How can the Future of Work strategies influence the digitalization of product/service design?

This paper will explore the interaction between future work strategies and the digitalization of product/service design in the digital era in order to tackle the dilemma of how the future of work strategies influences the digitalization of product/service design. To understand the dilemma we will look into some key concepts such as, the future of work, and digitalization in design of products and services to further understand the role that HR can play in terms of creating work strategies that enable digital transformation in the workplace and in the digitalization of products or services. HR plays a crucial role in helping the organisation drive value, it plays a strategic function that helps to shape a more dynamic, resilient, human centric and customer centric, sustainable organisation. According to Mckinsey (2021) “future-ready companies share three characteristics: they know what they are and what they stand for; they operate with a fixation on speed and simplicity; and they grow by scaling up their ability to learn and innovate”. Disruptive technological and societal trends such as advancement in digital technologies – AI adoption according to Ransbotham et al (2020) continues to increase and intersects with organizational strategy and essential operations, 5G connectivity – a crucial enabler impacting business growth and rapid digital transformation (Shim et al., 2021), automation; changes in consumer behavior – growing demand for personalization (Verhoef et al., 2021); evolving competitive landscape – platform based business models (Constantindes et al., 2018); remote work; environmental and social expectations – to transition to more sustainable sociotechnical systems (Geissdoerfer et al., 2020) are influencing the shift in the way organisations operate further necessitating the need for digital competency within organisations and the shift in work strategies that enhance operational efficiency and address workforce challenges and adaptive strategies. The paper will seek to explore using a process-based approach in the formulation of work design strategies to addressing digital transformation dilemmas