tools and,in particular,the internet am

3、ong Chinese firms registering 7%higher than in any of the other six countries surveyed.The impact of workplace digitalization in China is also clearly visible based on the job profiles found in Chinese firms.In highly digitalized firms,workers use a wider variety of skills more frequently than in le

4、ss digitalized work environments.In addition,highly digitalized environments are often marked with a higher degree of freedom to make individual decisions about work-related tasks,which is linked with a higher need for individual problem solving skills.Similar patterns emerge in Europe and the US,bu

5、t they are far less pronounced.For the US,the survey points to a virtuous cycle consisting of young,digitally savvy talent seizing fast track career opportunities in highly digitalized firms then driving further use of digital tools within these firms.Digital skills also feature among the very top s

6、kills for the USs mid-to-late twenties age group,but not in Europe or Chinas.On the other hand,the US sees a much stronger decrease of digital skills relative to all other skills in older age groups.The same tendency is also true in Europe and China,but on a smaller scale.New forms of human-computer

7、 interaction(HCI)are becoming increasingly possible as touchscreens,large language models,and augmented/virtual reality come into maturity.However,in Germany and the UK,more than half of all HCI happens on hard keyboards,even in the most digitalized workplaces.In all surveyed countries,the use of ad

8、vanced and virtual interfaces in the workplace lags noticeably behind private use and respondents consistently expected this gap to widen in the next five years.Individuals are clearly more ready to embrace new interfaces then the firms they work at,as they tend to be very confident in their ability

9、 to operate touch-centric,voice,and gesture interfaces,regardless of how digitalized their workplace is.Workplace digitalization also seems to have an impact on the management culture of a firm.Respondents in highly digitalized firms attribute more thoughtfulness to their managers,which,in turn,appe

10、ars to improve their acceptance of management authority and decisions.These results align with our insights on changes in job profiles.More individual freedom to make decisions,more variety of tasks and skills required,and a higher need for individual problem solving all shape the interactions betwe

11、en employees and managers in highly digitalized workplaces.A high level of workplace digitalization also seems to stimulate knowledge exchange within the workplace by more than 20%compared to firms with a lower level of digitalization.Executive Summary3How digital is your firm,your sector,and your c

12、ountry?Introduction How do you determine the level of digitalization of a specific firm,sector,or country?There is no shortage of indices trying to pin this information down,and each has its own merits and faults.However,they seem to universally share the same source when it comes to expert appraisa

13、ls of digitalization.Our approach sharply differs from most existing methods as it draws on the first hand experiences of a large sample of more than 13,000 workers1in seven countries.2This approach allows us to move away from the idea that identifying the level of digitalization of a specific firm

14、is a goal in and of itself.Instead,this approach creates a starting point for understanding the impact of digitalization on workers,their work environments,and the jobs they perform.The index presented here builds on nine easy-to-answer questions about the relevance of the internet across business m

15、odel building blocks.A similar questionnaire administered to experts demonstrated its ability to provide a reliable snapshot of the digitalization level of a firm.3Why is measuring digitalization levels challenging?Digitalization is more than just technology.Implementing a certain technology does no

16、t necessarily mean that it is being used to its full potential.With technologies like artificial intelligence(AI)or cloud computing,we also find that digital technology slowly affects processes.Consequently,our approach does not focus on individual digital technologies,but instead emphasizes the eff

17、ect of digitalization on processes within a firm.Digitalization is a moving target.It evolves continuously.Yesterdays cutting edge technologies and services are easily overtaken by the next more capable,powerful,and efficient generation.This report is not affected by this typical challenge because i

18、t only presents a snapshot of digitalization and focuses on its impact rather than emphasizing specific characteristics.Digitalization is never complete.Due to its continuously evolving nature,it is virtually impossible that any firm or country to reach a final state of complete digitalization.The a

19、pproach taken in this report accounts for this as it situates measured digitalization within the perceived low and high points of digital technologies and services respondents see in their own lives.Notes:1 The total sample size of the survey was 21,427.2 The seven countries surveyed were China,Fran

20、ce,Germany,Greece,Italy,the UK,and the US.3 Schiffer,M.,&Arnold,R.(2011).Wirtschaft digitalisiert.Cologne and Berlin:IW Consult and Bitkom.and Arnold,R.et al.(2013).Wirtschaft digitalisiert.Welche Rolle spielt das Internet fr die deutsche Industrie und Dienstleister?Cologne and Berlin:IW Consult and

