The emergence of artificial intelligence is of great significance to human development, perhaps called the fifth industrial revolution, since then mankind has truly entered the era of artificial intelligence.
Next, let's walk through the grand process of the first to the fifth industrial revolution.
The first industrial revolution
From the perspective of world history, the earliest form of existence of enterprises was the factory, which replaced the previous individual handicraft and cottage workshops.
The first industrial revolution, starting in the 60s of the 18th century, because of the widespread application of steam engines, factories can concentrate individuals and use machinery and other division operations. At this stage, production efficiency is improved, large-scale production is realized, production and sales begin to divide labor, and functional organizational structures gradually appear.
The basic relationship of enterprises is market cooperation or competition. During this period, the efficiency of enterprise growth mainly comes from within the enterprise, depending on the efficiency of internal production and sales collaboration, as well as the passive stimulation and progress brought about by competition.
One consequence of the development of the "factory system" is that the "self-employed" need to "partnership" with others in order to achieve better development.
At the same time, the focus of enterprise management is to adapt to competition with efficient production. In production, machine production replaces manual production, and under the competitive relationship, due to the improvement of overall social productivity driven by steam engines, the production capacity of factories crushes manual production.
Due to the scale effect, the transportation and sales of its products have also become systematic and more advanced
The Second Industrial Revolution
In the early 70s of the 19th century, with the beginning of the second industrial revolution, electricity was widely used, internal combustion engines and new means of transportation appeared and were used, and the chemical industry began to be established, which greatly accelerated the transformation and development of productivity and production relations.
As there is another leap in productivity driven by electricity, organizations need a finer division of labor, resulting in more departmental and personnel collaboration.
As a result, the "factory system" was followed by the "company system", and the company replaced the "self-employed" as the main body of social and economic activities, and the scale of the organization was further expanded.
The assembly line model pioneered by Ford led to mass production and achieved economies of scale for some companies, and large conglomerates and even monopolies emerged in some areas. At this stage, the competition mode between enterprises is still the mainstay, the organizational structure is mainly based on the "bureaucratic system", and the organizational efficiency depends on the internal division of labor and collaboration efficiency.
The second industrial revolution brought about the standardization and specialization of production, the division of labor and cooperation was closer, and the purpose of cooperation in various departments was centered on production. Standardized and institutionalized management also helps enterprises clarify the division of labor and collaboration within the organization, which greatly contributes to organizational efficiency. At this time, enterprises are still in the passive collaboration generated by competition.
The third industrial revolution that began in the 40s of the 20th century has made great breakthroughs in information technology and new energy technology, which has led to socio-economic and management changes.
Enterprises are more connected, and large-scale manufacturing is shifting to large-scale personalized production. The form of production organization of enterprises has also undergone tremendous changes.
Responding quickly to customer needs has become the key to determining whether the enterprise can develop well. Enterprises began to show industrial organization modularization, and industrial boundaries were no longer clear.
At the same time, enterprises actively seek external cooperation, collaboration and competition between industrial chains become the core of inter-enterprise relations, more sources of organizational efficiency turn to external collaboration, and development momentum depends more on cooperation between industrial chains. Platform organizations emerge at this stage, platforms break organizational boundaries, integrate external resources such as consumers and suppliers, further innovate, and the organization becomes flat, which can quickly respond to end-user needs.
The Third Industrial Revolution
The core of the third industrial revolution is informatization, which has triggered a huge change in the way production and organization are carried out. The rapid development of information technology has transformed a large number of material flows into information flows, all links in production organizations can be infinitely subdivided, and the collaboration and cooperation between enterprises have become deeper.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
We have experienced the fourth industrial revolution, where everything in the world is deeply interconnected, and the speed of technological change and adoption is accelerating. Obviously different from the previous three industrial revolutions, the core of the fourth industrial revolution is connection, synergy and symbiosis, creating value that cannot be created by a single enterprise, and providing opportunities for value innovation and non-linear growth for enterprises.
The dominant technical features in the fourth industrial revolution are 5G, mobile technology, big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, quantum communication and other multi-technology connection and collaboration. These emerging technologies will be used as a combination into existing organizations and economic systems, and they will bring about dramatic changes in organizational production forms and value management models.
The "Fourth Industrial Revolution" gives companies more opportunities for external growth, while also helping companies unlock greater system efficiencies. At this stage, the driving force for enterprise growth comes from the enterprise value network supported by digital technology.
The emergence of artificial intelligence may be the fifth industrial revolution, and since then mankind has truly entered the era of artificial intelligence.