HD28
.M414
ALFRED
P.
WORKING PAPER
SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
The
Politics of Technological
An
Change:
Empirical Study
Robert J.Thomas
July
1988
WP# 2035-88
MASSACHUSETTS
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
50 MEMORIAL DRIVE
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
The
Politics of Technological
An
Robert
July
1988
Change:
Empirical Study
J.
Thomas
WP#
2035-88
Contents
Introduction
1
Decision-Making around
New Technology
5
Research Sites and Methods
The Flexible Machining System
A
First
Look
at
From Concept
Outcomes
to
implementation
7
10
1
13
The Framing Contest
15
Aligning Objectives
18
Framing Outward, Upward and Downward
20
Summary
24
Shop Programmable Machine Tools
A
First
Look
at
From Concept
Outcomes
to
Implementation
25
26
28
Aligning Objectives
30
Framing Downward, Not Outward
31
Summary
34
Implications for the
Two
Perspectives
Broader Implications
Lateral
Dimension
Hierarchical Dimension
35
37
37
40
Footnotes
42
References
44
Introduction
Developments
manufacturing and information technologies over the past decade have
in
given rise to a substantial body of research and debate about the implications of technological
change
employment,
for
and socio-technical
"postindustrial"
theorists suggest that
technological developments themselves
opportunity
(or, in
the minds of
direction of greater flexibility
--
of
some, the necessity)
and responsiveness
human resources
technology and
Hirschhorn 1984).
It
is
argued,
for
numerous
factors
side,
-
including
are presenting business organizations with the
to
to
fundamentally recast themselves
market conditions. These
suggest, can only be achieved through a sea change
deployment
On one
and economic competitiveness.
levels,
skill
(cf.,
in
in
the
attributes, they
organizational approaches to the design and
Piore and Sabel 1984; Walton 1987; and
example, that the potential benefits of
new
"informating"
technologies (Zuboff 1982) can only be realized through the grant of greater autonomy and
responsibility to
according
employees formerly handcuffed by
Hirschhorn (1984) and others [most notably Davis and Taylor (1976)], the
to
greater complexity and sensitivity of
- not lesser
Taylorist definitions of automation; and,
--
new manufacturing technologies
involvement, commitment, and
skill
from production workers.
technological and organizational "possibilities" are increasing
issue
is
whether managers (especially American managers)
On
actually
demand
In
greater
short,
number. What remains
in
will
grasp those
at
possibilities.
the other side, analysts working from marxian labor process theory suggest that
neither technological
developments nor hopeful scenarios are
philosophy and a practice aimed
the work process.
anything has
They
changed
--
cost reduction, deskilling, and
point to the shopfloor
use
even with the appearance
Braverman's (1974) depiction
to deskill the labor force
at
likely to
of
of
it
enhancement
new technology and
so many
of the "control imperative"
and thus render
shake managers from a
more subject
in
control over
question whether
possibilities.
In particular,
argues that managers use technology
to
external control.
In
the
wake
of his
work, a host of case studies have been compiled which, while not necessarily refuting the
Politics of
Technological
Change
postindustrialists' reports of
new developments,
and
the urgency or necessity of a philosophical
for
example, documents the winnowing of
shadows on
certainly cast
practical shift in
the latters' claims of
management. Noble
possibilities that took place with the
(1984),
development
of
numerical control equipment and argues quite adamantly that options which might have allowed
machinists greater influence
attributed to
in
new technology
the conduct of their work
Hirschhorn 1984)
(cf.,
--
--
a frequently cited possibility
were discarded
in
greater managerial control over the labor process. Shaiken (1986) and
similar conclusions in their
To
overviews of technological change
date, the evidence about job loss
and creation,
in
skiiling
the interest of
Howard (1987) reach
manufacturing industries.
and
deskilling,
and
competitiveness and stagnation has not yielded anything resembling a clear pattern of outcomes
(cf..
Hunt and Hunt
1
985; Francis
1
Sabel 1984). Part of the confusion
986; Jones
in
1
982; Kelley
the debate over the
and how competitiveness
how
But, equally imporiant, the debate over
what might happen
--
in
the
jobs are counted,
organizational or industrial
--
986; Spenner
consequences
well as the variability in choices organizations have, resides
methodological issues the topic surfaces:
1
what
is
has also been hampered by a
-- is
of
complex
how
skill
1
987; Piore and
new
technology, as
definitional
and
changes are measured,
operationalized.
happening
--
much
less the debate over
relative lack of attention to the actual
processes by which organizations select and implement new production technologies. Failure
thoroughly investigate the process and the context of organizational decision-making around
technology has led
about:
(2)
(1)
to
managerial
a situation
(3)
which a great deal
rationality or irrationality in
the relative influence of
and
in
economic and
is
assumed
(by theorists
the intentions or objectives which decision-makers seek to
on both sides)
in
fulfill
decision processes;
through technological
change.
In this
paper, the results of two comparative case studies of technological change
major manufacturing company
--
new
problem-selection and problem-solving;
political/ideological criteria
a flexible machining cell
in
a
and shop programmable machine
to
Politics of
--
tools
Technological
Change
argue that the process whereby organizations select and implement
technologies
is
Pettigrew 1973,
seen as
an inherently
Dean
limited to the
political
1987),
I
will
one. But, by contrast
argue that the
politics of
to prior
and the
that the framing of proposals
justification of
decision-making ought not be
To be
sure, the
change are
rife
etc.,
which
955; March
1
1
intimately tied to the structure of
is
may prove no more
politics
However, there
978).
is
another level of
power and
rational (at least
in
authority
show
will
with partisan activity
and
economics
(cf.,
politics
in
associated with
case studies
frequently contradict the tenets of rational behavior put forth by neo-classical
Simon
production
characterizations (e.g.,
process of jockeying, lobbying, coalition-building,
securing approval for (or denying) a change proposal.
new
below the surface
organizations. This level of
the dictionary sense); but,
I
will
argue,
it
does
provide a plausible alternative to both the indeterminacy of simple models of "pluralism"
organizational politics
and the over-determinism which tends
to characterize
in
most renderings
of
labor process theory.
This structural dimension to the politics of technological change
in
two stages. The
proposals
critical:
seek
to
for
(1)
first
most
clearly revealed
stage involves an analysis of the objectives or interests which underlie
(and opposition
to)
change. Three categories
of objectives will
be put
forth
as
personal obiectives or the interests which individual proponents and opponents
promote or protect
in
the
change process;
(2) positional
associated with functional distinctions within organizations
units; top,
is
middle and lower management; or
(e.g.,
management and
obiectives or interests
between production and sales
labor);
obiectives or interests emblematic of the enterprise as a whole and
external environment, including
its
its
and
(3) o'^i^anizational
relationship to the
competition.
Technological change options,
I
will
argue, are filtered through a three dimensional screen
created by personal, positional and organizational objectives. Independent of whether the
proposed change
vendor),
it
will
is
generated internal
to
the organization or
not pass through the screen
(i.e.,
drawn from the outside
be implemented) unless there
is at
(e.g.,
least
from a
Politics of
Change
Technological
minimal alignment
among those
three objectives. Thus,
associated with technological change
if
not the reality, of alignment. Most
will
commonly, proposals
language of discourse within the organization
be presented as subordinate
comparison
Dean (1987) has
The second
itself.
will
be framed
will
This constitutes
referred to as the "justification" process.
stage, however, involves an analysis of the models which underlie the
only activated after problems are "found" (Pounds 1969),
the relationships which influence the choice of models. Since the justification
models
of present
as the process of "problem formulation"
actors.
In
other words,
I
will
accompanied by an analysis
on the
for different
activities
essential to
suggest that the analysis of proposals
of the
in
change must be
for
more general models which guide
and behaviors
Mitroff (1980)
categories of organizational
However, problem formulation does not occur
itself.
is
it
and desired states which guide what Lyies and
refer to
reflection
constitute the
will
of the organizational objectives.
process
the problem
terms of their
Personal and positional objectives
and
illuminate the
in
because those objectives
objectives
is
effort
overarching organizational objectives or as dwarfed by
overwhelming significance
to the
the core of what
to
expect that a great deal of
involve proponents' attempts to create the appearance,
contributions to organizational objectives precisely
either
we can
or direct the identification of
a vacuum.
of other organizational actors
--
It
involves
be they subordinates,
peers or superiors. More importantly, aside from the purely technical aspects of production
(e.g.,
the characteristics of the raw materials undergoing transformation), alterations
production technique invariably involve changes
in
the behaviors of
models
is
what
"problem" which anchors
of transformation",
acquire
when
i.e.,
this analysis of
I
will
human
refer to
beings.
in
The key
as the "human problem
the transformation of the "potential to work" which organizations
they hire employees and the actual output
(in
products or services) which
employees create.
Thus,
power
1
will
argue, relationships
relationships,
among
and ideoio^ical positions
categories of organizational actors, particularly
,
particularly differences
in
perspective on what
Politics of
Technological
motivates
solutions.
human
Change
By contrast
to the postindustrial perspective,
"technological possibilities" alone
transformation
--
that
influence the identification of problems
will directly
beings,
is
contrast to the labor process perspective,
transformation
management's model
the basis to top
and
not limited to production
is
I
will
work
will
suggest that the proliferation
managers' models
unlikely to alter
require a substantial shift
will
I
in
and the choice
of the
of
of
human problem
of
both ideology and practice. But, by
suggest that the human problem
or production workers
of the rest of the organization
,
-- in
fact,
of
is
it
including line
often
management
staff.
Following a brief discussion of the rationale
of the firm,
I
studying technological change at the level
describe the research sites and the methods employed
will
Decision-Making around
(1
)
the study.
in
New Technologv
Research and theory-building
assumptions:
for
of the sort
described
Organizations selectively respond
to
in this
paper hinges on two core
change pressures emanating from
and from without. Ecological (Hannan and Freeman 1974),
institutional
(Zucker 1977
within
;
DiMaggio and Powell 1983) or systemic constraints (Edwards 1979; Gordon, Reich and Edwards
1982)
may
limit
the array of responses available to a given firm at a given point
in
time; yet,
organizations can and do select responses and transform them into empirically observable
actions.