21、 Bitkom.Our approachLarge-scale survey of employees reporting their experience with digitalizationTypical approachesCount digital tools and services usedObserve how“digital”companies present themselvesSurvey internal expertsCollect external expert opinions418222630343842465054586266Self-reported dig

22、ital-skills level compared to respondents top and bottom skills(all countries)1822263034384246505458626618222630343842465054586266Source:Survey(n=19,363).Notes:Respondents were asked to rank eight sets of skills from top(what they are best at)to bottom(their weakest set of skills).The charts show th

23、e(moving)average(reversed)rank of their digital skills and their top and bottom non-digital skills on the same scale applied to all three charts.The skillsets covered were(1)digital,(2)vocational,(3)social,(4)literacy,(5)technical,(6)intellectual,(7)communication,and(8)physical.Skillsets were presen

24、ted in a randomized order for respondents to rank.Respondents age was capped at 67 years for this chart.Moving average for age+/-2 years.Europe includes France,Germany,Greece,Italy,and the UK.ChinaEuropeUSDigital upskilling needs to account for regional differencesDigital skillsTop skill(non-digital

25、)Bottom skill(non-digital)Working(solid lines)Non-working(dotted lines)|It is well known that a digitally skilled workforce is one of the preconditions for industrial digitalization.Specifically where digital upskilling will be most effective,however,is still relatively unclear.We found that in the

26、US,people in their mid-to-late twenties consider digital skills among their very top skills,while they notably do not within the same age cohort in Europe and China.However,the US sees a much stronger decrease of digital skills relative to all other skills as the age of respondents increased.This tr

27、end is also found in Europe and China,but it is not quite as pronounced.Another important finding was the difference in digital skills between employed and unemployed people.In Europe,similar levels of digital skills were found in both employed and unemployed youth.Almost all other age groups and in

28、 every region,however saw unemployed respondents rank their digital skills lower than employed respondents.This gap is particularly large for people in their 30s in China.In Europe and the US,the gap tends to widen with age after people turn 40.Companies will need to provide upskilling for their emp

29、loyees,to meet their own digital talent requirements.However,they will also need policymakers to develop targeted interventions to close the gaps between unemployed and employed people if they hope to take advantage of the full talent market.5virtualEmployees use more advanced,virtual interfaces at

30、home than at work,even in the most digitalized firmsAverage share(%)of traditional(buttons),advanced(touch-centric),and virtual(voice&gesture)interfaces in work and private environments across levels of workplace digitalization Sources:Survey(n=11,865;118,650 observations for five interfaces across

31、work and private use scenarios;working respondents with use of at least one interface;interfaces without any use were coded as 0%use share).Notes:Digitalization of the company was measured on a nine item scale(Cronbach alpha.9 for all countries)built from the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business mo

32、del canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were developed for each country individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-off.ChinaFranceGermanyGreeceItalyUKUSLOAVHILOAVHILOAVHILOAVHILOAVHILOAVHILOAVHItraditionaladvancedTy

33、pe of interface:HI=highLO=lowAV=averageDigitalization level:The way we interact with computers is changing rapidly.Chat interfaces enabled by AI and the gesture controls used by car cockpits and smart phones are ushering in a new age of human computer interaction(HCI).When we looked at the average t

34、ime spent by consumers using traditional(hard button),advanced(touch-centric),and virtual(voice and gesture control)interfaces,we found that even the most digital firms have not yet found ways to integrate such new interfaces into the workplace to the same extent they have made their way into our pr

35、ivate lives.China and the US are leading the transition from traditional to advanced and virtual interfaces used in the workplace.This change is important since it will influence how they define digital skills.The low and no code environments of the future may lend themselves more naturally to worke

36、rs with superior communication and literacy skills.Future-proofing business and digital policies will require considering how this likely shift will effect how we teach and evaluate digital skills.6-6-4-2024-6-4-2024Private use of advanced and virtual interfaces will continue to outpace their use in

37、 the workplaceExpected relative increase of interface use in the next five years(use at work versus private use within subject)across countries and digitalization levels in%-6-4-2024-6-4-2024-6-4-2024-6-4-2024-6-4-2024-6-4-2024-6-4-2024ChinaFranceGermanyGreeceItalyUKUSLOAVHILOAVHILOAVHITraditional H

38、CIAdvanced HCIVirtual HCIRelative increase in work-related use expected in the next five years Relative decrease in work-related use expected in the next five years Overall,respondents expect the use of traditional interfaces to increase in their workplaces compared to their private use of digital d

