Human Resource Development And The Internet Of Things

Running Head: HRD AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS 1 Proceedings of the 25 th Annual Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference in the Americas. Richmond VA, USA. February 14 – 17, 2018. DOI: 10.31124/advance.9638417.v1 Human Resource Development and the Internet of Things Robert M. Yawson* School of Business, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT 06518 ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000- 0001-6215-434 robert.yawson@qu,.edu Daniel Woldeab College of Individualized Studies Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN Daniel.Woldeab@metrostate.edu Emmanuel Osafo Youth and Families Program Unit, Washington State University Extension Washington State University, WA ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000- 0002-5385-3635 emmanuel.osafo1@wsu.edu *Corresponding Author Copyright © 2018 Robert M. Yawson, Emmanuel Osafo & Daniel Woldeab HRD AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS 2 DOI: 10.31124/advance.9638417.v1 Abstract The Internet of Things (IoT) is affecting national innovation ecosystems and the approach of organizations to innovation and how they create and capture value in everyday business activities. The Internet of Things (IoT), is disruptive, and it will change the manner in which human resources are developed and managed, calling for a new and adaptive human resource development approach. The Classical Internet communication form is human -human. The prospect of IoT is that every object will have a unique way of identification and can be addressed so that every object can be connected. The communication forms will expand from human- human to human- human, human- thing, and thing-thing. This will bring a new challenge to how Human Resource Development (HRD) is practiced. This paper provides an overview of the Internet of Things and conceptualizes the role of HRD in the age of the Internet of Things. Keywords: Analytics, Internet of Things, Human Resource, Workforce, Disruptive Technology HRD AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS 3 DOI: 10.31124/advance.9638417.v1 Human Resource Development and the Internet of Things Since the launch of the world- wide web in the early 1990s, the Internet has impacted the way we live and work with the ‘speed of light.' Society is facing yet another wave of Internet technologies that will have a big impact on the way we live and work. Th is phenomenon known popularly as the Internet of Things (IoT) presents a situation where data generation is the order of the day – every human interaction whether with living or non- living things generate some form of data making the workplace a data- driven environment. The changing phase of technology presents a challenge to predictions of human interaction and how work is conducted. The IoT has the potential to make a fundamental shift in the way we interact with our surroundings. “It is suggested that we can see the Internet as enabling the human social environment, as well as an ever-increasing array of Internet-enabled devices, to function as literal body parts” (Smart, 2017, p. 360). Human Resource Development (HRD) is in a distinctive position to prepare the workforce for this new way of working and to utilize the big data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT has the potential to fundamentally shift the way we interact with our surroundings (Manyika et al., 2015). The capability to monitor and manage objects in the physical world electronically makes it promising to bring data-driven decision-making to new realms of human resource development—to augment the performance of systems and processes, save time for people and businesses, and improve quality of life (Manyika et al.,

Human Resource Development (HRD) involves developing people with a focus on improving knowledge, skills , and abilities (KSAs) to guide organizations, create a long-term HRD AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS 4 DOI: 10.31124/advance.9638417.v1 vision, develop strategy, staff the organization, communicate, motivate people toward the vision, and to support improved productivity. HRD is targeted across levels of abstraction of individuals, teams, organizations, communities, and fields of policy and practice (Yawson,

Bennett, (2014) aptly described: The field of HRD is at a historic point in which we can demonstrate value and relevance to the modern, technology-enabled organization. Many in the field of HRD have sought a balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the collective for learning and performance. Both management and HRD needs are often embedded in the same virtual systems, but HRD has been late to incorporate technology strategically in practice and in academic preparation programs (p.275). It is no longer business as usual for HRD professionals. As a result of the emergence of IoT, the world is experiencing significant, largely economic and sociotechnical, induced changes. These changes are more than jargon, cliché, and hyperbole, and they are effecting major transformations (Yawson & Greiman, 2014). These transformations will impact on how human resources are developed and we need to be able to forecast its effects (Yawson & Greiman,

develop the ability to understand how human capital systems, organizations, and the national innovation ecosystems will behave in the future that IoT brings. The Classical Internet has radically altered the way we access information, profoundly transformed the way we think, act and remember (Smart, Heersmink, & Clowes, 2017). With the IoT , every aspect of our cognitive and epistemic endeavors, either individual or collective, will be undertaken with some involvement of the Internet (Smart et al., 2017) . Relative to this influence, it makes sense, to see the IoT as fully becoming an important part of the “cognitively -potent extra-organismic