What Machines Can't Do
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Home > Business and Economics > Industry and industrial studies > Manufacturing industries > What Machines Can't Do: Politics and Technology in the Industrial Enterprise
What Machines Can't Do: Politics and Technology in the Industrial Enterprise

What Machines Can't Do: Politics and Technology in the Industrial Enterprise


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About the Book

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.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
Robert J. Thomas is Professor of Organizational Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Citizenship, Gender, and Work: Social Organization of Industrial Agriculture (California, 1985).


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780520081314
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Publisher Imprint: University of California Press
  • Height: 229 mm
  • No of Pages: 336
  • Sub Title: Politics and Technology in the Industrial Enterprise
  • Width: 152 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0520081315
  • Publisher Date: 25 Mar 1994
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Weight: 635 gr


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