Conclusion: 20 Key Learning Points About Organisation Structure, Design, and Development

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will require organisations to undertake a radical review of governance, strategy, stewardship, policy, and business models, and respond in the wake of the new contingencies. It will mean the transition from legacy to new technologies, of the creation to new structural forms, of enhanced leadership and managerial skills, of the attraction of talented people and a culture whereby they can be freely innovative, and of the reshaping of workforce skills to convert new products or processes into value-adding outputs. Managing the shift from one to the other or building on the potential of new start-ups will require a skill set that, on the one hand, involves learning from past experiences of Industrial Revolution and, on the other, navigating through uncharted waters with little or no experience of what this environment has to offer. Organisational design, development, and change will be an essential feature of this transformation. This final chapter will draw together some of the most important conclusions in relation to this point, in the form of 20 key learning points about organisational design, development, and change.