(2)
Characterization of the decision-making process as "organizational" does not imply
that decisions (especially
participation or the
those which result
consensus
categories of actors
is
of
all
in
concrete actions) require either the
organizational actors. Indeed, the exclusion of
an important a part
of the politics of
decision-making
1973; Pfeffer 1977). However, by contrast
to
study of decision-making
987), the organizational aspect
it
(cf.,
Kleinmuntz
1
it
and
the context
in
in
the
same
is
important
in
that
which change decisions are
suggests that the organizational decision process, especially
cannot be modeled
Pettigrew
cognitive or psychological approaches to the
forces us to take into account both the process
made and
(cf.,
some
in
large-scale firms,
fashion as that of the individual decision-maker.
Politics of
Technological
Change
There are three specific advantages
allows for the possibility that firms not only are capable of recognizing
it
alternative technological possibilities but are able to select
it
those possibilities
allows for the possibility that decisions about technology are not
economic sense
the neo-classical
rationality
among
--
that
(March 1978) of a form which
is,
is
they are characterized by a
limits
ought
to
be
visible
in
strictly rational in
bounded
or limited
essentially political (as the labor process
theorists suggest) or philosophical (as the postindustrialists suggest).
boundaries or
in line
work organization. At the same time,
with a conscious or semi-conscious philosophy of
however,
new technology
the firm.
at the level of
First,
study of decision-making around
to the
The nature
the arguments (and data) marshalled
in
of
those
support or
opposition to a proposed change. This firm-level approach to the study of technological change
work
builds off earlier
in
the politics of organizational decision-making, especially that of
Pettigrew (1973) and the
use
more recent study by Dean (1987). However, the approach
one important
differs in
1987) primarily as a contest
employees,
seek
will
1
to
will
respect: rather than conceptualize the "decision to innovate"
among
individual
managers
uncover the "problems"
models and organizational
I
realities
--
(Pounds 1969)
or
groups
of line and/or staff
discrepancies between the managers'
--
which give
(Dean
rise to
proposals
"^^^
for
technological change.''
Second, a focus
technological possibilities are surfaced ;e.g.,
into
proposals
approaches
then
it
will
to
be
for
change).
If,
is
and
more than passing
filtering
processes which allow
process
information
expanding as a
interest to
precedent enters organizations. Sy contrast,
collection
how
into relief the
is
process through which
collected, filtered,
and bundled
as postindustrial theory suggests, the array of possible
work organization
of
throws
at the level of the firm
is
likely to
result of
new developments
in
technology,
see where and how knowledge of technique or
if
we
follow labor process theory, the information
be severely constrained
visible cost reduction or
to include
some enhancement
in
only those
management's
ability to
control the production process.
the probabilities of success
and
Filtering, in either
case, ought to involve
failure of particular
change proposals
some assessment
(Cyert,
Simon and Trow
1956). Thus, explanation of what determines the perceived probabilities of success
change becomes a key
Third, this
concept
to
to
approach forces us
to investigate the
may underestimate
post-implementation alterations
(cf.,
Rice and Rogers 1979; Kazanjian and Drazin 1986), the
labor process tradition: the tendency to infer from
particularly evident in the
tendency
with the
altered
to
of selection, testing
of the
system which preceeded
in
outcomes
of the
process. This
work done
in
the
weakness has been
case studies inspired by Braverman's popular work: a
it
and
to claim not only that skills
the direction predicted by the theory, but that that
irony of this
rationality,
to
much
and reformulation
undertake a cursory comparison between work organization under a new technology
management wanted
One
many
and ending points are
the influence of past (or concurrent) decisions and
possible to avoid one of the most serious shortcomings of
it
a given
process of technological change from
arbitrary starling
emphasis on decision-making as a continous process
makes
in
understanding the decision-making process.
and through implementation. Although
unavoidable and
of
(cf.,
Thompson 1982;
outcome was precisely what
Child 1985; Kelly 1985;
approach has been the tendency
to attribute to
consistency, and, indeed, omniscience, than most
Drucker 1988) would be
willing to
and/or control have been
Wood and
management
management
Kelly 1982).
far
greater
scholars
(e.g.,
cede.
Research Sites and Methods
To more thoroughly examine
technology,
I
undertook research
manufacturing enterprise
people
in
in
the
the United States and
The union which also agreed
hourly
employees
in
the U.S.
in
organizational decision-making around
a Fortune 100
summer
of 1987.
Canada has
to participate
^
aircraft,
new
production
aerospace and electronics
The company employs
nearly 100,000
contracts with three major North American unions.
represents nearly two-thirds of the company's
Technological
Politics of
Two
Change
j
recent technological changes were chosen to represent
technologies being applied
in
new
but substantially different
the company's major manufacturing facilities.^
chosen
for their "generic" qualities,
applied
in
i.e.,
their similarity to
They were also
technologies being developed or
a wide range of manufacturing enterprises. The projects became the vehicle
analyzing the decision-making process.
specific technology divorced from a
approach allowed us
to investigate
Although the project
stream of
efforts of
which
it
unit
for
focuses attention on the
might be only one example,
a case from beginning to end
(i.e.,
from concept
to
this
and through
implementation).
Conditions of access
most
part,
biases
made
it
necessary
implicit in participants' recollections (cf.,
1974), the research
main
their objectives in the
Schwenk 1985;
was conducted
chronology of events surrounding the change
and
choose technological changes which were,
already completed. Since post-factum analyses can
Kahneman
role
to
in
in
fall
to the reconstructive
Witte 1972; and Tversky and
such a way as
question and
prey
(b)
to
separately
(a)
document the
query participants about
their
process. More specifically, data collection consisted of three
activities:
(1)
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants
decision-making and development processes.
division-level research
Initial
in
and development (R&D) managers
mentioned by those interviewed on recommendation
expand beyond
(e.g., facilities
to
determine who was involved
maintenance, materiel and purchasing,
R&D management.
Thus,
the
who were
it
was possible
industrial engineering, training,
and
Later interviews were conducted with corporate officials, line managers,
supen/isors, workers and union representatives
The
of
in
the central engineering personnel to include representatives of allied functions
industrial relations).
placed.
the
interviews were conducted with
various phases of each project. Subsequent interviews included additional people
to
for the
in
the
facilities into
which the projects were
interviews focused on the history of each project and on the direct or indirect
contributions each respondent
made
in
that process.
The interviews were tape-recorded and
Politics of
Technological
Each
transcribed.
every
effort
comments,
Change
of the
has been made
ideas,
respondents.
In all.
a
All
the reporting process
An
the research.
in
informally or for short periods
available documentation associated with these projects
and comments, memoranda and
material included project proposals
and the
the opportunity to reinterview selected
54 people were formally interviewed
were consulted
and
as well as further
factual content,
was aided enormously by
total of
additional ten individuals
in
to insure the confidentiality of the interview transcripts
and aiticisms they contain. The
exploration of key items,
(2)
respondents was assured of anonymity
around specific issues.
was
collected. This
letters circulated internally,
purchase specifications, bids from equipment vendors, and capital equipment requests. Every
effort
was made
to
corroborate dates, events, and (where appropriate) disputes by
existing documentation.
notes,
i.e.,
devoted
to
materials
On
logbooks which
occasion
this
were especially useful
in
of
took the form of reviews of engineer's journals and
many engineers
given projects, and their
means
kept to
document
their progress, the
hours they
comments on meetings and conversations. These
annotating and occasionally clarifying
official
latter
reports
and
schedules.
(3) Field
notes were kept on the time spent
in
each
site
and questioning the operators, supervisors and technicians
particularly
in
terms of how
it
in
observing the equipment at work
attendance about the technology,
departed from past practices and how
it
affected adjacent
processes. Records were also kept on tours, hallway conversations and phone
together, these notes provided a
especially useful
in
generating
have been held (and
will
in
of continuity to the analysis-in-progress
new questions and
continue
and the feedback received
of the
measure
to
be held)
lines of investigation.
for the
will
now be presented
individually.
Taken
and were
In addition, briefings
sponsors of the project. These briefings
them has proven an important opportunity
sponsors and the author.
The cases
calls.
for learning
on the part
The
Change
Technological
Politics of
System
Flexible Machining
The automation
of
machining processes has been an area of great
managers and academics
flexible
(or cells, referring to
new development.
technology have
being produced
made
was
it
over two decades
for well
machining systems
a relatively
1
and the
high
to
tools
made sense
for
to
one another)
variability of the cuts
was
low.
The combination
is
of parts
automated
of
and computer-controlled or numerically-controlled
production runs of ten thousand to a hundred thousand automotive
crankshafts or engine blocks but not for 10 landing gear struts or 6 internal supports
tail
of
complexities and high cost of sensor
automate a machining system unless the volume
transfer equipment, remote sensing devices
machine
However, the creation
Bright 1958).
a series of machines linked
Until recently, the
uneconomic
(cf.,
interest to engineers,
section of a helicopter. Thus,
in
for
the
1980, a machining system "flexible" enough to
economically produce several dozen different parts each with production runs of less than 50
parts per
month represented a major departure from
arguably, put
A
it
at or
in
prior
experience and,
the industry.
cursory description of the technological possibilities alone offers few clues as to
how
might,
it
in fact,
perspectives presented earlier gives us
likely
particular,
outcomes
of a
move
have been pointed
of "flexible specialization" in
to
company's
near the leading edge of such developments
might be attractive or
and the
this
to
in
be operationalized. Yet, a return
some rough hypotheses about
the direction of
FMS
technology.
manufacturing firms,
i.e.,
to
strategy constitutes an about face from the familiar
meet
model
internal
The FMS
principals, in
of
mass production
and Kern and Schumann
flexibility
984) point out,
In particular, effective
use
of the
same equipment
and market demands. This
part variability. But, as
skills, i.e.,
the two major
the potential attractions
the capacity to use the
emphasis on long production runs and low
dimension.
it
by Piore and Sabel (1984) supportive of an emerging strategy
produce small quantities of highly varied parts
(1
to
why
with
heavy
Davis and Taylor (1976)
has implications
far
beyond the technical
technology requires the enhancement
the ability to monitor and direct expensive
its
of
employee
and often sensitive equipment becomes an
q
Politics of Teclinological
Change
1
essential ingredient of the strategy. Moreover, the creation of a
production system brings with
i.e.,
it
what Perrow (1984)
refers to as
more
tightly-coupled
more complex
interactions,
the potential for errors, accidents and/or malfunctions to occur as back-up systems
adjacent (but indirectly linked) processes interact
expense,
sensitivity,
and complex
interactions suggest that
but committed and responsible participants
From
in
linear extension of
work process through
deskilling
management's
(cf.,
employees should not only be
of
skilled
the flexible machining system.
the labor process perspective, automation
be seen as a
The combination
unpredictable ways.
