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Human Control Capabilities
Abstract
This chapter has been triggered by the experience that the implementation of new information technology (IT) supporting planning,
scheduling, and control – although being more sophisticated than earlier systems – does not necessarily result in better control.
Also, the experience was made that the implementation of the same IT leads to different results in similar organisations.
Against this background, we introduce a process model of control (Sect. 10.2). The model proposes a set of interrelated factors
determining control. At its core it assumes that control results as a fit of control requirements and control behaviour. The
former is determined by operational uncertainties the latter by control opportunities, control skills and control motivation.
Since the implementation of a new IT can have an impact on all these factors it can lead to a misfit of control behaviour
and control requirements and hence to low control – even if the new IT itself is more powerful than the old IT. Furthermore,
we also discuss motivational influences these changes may have on human behaviour (Sect. 10.3). Finally we derive some practical
dos and don’ts when implementing new IT (Sect. 10.4).
... Dadurch wird die Qualität der Ergebnisse beeinflusst, die vom Gesamtsystem produziert werden. Eine Vernachlässigung der sozialen Komponente, wie z.B. des Disponenten, kann dazu führen, dass der (wirtschaftliche) Erfolg bei der Einführung oder Erneuerung des technischen Systems, wie z.B. einer Planungssoftware, ausbleibt oder sich verschlechtert (Wäfler u. a., 2011). ...
... Eine hohe Akzeptanz bedeutet, dass das System effektiv und in der vorgesehenen Art und Weise eingesetzt wird (Garača, 2011). Eine niedrige Akzeptanz führt dazu, dass der Einsatz des Systems ganz oder teilweise vermieden und stattdessen auf andere Hilfsmittel, wie z.B. papierbasierte Planung oder Excel-Tabellen, zurückgegriffen wird (Wäfler u. a., 2011). Die Kosten für die Anschaffung des technischen Systems in einem Unternehmen werden dabei nicht durch den finanziellen Nutzen seines Einsatzes gedeckt (Amoako-Gyampah, 2007). ...
Mit Hilfe von modernen Feinplanungssystemen kann die Produktions-, Flotten- oder Personaleinsatzplanung nahezu vollständig automatisiert werden. Für den Disponenten wird dadurch der Planungsaufwand erheblich reduziert. Gleichzeitig bieten diese Systeme dem Disponenten jedoch häufig nur unzureichende Interaktionsmöglichkeiten, um sein eigenes Expertenwissen in die Planerstellung einfließen zu lassen. Das Finden und Umsetzen von passenden Planungsentscheidungen ist häufig ein aufwändiger und fehleranfälliger Prozess, der vom Computer nicht unterstützt wird. Dieser Mangel kann die Brauchbarkeit der Pläne und damit den Nutzen des Planungssystems erheblich beeinträchtigen. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Konzept für die Gestaltung der Mensch-Computer-Interaktion in Feinplanungssystemen entwickelt, mit dem eine effektive Einbeziehung des Disponenten abgesichert werden kann. Im Gegensatz zu herkömmlichen Interaktionskonzepten baut es auf wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen über menschliche Entscheidungs- und Entwurfsprozesse auf. Dadurch ist es möglich, eine Computerunterstützung sowohl für die Ermittlung als auch für die Umsetzung von Planungsentscheidungen durch den Disponenten zu definieren. Zudem ist das Konzept auf beliebige Feinplanungsprobleme anwendbar. Es setzt sich aus 9 Interaktionsrichtlinien zusammen, deren Effektivität in einem Anwendertest nachgewiesen wird.
... A typical field for this research is the course of great software implementation projects. It is possible to design models to describe the development of interde- pendence between emotions in organizations and the technical and organizational process of software implementation projects (von der Weth & Starker, 2010). These case studies show that the general phenomenon of resistance against change should be analysed in a more differentiated way. ...