39、evices.Interestingly,they also expect the advanced and virtual interfaces to be used less in their workplace compared to in their daily lives.This would result in workplaces falling even further behind private use of these new technologies.According to our data,firms with low digitalization level in

40、 Germany are expected to fall behind the most when it comes to advanced and virtual interfaces in the next five years,and respondents in the UK think they will see a continuation of the focus on traditional interfaces in the workplace across all levels of digitalization.However,respondents in highly

41、 digitalized firms generally expect less differences between future workplace and private use.Source:Survey(n=13,147).Notes:Working respondents were asked to rate their expectation for decreases or increases in the use of each human-computer-interface(hard buttons,touchscreens,apps for remote contro

42、l,voice assistants,and gesture controls)at their workplace and in the private use separately.The scores shown here represent the relative change respondents expected in the their workplace use compared to private use expectations.The same scales and question formats were use for work and private use

43、 expectations.7Individual confidence in new interfaces is largely independent from workplace digitalizationSelf-efficacy index for 0102030405060708090100ChinaFranceGermanyGreeceItalyUKUSTraditional interfaces(hard buttons)Advanced interfaces(touch screens and apps)Self-efficacy index for operating t

44、raditional,advanced,and virtual human computer interfaces by digitalization level of the work environmentSources:Survey(between n=4,870 and n=11,826 depending on the interface users only).Notes:Digitalization of the company was measured on a nine item scale(Cronbach alpha.9 for all countries)built f

45、rom the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business model canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were developed for each country individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-off.Scales were developed based on the recommendatio

46、ns by Bandura,A.(2006).Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales.Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents,5(1),307-337.The scales captured the same five items for each interface representing increasingly difficult operations.The Cronbach alpha scores for the scales were all.8 for all countries.The ind

47、ex ranged from Min=0 to Max=100.Moderately confidentVirtual interfaces(voice and gesture input)Private use of advanced and virtual interfaces is almost identical no matter the level digitalization of the respondents workplace(see page 7).In line with this finding,our results suggest that the individ

48、ual confidence in advanced and virtual interfaces does not significantly differ between firms with low,average,and high levels of digitalization.It appears that private use of digital technologies plays a more significant role for individual digital poise than is commonly reflected in the public deb

49、ate.These results also indicate that a migration to new interfaces is feasible even for companies that currently have a relatively low level of digitalization.This means that emerging tools featuring large language models(LLMs),augmented reality,and robotic process automation can usher in a new era

50、of human computer interaction(HCI)leveling the playing field and redefining digital skills.8Managers in digital firms are younger and started earlierAverage age of workers in managerial roles and the average age when they first entered their current position across digitalization levels and countrie

51、s3Source:Survey(n=13,147;5,081 in managerial roles)Notes:1 Tukey HSD tests revealed at least one statistically significant difference for average age of all workers in the expected direction(p.05)in each country.In France,Greece,the UK and the US all contrast were statistically significant.2 Tukey H

52、SD tests revealed at least one statistically significant difference for average age when workers entered their current position in the expected direction(p.9 for all countries)built from the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business model canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were de

53、veloped for each country individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-off.25303540455055ChinaFranceGermanyGreeceItalyUKUSAverage age of workers in managerial rolesAverage age when workers in managerial roles first entered their current pos

54、itionAverage age all workersFirms with a high level of digitalization consistently have younger workers than those with lower levels of digitalization.1Except for Greece and Italy,employees in highly digitalized firms also take on managerial roles at an earlier age than in other firms.This pattern i

55、s particularly pronounced in the UK and the US.2As digital skills are higher with younger workers,these results indicate that there is a virtuous cycle for highly digitalized firms where young,more digitally savvy managers drive digitalization forward.The data also implies that ambitious graduates s

56、hould choose more digitalized firms over less digital ones if they want to fast track their career to become managers.This may give digitalized firms an additional edge in the competition for the best young talent.9Source:Survey(n=13,147).Notes:Digitalization of the company was measured on a nine it

57、em scale(Cronbach alpha.9 for all countries)built from the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business model canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were developed for each country individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-o

58、ff.The scales for measuring the individual indicators were taken from:Morgeson,F.P.,&Humphrey,S.E.(2006).The Work Design Questionnaire(WDQ):developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work.Journal of applied psychology,91(6),1321.Wilcoxon pairwise tes

59、ts (*p.1;*p.05;*p.8 for all countries and both scales.Digitalization of the company was measured on a nine item scale(Cronbach alpha.9 for all countries)built from the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business model canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were developed for each countr