in
and
--
effort to
flexible or
otherwise
--
has tended
to
reduce costs and expand control over the
Gartman 1986; Edwards 1979). Shaiken
(1985), though
not explicitly echoing the labor process perspective, nonetheless argues that the application of
FMS
technology
in
the sites he observed generally diminished the discretion of machine
operators and repudiated the significance of both their
(1984) argues even
and
that the
more
strongly that such
displacement of control
this instance,
as
the
in
First
The
Look
FMS
which preceded
tools
at the
cell
it
(a
and
roller
the
FMS
we would expect
in
would be motivated by and
control.
put into operation
in
schematic rendering
1984 did depart
of the cell
is
in
significant
provided
in
profile mills are
ways from
Figure
now
1).
the process
Three machine
linked by
means
of a
conveyor. The conveyor and the manual system controls are operated from a single
operator's console
is
Noble
Outcomes
station ("operator console")
system
Thus,
of deskilling.
cite, that
which were formerly operated as stand-alone
power
their certified skills.
computer programmers and engineers (whose software
examples these authors
targetted explicitly at cost reduction
and
outcomes were precisely management's objective
machines) represented classic examples
"drives" the
A
to
tacit
on the
show what
is
off-side of the
happening inside the safety shrouds
integrated by a computer located
computer not only directs
conveyor loop. TV monitors located
in
cutting angles, the
a room directly
speed
of
each machine. The
off the factory floor.
of the various tools,
at the
and the
entire
The
rate with
which
Change
Technological
Politics of
1
the pieces are fed into the machine,
it
also monitors
time) the actions of
(in real
each of the
three machining centers.
Figure
The
the system
FMS
machinists
two
When
of
FMS
here
formally
cell
replaced six
operating the 3 machining centers as individual
NC
machines (across
brought up
to capacity, the
two operators. None of the machinists were
in this
is
FMS
supervisor.
who had been
introduction of the
On
Diagram
operated by a single "operator," a union machinist. The computer driving
cell is
first-line
shifts) with
elsewhere
:
operated by a single non-union technician. The overall system
is
directed by a
1
new technology
laid-off
as a result of the
since work from other contracts enabled them to be absorbed
plant.
the surface, this description of the
changes brought about by the new technology does
not offer decisive support for either the postindustrial or labor process perspective.
hand, the
FMS
certainly
does represent a more expensive,
system. The single operator
but
now must
any pan
(e.g.,
who
monitors the equipment while
in
one machine
tool)
runs
still
the
one
interactive
makes adjustments
breakdowns
to
become
familiar with
sensor
order to keep the system running and solve the inevitable problems that result
three machines.
The
operators's
(individual) machinists.
salaried technician.
cell.
On
wage has
the other hand, however,
one operator now handles
not increased over that paid to the former
Actual control of the system has been handed over to a separate
The operator no longer exercises
the broadly-based skills of the machinist;
example, sensors govern the placement of parts and determine when cutting tools are
to
be
replaced.
This mixed set of outcomes
place
--
in
can impair overall performance. Machine repair personnel
from intense and variable use of the
for
it
and complexly
also have a working knowledge of the entire system, particularly as
and programmers who provide technical support have had
technology
sensitive,
On
demand an
--
as well as the choice
to
proceed with an
investigation of the process which intervened
FMS
in
the
between concept and
first
2
FIGURE
1:
SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF FMS CELL (TOP VIEW)
I!
m
Ml
m
^
Q
Q
Q
n
S
H
w
MACHINE TOOL
POWER ROLLER CONVEYOR
OPERATOR CONSOLE
TOOLING MODULE
LO AD /UNLO AD ST AT ION
COMPUTER /CONTROL ROOM
B
Technological
Politics of
As
implementation.
a window
for
positional,
in its
system
will
of
reveal, the technological possibilities offered the
work organization. However,
and organizational objectives and
in
in
to align
a narrowing of alternatives
them
-- first in
in
will offer
as
yet,
I
company
promote personal,
to
garner corporate
change
the options for technological
The analysis
of
how
alternatives
important insights on the politics of technological development and
suggest, those politics are hardly
will
efforts to
such fashion as
the actual configuration of the (FMS) option chosen.
were narrowed
change;
^
instance
this
change
support resulted
and then
Change
have been heavily influenced by a model
of control
The outcome
pluralist.
over people and process
--
be shown
will
--
to
through
technology.
From Concept
In
to
Implementation
analyzing the FfvIS case,
dynamics
return to discuss the internal
initial
interviews
The bulk
and a review
of the
first
development" stages.^ During
with a
make
documentation yielded the chronology depicted
this time,
(4) to
problem statement
fit
--
2.
in this
roughly the "concept" and "proposal
a protracted "framing contest" took place. The
in
several iterations, attempted:
that could capture the attention of divisional
management about what
the problem
(1) to
management;
was and
then
how
:
work with
divisional
make
to
management
to
generate a convincing proposal which the
corporate management. After securing capital
purchases, and having vanquished other competitors
extended process
(i.e.,
Figure
the problem (3) to fend off efforts of other groups to redefine the problem;
division could then
shop
in
understanding technological decision-making
14 months
presentations to divisional
their solution
and
decision-making and development process. The
Research and Development (R&D) group,
divisional
(2) to
provide a brief overview of the chronology and then
of the
of the action pertinent to
case takes place during the
come up
will first
I
of delivering
the plant and
its
what
it
had promised.
in
It
to
the framing contest,
finally
management) which would have
to
turned
make
R&D
to selling the
use the system.
the
turned
to the
FMS
the
to
3
Politics of
onange
Technological
^
Figure 2:
Even though
efficient
means
to
it
is in
FMS Chronology
R&D
the charter of the
here
organization to develop newer and
meet the production objectives
of the division
more
serves, the research and
it
development process does not proceed autonomously. Thus, while top management may not
specify the technologies being developed or chosen, they
to alter or
advance production technology:
management
establish for production
development
efforts.
extension,
and, second, through the
different parts of the organization to
R&D were one
project to get a
words
the
(or, in
sense
how much money we have
dollars,
it's
up
to
Manager
to
we ought
you
to
objectives set forth by corporate
come up
in
budget alloted
the major production problems
the
message
of the
management
go. They're
in
scheme
with the a
into
for capital
amount
of
Manufacturing Manager said he'd offered hints
"echos
probed
for the division
his
in
more
for
for his history of the
in
to his staff, including
specifying the
response: "Corporate
influential
If
when
it
comes
to
you're given a budget of
making the best use
criteria
of that
established
the
for
equipment purchases, and the opportunities
money
to his
available.
R&D
In this
got from corporate,"
but not limited to
i.e.,
instance, the
people about what he
the division but that interpretation
message we
and, by
a process of interpreting the organizational
terms of the performance
possible (or impossible) by the
largely
management
spend on new and replacement equipment.
money." This leads divisional management
division, the size of the
to
one another.
with
manager, "lose heads"). A
development. He was direct
doesn't exactly dictate which direction
made
communicate
of a highly-placed division
of the role played by corporate
direction of production technology
many
of capital they allocate for
curb costs, increase productivity, and
relatively straightforward:
lengthy interview with the Manufacturing
so
amount
case, the organizational objectives guiding divisional
eliminate personnel
FMS
through the performance criteria they
Together, these are expressed as a set of overarching objectives and a
language which enables
In this
first,
do materially influence the opportunity
to cut
R&D, he
and those
felt
hints
costs and heads.
said:
"I
sort of threw
were some
of
were
In
passing on
down
the
4
FIGURE
Chronology of Activities in FMS and CMC Cases
2;
Flexible Machining System
(FMS)
-I
-1
n
1
I
1
I
I
1
1
I
1
I
1
r
1
I
1
I
I
11
Shop Programmable Machine Tools (CNC)
I
I
I
3
1
I
I
I
5
I
7
I
I
9
I
I
I
I
1113
I
I
I
I
I
I
15 17 19
I
I
I
I
2123
I
I
I
I
I
I
25 27 29
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Months
rri Concept
l-:-x1
Proposal Development
|==!
Bid
'.
I
.\
&.
Evaluation
System Construction
Implementation
I
3133 35 37 39 4143 45
I
I
47
I
Change
Technological
Politics of
gauntlet to
my
people
to
1
see who would respond."
Thp Framing Contest
The
gauntlet arrived
the form of
in
proposals were submitted. The
first
memo
sent out
proposal called
robot carriers to automate the storage
and
for
June
in
of 1980.
By October, two
a computer-controlled system with
retrieval of parts in several
shops. According
to the
proposal, the system would enable the shops to better track their inventory and, as a result,
reduce the amount of
(float)
process. The proposal
own admission, were
expressed
was
relatively unfamiliar with the details of
it
way
of expectations for the cost of the
might generate, or guidance as to
who
in
The second proposal
from R&D.
carried with
it
the shop, only
a
fairly
5%
is
It
FMS was
Show
in
in
its
--
offered
the organization would take
use.
complete with transparencies and preliminary cost
flexible
dramatic framing of the problem:
transit
is in
other sources
hardly coincidental.
from one station
in
"...[0]f
equipment manufacturer.
It
at least
also
first
happened
in
system on
explicit intent of
in
Machine Tool
viewing the FMS. Their
in
the brochures which
display.
Besides using a powerful sales brochure from the vendor,
inherent
respects, the idea of an
engineers had attended the
estimate of machine usage closely resembled the phrasing that appeared
extolled the virtues of the
either
FMS. a system created by a major
that several divisional
one had gone with the
some
the heels of the 1980
fully-integrated
is
in
Interviews with several
to the next."
The proposal came close on
spends
the total time a part
the division revealed that,
Chicago which had featured the
justifications
machining system. The proposal
spent on a machine. For the remainder of the time, the part
R&D and
Machine Tool Show;
little in
urged consideration of a
waiting for processing or
engineers
memo,
such a system. Their suggestion,
the
responsibility for overseeing
in
getting through the machining
in
put together by a pair of production superintendents who, by their
a terse two-page
in
system, the savings
- came
time that individual parts took
the present system of independently operated
R&D added
machines were
that the
two-fold.
problems
First,
the
Technological
Politics of
Change
1
present system represented a material handling nightmare that could be resolved through a
material handling
system
An R&D engineer
.
including the Manufacturing
later recalled that
Manager, had complained
problem did not reside
since the machines
vendor could cost
process
told
in
same
$4
million.
