ERIC ED384705: Technology and the Organisation of Work. EEE701 Adults Learning: The Changing Workplace B.

205 Pages·1991·3.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CE 067 749
ED 384 705
Littler, Craig R.
AUTHOR
Technology and the Organisation of Work. EEE701
TITLE
Adults Learning: The Changing Workplace B.
Deakin Univ., Victoria (Australia).
INSTITUTION
Victorian Education Foundation.
SPONS AGENCY
ISBN-0-7300-1309-X
REPORT NO
PUB DATE
91
207p.; Some washed out type on pages 154-188.
NOTE
Adult and Workplace Education, Faculty of Education,
AVAILABLE FROM
Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia 3217
($20 Australian).
Instructional Materials (For
Classroom Use
PUB TYPE
Guides
Learner)
(051)
MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Adult Education; Annotated Bibliographies;
DESCRIPTORS
Automation; Consumer Economics; Educational Needs;
*Education Work Relationship; *Employment
Qualifications; Foreign Countries; Industrial
Structure; Industrial Training; Information
Technology; Job Skills; Labor Market; Literature
Reviews; Mass Production; Organizational Change;
Service Occupations; Specialization; *Technological
Advancement; *Training Objectives; Transfer of
Training; *Work Environment
*Australia; Deskilling; Flexible Work Organization;
IDENTIFIERS
*New Zealand
ABSTRACT
This publication is part of the study materials for
the distance education course, Adults Learning: The Changing
Workplace B, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University. The
first part of the document analyzes the relationship between
technology, skill, and work within the context of the debates
concerning deskilling and managerial control strategies and the
significance of technology and the organization of work. The
following topics are discussed: technology and the organization of
work; the deskilling debate (the upgrading, deskilling, and social
construction theses; the Touraine and mixed-effects hypotheses; and
the agnostic position); the origins of technology; and the flexible
specialization thesis (the relationship between the flexible
specialization thesis and skills and the limits of flexibility).
Contains 56 references. The following papers constitute approximately
85% of the document: "New Technologies, New Skills" (P. Adler);
"Technology and Deskilling: The Case of Five Principal Trade Areas in
J. Davis); "Intersphere Automation--The 'Factory
New South Wales" (D.
of the Future'" (R. Kaplinsky); "Information Technologies, the
Service Sector and the Restructuring of Consumption" (P. Blackburn,
R. Coombs, K. Green); and "The End of Mass Production?" (K. Williams,
T. Cutler, J. Williams, C. Haslam). Concluding the document is a
79-item annotated bibliography. (MN)
TECHNOLOGY AND THE
ORGANISATION OF WORK
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INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).
CRAIG R. LITTLER
T l
LAC E B
HA
E E E 7 0 1 ADULTS
TECHNOLOGY
ORGANISATION OF WORK
CRAIG R. LITTLER
Deakin
University
This book has been produced as part of the study materials for EEE701 Adults
learning: The changing workplace B, which is one of the units offered by the
Faculty of Education h Deakin University's Open Campus Program. It has been
prepared for the unit team, whose members are:
Richard Bates
Jill Blackmore
Mike Brown (chair)
Robin Mc Taggart
Helen Modra
Frances Patrick (developer)
John Smyth
Peter Watkins
Steve Wright
Consultants
Craig R. Littler
Elaine Bernard
Harvard University University College of
Southern Queensland
Chris Bigum
Deakin University Jean McAllister
University of Regina
David Bcud
University of New South Wales
Robert Priebe
University of Regina
Sue Collard
University of British Columbia
Karen Watkins
University of Texas
Nancy Jackson
McGill University
David Walker
David Little
Education Centre, Sydney
University of Regina
Michael Welton
Dalhousie University
The study materials include:
P. Watkins, Knowledge and Control in the Flexible Workplace
C.R. Littler, Technology and the Organisation of Work
M. Welton,. Toward Development Work: The Workplace as a Learning Environ-
ment
Nancy Jackson, Skills Formation and Gender Relations: The Politics of Who
Knows What
These books may be purchased from Deakin University Press, Deakin University,
Geelong, Victoria, Australia 3217
More titles may be added to this list from time to time.
Enrolled students also receive a unit guide and supplementary material.
Published by Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia 3217
Distributed by Deakin University Press
First published 1991
© Deakin University 1991
Edited and designed by Deakin University Book Production Unit
Printed by Deakin University Printery
National Library of Australia
Cataloguingin-publication data
Littler, Craig R.
Technology and the organisation of work.
Bibliography.
ISBN 0 7300 1309 X.
C-
1. Labor supply
Effect of technological innovations on. 2. Technology
Social aspects. I. Deakin University. Faculty of Education. Open
Campus Program. II. Title.
331
This course was produced in part with developmental funding from the Victorian
Education Foundation.
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4
CONTENTS
5 )
SERIES INTRODUCTION
7 )
TECHNOLOGY AND THE ORGANISATION OF WORK
9
INTRODUCTION
11)
THE DESKILLING DEBATE
11
GETTING INTO THE PICTURE
17
LONG-TERM SKILL TRENDS
17
THE UPGRADING THESIS
17
THE DESKILLING THESIS
17
THE TOURAINE HYPOTHESIS
18
THE MIXED-EFFECTS HYPOTHESIS
18
THE AGNOSTIC POSITION
18
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION THESIS
21
FROM HYPOTHESES TO DATA
27 )
WHERE DOES TECHNOLOGY COME FROM?
