Unifying technology and people: revisiting service in a digitally transformed world

ABSTRACT

Trade is as ancient as civilization; it has been an essential part of every society as a means of acquiring and/or exchanging goods and services. Trade, therefore, has always depended heavily on human interaction between the ‘producer and customer’ on the foundation of interdependence through communication, friendship, trust, and relationship. Over the past 100 years or so, varying degrees of a new element – digital technology –have been incorporated into the relationship between the producer and consumer. The introduction of technology to the concept of trade was intended to mutually benefit both producer and customer. However, technology’s role and its influence as part of this delicate interdependent relationship have not been well understood or discussed in the literature. Our study illustrates the critical role of the human factor and the growing importance of technology in all industry sectors and in societies. We call for the growing need for a unified approach where humans and technology will not only co-exist but, more importantly, will collectively bring about many positive changes to benefit both the firm and the society, or in other words, both producer and customer.

抽象

贸易源远流长，自文明社会存在之初就已存在。贸易作为获取和交换商品和服务的手段，已经成为所有社会的必要组成部分。因此，贸易一直以来都在很大程度上依赖“生产者和顾客”之间的人际交往，双方互动的基础是沟通，交情，信任，和关系。生产者和顾客之间的互动 是相互依赖的，而不是单方面的。过去一百年左右的时间里，一种新元素已经不同程度地融入到了生产者和消费者之间的关系中，这种因素就是数 字技术。将科技引入到贸易的概念中，宗旨是生产者和顾客双方都能受益于科技。科技和贸易之间的关系是相互依存的，而且这种关系是微妙的。然而，目前尚无相关研究充分理解和探讨了科技在贸易中扮演的角色以及科技对贸易影响。本研究显示，在所有产业和社会中，人的因素扮演了重 要的角色，而科技正在发挥越来越重要的作用。我们呼吁，我们越来越需要寻求一种统一的方法。通过这种方法，人类和和科技不仅可以共存，更重 要的是，人类和科技可以共同带来许多积极变化，并且企业和社会可以共同受益。换句话说，生产者和顾客可以共同受益。

KEYWORDS:

• Trust
• service
• technology
• human factor
• interdependence
• society

关键字:

• 信任
• 服務
• 技術
• 人為因素
• 相互依存
• 社會

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Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).