As one
of the
me: "We have the machines. They're
Second,
R&D
place. This
of
just not
had suggested, the system could do more than
had marvelled
the lights,
On
several occasions
at the sight of
and leaving behind a
a
factory
shift of
"still
idea held forth the promise of reducing the
one
in
from a major
the development
The
FMS
they
heads". And, at least as the vendors and various videotapes of
Japanese
factories
FMS
This resonated with
.
interpretation of a key organizational objective.
to "lose
could be run unmanned.
full
especially important
working hard enough."
proposed promised
factories
a
was
engineers involved
argued, the existing system was labor-intensive
management's
divisional
of
in
in
imagery, the proposal indicated
new and purchase
question were relatively
excess
in
the machinery already
in
and tracking
that parts handling
several of the shops were "out of control." By invoking the
that the
several divisional managers,
I
was
told that
just eliminate
managers
home
workers going
workers
of
in this
workers:
returning from
part of the
it
Japanese
from the plant, turning
chunking out the parts." At the very
number
some
least, the
off
FMS
shop from 6
to
or two.
The Manufacturing Manager preferred
machines" and fewer people were something
the
FMS
proposal because "harder working
his superiors could
storage and retrieval system might have been equally helpful
problems; however,
reduce the volume
it
neither
addressed the issue
of direct (production) labor.
the opinion of the Manufacturing
action: getting control over the
get that unless you have a
A
way
of
in
solving material handling
machine running time nor promised
to
Equally important, the storage system was,
Manager, a "band-aid" because:
process by getting the parts
to
understand. The automated
keep bottlenecks
like
in
"It
didn't get to the heart of the
and out
of the
machines. You don't
people and paper from getting
closer look at the "hean of the action" gives substance to a
in
theme
in
the way."
familiar to the labor
5
TechnoiogicaJ
Politics of
process perspective
--
Change
control
I
but
--
it
also reveals that the problem to which the
Manufacturing Manager referred included but was not limited
workers, the
FMS
and automated machining processes, the
approach would challenge
With respect to shop
Manager
workers. With respect to
offered the opportunity to eliminate the customary practice of allocating
machine operator per machine. Even with the
FMS
to
machines
proliferation of numerically-controlled
thumb remained "one man-one machine." The
rule of
one operator could be running three machines.
that rule since
management and
one
system
the social
of the
shop
general, the Manufacturing
in
offered this assessment:
It's
hard
for
them (shop management)
see the
to
real
problems sometimes. They don't
always see that they're part of the problem.... They have commitments
way
My
of doing things.
job
work
to get the
is
out.
To keep
Thus, two themes, control - over process and people
shop management - influenced greatly by the web
social relations
production
in
- emerged as key
--
guy or
that
things under control.
and mvopic
of obligations
to this
and
vision
on the part
of
tradition that characterize
ingredients of divisional
management's
positional objective.
There was, however, an additional appeal
this
manager:
had
to
"I
be done
investigating
wanted
right,
how
to
be the guy who did
done cheaply, and done
proceed without fanfare. As he
my
shoulder
all
the time.
If
it
be done
later told
and "doing
it
quietly"
right
FMS
order to do
it
first,
he argued that
Thus, he gave the go-ahead
to
were also
become
and cheaply.
to
be the
justified
first
I
to
was
division]
R&D
for
it
to
begin
FMS. Learning
But. he also cautioned
me, "Those guys [from a larger
union would be coming up about the time the
not want the
quietly.
In
they had caught on to what
sure they would have said they deserve
first"
first."
a more personal objective
other companies had approached the problem of setting up an
from others' mistakes could help
over
it
that coincided with
R&D
to
were looking
thinking about, you can be
ones with an FMS." Moreover, "doing
it
by recognition that contract negotiations with the
FMS became
operational.
the object of contract bargaining after
Hence, management did
money had been spent
for
7
Change
Technological
Politics of
1
developing and procuring the equipment.
Aligning Objectives
FMS
The
proposal's success
summarized as the
important insight.
FMS
project
align several objectives at once:
common
lore of the
(2) divisional
the
first
phase
company
management's
(3)
eliminating
divisional
--
(1)
organizational objectives
management's
Manager's personal objective
and
divisional
of
to
being
of objectives
who was
technical possibilities
in
--
what were perceived
machines and people
staffing practice;
and
in
to do,
and
their
was
alignment
own
their
instrumental
technological change."
this don't
yourself
come around
when
In
to
the
in
do what
positional
proposing the
in
not,
however, limited
and personal
FMS
this
company needs.
a more personal vein, a colleague
that often.
to
be
the Manufacturing
(4)
interests.
You have more
you're onto something new.
It's
of a
in
chance
to
corporate
One
cited the significance of
at the
other companies, he extolled the opportunities
and
could
"not working hard
We
need
submerged
to
of the
its
Machine Tool Show
proposal: "This gives us (R&D) the chance to be real engineers. To do what
what we're trained
it
first.
and challenges. Inspired by what he had seen
and learned from peers
as expressed
at least
that
positional objective by quietly but effectively
be an irksome
management. R&D had
principal engineers
easily
by improving productivity and eliminating personnel;
positional objective by solving
what was perceived
The importance
development process might be
had already undergone substantial massaging so
shop-level material handling problems resulting
enough";
of the
idea at the right time, but beneath that simple statement resides an
right
The
in
we do
be
in
the
best, to
at the front
do
end
the project added: "Projects like
to bring
some
positive attention to
not exactly a career-maker, but
it
sure doesn't
hurt either."
However promising
the proposal
was
in its initial
form, success
proposal development process would depend heavily on the
importantly, divisional
management
to justify
the
FMS
in
of
ability of
in
the next stages of the
R&D
and,
more
the language of the organizational
q
I
\jim\j^
1
objectives: projected
economic performance as measured
The
(ROI) calculations.
specific issue
was
staffing.
Staffing questions
A
linked to the attractiveness or saleabiiity of the proposal.
and users had shown the
R&D
would be intimately
cross-country tour of
project group that the introduction ot the
generate considerable heat from workers and
when you
"payback" or return on investment
in
held constant the size of the
cell
their unions.
FMS
FMS
technology could
One engineer suggested
and what they were making, the
vendors
that "even
staffing solutions
over the map." Staffing solutions ranged from less than one machine operator for every
were
all
three
machines
We
to
one person per machine. Another
participant
in
the site visits told
were warned against having hourly-paid persons involved
configuration,
also a
bone
among
in
me
programming and
other things. [Another company] got into trouble with that.
of contention over
whether any
of the jobs should
that:
have a higher
It
was
classification
or a higher grade.
The question
of staffing necessarily carried over to the calculation of
ROls. According
to
the
earlier engineer:
I
had
come up
to
with a
payback
Around here, the corporate
rule,
...
and the best
the groundrule,
could
1
is
if
come up
with
Well now, that either
The
R&D
makes you damned smart
manager, recognizing
come up
Engineering to
was
to
at,
really silly.
one
IE staff
FMS and
that
I
was
We
told that:
member, by
was
that."
going
"I'm not
had a number
to hit
the fact that
good
off to
to tell
and we
"1
was
I
sought
The
told that (the
less
ball in hell of
be easily stated
in
staff in Industrial
Industrial Engineering staff
to find
out
you how we generated
hit it."
in
liar.
work with
would be more acceptable.
with figures that
helped generate more attractive figures, although when
were arrived
or a
snow
that part of the justification could not
terms of a key organizational objective, sent the engineer
four years.
the thing can't be paid back
than two years, preferably one year, your request has a chance of a
flying.
was
calculations
how those
that
figures
ROI because
it
were aided, according
manufacturing manager] wanted the
y
Politics of
Change
Technological
R&D,
with
new
20
calculations
hand, went back
in
have been a 15 minute presentation, according
management
session. Divisional
liked the
to divisional
one observer, turned
to
proposal on
The
the discerning eyes of "corporate bean-counters."
lot
of discussion as to
very deliberately put a supervisor
operate the computers
He went on
add
to
anybody else
in
that:
"I
to start
it
who was
in
charge
because
I
the corporation that
was going
...
those concerned about
problem was resolved by making
told
by the Manufacturing Manager:
operate them
to
want my hands
and
to put in
requirements thus enabled the assembled group
a 3-hour working
and
the machines]
[i.e.,
not loading the fixtures, obviously, but to
did not
want any problem
didn't
was
I
going
...
particularly to
staffing
a supervisor the equivalent of the system operator. As
into
the technical grounds but the staffing
all
assumptions and, therefore, the ROi were not acceptable,
There was a
management. What should
to, in
I
didn't
want
tied
to set
by the union.
a precedent
an FMS." The change
the words of
one
in
for
staffing
participant, "finesse the
ROI."
Framing Outward. Upward and Downward
Once those changes were
proceeded
in
incorporated, the proposal
investments; and,
management and
finally,
downward
to
corporate
to the
that the unveiling followed a substantial
will
project team, framing
argue
in
was seen as
the conclusion to this case,
between technology and power
Outward
involved
original
facilities
in
to
be unveiled. Framing
three directions: outward to other allied and/or competing units;
levels of divisional
R&D
was ready
.
The
in
management which reviewed
shop which would
amount
upward
of
ultimately
to the
top
fixed capital
house the FMS. Given
work by the Manufacturing Manager and the
More
a
critical
phase
it
further
underscores the intimate relationship
in
the process.
importantly, as
I
organizations.
principal engineer
on the
project, the
one who had been most
directly
assessing the alternative directions the project could go, was sent along with several
members
of the project
team
to
make
presentations to allied functions
and equipment maintenance department, resource planning,
(e.g.,
etc.) to "get
the
them on
I
board."
An NC programming supervisor who had been involved from
concept
to proposal
development described the process:
wasn't anything new,
It
what the
the early stages of the
hell he's talking
hell he's talking
about
about, but
some
questions and have
You always wind up
really.
to
send him up
briefing
another guy
to
may have heard enough
who
a guy
who
doesn't really
know what
doesn't
pitches that he can ask
came
kind of expectations of an answer.
with the explicit backing of the Manufacturing
exact methodology to be employed
itself
the
to
for the
use
to
was
put
in
place, detested the
and would
stifle
the resistance of the
manager, and then
in
to
management and
corporate
frame the proposal
in
had
felt
that
AGVs were
for
idea and countered with a
facilities
to
reduce the
group, a decision
to "pitch" the project
described by Dean
clear:
we're trying to
"I'd
and
(1
its
987).
