Virtually every manufacturing company has plans for an automated "factory of the future." But Robert J. Thomas argues that smart machines may not hold the key to an industrial renaissance. In this provocative study, he takes the reader inside four successful manufacturing enterprises to reveal the social and political dynamics that are an integral part of new production technology. His interviews with nearly 300 individuals, from top corporate executives to engineers to union representatives, offer surprising insights into the organizational power struggles that determine the form and performance of new technologies. Thomas urges managers not to put blind hopes into smarter machines but to find smarter ways to organize people.
- ISBN10 0520915070
- ISBN13 9780520915077
- Publish Date 25 March 1994
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint University of California Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 336
- Language English