39 )
THE FLEXIBLE SPECIALISATION THESIS
42
ASSESSMENT OF THE FLEXIBLE SPECIALISATION THESIS
47
THE FLEXIBLE SPECIALISATION THESIS AND SKILLS
49
THE LIMITS OF FLEXIBILITY
52
CONCLUSIONS
57
REFERENCES
61)
READINGS
63
NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW SKILLS
1
P. ADLER
2 TECHNOLOGY AND DESKILLING. THE CASE OF FIVE PRINCIPAL TRADE AREAS IN
83
NEW SOUTH WALES
D.J. DAVIS
92
INTERSPHERE AUTOMATION-'THE FACTORY OF THE FUTURE'
3
R. KAPLINSKY
4 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, THE SERVICE SECTOR AND THE RESTRUCTURING
107
OF CONSUMPTION
P. BLACKBURN, R. COOMBS & K. GREEN
154
5 THE END OF MASS PRODUCTION?
K. WILLIAMS, T. CUTLER, J. WILLIAMS & C. HASLAM
189 )
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
206 )
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
207 )
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SERIES INTRODUCTION
the subject
The nature and purpose of education in the workplace has been
of local and
of much debate in Australia in recent years. While the vagaries
role of
international competition have led many firms to reconsider the
their workforce and the training requirements this entails, governments
the per-
have been equally keen to adapt existing education systems to
distinguished in
ceived needs of industry. Leading union bodies have been
which a recon-
this debate by their pro-active role, outlining the path by
the world
structed industrial climate can win the nation a new place in
economy.
explores the
The series of monographs of which this volume is a part
the process
approaches to learning currently modeled within industry. In
and
the question inevitably arises as to whether existing orientations
workplace.
practicesare in thebest interests of the various stakeholders in the
The arguments developed in these monographs address themselves
To date, prevail-
to a range of contemporary issues in industrial education.
of learn-
ing approaches have rested upon narrow, instrumentalist notions
this
ing; in their different ways, the writers have set out to challenge
orthodoxy. In doing so, they highlight the silenceson questions of gender,
dominant in
class or ethnicitythat underpin the behavourist outlook still
the world of training.
In preps; ing this series of monographs, the course team has sought to
address issues that are of fundamental concern to those involved in the
complex and demanding field of workplace learning. It is hoped that, in its
developed can serve to exemplify
own modest way, the pedagogy we have
education might become.
a different notion of what industrial
5
TECHNOLOGY AND THE
ORGANISATION OF WORK
Introduction
This monograph aims to provide an overview of the research on and
analysis of technology, skill and work. As the literature in this area is vast,
and growing constantly, I have chosen to create some order by focusing on
the two major debates of the past twenty years concerning technology and
the organisation of work.
First, there has been the debate inspired by Braverman (1974) that has
focused on deskilling and managerial control strategies. According to
Braverman and like-minded writers (e.g. Zimbalist 1979), technology was
important because it embodied a deskilling dynamic which changed the
nature of people's jobs by narrowing work autonomies. The ideas and
research of this period (1974-1983) can be said to constitute the labour
process perspective of technology and work.
The latter half of the 1980s was marked by a radically different debate
concerning the significance of technology. This perspective has been con-
structed around the notion of flexible specialisation (see Piore &Sabe11984)
and the transformation of work associated with new technologies and new
managerial strategies. It was argued that current technology took on a
different importance as an agency of upgrading and by shaping new forms
of work organisation. These ideas had a broader set of origins than the
writings of Piore and Sabel. For example, there is the so-called flexibility
debate in Great Britain represented by the work of Atkinson (1984) and the
flexible automation discussions in the USA represented by the work of
Adler (1985) and Jaikumar (1986).
These two debates about technology and work are fascinating in
themselves, but even more so in terms of the fact that they are diametrically
opposed. However, the two perspectives (deskilling and flexible speciali-
sation) also share common characteristics: both attempt to provide a simple
narrative structure of events which defines central tendencies within
capitalist industries. Prefiguring the conclusions of this monograph, it is
argued that the attempt to achieve a simple narrative structure is based on
a set of assumptions which cannot be sustained. In brief, the impact of
technology on skills, employment levels and work organisation is often so
sector specific that the sector level (service industry, manufacturing, etc.)
may be the highest level of aggregation at which some of the broad trends
can be identified.
This monograph begins by considering the deskilling debate, hypoth-
eses concerning skill trends and the succession of interpretations over the
years. It surveys the existing studies of skill trends and draws out the
empirical conclusions. Section 2 focuses on what appears to be a simple
question, but is in fact a complex issue: Where does technology come from?
What are the sources of technology and the major theories of technological
9
change? In a curious way both the deskilling and flexible specialisation
debates have ignored this central issue. Underlying this issue is the ques-
tion of technological determinism versus strategic choice. I argue that this
is a misconceived opposition.
Section 3 focuses on the flexible specialisation thesis and considers the
variations on this theme and the conceptual problems embodied in it. It
concludes by looking at alternative conceptualisations of the current period
of restructuring.
1
DESKILLING DEBATE
11-7g'IN
Getting into the picture
There are many varied definitions of the term 'technology'. Indeed, it is
impossible to construct a meaning of the term that satisfies all possible
needed. Let us start
users. However, some operative conceptualisation is
hard-
with a simple triangle of relations involving worker, machinery as
that, for the sake of
ware and products (see Figure 1). It should be noted
simplicity, the following ideas are built up in terms of a manufacturing
paradigm. However, they can be extended easily to the service sector.
Figure 1 A triangle of production relations
Worker
The worker has a certain form of involvement with the tools and
machinery of the task situation (e.g. maintenance versus monitoring versus
operation). Equally, the worker is faced with a certain degree of interven-
tion (handling of the product and so on) involving a full product cycle or
some fraction of it. The machine-product relation determines the level of
the process that is under automatic control: it is, in part, the level of
11
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