Oh,
I
For example,
be kidding you
if
sell this stuff upstairs.
in
was
that turns
boss, the top divisional
underscored the importance
staff,
them
on.
result
didn't
I
So we
I
R&D managers
was a
It
a
of finding
began, as described
to find the right
language with which
presentation similar to
when asked how he described
making the
don't try to get technical.
something
The
potential.
asked how technical he gets
to his
terms of "larger" organizational objectives.
the preceeding section, as he worked with
was very
functional group, which
it
go with the conveyors.
.
to
the
conveyor offered
Upward The Manufacturing Manager's presentation
way
AGV
R&D
was on
automated guided vehicles (AGVs),
of
of a power-roller conveyor. Since the
overall cost of the project
made
Manager, than
connect the machines. Another group, which would have ultimate responsibility
maintaining whatever system
proposal
One
constructing the system.
in
been experimenting with the use
way
the
some good
Resistance encountered along the way was focused less on the concept of the FMS, since
representatives
know
the
many
FMS
of those
to his
bosses, he
say we leave out some of the negative things when
forget about
pitch,
some
of those things...."
I
he responded:
go on emotion as much as anything.
They can
And when
visualize
in their
own mind
It's
got
that this
to
is
be
going
to
be
Technological
Politics of
a good idea,
and
--
it'll
get
problem and
Asked
Change
going
it's
22
to
solve the problem--at least
good savings. That's why
is
way we've
attractive:
company
in
to his
was pitched
mean
superiors; that would
(by
by R&D:
to, in his
in this
getting technical
in
not
a
financial
with which the shop,
and by higher
case, the introduction of a
new machining system
offered the
words, "Get things under control."
Downward. An analysis
in
R&D) was
Moreover, the problem which hg saw as most important was not necessarily the
identified
participants
problem
solves the technical
which top management decision-making was heavily influenced by
considerations.
opportunity
it
set up the
should yield a good productivity increase.
it
necessarily the problem he pitched
staff
think this
the
elaborate on the "problem," he noted that the problem hg
to
problem
I
in
and
of the
downward framing process
particularly the social relations in the
levels of division
management
the process indicated that the
--
reiterates the skeptical regard
shop, were held by the technical
even though reports from a number of
downward framing process
instance
in this
constituted a departure from past practice.
Past practice, as
system or machine
was
in
was described
destined) and "springing
mouths
of
shop
it
downtime due
in
to technical difficulties
to
change.
management's questionable
to
delivering the
in
the
R&D
developing a
shop
for
which
new
it
completed system or machine
practice
left
a
bitter taste in
the
general supervisor characterized the process as "leaving
terms of employee resistance, grievances from the union,
The past method expressed
guys have
i.e.,
management, simply walking away. This
up the pieces"
shop was unreceptive
several interviews, would have
on the shop",
many shop managers. One
to pick
in
a laboratory setting (often a curtained-off area
and, according to shop
the
it
and delays associated with the learning curve.
the suspicion of both
R&D
R&D
and higher
level
management
that the
engineers, for example, frequently referred to shop
"technical competence."
be dragged kicking and screaming
One
into the
often displayed a similar kind of suspicion, though
it
was
staffer put
it
bluntly:
"Most of those
20th century." Higher level
generally tempered with
management
some
Politics of
Change
Technological
compassion
for the
23
shop management's myopia: "Shop supervision had the same concern about
job security that the guys operating the
machine operators, you
on
to
don't
machines
did.
In
need as many supervisors
other words,
if
you don't need as many
One manager went
supervise them."
to
add:
[One question]
the union
how much
is
concerns and problems that you have come from
of the union
and how much come from your
or general says, "Charlie, you ought to
first-
go
and second-line management. The foreman
talk to the
union about
You know,
that.
that's not
right."
The departure taken
in this
downward framing process
is
concerned
this
(cf.,
Chen,
company could
deciding
how
was
When
the
FMS
however,
of putting himself in charge.
be more responsive
who
to the
He
needs
to act
the
admitted
it
to
FMS
in
or the choice of staff.
classification
when
other industries
as most observers
being opposed
in
the
In fact,
FMS was
he held was the appropriate one
project at
such a structure did force
that cooperation
was
not the
was me."
were
downward framing process.
part of the
was drawn from
it
unnecessary
to
for the
the construction of the
to officially
shift)
machine.
that
outside the bargaining
in
become aware
a second
and
R&D
to kick,
the union did not
extended
FMS
afterwards but conceded that he did see the
as the machine operator
felt
to the
wanted one ass
the area
system were not furloughed, management
operator (added
the
would eventually reside) as
Since the employees whose machines had been appropriated
change
far
in
to
elaborated and work had begun on
He added, however,
of the shop.
Neither the union nor workers
unit.^
fully
and central
--
practice
was unique as
said, in retrospect, that
only reason for his appointment: "The big boss
The employee chosen
it
whose area
(in
the outset, did not proclaim great enthusiasm for
to
management
concept was
nominal leader. The general supervisor,
utility
introduction
pieces together, the Manufacturing Manager chose to put assemble a
"user group" with the general supervisor
its
new technology
not unique as far as
Eisely, et al 1984);
see.
to put the
--
instance of
inform the union of the
of the
made an
FMS
until
inquiry as to
an
whether the
Technological
Politics of
Change
24
Summary
The
FMS
case demonstrates
that technological
change options are
filtered
through a three
dimensional screen created by personal, positional, and organizational objectives. The
relatively decentralized
division to exercise
unveiling
that
it
development
some autonomy
responsible for bringing
concept
to
of their function
his personal
fit
continuously constrained
This
and
--
and
management
put a clear
it
possible for
positional objectives. Yet, for
even as
was
it
initiated
wanted before
to put
forward an idea
--
ail
Manager
to
shape the
the jockeying, the proposal
was
by the broadly-stated organizational
and finessing the ROI, those organizational
the language
emphasis on
R&D
it
the
and challenged the individuals who would be
the structure of the organization
--
made
also allowed the Manufacturing
It
Even while massaging
objectives.
objectives
about.
it
and packaging the proposal
selecting
in
to the rest of the organization.
expressed the value
company enabled
activity in this multi-divisional
--
especially the perceived role of divisional
control over process
and people.
This model of control and competence (or myopic vision) might simply be attributed to an
individual
this
manager's Theory X approach (McGregor 1960)
organization and the allocation of
response. Although top
demands
management
FMS made
backed by the
competence
is
it
essential that the proposal
right
perhaps not surprising
proposal:
if
the proposal
technical
that the
the capital cost of a
had
to
its
and review procedure
in
to
appear
is,
interest
in
logical
the technical
expenditures
the proposal
that the division
had
like
to
be
had the
a timely fashion. Under these conditions,
Manufacturing Manager should turn
new approach was going
be backed by competence
appear as a
for large
be a credible one. That
promises
it
more than passing
economic returns and framed so as
with which to carry out
not for the fact that the language of
performance made
did not express
details of the proposal, the capital budgeting
the
for
if
first to
to require top
of a sort available only
competence was accompanied by a basic suspicion
of
in
R&D
for
management
it
a
review, then
R&D. However, R&D's
shop management's myopia
(-"OlitiCS
01
ecnnoiagicai
I
unanga
25
incompetence) and what
(technical
obligations, outdated
it
perceived as the shop-level thicket of personal
customs and union work
rules.
and
surgical blade with which to excise the obstructions
Voiceless
the process
in
made
it
new technology appeared
dear
that existing
was
as a
the parts flow freely.
let
were those whose behaviors were the object
workers, but lower-level managers, as well. Yet, this
problem statement
For R&D,
of
change
--
not just
hardly coincidental since the
people and relationships were obstructing the
transformation of raw materials into finished products. Rather than rearrange procedures
and/or provide equipment
was
quickly identified as
one
enable the people
of
employees'
(i.e.,
was
do
to
more
their jobs
people and procedures getting
were "not working hard enough."
the latter
products
to
In this
in
the
effectively, the
way
of
problem
equipment, so that
case, then, the problem of transforming
machinists' and lower-level managers') potential-to-work into finished
"solved" by the elimination of
employees as
active parts of the process.
Shoo Programmable Machine Tools
The advent
in
of
the time since the
programmable machine
initial
experiments were
tools predates this study
made
by
at least
15 years. Yet,
with "driving" the cutting, grinding,
and
shaping of a piece of metal by an external controller, the array of alternative approaches has
expanded enormously. Shop programmable machine
CNC)
stand out as departures from the now-familiar
machines
in
that
each
is
equipped with
its
own
tools (or
NC and
direct numerical control
small computer which can be
on-the-spot, on the shopfloor, by a trained operator. Since this
is
expensive than
far less
vendors,
it
is
its
NC
or
DNC
counterparts and
often referred to as the "throw
monitor allow the operator
to input
is
in cutting.
feed rates for the cutting process and speeds
for
of
machine
tool
available off-the-shelf from
to
capabilities
in turn,
to
be
suggests appropriate
the various cutting tools.
in
and a color
be done, the type of material
The computer,
angles, feeds and speeds are stored as a separate program
(DNC)
programmed
new generation
away" machine. Graphics
data on the type of work
machined, and the tolerances required
computer numerical-control,
The
the computer's
resulting cutting
memory
(as well as
Politics of
Change
Technological
26
on a floppy disk which can be removed from the machine). Once completed, the program drives
the machine.
The
shop-programmable equipment
introduction of
outcomes
in this
change
company
offers a
opportunity to
compare
postindustrial
and the labor process perspectives. This case, and the comparison,
further
reason
the
to integrate
explain what appear to be
of technological
results.
From the
shop programmable equipment represents something
possibilities.
Like
flexibility, e.g.,
FMS
technology,
the capacity to
added opportunity
with the expectations of the
an analysis of the decision and development processes
anomalous
to build off
it
would seem
employ machine
to
will
in
provide
order to
postindustrial perspective, the advent of
watershed
of a
in
terms of technological
create the possibility of greater production
tools as multi-purpose
previously existing
second
skills
equipment with the
(along the lines of expert system
software) without necessarily replacing the expert. Indeed, the most effective use of the
equipment would seem
capabilities
- teaching
storing the lessons
From a
in
to
it,
presuppose the presence
in effect,
beyond
of the expert to
the threshhold of
its
augment
software
limits
CNC
labor process perspective, by contrast,
machine
1985; Kelley 1986). The simplifying interactive software could,
completely replace the skilled machinist with a
to
much
only knowledge of machining processes
use the
CNC
and then
tools hold forth the
equipment.