The rate of failure in projects is much higher than would be expected. In fact, there seems to be a close connection. As statistics reveal, only a small percentage of projects can be claimed to be successful. Most cited failure factors are unclear objectives, insufficient communication, lack of top management support, and poor scheduling. As we show, these factors disregard the context, genesis, and transfer of projects. Failure starts already with collecting and selecting good ideas. After that, the planning is much more crucial than most people would expect. Finally, projects can fail at the end when an organisation is confronted with the generated outcomes. The most general cause of failure, however, lies in the reason for existence of projects. We assume projects exist to fail. The article is illustrated with a case study and ends with some recommendations on how to deal with failure.
... This is why my colleagues and I have proposed a different perspective on organizational control capabilities that involves a differentiation between structural control and operational control Wäfler et al., 2011). Both control modes are based on a specific distribution of authority within an organization. ...
Human Factors als interdisziplinäre Wissenschaft untersucht die Interaktion von Mensch und Technologie. Sicherheit, Zuverlässigkeit und Produktivität sind ihre wichtigsten Anliegen. Heutige Arbeitsumgebungen werden immer stärker informatisiert, virtualisiert, anpassungsfähig und dynamisch. Die zugrundeliegenden vernetzten Technologien sind hoch komplex und verteilt. Dadurch entstehen sowohl für die theoretischen Fundamente als auch für die methodologischen Ansätze von Human Factors einige Herausforderungen. Durch Bezugnahme auf das Anwendungsfeld der Produktionsplanung und –steuerung (PPS) und Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systeme als ein Beispiel für eine solche Arbeitsumgebung macht diese Dissertation explizit, wie Human Factors daran scheitert wesentliche Fragen und Probleme aus diesem Typ von Umgebung zu beantworten. In einer Übersicht über die Human Factors Forschung in PPS werden diese offenen Fragen summarisch dargestellt. Als Konsequenz dieser Beobachtungen schlage ich eine philosophische Umorientierung, basierend auf der Denkschule des kritischen Realismus, und eine Erweiterung der philosophischen Annahmen von Human Factors als Disziplin vor. Dabei fokussiere ich mich auf Handlungsmacht (Engl.: agency) und soziale Strukturen als zentrale Konzepte für das Verständnis von menschlichem Verhalten. Dieses meta-theoretische, ontologische Fundament ermöglicht dann eine vertiefte Diskussion der existierenden methodologischen Ansätze im Feld der PPS. Diese Überlegungen führen zur Formulierung eines kritisch-realistischen Theorie/Methoden-Pakets für Human Factors, mit welchem die identifizierten Forschungsfragen im Feld der PPS angegangen werden können. Um meine Reflexionen über eine so entwickelte kritische Human Factors Perspektive zu illustrieren, wende ich das vorgeschlagene Paket von ausgewählten Methoden retrospektiv auf empirisches Material aus zwei Fallstudien in mittelgrossen Industrieunternehmen an. In der ersten Fallstudie verwende ich die sozio-kognitive Diskursanalyse um Praxis-Positionen, Intentionalität und Spannungsfelder im Zusammenhang mit ERP-Einführungen und der Benützung dieser Systeme aufzuzeigen. Die zweite Fallstudie ergänzt die erste durch die Verwendung einer erweiterten Form der Cognitive Work Analysis und Archer’s morphogenetischem Ansatz zur Analyse des Arbeitsumfeldes. Ich schliesse mit Implikationen die sich aus der Diskussion der Anwendbarkeit und der Erklärungskraft des vorgeschlagenen Theorie/Methoden Paketes ergeben. Vom hier eingenommenen Standpunkt her wird eine politisch bewusstere und selbst-kritischere Positionierung von Human Factors befürwortet. Durch die Integration von Handlungsmacht und sozialen Strukturen in unser Denken über Technologien werden unsere Gestaltungs- und Entwicklungs-Interventionen besser auf die vernetzten Arbeitsplätze und die globalisierten Arbeitskräfte, mit denen wir uns zunehmend beschäftigen, abgestimmt werden.
