The two predominant themes within debates on the relationship between technical
change and industrial supervision focus attention on: firstly, the extent to which
there has been a shift in supervisory emphasis away from the supervision of people
and towards the supervision of technical processes; and secondly, the degree to which
the traditional 'people-oriented' and more recent `technology-oriented' supervisor are
becoming increasingly 'pivotal' or peripheral' to modem production systems under
new forms of work organisation. The first part of the paper provides a summary
account of the historical emergence and changing role of the industrial supervisor.
From this discussion two general supervisory types are characterised These
characterisations are then utilised in the second part of the paper which provides
an analysis of the effects of technical change on the role of the supervisor. The
implications of the more recent developments in technology and new production
arrangements are examined and the current challenges facing management in the
development of supervision are discussed The paper concludes with an appraisal
of the future role of the industrial supervisor.
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