If,
as
in this
is
changes could be
in fact,
lesser-skilled
that
which
is
(cf.,
promise
Shaiken
be employed
to
and lower-paid employee
acquired
in
the course of learning
case, the manufacturer's promises hold true and
operation of the machine can be advanced by a novice
rather radical
--
the form of a reproducible program.
of further deskilling, particularly of "conventional", multi-skilled machinists
whose
the machine's
in
a matter of days, then the expectation of
the greatest attraction for the purchase
and deployment
of
these
machines.
A
First
In
mid-1986, four new shop programmable machine tools purchased from a Japanese
Look
at
Outcomes
equipment vendor were introduced
one
into
of the principal
machine shops
in
the
company's
Parts Fabrication division. At a total cost of roughly $400,000, the four machines replaced six
badly worn profile and tracing mills which, at an average of 25 years old, were judged too costly
The shop
to repair.
variety of large
NC
which they were placed was divided
in
machines dedicated
to relatively
into
two parts: one side contained a
long production runs
(i.e., in
excess
of
50
pieces) of aircraft parts; the other side, referred to as the "conventional side of the house,"
contained more traditional operator-controlled machine tools and
parts runs
in
who had
staffed by machinists
pay rates
The
smaller batches.
for the
CNC
On
new equipment represented
it
capabilities of the
would appear
that the
distribution of skills or control in the shop.
with the aid of
Unlike the
skilled machinists
more sophisticated
Ff^^lS
it
was
inherent
in
in their
and the
jobs were lost and
hands would suggest
positional objectives
--
the
welcomed challenge: they
technology.
to
the work they had previously
was
not
in
the
the expectations of labor
tools which they sought to
that
them
to a different set of
FMS
in
split off
done but
did
it
now
master and augment.
from the job of operating the
the apparent willingness of the organization to place the
the technology and used
technology points
CNC
No
equipment wrought few changes
management
to joint
cases
will
conclusions.
be shown
new
did indeed "grasp the possibilities"
advantage.
Yet, a closer examination of the decision-making
the
conventional side and
incorporated through the use of locally-programmable computers.
The machinists' enthusiasm and
technology
-
in
new
by contrast
In fact,
continued
tools
CNC
case, for example, programming
machinery; instead,
a
produce
machines and reported spending many lunch and break periods
maximize the
to
the surface,
process theory,
into the
to
machinists remained the same. Moreover, machinists interviewed
enthusiastically took to the
ways
used
largely
formerly operated the worn-out machines.
course of the study suggested that the
discussing
equipment was brought
was
processes surrounding
In particular, critical
to reside in the
were manifested and aligned,
way
with the
this
new
differences between
objectives - particularly
outcome described above
Politics of
Technological
obscuring what was,
Change
in fact,
28
a
politically
tense situation.
desire to gain control over the shop, the
CNC
case
is
If
FMS
the
case was motivated by a
best characterized as an effort to gain
control for the shop.
From Concept
In
to
Implementation
comparing the decision and development processes associated with the
cases, two important differences are immediately evident.
implementation
is
quite short for the
different set of organizational actors
objectives
--
were involved
in
CNC
--
relative to the
and, as
to the
FMS
go on
will
to
FMS,
the
CNC
some
for
to
be adapted
argue, a different set of positional
description
machine operation did change
profile mills.
implied
little
The
However, since the
change
CNC
in
them
were
came
in
made
among machines
The
control
mechanisms
implementation
FMS.
documented
Interviews with
that they
One shop
equipment show
in
CNC
late
Parts Fabrication division suggested that the
of a similar technological sophistication
were requested the yen was
relatively
shop
had known
companies which used the
at a national
Japanese machines were considered more
Since the machines were
in
stand alone and, thus, required
than the
visited several other
staff in the
the lines of price. Since at the time they
the U.S. dollar, the
modest change
a request for the machines.
equipment and had had discussions with potential vendors
principle distinction
relatively
of linkage.
the procurement process
manager) had
1984. Interviews with purchasing
ways
before or after them.
distinctly different "origin"
the technology for at least a year before they
third level
significant
warranted.
relatively self-contained, their
the physical processes that
managers who had been involved
superintendent (a
purposes
for
to
in
substantially over the older hand-cranked, manually adjusted
units
equipment had a
is
equipment represented a
to
CNC
(see Figure 2 earlier). Second, a
scope or technological sophistication. The machines continued
no sophisticated sensors
and the
the time frame from concept to
each case. These two differences are related
and, thus, before proceeding with the analysis
By contrast
I
First,
FMS
at
was
largely along
a low point relative to
attractive.
inexpensive and required only minor adjustments to
of
rOllllCb 01
I
ooniiuiuyii-ai
^.^|lal
lyo
29
be made operational, development
models (which varied
built-up by
largely
were
activities
by capacity). Moreover, unlike the
R&D, these machines were purchased
replacement process. Equipment replacement
identifies
submits
equipment
its
in
need
request ("wish
limited to the selection of the appropriate
of
list")
is
an annual
directly to divisional
R&D
and,
which was largely
of-the-shelf as part of a routine
replacement or extensive
takes place outside the purview of
FMS
in this
activity in
which shop management
repair, prioritizes
its
needs, and
management. This process
division at least,
it
equipment
is
routinely
part of an activity
orchestrated by the Facilities and Equipment (F&E) department. Thus, the acquisition of the
CNC
machines did not
initially attract
the attention of groups outside the
shop
for
which they
were requested.
While differences
limited clues as to
why
deployed the way
it
management and
the
in
scope, expense, and accessibility are important, they offer only
this
was.
technology
A
given
by shop management or why
in its
potential to gain a
the conventional side of the
shop consisted
numbers or tested
for
in
A
measure
significant
of control for the
chunk
"emergent" jobs,
i.e.,
of the
new
it
CNC
machines
work performed
(i.e.,
arrival of
parts
needed by a customer
blue streak or
AOG
with an "airplane on the ground").
work, as well as competing
demands from
in
parts being produced
use elsewhere. Normal flow conditions
for
shoo over the work
for this
in
work,
they argued, often failed to take into account the arrival of "blue streak" (high priority) or
orders
was
shop
revealed that the central attraction of the
environment, especially the scheduling of jobs.
relatively small
priority
series of lengthy interviews with representatives of
F&E department
shop management resided
was
AOG
The unpredictable
various sources for
small production runs or for the creation of prototypes, led to a great deal of negotiation,
juggling, and, occasionally, overt conflict
external customers
Adding
to the
between shop management and the
internal
and
making claims on the shop's machining capacity.
tension experienced by shop
"chaotic," "ulcer-producing,"
and "impossible"
--
management
was
the shop's
--
who described
dependence on
the situation as
external
Politics of
Change
Technological
departments
3q
plans and programs necessary to meet the orders they received.
for the
Resource Planning and the
particular, the
NC programming
groups, located
claim to "configuration control" which directly affected shop management's
demands
of
its
plans, programs,
division.
When
and
specifications for the large variety of parts
were formerly
parts
part, distributed the
NC
fit
to the
when
the fabrication
in
to write or retrieve
Resource
a program for making the
appropriate portion of the shop on the basis of a pre-determmed
program were required
revisions to existing
(e.g.,
as a
directing the flow of parts
retrieving blueprints,
As such, Resource Planning played
of revisions.
and programming, as
well as librarian in revising, storing
point of the
CNC
the shop acquired the machines,
store
them
and
effectively cut the
cop
in
and
equipment, thus, was a short-circuiting of the otherwise highly
when
locally,
traffic
programs and documents.
centralized system for planning, scheduling and controlling the production process.
it
result of
a particular airplane or airplane customer), the Resource Planning group
would oversee the documentation
The
machined
cut on numerically-controlled (NC) equipment,
programming group
tape
schedule, and
modification to
accomodate
ability to
various customers. Configuration control, briefly put, involves control over
Planning directed the
priority
a separate set of
were the object of many complaints from shop management. These groups exercised a
offices,
the
in
In
it
also acquired the ability to write
to directly influence the
scheduling of
Resource Planning organization out
its
work
its
load.
In effect,
own programs,
to
Most importantly,
of the loop.
Aligning Objectives
The more formal process
objectives
to draft
began
in
1985.
As
of
framing the request
part of the
in
the language of organizational
equipment replacement process, the shop was expected
a five-year plan for equipment purchases. Prior to
included a request for replacement of a
largely similar versions.
equipment; since
number
Starting with the
CNC was
of badly
1
985, each five-year plan had
worn machine
tools with
newer but
1985 plan, however, the request specified "CNC"
largely undefined,
it
was
not particularly clear that "shop
Politics 01
I
ecnnoiogicai L-nange
was
programmability"
3^
the underlying desire.
The shop request went forward
unexceptionable problem statement: "Existing equipment
experiencing
10%
downtime. Worn beyond
The
repair."
is
This
will
eliminate layout time
old.
(It is]
accompanying a
solution statement,
technician's review of the equipment, concluded: "Purchase
operators to input data.
over 20 years
with the following
[CNC] machining centers
and increase
productivity.
that allow
...[Wjill
allow 4 machines to replace 6."
In
the normal course of
including calculating the
respectable
pair
--
1
but, again, there
--
payback periods
months
8
duties, the
its
for
one
fact."
for the
was some question regarding
To
was added
that
Still,
the
F&E
staff
form the basis of the proposal
specific
number
its
(i.e.,
due
for
a smaller
the accuracy of the calculations.
that they
to the
When
were "based as much
more than 4 people
extensive downtime of the older
followed the standard procedure of producing transparencies to
to divisional
of transparencies for
management completed
months
1
the admission that there were never
operating the six machines being replaced
machines).
machines and
shop managers admitted
at,
the formal proposal,
investment. The payback figures appeared
pair of larger capacity
asked how those figures were arrived
on guess as on
F&E department helped concoct
management. (The F&E department recommends a
each $100,000
in
capital requested). After divisional
annual review and approved the proposal, the bid specifications were
drawn and the equipment was eventually purchased.