Smart Manufacturing aims to digitize and automate manufacturing and decision-making processes by implementing technological systems ranging from assistance systems to complete enterprise resource planning solutions. The next step, Industry 5.0, emphasizes the importance of including employees and their knowledge in decision-making and problem-solving processes. This paper contributes to increase employees’ acceptance of and trust in technological systems and investigates correlations between the characteristics of the task to be solved, the environmental situation, the human and the technological support system. Thereby, the focus is set on production planning as a complex task with various influencing factors, which relies on human expert knowledge and can be supported using technological systems. A model is developed and validated using a case study. The proposed approach enables companies to maximize the usefulness and positive effects of technological systems while ensuring that employees voluntarily participate.
Organization redesign has become widely acceptedas a regular task for management, recently invigoratedby the interest in Business Process Reengineering. Inspite of that, it is still a neglected area in organization science. This paper emphasizesthe importance of design theory and design-orientedresearch. The potential role of design theory isexemplified by the description of IntegralOrganizational Renewal (IOR), a design theory grounded inpractical experience in the Netherlands. This approachcan be viewed as a Dutch variant of SociotechnicalSystems Design. The essence of this approach lies in the transformation of complex organizationsoffering simple jobs into simple organizations offeringcomplex jobs. IOR can both be regarded as an expertapproach and as a route for self-design. The approach enables the members of the organization todevelop and use their own design expertise. IOR istherefore not only a strategy for organization design,but for organization development as well. The paperpoints to opportunities to make organization researchmore relevant to organization practice.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and teamworking both entail significant changes to work on the shop-floor. However, a study of 24 Danish manufacturing enterprises found both change programs were rarely explicitly tuned to each other, with little direct interaction in a majority of cases. A case study shows the importance of, and the micro-political difficulties involved in getting companies to configure ERP-systems to support teamworking.
This paper answers the question, "Why do organizations process information?" Uncertainty and equivocality are defined as two forces that influence information processing in organizations. Organization structure and internal systems determine both the amount and richness of information provided to managers. Models are proposed that show how organizations can be designed to meet the information needs of technology, interdepartmental relations, and the environment. One implication for managers is that a major problem is lack of clarity, not lack of data. The models indicate how organizations can be designed to provide information mechanisms to both reduce uncertainty and resolve equivocality.
The research literature on environmental uncertainty is briefly reviewed to illustrate problems and inconsistencies in conceptualizing and measuring the construct. Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment are described and their implications for the behavior of an organization's administrators are discussed. The failure to differentiate between these types may explain some of the confusion about environmental uncertainty.
This paper examines the effectiveness of the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in improving service quality in the Taiwanese semiconductor industry by assessing the expectations and the perceptions of service quality from the perspectives of both upstream manufacturers and downstream customers. The study first establishes a modified service quality gap model incorporating: (i) the downstream customers’ expectations and perceptions, and (ii) the upstream manufacturers’ perceptions of the customers’ expectations and perceptions. An empirical study by questionnaire survey is then undertaken to investigate the gaps proposed in the research model. The results show that service quality gaps do exist in the Taiwanese semiconductor industry between upstream manufacturers that are implementing ERP and their downstream customers. The study shows that the proposed model provides valuable guidance to manufacturers with respect to the prevention, detection, and elimination of the demonstrated service quality gaps. The model thus helps manufacturers to evaluate the contribution of various ERP modules to improved customer satisfaction with service quality and also provides guidance on improvement strategies to enhance service quality by eliminating quality gaps.
