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Abstract

To date there has been no cohesive examination of the interrelationship between new technology and manpower resources. Most studies have reflected the disciplinary bias of economists or technologists. Economists have stressed supply and demand factors and the role of new technology on increase in productivity. Technologists have stressed the deterministic effects of new technology.

This article synthesizes theories and findings from behavioral and social science and the field of management, as well as from economics and technology, within the framework of systems science. In sequence, the article discusses: the sociotechnical system environment in which the interaction between new technology and manpower resources takes place; the measurement of technological change; how technological change affects manpower; the prediction of skill and manpower requirements; and electronics-based computer-communications technology. The needs for advances in theory and methodology are argued. The elements of a systems theory are sketched, and the value of the systems dynamics approach to modeling and computer simulation is emphasized.

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Technological Change and Manpower Resources: A Systems Perspective

Abstract

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