Framing Downward. Not Outward
Since shop
management found language and measures
divisional decision-makers
in
However,
this did not
positional objectives
mean
other interests. Most imp>ortantly
made a concerted
effort to build
eventually operate them.
the
CNC
terms of organizational objectives, the potential
between and negotiation over
arrival.
to justify
--
that
and
support
was minimized
shop management was
in
direct contrast to the
for the
equipment
to
for conflict
prior to the
machines'
inattentive to the existence of
FMS
case
new machines among
--
the proponents
the workers
who would
Politics of
Change
Technological
Pownward
32
Replacing worn out equipment and quietly (but quickly) gaining a measure of
.
independence from other depan lents may have been pan
acquiring the
new machines,
but the
manner
in
of plant
management's
which they were selected and deployed was
profoundly affected by social organization at the level of the shopfloor.
manager close
to the
and extend" the
process, the
CNC
In
the words of
equipment was also selected because
it
In this
instance,
perspective could be viewed as simple rhetoric but was,
in fact,
accompanied by
involve the machinists
the workers
who
in
the area: acknowledging,
ultimately
feasibility of this kind of
in
came
to staff the
move
is
would "preserve
efforts to
Two
labor's positional interests.
machines were consulted
in
of
advance about the
equipment and the four workers who were assigned the machines were
sent out for special training with the vendor several
this
in effect,
one
shop management's
the shop.
machinists already
skills of
rationale for
weeks before
it
arrived.
The
significance of
greater because, as noted earlier (see also Kelley 1986; and Jones 1982), the
machines do not presuppose a lengthy apprenticeship
in
the range of machining skills
order
in
to
be run adequately.
Inten/iews with the
appreciated but, at the
CNC
same
equipment operators revealed
time,
it
was
traditionally very protective of their skills
especially
when
action
was
also expected. Conventional machinists are
and
of contention.
new
resist the incursion of
they diminish operator control.
was discounted as a source
shop management's
that
In this
control systems,
instance, however, the impact on skills
For example,
when asked
his opinion
about the
CNC
equipment, one of the operators described them as an extension of past technology:
It's
really
something the way
doesn't require any less
part faster for a
their thing.
We
skill
it
reduces the time
we used
because you can override the
customer because you don't have
spend a
lot
to
to sit
of time trying to figure out
spend doing set-ups. But
controls.
and wait
how
to
for
You can
also
make
NC programming
program them
to
do
it
to
trickier
cuts.
Another machinist readily admitted
that simple operation of the
machines could be possible by
a
do
someone who had no experience
management's closeness
to the
with conventional
work being done
in
machine
tools but,
the area
made them "aware
he added, shop
get the most out of this equipment." That awareness, he suggested, derived
fact that several of the higher level supervisors in the
into the
shop without "smoothing
it
what
it
takes
to
large part from the
shop had begun work as hourly
machinists there. Another operator added, however, that any attempt
equipment
in
of
to force
a
new
piece of
out with the guys" would likely have set off at
least a mild confrontation.^
Whether motivated by regard
to
management made
avoid confrontation, shop
and deployment
workers
--
of the
new
for machinists' skills,
commonality
local conditions
technology. That approach
had a substantial pay-off (as described
--
of experience, or desire
a central factor
in
the selection
corroborated by both managers and
earlier) in the enthusiastic
response
of the
area machinists.
Representatives of the compensation office within Industrial Relations, however, were not
nearly so sanguine about the about the introduction of the
new
technology. Their response,
which could easily have been scripted by labor process theorists, emphasized the "deskilling"
the work and, therefore, the devaluation of the job.
responsibilities for this
result of the
The
new
says,
thing.
"I
that the
wage
rate
with
should have been lowered as a
technology:
level required to
skill
and
difficult,
shop argued strongly
The compensation representative
of
I'm
going
operate an
CNC
to oversimplify here,
machine
is
really not
than a housewife
want 325 degrees." She puts whatever she wants
So, anyway,
we
felt
that
who
dials
there
lot
more
up the oven and
and the oven does
its
we'd overpaid on the CNC.
The new technology may have appeared
with distinct positional interests,
in
a heck of a
had been
to require less skill,
but compensation,
like
other groups
effectively kept out of the loop of the decision
process.
Outward
.
Although neither Industrial Relations nor Resource Planning had been aware of
Technological
Politics of
Change
34
the events that led up to the acquisition of the
resolved not to
was
transpired
of
let
it
the shop.
"outsider":
their
is
own
small world and
remember where
they
came
to their
So,
there.
is
left
to its
own
involved
in
how
months
after the
they
equipment
we have
1
have a say
new
think
in
What we're doing now
technology.
in
that regard
we know
a
to the
little bit
oriented shop
in
arrived, the
NC
programming, and
to satisfy
external dependencies.
generated a decidedly
political
its
is
the loop of
in
getting the procedure
prime divisions as
to
more than the shop. So,
the equipment they purchase as to what
means
finding a
its
words
the
formulate a response. According to one engineer
to
a say because we're closer associated
the future.
a few of
In
the process:
acquisition of
in
group, what
you, you have to
tell
Just recently, manufacturing engineering recognized that they should be
Thus,
group
latter
personnel. And, obviously, they grew up
aggrieved stakeholders (which by that time included Resource Planning,
Manufacturing Engineering) began meeting
devices."
a demonstration of
when you analyze what
from." Within six
R&D
of those involved, including the
"What you see there
They came up through
equipment, representatives of the
shop ought not be
further evidence that "the
one well-placed
management
happen again. For many
CNC
positional objectives,
it
changed so
...
what we expect
at lest we'll
should be.
shop management attempted
What might have appeared as a
rational
to
sever
process quickly
response.
Summary
instance of technological change,
In this
contrast with the
FMS.
Like the
FMS,
we see
several important points of similarity and
the selection of technological possibilities
influenced by different actors' personal and positional objectives.
its
objectives
in
those ends,
it
the request
in
had
to
it
an added measure
frame the proposal
in
of control
was
profoundly
Shop management,
terms of independence from other divisional groups, sought
equipment which gave
in
to
perceiving
acquire
over the production process. To achieve
terms of extant organizational objectives and frame
terms that wouid either accomodate or avoid others with conflicting objectives.
FMS
Unlike the
of the
change
selection
led to a situation
and implementation
"myopia," shop
--
most
case, however, differences
management chose
new
employees.
order
R&D
hypermetropia (farsightedness) of
technology.
In
a demonstration of what
ignored
to actively align positional objectives
particularly those of shopfloor
in
cost, review procedure
and the scope
which the social environment of the shop influenced the
in
of the
the support of area machinists
in origin,
(1) to
and
In this
sense, shop
counteract what
(2) to
it
R&D
in
labelled
the
FMS
case
management marshalled
perceived
to
be the
meet the performance demands placed on
it.
Thus, rather than operate from a model which identified subordinates as the source of
uncertainty,
shop management
obstructions
in its
model
Implications for the
Two
identified
peer and superior organizations as the principle
of the transformation process.
Perspectives
The data presented
offer a
measure
of support for both the postindustrial
process perspectives on technological change
exceptions,
I
will
--
but with major exceptions
I
will
in
the
each
of the perspectives.
In this
begin with an assessment of what the perspectives explain and what they do not
and then conclude with the broader theoretical implications
In
each case. Those
suggest, are not simply the product of the particularities of the cases
themselves, but point up several important shortcomings
section,
in
and the labor
FMS
case, the opportunity
attraction for divisional
management,
to
of this research.
gain control over shop activities
especially since the
was an
important
new technology promised
to eliminate
"heads," worker discretion and the customs and obligations which had accumulated over the
years.
These
attractions certainly coincide with
what Braverman (1975),
as central dynamics behind technological change
examination of the
desire to
enhance
FMS
case also revealed
control over the
in capitalist
that, for
shop as a whole
industry.
both divisional
--
et
al.,
have suggested
Yet, the detailed
management and R&D,
including workers
and supervisors
the
--
represented a broader attraction. The choice of technological alternatives was no less influenced
by power considerations than labor process theory would predict, but restriction of the scope of
Politics of
Technological
Change
35
the analysis to the point-of-production
resulted
in
(i.e.,
impacts on workers exclusively) would have
a partial understanding of the objectives which lay behind the selection and
configuration of this
new
technology. Equally important, failure to investigate the process of
change from concept through implementation
groups involved
different
intent from
including attention to the characteristics of
the development process
in
outcome. This
--
would have forced the analysis
when one considers
a hazardous approach
is
--
the
to infer
complex and often
non-rational character of the decision-making process.
While the
FMS
case gives credence
postindustrial perspective
firms
"
it
process
--
one
major assumptions of the
of the
the widening array of technological possibilities available to
also demonstrates quite vividly
in this
to at least
case involved two
how
The narrowing
quickly options are narrowed.
distinct influences:
(1)
the overarching organizational
objectives (especially "cutting costs" and "losing heads") which created narrow evaluation
criteria (e.g., specific return
on investment benchmarks); and
control put forth by divisional
new systems
like
the
management and
FMS may
the
R&D
(2)
the persistent
While the accumulation of
function.
eventually force this organization and others
the importance of a skilled, committed, and flexible labor force, there
that the organizational, positional
extremely resistant
organizations,
into
in
is
change. Moreover, absent detailed analysis
of
how
they are refracted by organizational structures, and
will
like
it
to
much reason
identified in this
concrete systems, discussions of technological "possibilities"
case
will
recognize
to
believe
be
ideas enter
how
they are translated
continue
to
be carried on
a vacuum.
The
of
how
to
and personal objectives
emphasis on
CNC
case also
offers important insights.
shop programmable equipment may not
process perspective, but
would suggest
it
that control
The manner
of
entirely contradict expectations
cannot be readily explained by the theory
was
purchase and implementation
the objective, the case analysis
particularly sensitive to workers' positional interests
drawn from a labor
either.
shows
that
While the theory
shop management was
and accomodated them with advance
I
Ufllll\rf0
J
and the maintenance
consultation, extensive training,
of machinists' discretion
in
the use of the
equipment.
At the
same
technological possibility
and use
of the
--
equipment appeared
machines was motivated by objectives
Rather, the
to quietly cut itself
to
represent the seizure of an important
with the postindustrial perspective
in line
organizational "awakening."
management
CNC
time that the
CNC
that
appear
--
loose from what
it
have
to
machines offered the
the actual acquisition
do with an
to
little
possibility for
perceived to be obstructions to
shop
narrowly
its
defined responsibilities. Again, the accumulation of similar equipment may, over time, lead to
greater organizational
augers poorly
for that
flexibility,
but the mobilization of aggrieved stakeholders
in this firm
outcome.
Broader Implications
In light of
uneven support
tempting
to
the differences
for
two major theoretical perspectives on technological change
conclude that decision-making around new technology
indeterminate process. Yet,
from
in
this
between two cases drawn from the same company and
I
would argue, there
is
is
in
their
industry,
it
is
a rather conjunctural or
an important theoretical lesson
to
be drawn
research: the necessity of distinguishing between lateral and hierarchical dimensions
the politics of technological change.