An effective IT infrastructure can support a business vision and strategy; a poor, decentralized one can break a company. More and more companies are turning to off-the-shelf ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions for IT planning and legacy systems management. The authors have developed a framework to help managers successfully plan and implement an ERP project
Situation awareness (SA) is an important component of pilot/system performance in all types of aircraft. It is the role of the human factors engineer to develop aircraft cockpits which will enhance SA. Research in the area of situation awareness is is vitally needed if system designers are to meet the challenge of providing cockpits which enhance SA. This paper presents a discussion of the SA construct, important considerations facing designers of aircraft systems, and current research in the area of SA measurement.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard inscription is adhered to through software configuration. A social shaping perspective expands conceptualisations of ERP packages, enabling a view of them as configurational technologies. Thus, ERP integration is opened up and the integration through standardisation thesis is challenged.
Unlike other living creatures, humans can adapt to uncertainty. They can form hypotheses about situations marked by uncertainty and can anticipate their actions by planning. They can expect the unexpected and take precautions against it. In numerous experiments, we have investigated the manner in which humans deal with these demands. In these experiments, we used computer simulated scenarios representing, for example, a small town, ecological or economic systems or political systems such as a Third World country. Within these computer-simulated scenarios, the subjects had to look for information, plan actions, form hypotheses, etc.
Current strategic and technological trends in discrete-part manufacturing require extensive and #exible automation of the underlying production systems. However, even though a great deal of work has been done to facilitate manufacturing automation at the hardware component level, currently there is no adequately developed control methodology for these environments.
Der unternehmensinterne Umgang mit Wissen ist heute bedeutender denn je. Das zeigen zahlreiche Modelle und praktische Konzepte, die in den letzten Jahren verstärkt aufgetreten sind.
"Wissen managen" schildert an Fallbeispielen aus namhaften Unternehmen, wie der sinnvolle und innovative Einsatz von Wissen den Vorsprung von Spitzenunternehmen sichert. Die Autoren vermitteln das praktische Rüstzeug, mit dem sich betriebliches Wissen systematisieren, pflegen, verteilen und effizient nutzen lässt.
- Bausteine des Wissensmanagements
- Wissensziele definieren
- Wissen identifizieren, erwerben, entwickeln, (ver)teilen
- Wissen nutzen, bewahren und bewerten
- Verankerung des Wissens(managements)
- Erfahrungen aus der Umsetzung und Fallstudien
Das Standardwerk zu Wissensmanagement in der 5., überarbeiteten Auflage - mit vielen Fallbeispielen, aktuellen Untersuchungsergebnissen und einem zusätzlichen Abschnitt über neue Technologien.
Professor Dr. Gilbert Probst ist Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Organisation und Management an der Universität Genf und Direktor des dortigen MBA-Programms. Als Gründer des Geneva Knowledge Forums und der Strategic Knowledge Group unterstützt er zahlreiche Unternehmen.
Dr. Steffen Raub ist Professor für Organizational Behavior und Human Resources an der EHL Lausanne und Dr. Kai Romhardt ist selbständiger Trainer, Coach und Berater in Berlin.
We analyze the differential effects of task conflicts, resource conflicts, and resistance against the implementation of process innovations in organizations. We argue that task conflicts have positive and negative effects, but that resource conflicts have consistently negative effects on the implementation of process innovations. These assumptions were tested on a sample of middle managers from different German organizations of various sizes and sectors by using linear structural equation modeling. All fit indices confirm the adequacy of the model regarding direct and indirect effects of the type of conflict and of resistance as predictors for the implementation of process innovations. Resource conflicts are shown to have the most negative effect on implementation
We analyze the differential effects of task conflicts, resource conflicts, and resistance against the implementation of process innovations in organizations. We argue that task conflicts have positive and negative effects, but that resource conflicts have consistently negative effects on the implementation of process innovations. These assumptions were tested on a sample of middle managers from different German organizations of various sizes and sectors by using linear structural equation modeling. All fit indices confirm the adequacy of the model regarding direct and indirect effects of the type of conflict and of resistance as predictors for the implementation of process innovations. Resource conflicts are shown to have the most negative effect on implementation.
