The information society

Ewan Sutherland

Jobs and technology

Changes

• in the structure of the economy
• in career openings for new entrants
• in the requirements for education and training
• appearance of instability in previously secure sectors

Occupational structure of UK distributive trades

Occupational structure of UK manufacturing industry

Employment in Scotland by sector 1980-1991

Comparison of unemployment rates

Henry Ford

• interchangeable
• easy to fit (hence cheaper)
• easy to repair

Investment in machinery (embedded skill).

Division of labour:

• direct
• indirect (maintenance and cleaning)
• industrial engineers

In stark contrast [to a craft worker], the assembler on Ford’s mass-production line had only one task--to put two nuts on two bolts or perhaps to attach one wheel to each car. He didn’t order parts, procure his tools, repair his equipment, inspect for quality, or even understand what the workers on either side of him were doing. Rather he kept his head down and thought about other things.

Womack, Jones and Roos (1990) page 31.

The rise of the blue collar worker

• mass production applied to a whole range of activities
• spread internationally from USA
• exported by US-based multinational companies
• copied by foreigners
• rapidly accepted by management and unionised labour

Scientific management

• constant striving for improved products
• constant striving for improved processes

Quality control

• an external check
• after the event -- don’t interrupt the manufacturing process
• identification through statistical analysis
• correction by re-working and scrapping

New ways

Factory automation

• powerful graphics workstations for Computer Aided Design
• computer numerically controlled machines
• Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS)
• robots and Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
• automated warehouses

Levels of automation

• integration with suppliers and customers
• integration of business and manufacturing systems
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
• Workstations and cells
• individual controllers on machines

CIM

• product design
• order processing
• Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)
• capacity planning
• production planning
• production control
• inventory management
• materials handling
• assembly
• data recording
• maintenance
• cost accounting
• shipment

Zuboff

• reduce the physical effort required
• reduce the skill required
• allow management more control

Taylorist systems

• centralisation of control and decision-making
• operator told how to carry out work
• standardisation of work
• one best way of working
• functional specialisation
• simplification of work
• imposing methods and solutions

Non-Taylorist approach

• decentralisation of control and decision-making
• operator decides how work is carried out
• operator develops own working methods
• many good ways of working
• multi-skilled operator
• variety of complex tasks
• consultation and participation

Lean production

Henry Ford’s mass production drove the auto industry for more than half a century and was eventually adopted in almost every industrial activity in North America and Europe. Now, however, those same techniques, so ingrained in manufacturing philosophy, are thwarting the efforts of many Western companies to move ahead to lean production.

Womack, Jones and Roos (1990).

Principles of lean production

• teamwork
• communication
• efficient use of resources and elimination of waste
• continuous improvement

Advantages of lean production

• half the human effort in the factory
• half the manufacturing space
• half the investment in tools
• half the engineering hours
• half the time to develop new products

IT in the motor car

• entertainment
• engine control
• communications
• safety
• navigation assistance/control
• growing value of electronics as a percentage of value

Rupert Murdoch

• decades of unchanged and unchallenged practices
• “Battle of Wapping”
• direct entry of text to avoid re-keying
• electronic typesetting replacing hot metal
• transmission of text to remote sites for local printing

The decline of the blue collar worker

• emphasis on quality and flexibility
• integration of manufacturing technologies
• need to cut costs
• no longer needed in factories

Categories of openings

• in-person service (many)
• routine production services (declining)
• symbolic analysts (few)

Symbolic analysts

... include all the problem-solving, problem-identifying, and strategic brokering activities ... can be traded worldwide and thus compete with foreign providers even in the American market.

Reich (1991) p. 177.

Routine production services

... the kinds of repetitive tasks performed by the old foot soldiers of American capitalism in the high volume enterprise.

Reich (1991) p. 174.

In-person service

• retail sales
• waiters and waitresses
• janitors
• hospital attendants
• cashiers
• taxi drivers
• hairdressers
• house cleaners
• personal fitness instructors
• security guards

Conclusion

• changes in technology
• elimination of many dangerous, difficult and dull jobs
• recognition of the importance of the motivation of workforce
• changes in the ways in which technology is used

Readings

Womack, J.P., Jones, D. T., and Roos, D. (1990) "The Machine that Changed the World" HarperPerennial, London

Zuboff, Shoshana (1988) "In the Age of the Smart Machine" Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Heap et al. (1995) "Information Technology and Society"

• Technological Change and the Future of Work Peter Senker
• Technological Change at Work Ian McLoughlin and Jon Clark
• Robotics, Automation and a New Industrial REvolution Paul Kennedy
• The Pursuit of Flexible Specialisation in Britain and West Germany Christel Lane