60、y individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-off.For more information about the index methodology,see Notes:1 Schiffer,M.,&Arnold,R.(2011).Wirtschaft digitalisiert.Cologne and Berlin:IW Consult and Bitkom.and Arnold,R.et al.(2013).Wirtsc

61、haft digitalisiert.Welche Rolle spielt das Internet fr die deutsche Industrie und Dienstleister?Cologne and Berlin:IW Consult and Bitkom.Except the differences from average to low digitalization levels in DE,FR,UK,and US(thoughtfulness)all differences across digitalization levels were statistically

62、significant at least p.9 for all countries)built from the Osterwalder and Pigneur(2010)business model canvas.The groups for low,average,and high digitalization were developed for each country individually based on a triadic split of the data using+/-one standard deviation from the mean as the cut-of

63、f.Tukey HSD test p.05*and p.8 for all countries)and“giving knowledge”(Cronbach alpha.8 for all countries)were taken from four and three items scales from Fasbender,U.,Gerpott,F.H.,&Unger,D.(2021).Give and take?Knowledge exchange between older and younger employees as a function of generativity and d

64、evelopment striving.Journal of Knowledge Management.This page was first published in:Schneider,A.,&Arnold,R.(2022).Intergenerational collaboration and digitalization.Shenzhen:Huawei.The survey clearly shows that in all seven countries,more digitalized companies benefit from more knowledge exchange.B

65、oth the receiving of knowledge and the giving of knowledge increase as companies become more digitalized.The most substantial boosts happen in environments with average to high levels of digitalization.This is yet another area where both policymakers and companies will need to take digitalization se

66、riously and promote the use of digital technologies.12Method:CAWI:Computer Assisted Web InterviewSample size(s):n=21,427(China n=3,063;France n=3,051;Germany n=3,078;Greece n=3,031;Italy n=3,066;UK n=3,070;US n=3,068)Sampling time:2022/11/02 to 2022/11/15Length of interview:The median length of inte

67、rview varied between 24 and 32 minutes depending on the country.Sampling frame:The sample type is a non-probability sample recruited and stratified on basis of representative quota distributions(quota sample).Sampling procedure:Using YouGovs proprietary sampling technology,quotas are framed based up

68、on the census or profile of the required populationin the beginning.This frame is the basis on which the sampling software controls the flow of members into each survey.The sampling software randomly selects from the available panel,and allocates to surveys according to the quotas set.YouGovs sampli

69、ng software includes a router.This removes the potential for self-selection on surveys,and increases the ability to deliver lower incidence samples within a short time frame.Panelists receive an invitation email containing a survey link.When they access the link the router checks against quotas on a

70、ll live surveys and allocates them to a survey for which they qualify.Thus,panelists are not invited to a specific single survey,reducing the risk of early response bias,social desirability or othermotivational biases.Survey pretest:For testing functionalities,the online survey was soft launched fro

71、m 2022/11/02 to 2020/11/03.Based on the results,no adjustments were implemented.Questionnaire:Huawei,in collaboration with Prof.Dr.Anna Schneider(lead),Prof.Dr.Ulrike Fasbender,and Prof.Dr.Fabiola Gerpott provided the master questionnaire in English.YouGov reviewed the questionnaire and translated i

72、t into the local languages required for the target countries.Data preparation and analysis:The survey data was processed by YouGov and provided in a SPSS data set.Incomplete cases were removed from the data set.Cases from the pretest as well as cases with duplicate cookie ids were removed.Analyses w

73、ere done in R.Methodology13Prof.Dr.Anna SchneiderHochschule Trier,University of Applied SciencesSince 2017,Anna Schneider is Professor of Business Psychology.Her research interests and teaching revolve around the impact of digitalization on consumer behavior,and in particular how people communicate

74、and interact with emerging technology.Anna is a member of various research associations and sits on the scientific board of the Wissenschaftliches Institut fr Infrastrukturund Kommunikationsdienste(WIK)a renowned communications and internet policy think tank.Recently,she also joined the scientific a

75、dvisory board of the SINUS Institute.Drawing on more than 20 years of hands-on experience in market research,she regularly advices public and private organizations on surveys as well as qualitative research projects.The authorCopyright2023 Huawei Technologies Co.,Ltd.All Rights Reserved.The informat

76、ion in this document may contain predictive statements including,without limitation,statements regarding the future financial and operating results,future product portfolio,new technology,etc.There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from tho

77、se expressed or implied in the predictive statements.Therefore,such information is provided for reference purpose only and constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance.Huawei may change the information at any time without notice.Bring digital to every person,home and organization for a fully connected,intelligent world.