Sociotechnical Theory Research Articles

THE QUALITY OF WORK: THE LABOUR PROCESS AND SOCIOTECHNICAL APPROACHES

This article reports on a survey which was carried out on all work or labour related papers that were presented at the XII. World Congress of Sociology in Madrid (July 1990). Its aim was to investigate whether the Dutch labour process debate was reflected elsewhere. The analysis shows that the Netherlands are in a special position in this respect and that modern sociotechnical theory does not enjoy comparable popularity in other countries. The article ends with an interpretation of this finding and an attempt to explain the absence of this debate as well as the lack of an engineering approach in other West European countries.

Job design within a human centred (system) design framework

Abstract This paper describes the job design research of the Human Centred Office Systems Project (funded by the SERC/ESRC), which is working with a local government department. The originality of the research involves the application of human centred ideas, which have until recently only been used to address the situation of male skilled workers, eitherin British engineering or Scandinavian contexts. Our approach adapts these ideas in relation to the design of women clerical workers’ jobs. Feminist perspectives on women in work are also drawn upon. This approach represents a break with other research on job design within computerization, most of which has been informed by socio-technical theory and human-computer interaction. We draw upon new case-study research involving design groups who have tackled job design using a bottom-up approach. The study involves women clerical workers, both defining their particular skills and how they would wish a new computer system to complement and enhance them. The met...

Toward a diagnostic instrument for assessing the quality of expert systems

In this article we discuss the problem of evaluating the quality of expert systems. The solution we propose is a diagnostic instrument that assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of an operational expert system. Such a tool is designed to identify the characteristics and features that determine the system's quality (or lack of it) as a means of supporting the knowledge engineering process. Our approach is based on underlying concepts form socio-technical theory. It is also empirically subjected to a rigorous validation methodology.

Redesigning Management Consulting Practices

Redesigning work is an innovative and potentially effective method for improving the productive ability of workers and organisations. When thoughtfully and skilfully applied, work redesign can also result in more interesting and challenging work for employees. Traditional and most contemporary work design approaches examine either the technical (scientific management) or the social (human relations) system in isolation. Sociotechnical work design theory demonstrates that both the social and technical systems must be jointly considered. The applicability of sociotechnical work design in various organisational settings is addressed, focusing particularly on the management consulting practices in a large public accounting firm. The results of interview and survey data on test site employees are examined, and it is concluded that sociotechnical work design is an appropriate tool for improving productivity and employee job satisfaction.

A Concluding Note: Future Directions of Sociotechnical Theory and Research

Addressing the findings of the other articles included in this special issue devoted to sociotechnical systems (STS), the author discusses how STS has grown and developed since its early applications to mechanized production systems. The author finds that STS research and applications are now moving toward service organizations and automated production, transorganizational systems, the identification of conditions necessary for the success of STS, and self-design and action learning by workers. He concludes that the field will continue to remain eclectic and diverse, held together by shared beliefs in work-place democracy and the importance of organizational choice.

Role Perception of Therapeutic Teaching

The aim of this study is to clarify the role perceptions, expectations, and interactions of therapeutic teachers. In line with the second primary task of the sociotechnical theory, the concepts were studied in their existential aspects: what the professionals involved in this special provision declare. Three groups of professionals participated in the study: therapeutic teachers, regular teachers, and school psychologists. The comparison of the three groups' questionnaires resulted in a unified picture of the therapeutic teacher's role. Therapeutic aspects and emotional features were clearly preferred to academic improvement. The psychologists as a group were more reserved in their expectations, but similar in their direction. Further studies are needed in line with the third primary task: Do they really do what they believe they are doing?

Technology and Industrial Democracy An inquiry into some theoretical issues and their social basis

The issue of the possible impact of technology on industrial democracy is explored theoretically, using two different approaches — sociotechnical theory and the Marxist labour-process approach. Within each of these approaches, a model of the interaction between technology and democratization is developed to illustrate how different theoretical conceptions produce different problematics and expose a seemingly similar issue in nearly non-comparable ways. The social basis of these differences is also discussed, and the necessity of further theoretical work is argued.

Design of Organizations and Jobs: Sociotechnical Principles and Japanese Practice

Principles for the design of jobs and organizations have evolved from both theory and experiences in the application of sociotechnical and “quality of work life” concepts. In parallel with this development, the Japanese have put in place some organizations that perform well and have quite distinctive features from those generally seen in the U.S. This paper examines some of the Japanese designs in the context of the “Western” sociotechnical theory.

‘Crossing the Boundary’ from Student to Qualified Social Worker

Abstract The article explores the experience of students entering social work practice upon qualification. Using concepts drawn from the socio-technical theory of Miller and Rice, the experience is analysed in terms of ‘crossing a boundary’ and ‘taking up a role’. Illustrative material is drawn from a two-day conference of ex-Goldsmiths' students together with an extended case study drawn from the caseload of one of those students.

Sociotechnical Theory: Managing Boundaries to Enhance Student Learning

This article examines some of the implications of sociotechnical theory for instructors and administrators in higher education. Concepts that have been used in the past primarily to describe and explain behavior in business, hospitals, and similar organizations, are applied to educational settings and problems. Among the concepts developed and applied in this analysis are those of boundary maintenance and control, defense against anxiety, the effects of uncertainty on instructional design, and "quality of life" issues in the classroom. The function of instructors is described as defining boundaries and regulating transactions across them. The major responsibility of students is posited to be learning, a responsibility which they must accept if the system is to accomplish its primary task.

Socio-Technical Theory: An Alternative Paradigm for Schools as “Good Work” Places

Socio-Technical Theory: An Alternative Paradigm for Schools as “Good Work” Places

A Reappraisal of Sociotechnical Systems Theory

The major purpose of this article is to reassess the adequacy of the major principles of sociotechnical systems theory by means of a detailed reexamination of the case studies from which they are partly derived. It is shown, as a result, that the notion of a single, homogeneous sociotechnical school is a misleading oversimplification, since two streams of sociotechnical theory can in fact be identified. It is suggested that the autonomy granted to autonomous work groups is limited, and subordinate to particular economic objectives. Further, it is argued that the concept of joint optimization has little connection with the reality of sociotechnical practice and that it should be replaced with the notion of intensification of labor. The role of pay incentives is also shown to have been seriously underestimated in the causation of economic and psychological changes. And finally, the idea of organizational choice is also shown to be inadequate on the grounds that the case studies have demonstrated the superior economic and psychological effectiveness of only one form of work organization: autonomous groups.

Socio-Technical Theory and Job Design in Libraries

Socio-Technical Theory and Job Design in Libraries

Limits to participative leadership: Task, structure and skill as contingencies‐a German‐British comparison

AbstractThe research investigated the relationship between managerial decision‐making and a set of specified contingent situational factors: decision type, perceived skill requirements and objective skill inputs. The study was based on 663 German and British managers in two interlocking senior management levels of 37 large enterprises. The data were collected by means of Group Feedback Analysis as part of a large study of managerial decision‐making in eight countries.The results show a significant (p = <.05) relationship between the choice of decision styles and the postulated contingency variables. Only 1 % of 615 senior managers consistently use a single decision style, more than two‐thirds use four or five different styles. Very large variations occur as a function of different decision tasks, perceived skill requirements and objective skill availability.There are differences between the relatively well matched samples of German and British managers, but they are less significant than the broadly similar way in which both samples respond to the particular contingencies under investigation.The results are interpreted in the context of an open systems contingency framework. Their action implications are seen to suggest a link with sociotechnical theory on job design and wider issues of organisational and social policy.