Production planning and control (PPC) is to a large extent the domain of engineers. This is particularly true for production and production-related tasks which have to do with efficient and effective utilization of technical resources. Such tasks include, for example, scheduling, capacity planning, order release and order monitoring.
This volume distinguishes between two main traditions in the philosophy of science - the aristotelian, with its stress on explanation in terms of purpose and intentionality, and the galilean, which takes causal explanation as primary. It then traces the complex history of these competing traditions as they are manifested in such movements as positivism, idealism, Marxism and contemporary linguistic analysis. Hempels's theory of scientific explanation, the claims of cybernetics the rise of an analytic philosophy of action and the revival of hermenuetics are all discussed. The volume also deals with causal explanation, intentionality and teleological explanation, and explanation in history and the social sciences. The author concludes that explanation of human actions cannot be reduced to simple causality, and discusses the implications of this conclusion for the disciplines of history and sociology.
This research study examines associations between the business characteristics of manufacturing firms and their perceived benefits from ERP system investments. the perceived ERP benefits are measured at two levels: (1) an enterprise level and (2) a specific IT module level. the perceived value for ERP investments was consistently better explained at the specific IT module level.
This paper describes the importance of allocating functions in advanced manufacturing systems, both for the system and for the people. Existing approaches to allocation are reviewed, along with some of their weaknesses. A set of requirements of allocation methods is outlined, which if met would promote their ‘usability’ for designers. As a result of collaborating in an ESPRIT CIM project, a new method for function allocation is described and its potential usability assessed.
This publication is book published by Sage in 1998.
Job and Work Design equips readers with a sound understanding of research, theory, and the practical aspects of job design. This volume critiques the theory and research that provide the foundations of our current understanding of job design, pointing to a need for methodological improvements and a broader conceptual focus. The authors examine recent innovations in manufacturing technologies, techniques, and philosophies and how these affect work design and research and practice. The authors also look at wider trends in manufacturing and elsewhere, such as teleworking, downsizing, the development of a contingent workforce, and the changing composition of the workforce. The volume describes how the redesign of work has implications for wider organizational systems (such as human resources and information systems) as well as implications for multiple stakeholders (such as supervisors, support staff, management, and unions). In addition, it suggests ways to effectively manage the work redesign process, including key stages involved in redesigning work, some useful tools and methods, and the change agentÆs critical role. The book concludes with some final thoughts that draw together arguments regarding the past and future of work design theory and practice. Job and Work Design will be of interest to students and professors of management, organizational studies, industrial/organizational psychology, public administration, social and personality psychology, sociology of work, and gender issues.
This paper examines the nature and timing of post-implementation activities for ERPS adopting firms. We extend both the scope and granularity of prior literature to use seven categories of post-implementation activities theorized in the Nicolaou [Nicolaou, A.I. (2004b), “Quality of post-implementation review for enterprise resource planning systems” Int J Account Inf Syst 5 (May): pp. 25–49.] framework as our unit of analysis. We also examine the timing of those post-implementation events and classify firms in clusters characterizing the timing of such activities. We find that both the nature of post-implementation events and their timing are important for post-implementation change making firms. Specifically, ERPS change firms demonstrate improved differential performance as a result of their use of post-implementation activities that contribute to better system implementation planning and business process effectiveness when undertaken shortly after the initial system implementation. On the other hand, system deployment-related post-implementation activities that typically occur at later stages of system operation appear to have a negative impact on a firm's short-run profitability. Our results should be of interest to ERPS adopting firms considering post-implementation changes. We find that no post-implementation change is universally good just as no timing is universally efficacious. Therefore, firms that match their post-implementation changes appropriately with the best timing for such changes stand to derive differential performance gains over peers that do not. However, some changes are inherently more risky.
