What machines can't do : politics and technology in the industrial enterprise

著者

書誌事項

What machines can't do : politics and technology in the industrial enterprise

Robert J. Thomas

University of California Press, c1994

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

大学図書館所蔵 件 / 全18件

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注記

Bibliography: p. 293-306

Includes index

内容説明・目次

巻冊次

: hbk ISBN 9780520081314

内容説明

Virtually every manufacturing company has plans for an automated "factory of the future." But Robert J. Thomas argues that smart machines may not hold the key to an industrial renaissance. In this provocative study, he takes the reader inside four successful manufacturing enterprises to reveal the social and political dynamics that are an integral part of new production technology. His interviews with nearly 300 individuals, from top corporate executives to engineers to union representatives, offer surprising insights into the organizational power struggles that determine the form and performance of new technologies. Thomas urges managers not to put blind hopes into smarter machines but to find smarter ways to organize people.
巻冊次

: pbk ISBN 9780520087019

内容説明

Virtually every manufacturing company has plans for an automated "factory of the future." But Robert J. Thomas argues that smart machines may not hold the key to an industrial renaissance. In this provocative and enlightening book, he takes us inside four successful manufacturing enterprises to reveal the social and political dynamics that are an integral part of new production technology. His interviews with nearly 300 individuals, from top corporate executives to engineers to workers and union representatives, give his study particular credibility and offer surprising insights into the organizational power struggles that determine the form and performance of new technologies. Thomas urges managers not to put blind hopes into smarter machines but to find smarter ways to organize people. As U.S. companies battle for survival in an era of growing global competition, What Machines Can't Do is an invaluable treatise on the ways we organize work. While its call for change is likely to be controversial, it will also attract anyone who wishes to understand the full impact of new technology on jobs, organizations, and the future of the industrial enterprise.

目次

Preface 1. Introduction Bridging Determinism and Choice The Power-Process Perspective History Matters Dissimilar Logics in an Organizational Context Choice, Change, and Worldviews Understanding Technological Choice and Change Case Studies in Context Research Methods Site and Case Selection Reporting Findings Organization of the Book 2. Technology as a Power Tool: Technological Choice in an Aircraft Company The Industrial and Organizational Context The Aircraft Company Case 1: The Flexible Machining System Choosing Between Technologies Symptoms Versus Causes Bringing Interests to the Surface Choosing Within the Technology Finessing the ROI Pitching the Technology Implementing the Technology Symbolic Sensors Conclusion Case 2: The Robotized Assembly Cell Choosing Between Technologies The Dangers of "Real Engineering" Going Outside, Not Inside, for Help Choosing Within the Technology Preventing a Range War Least Common Denominator Implementing the Technology Epilogue Conclusion Case 3: Shop-Programmable Machine Tools Choosing Between Technologies Choosing Within the Technology Implementing the Technology Conclusion Conclusions and Implications 3. Between Invention and Convention: Technological Choice in a Computer Company The Industrial and Organizational Context The Technology Choosing Between Technologies The Official Story The Unofficial Story Between Convention and Invention Building a Movement Networking An External Threat Product Openings Choosing Within the Technology The Great Investment Bake-Off Implementing the Technology East Coast: From Slack to Stress The Temp Solution Back to Convention West Coast: Lights On or Lights Out? Too Much Technology The Cult of the Expert Conclusion 4. Collaborative Change: Technological Choice in an Aluminum Company The Aluminum Products Company The Technology Choosing Between Technologies Choosing Within the Technology Implementing the Technology Up and Running Hitting a Brick Wall Communicating Across Boundaries Conclusion 5. A Contest over Content: Technological Choice in the Auto Industry The Auto Company The Technology Choosing Between Technologies Corporate Control Plant Autonomy Union-Management Relations Manufacturing Renaissance and Real Engineering From Context to Content Choosing Within the Technology Contested Technology A Language of Common Interests Getting to "Yes" Implementing the Technology Owning the Technology Up and Running Conclusion 6. Politics and Technology The Limits ofT echnological Determinism The Impact of Organization on Technology Breaking Institutional Molds from Within How Independent Is Technology? The Limits of Social Choice Whose Strategy? Whose Choice? Class Action? The Power-Process Perspective: An Elaboration Purposive Structuring The Political Hand Technology Politics Crossing the Bridge Between Determinism and Choice The Politics of Innovation and Innovative Politics Implications for Research and Theory 7. The Politics and Aesthetics of Manufacturing Politics and Change The Status of Manufacturing Design H Manufacturing? Knowledge and Power Product and Process Reconsidered The Search for an Aesthetic of Process Appendix 1. Talking Technology Appendix 2. Preliminary Coding Categories Appendix 3. Definition of Coding Categories References Index

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