The social dimension of the integration of manufacturing systems: the role of institutions

Abstract

Implementation and effective operation of manufacturing systems is a technical endeavour that requires scientific and technological skills. However, it also requires another set of skills, non-technological in nature, such as management and organisational capacities. Both set of skills are themselves dependent on the social context on which they are embedded. The usefulness or the cost-effectiveness of technical systems often depends on the correct application of an appropriate organisational arrangement. The shape of the organisational arrangement depends on the quality of inputs that it receives, directly or indirectly, from the broader social and economic environment. All dimensions are interdependent and interact in multidirectional and complex ways. Building upon recent research on institutional economics it is proposed that the nature and the dynamics of the implementation, operation, application and integration of technical manufacturing systems are dependent on social aspects, and not only on technical aspects. To elaborate on the hypothesis it is shown, through secondary analysis of the literature, and from primary and secondary analysis of case studies, that social factors condition in important ways the shapes and even the possibility of the implementation and integration of manufacturing systems. A discussion of the implications for ongoing and future processes of manufacturing integration concludes the paper.