Lateral
Dimension
Both cases demonstrate the significance
organizations.
In line
decision-making
(cf.,
Simon 1955; Pettigrew 1973: and
organizational resources. This
to identify
Pfeffer 1977), these
and exercising influence over
was amply demonstrated
problems and solutions
(or avoid) the positional objectives of
significant,
change as a
political
event within
with earlier characterizations of the politics of organizational
the extraordinary attention paid to acquiring
groups
of technological
and garner resources
with
in their
in
cases document
the expenditure of
the intense efforts
made
own domain, frame them so as
to
by various
incorporate
competitors, present them as organizationally
which
to
change
relationships
and behaviors by way
of
/
Politics of
Change
Technological
new equipment and processes.
This lateral dimension to
competing groups seek
to
fulfill
c.
ganizational politics
is
not,
however, unconstrained. While
personal and/or positional objectives by
their
means
of
technological change, they do so within constraints imposed by language and criteria associated
with organizational objectives.
were
relatively clear.
appearance
--
to
it
not always the reality
if
Moreover, the
among
make a
lateral
concessions
to
in
"finessing"
competing groups rendered the process
change
possibilities
dimension
to organizational politics
underscores the importance
and persona! objectives
in
the
of
change process.
objectives establish the limits within which problems must be framed,
case, for example,
objectives but did so
criteria
attentive to the
Even though
labor.
and
claim to reducing costs and labor.
expressed
positional objectives are directly
R&D
such a way as
the Manufacturing Manager.
in
the selection of problems to be framed.
put forth a problem and a solution which reflected
positional objectives of divisional
its
change were especially
reduced costs and
organizational, positional,
Though organizational
FMS
of
--
strategic
forth for
did not diminsh the fact that organizational objectives delimited
those which could
alignment
the organization under study here, the language
Thus, proposals put
ROI calculations and granting
less tidy,
In
In
to
maximize the overlap between
management and
the
CNC
objectives with those of divisional
its
its
In
the
positional
proposal and the
the personal (career-minded) objectives of
case, shop
management sought simultaneously
management and
to
disguise
its
to align
objectives from other
groups.
Taken
together, organizational objectives
and the need
resources which forces originators of change proposals
their
proposals
in
a language which
is
to
be
for
alignment result
in
a contest for
vigilant in their efforts to
present
structured by organizational objectives and capable of
either incorporating or besting the proposals of competitors.
In this
organization (and,
arguably, most other manufacturing firms) such framing must take the form of justifications
which are comprehensible
to top
decision-makers whose attention
is
directed to concerns which
Politics of
are:
unange
Technological
(1) often quite different
3g
than tfiose of proponents for change
shareholders, market analysts,
and
etc.);
(2)
circumstances or conditions which pertain
proposal
(cf.,
and the
are not likely to be especially aware of the
the group (division, plant) which
is
making the
personal credibility
to
approval they put
in
place can often force
from presenting proposals which serve positional objectives but which
refrain
to:
criteria for
canot pass muster under traditional
criteria (cf.,
support a proposal
1987; Maidique 1980); or attempt, as
in
concerned with
Donaldson and Lorsch 1983). Under these circumstances, the organizational
objectives they establish
proponents
in
who
(e.g.,
a process of "creative rebellion,"
for
Kaplan 1986; Gold 1983);
i.e.,
on
squirrel
away pockets
of
(cf.
which might not receive approval from above or extend the purchase
to
Dean
(cf..
Thomas 1987)
money
own
their
which the numbers are not convincing
have described elsewhere
I
rely
to
engage
accomplish changes
of a larger
expense over
several budget cycles.
The
dimension
lateral
has serious implications
that in the
justifying
absence
to organizational politics
for theories of
investments
heads. That
technological change. First and foremost,
is,
options quite similar
will
remain and,
in
the
FMS
case
to
more champions
from changes which might
supported by an individual's
level at
which
it
suggests
is
initiated.
will
credibility or
What
scope
is
and
of technological
make sense
that the
it
suggests
measures
narrow the range
terms of cost reduction or
to
pursue
those predicted from labor process theory. Moreover, as
characterized most directly by "saying what you hear
it
justified in
the direction of integrated systems
traditional criteria will force
Second,
any guide, they
is
those which can either be
substance
in
if
criteria, traditional
which encourage production managers and engineers
criteria
technologies continue
refrain
and
of altered organizational objectives
of technological possibilities to
lost
and decision-making around technology
change
to "creatively rebel"
order to get what you want"
in
(e.g., in
cells, the application of
--
--
or
the longer term) but which cannot
be
finessed calculations.
of technological
perhaps most
ironic
change
will
be
directly related to the
about the two cases reported
in this
Technological
Politics of
paper
is
Change
making the most
the fact that the solution oriented toward
made
resources was the one
human
4q
change originated
implications of
and more change
pressure
will
involve systems
--
to integrate isolated cells
may be
at least, less attention
change than ever
down
farthest
it
in
the organization.
some remove
at
and
of existing skills
The one
cells
will
increasingly be the case that,
paid to the
human and
concerned with the
from the shopfloor. Given that more
and
--
least
and human
that organizations are feeling greater
in
traditional firms
organizational implications of technological
before.
Hierarchical Dimension
While the
peer groups
our attention
of
to
to
dimension
lateral
garner resources
of organizational politics
in
the behaviors, relationships
only
is
engaged
after
among
order to enact solutions, the hierarchical dimension directs
problems and, therefore, are the object
or conflict
focuses on the competition
and processes which are perceived
of
change.
In
to
be the source
other words, since lateral competition
problems are found, we are compelled
to investigate
where
problems come from: how they are "found" or formulated.
A
brief look
back
problems were found
and
R&D
in
at the
FMS
and the
CNC
cases gives us some useful clues as
one manufacturing company.
In
the
FMS
case, divisional
together broadly identified the shop as the source of the problem,
i.e.,
to
how
management
existing
procedures, relationships and task structures were seen from a level above and outside the shop
as impediments
rather than
to the technical rationality
engage shop personnel
work might be altered
products, a decision
in
(Thompson 1967)
an examination
of
how
of the production process.
the
human
But,
or social organization of
to facilitate the translation of the potential-to-work into finished
was made
to eliminate the
human element and impose, from
the outside, a
mechanical solution. The problem, the solution, and the manner of implementation speak
management's model
human problems
volumes about two
critical
transformation:
the perceived ability or willingness of subordinates to participate
(1
)
reorganization of their
elements
of divisional
own work: and
(2) the
power
of higher-level
of the
management
to
in
a
impose
of
their
own
In
solution.
the
CNC
case, by contrast, shop
the organization as the problem.
but, instead, involved the provision of
--
to
identified relationships with other parts of
From the shopfloor perspective, the human problem
transformation did not involve questions of
supervisors and workers
management
commitment
or willingness
resources and authority
get the work done.
New
to
on the
part of workers
enable the shop
technology,
in
of the transformation
If,
problem
this
--
the form of
locally-programmable machine tools, provided the instrument through which a
model
s/ery diferent
process could be enacted.
as these two cases demonstrate, there can be very different models of the
of transformation in the
analysis can
now be
same
human
organization, then an important proposition derived from
stated directly: the hierarchical level from which a
originates
and the normative assumptions about the human problems
underlie
will
it
change proposal
of transformation
both materially affect the selection of technolooical possibilities
.
organizational processes do influence the selection and implementation of
skill
enhancement and employee
"control" imperative.
and
new technology
participation constituting real alternatives to the
But, as a caution to the postindustrial perspective,
it
suggests that
technological possibilities alone are unlikely to dislodge firmly held and organizationally
sanctioned normative assumptions about the
human problem
which
This
proposition suggests that, by contrast to the labor process perspective, organizations
with
of
of transformation.
--
Politics of
Technological
Change
42
Footnotes
Though
1
this level of
analysis
ecological processes which may,
firms
makes
the degrees of freedom available to individual
(Hannan and Freeman 1974; Tushman and Anderson 1986),
Edwards
are also
1
difficult to
anonymity
A
the firm
in
--
979, and Gordon, Edwards and Reich
1
it
has the advantage
rather than on "systemic" processes
may be
982) which
well as that of the interviewees,
(cf.,
quite powerful but which
not
will
be disclosed
to
assure the
each.
of
third
case
--
the development
and implementation
A
omitted here due to space limitations.
a robotized assembly
of
brief description is available in
Thomas
(1
cell
-- is
988).
Since case-study based research invariably raises questions about the generalizability of
4.
the findings,
we
build the analysis with
two
explicit
industry varies from other manufacturing industries
reservations
in its
in
mind.
First,
activities in the direction of
components, rather than
technologies which enable
repetitive, high
volume
it
to
activities.
produce high
It
will
studies, however, that the diversity of manufacturing processes
fabrication
and machining, as
change targetted
at
high
well as
assembly) enabled us
to
apparatus. The process or manufacturing
manufacturing
R&D
quality precision
in this
company
the case
parts
(e.g.,
include a case of technological
Thus, by contrast
activities, this
R&D
function
is
in
a
maintains an extensive
largely decentralized to the level
to less diversified firms
company tends
it
to distribute
which
may
centralize
them; however, budgetary
review for major capital equipment purchases and development projects continues
the corporate level.
in
volume production. Second, because the company engages
of the operating divisions.
their
and development
become apparent
considerable amount of in-house product and process development,
R&D
the aerospace
emphasis on batch or low-volume,
high value production. This biases the organization's manufacturing research
at
of
demonstrate empirically.
The company's name, as
3.
address the broader competitive or
difficult to
in fact, limit
focusing attention on actual behavior
2.
it
to
take place
Politics of
Technological
Change
43
Beginning and ending points were chosen
arbitrarily:
the beginning
was designated as
first
formal (written) reference to a particular problem (or solution) which could be linked to
one
of the projects;
and the endpoint was chosen as the date
in
the
which the new equipment was
brought formally into production.
5.
The categories
necessarily the
6.
of
same as
development are ones
created
to in the
company) and was
Given the system of wage scales
The union was
for descriptive
purposes and are not
interviewees used.
He had been working as an NC programmer and
as they are referred
7.
I
not,
in
the
therefore had
officially
downgraded
been a technician
to
hourly machinist.
company, the move had no impact on
however, informed
of the
impending
(or "tech"
arrival of the
his
weekly earnings.
new equipment.
For
an examination of the tensions created by shop management's "informal consultation" with
|
employees, see Thomas (1988).
\
Politics of
Technological
Change
^^
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