A qualitative research on the impact of industrial change process on human resource management practice

The industrial revolutions starting from the 18th century to the present day have undergone changes thanks to the developments in this process. This process, which started with Industry 1.0, has been completed for now with Industry 4.0, which constitutes today's industry. Although the transitions to Industry 4.0 have not been finalized, it has been a necessity for enterprises to take action against these changes. Although these processes of change affect businesses from every point, revealing the developments to be experienced against these changes on the basis of human resources management practices has become a situation that needs to be addressed separately. The aim of this research, which is carried out considering this situation, is to examine the effects of the industrial revolution applications of the companies on human resources and the potential industrial changes that companies have experienced or may experience. In particular, examining the effects of the change experienced in the transition to Industry 4.0 on human resources practices is one of the main objectives. This research, which was carried out for this purpose, is a qualitative research and data were collected from 10 white collar or human resources employees working in companies operating in the province of Kütahya, by using e-interviews via e-mail using structured interview questions. The data were analyzed and interpreted with the content and descriptive analysis method. According to the findings of the research, it has been determined that the full transition to Industry 4.0 has not been achieved, and that in the possible transition to be experienced, cyber security and big data analysis will have the greatest impact in Human Resources applications, and human resources applications will shift towards robots and virtual reality applications. It has been understood that the employees are willing to change and it is necessary to switch to an innovative leadership model in order for Industry 4.0 to be realized. Keywords: Big Data, Industry 4.0, Industrial Change, Human Resources Management