Jacobus H Oosthuizen
Abstract
Technological advancement is transforming the world, and the 4IR/5IR is driving South Africa towards a future in which the pace of change will be so rapid and its impact so deep that the country will be irreversibly transformed. While technologies continue to build on and amplify each other, management practice lag comparable to the digital era’s exponential advancement. At the individual level of analysis, based on the Triarchic Theory of Cognitive Disposition for navigating the digital era, this study assessed how SA top-management practitioners perceive themselves in terms of Episteme-Analytical Intelligence, Techne-Inventive Intelligence and Phronesis-Synergic Intelligence. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey approach was followed, collecting data from 202 top managers across sectors in SA using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Collectively SA managers rate moderately, with evidenced reliability of the instrument, whilst statistically significant as well as practical significant bivariate correlations were calculated between all three variables. In terms of gender demographic variable, no statistical or practical significant difference could be determined. The 4IR/5IR era demands management practitioners to reinvent themselves to address the challenges, by assessing their cognitive disposition so as to determine readiness and identify shortcomings. At the organisational level management practitioners should initiate developmental initiatives in relation to the cognitive disposition domains so as to empower employees and followers, as well as give 4IR/5IR prominence in their strategic dialogue.