In recent years, research into digitalisation and artificial intelligence and their societal impact has intensified, and so has the debate on the relevant research results. The significant productivity gains expected from the adoption of advanced smart technologies are as of yet unrealised. One of the most important possible explanations is that the expected joint optimisation of technological and social systems has failed to take place as the evolution of the latter has lagged behind technological progress. The idea is nothing new: it was studied at London’s Tavistock Institute as early as during World War II. According to the theory emerging from that research, it is of paramount importance in corporate practice to align technology, people and the work organisation. This idea is called the theory of sociotechnical systems design.
As part of our research, we conduct secondary analyses on the databases of large-scale European questionnaire surveys (European Company Survey, European Working Conditions Survey). Answers are sought to the following questions: what is the position of Hungarian businesses in the practice of digital transformation, how widespread so-called learning organisations are in Hungary, to what extent Hungarian businesses rely on the knowledge of their employees and what tools they use to mobilise that knowledge, and what kind of correlation exists between digital transformation, employee participation and corporate innovation performance.
By answering those questions, the analyses seek to explore the impact of digital technologies on the work organisation and the importance of socio-organisational (‘soft’) skills in work practice (management practice), such as communication and cooperation skills, the development of individual and collective knowledge, the ability to solve complex tasks, or negotiation and persuasion skills. By analysing European databases, we will be able to investigate these issues from a perspective of international comparison, allowing a comparison not only with the European average, but also with the Visegrad group of countries, which have followed a similar development path.
Project participants
Miklós Illéssy
Csaba Makó
Saeed Nostratabadi
József Pap
Publications
Illéssy Miklós, Huszár Ákos. Technológiai fejlődés és munkaerőpiac: automatizációs kitettség Magyarországon (Technological development and the labour market: how susceptible are jobs to automation in Hungary?) Statisztikai Szemle 100: 2 pp. 137–161., 25 p., 2022
Makó Csaba, Illéssy Miklós, Nostratabadi, Saeed. Is it Possible to Improve Simultaneously Firm Performance and Workplace Well-Being? Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in European Comparison. In: Dallago, B., & Casagrande, S. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Comparative Economic Systems (1st ed.). Routledge, 2022
Pap József, Makó Csaba, Illéssy Miklós, Dedaj, Zef, Ardabili, Sina, Török Bernát, Mosavi, Amir. Correlation Analysis of Factors Affecting Firm Performance and Employees Wellbeing: Application of Advanced Machine Learning Analysis. Algorithms 15(9), 300, 17 p., 2022
Illéssy Miklós, Huszár Ákos, Makó Csaba. Technological development and the labour market: how susceptible are jobs to automation in Hungary? Societies 11(3):93, 2021
Makó Csaba, Illéssy Miklós, Pap József. Munkavégzés a platformalapú gazdaságban – A foglalkoztatás egy lehetséges modellje? (Work in the platform economy – A possible model for employment?) Közgazdasági Szemle 67 (11). pp. 1112–1129, 2020
International workshop organised
Knowledge Infrastructure in the Platform Economy, online, 21 April 2022. Organised in cooperation with the University of Public Service, with participants from the US, Portugal, Serbia, Germany, Finland, Australia and India, on the uses at the workplace and impacts of artificial intelligence and algorithmic management.
Conference papers
Makó Csaba, Illéssy Miklós, Nostratabadi, Saeed. Is it Possible to Improve Simultaneously Firms’ Performance and Well-being in Work? (A Structural Equation Modelling-based analysis of the European Company Survey 2019), The new global challenges and comparative economics, University of Trento, 18–20 October 2021
Makó Csaba, Illéssy Miklós. Automation, Creativity, and the Future of Work in Europe: A Comparison between the Old and New Member States with a Special Focus on Hungary. International Conference on Technology, Market and Complexity, Society of Open Innovation & Riga Technical University, 12–15 July 2021
Keywords: digitalisation, algorithmic management, labour market, digital skills