Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Organizational Choice: Sociotechnical System Approach

Edquist C. Jacobsson , Flexible Automation: The Global Diffusion of New Technology in the Engineering Industry (Oxford: Blackwells, 1988); Gerwin D. Kolodny H. , Management of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (New York, NY: Wiley, 1992); Löwstedt J. Norr C. , Spridning av en innovation [The diffusion of innovation] (Stockholm: IMIT Publication, 1991); Mansfield E. , “The Diffusion of Industrial Robots in Japan and the United States,” Research Policy, 18 (1989): 183–192.

Jaikumar R. , “Postindustrial Manufacturing,” Harvard Business Review, 64 (November/December 1986): 69–76.

Meredith J.R. Hill M.M. , “Justifying New Manufacturing Systems: A Managerial Approach,” Sloan Management Review (Summer 1987), pp. 49–61.

For a survey of some of the main areas of new manufacturing technology see Meredith J.R. , “The Strategic Advantage of the Factory of the Future,” California Management Review, 29/3 (Spring 1987): 27–41. For a more extensive bibliography of manufacturing technology and manufacturing strategy see Swadimass Paul M. , “Manufacturing Strategy: A Selected Bibliography,” Journal of Operations Management, 8 (1989): 263–277.

See, for example, Horwirch M. , Technology in the New Corporation (New York, NY: Pergamon Press, 1986); Meredith J.R. , “Implementing New Manufacturing Technologies: Managerial Lessons over the FMS Life Cycle,” Interfaces, 17 (1987): 51–62; Gold B. , “Computerization in Domestic and International Manufacturing,” California Management Review, 32/2 (Winter 1989): 129–143; Adler A.S. Shenbar A. , “Adapting Your Technological Base: The Organizational Challenge,” Sloan Management Review (Fall 1990). pp. 25–37; Kozlowski S.W. Hattrup K. , “Problems Associated with the Implementation of New Manufacturing Technologies,” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, San Francisco (1990).

Hayes R.H. Jaikumar R. , “Manufacturing's Crisis: New Technologies, Obsolete Organizations,” Harvard Business Review, 66 (1988): 77–85.

Gold B. , “CAM Sets New Rules for Production,” Harvard Business Review, 62 (November/December 1982): 88–94.

Meredith (1987a), op. cit., p. 27.

Hayes Jaikumar , op. cit., p. 79.

Dean J.W. Susman G.I. , “Organizing for Manufacturable Design,” Harvard Business Review, (January/February 1989): 28–36; Dean J.W. Snell S.A. , “Integrated Manufacturing and Job Design: Moderating Effects of Organizational Inertia,” Academy of Management Journal, 34/4 (1991): 776–804.

Hayes Jaikumar , op. cit., p. 78.

Hametz P.L. Fry L.W. , “Flexible Manufacturing Organizations: Implications for Strategy Formulation and Organization Design,” Academy of Management Review, 13/4 (1988): 627–638.

Kaplan R.S. , “Must CIM Be Justified by Faith Alone?” Harvard Business Review, 64 (March/April 1986): 87–95; Monahan G.E. Smunt T.L. , “Multilevel Decision Support System for the Financial Justification of Automated Flexible Manufacturing Systems,” Interfaces, 17 (November/December 1987): 29–40.

Adler P.S. , “Managing Flexible Automation,” California Management Review, 30/3 (Spring 1988): 34–56.

Walton R.L. , Innovating to Compete (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1987).

Gold (1989), op. cit., p. 132–133.

Hayes Jaikumar , op. cit.

For an extensive bibliography that includes over 1500 STS published studies see van Eijnatten M.F. , An Anthology of the Socio-Technical System Design Paradigm (Eindhoven, Netherlands: Eindhoven University of Technology Press, 1992).

Pasmore W.A. , Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical System Perspective (New York, NY: Wiley, 1988).

Many reports support this argument. For example, Cummings T.G. , “Sociotechnical Experimentation: A Review of Sixteen Studies,” in Pasmore W.A. Sherwood J.J. , eds., Sociotechnical Systems: A Sourcebook (La Jolla, CA: University Associates, 1978); Davis L.E. , “Workers and Technology: The Necessary Joint Basis For Organizational Effectiveness,” National Productivity Review, 3/1 (1983): 7–14; Hanna D. , Designing Organizations For High Performance (Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1988); Kolodny H. Dresner B. , “Linking Arrangements and New Work Designs,” Organization Dynamics (Winter 1986), pp. 33–51.; Pasmore W.A. (1988), op. cit.; Pava C.H. , “Redesigning Sociotechnical System Design: Concepts and Methods For The 1990s,” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22/3 (1986): 201–221.; Shani A.B. Elliott O. , “Applying Sociotechnical System Design At The Strategic Apex: An Illustration,” Organization Development Journal, 6/2 (1988): 53–66.; Trist E.L. , “The Sociotechnical Perspective,” in Van de Ven A.H. Joyce W.F. , eds., Perspectives on Organization Design and Behavior, 19–75 (New York. NY: Wiley, 1982).

Pasmore W.A. , Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical System Perspective (New York, NY: Wiley, 1988); Pava C. , Managing New Office Technology: An Organizational Strategy (New York, NY: Free Press, 1983).

Grant R.M. Krishanan R. Shani A.B. Baer R. , “Appropriate Manufacturing Technology: A Strategic Approach,” Sloan Management Review, 33/1 (1991): 43–54.

Susman G.I. Chase R.B. , “A Sociotechnical Analysis of the Integrated Factory,” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22/3 (1986): 257–270; Shani A.B. Elliott O. , “Sociotechnical System Design in Transition,” in Sikes Drexler Grant , eds., The Emerging Practice of Organization Development (La Jolla, CA: University Associates, 1989), pp. 187–198.

Susman Chase , op. cit.

Woodward Joan [Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice (London: Oxford University Press, 1965)] identified three types: Unit and batch production, mass production, and continuous process production. Perrow Charles [“A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Organizations,” American Sociological Review, 32 (1967): 194–208] distinguished between routine versus non-routine technologies. Thompson J.D. [Organization in Action (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1967)] distinguished on the basis of task interdependence (mediating, long linked, intensive).

Office of Technology Assessment, Computerized Manufacturing Automation: Employment, Education, and the Workplace (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress, 1984), Pub. OTA-CIT-235.

Meredith (1987a), op. cit.

Meredith J.R. Hill M.M. , “Justifying New Manufacturing Systems: A Managerial Approach,” Sloan Management Review (Summer 1987), pp. 49–61.

Pasmore , op. cit.

Badham R. , “Computer-Aided Design, Work Organization, and the Integrated Factory,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 36/3 (1989): 216–226.

Harper D.E. , “The Future of Telecommunications,” North American Edition of Telecommunication (January 1989), pp. 27–32.

Merrills R. , “How Northern Telecom Competes on Time,” Harvard Business Review (July/August 1989), pp. 108–114.

Levi D. Slem C. , “Technological Change Survey: Analysis of NTSC,” technical report, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA (1988).

Ladford G.E. , “Employee Survey Results: An Executive Summary,” technical report, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (1988).

Parthasarthy R. Sethi S.P. , “The Impact of Flexible Automation on Business Strategy and Organizational Structure,” Academy of Management Review, 17/1 (1992): 86–111.