Presents an animal model of how learned helplessness may manifest itself as depression and anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
L’accession au pouvoir est présentée comme une recette universelle pour améliorer la performance au travail. On défend ici l’idée qu’il existe déjà des arguments forts pour penser que cette conviction est des plus discutables, et que l’impact de la participation dépendra du degré de l’incertitude opérationnelle qui prévaut. Notre point de vue s’appuie sur une analyse des idées qui émergent conjointement de cinq domaines, à savoir les théories des organisations, la structuration du travail, le management “zéro défaut”, le management des facteurs humains et celui des ressources humaines. On met en évidence les conséquences théoriques et pratiques de nos investigations et certaines des pistes à suivre pour approfondir la réflexion.
Empowerment is being promoted as a general recipe for enhancing work performance. We argue that there are already strong grounds for suggesting that this universalistic assumption is flawed, and that the effectiveness of empowerment practices will be contingent on the degree of operational uncertainty that prevails. This argument is supported by an analysis of ideas in common emerging from five different areas of inquiry, namely those concerned with organisational theory, work design, total quality management, human factors, and human resource management. We identify the theoretical and practical implications of our analysis, and some of the lines of investigation required to develop the ideas further.
This paper reviews literature that examines the design, implementation and use of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs). It finds that most of this literature is managerialist in orientation, and concerned with the impact of ERPs in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and business performance. The paper seeks to provide an alternative research agenda, one that emphasises work- and organisation-based approaches to the study of the implementation and use of ERPs. © 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation
Previous empirical work demonstrated that self-managing teamwork and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are difficult to combine in practice, and have called for the development of templates for configuring ERP systems to support teamworking. This requires a view on organisation design, dealing with both in an integrated fashion. ‘Modern Socio-technology’ provides such a view. We discuss its underlying principles and show how it relates to ERP.
Many firms have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in the past few years. The expensive nature of these systems requires that effective usage of these systems be attained in order for an organization to derive the expected benefits from the technology. This study looks at the influence that perceived usefulness, user involvement, argument for change, prior usage and ease of use have on the behavioral intention to use an ERP system. A mail survey was used to collect data in an organization that was implementing an ERP system. A total of 571 responses were obtained. The results indicate that users perception of the perceived usefulness, ease of use of the technology, and the users’ level of intrinsic involvement all affect their intention to use the technology. The results seem to suggest that managerial efforts aimed at increasing the users’ perceptions of the usefulness and personal relevance of the technology will contribute to implementation success, where success is defined as effectual usage of the technology. The paper ends with possible extensions to this study.
Traditionally, various ERP implementation factors have been deemed critical to success within diverse business environments. The interaction relationships among these ERP implementation success factors, however, have been overlooked. The objective of this study is to explore the interaction patterns among the ERP implementation success factors from a covariation (co-alignment) perspective. We conceptualize the “consistency” among the factors that facilitate ERP implementation and evaluate them in terms of their positive impact on successful ERP implementation. The results from a field survey of 90 Taiwanese manufacturing firms show that the “consistency” among these facilitating factors of ERP implementation had a significant positive impact on ERP implementation success. The factors examined in this study include vendor support, consultant competence, ERP project team member competence, ERP project manager leadership, top management support, and user support. Implications for managers and researchers conclude this study.
Over the past few years, firms around the world have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to have a standardized information system (IS) in their respective organizations and to reengineer their business processes. While millions of dollars have been spent on implementing ERP systems, previous research indicates that potential users may still not use them. This study, based on data from 51 end-users in 24 companies examines various usability factors affecting end-user satisfaction with ERP systems. The results indicate that both perceived usefulness and learnability are determinants of end-user satisfaction with ERP systems. In addition perceived ease of use and system capability affect perceived usefulness, while user guidance influences both perceived usefulness and learnability. Implications of these findings are discussed and further research opportunities described.
How an organization handles uncertainties stemming from its own production processes and from its environment, is a central characteristic of its functioning. Many organizations, foremost those which have to handle substantial health and safety risks, aim at minimizing uncertainties. This is in contrast with newer organization theory which argues for enabling local competence for coping with uncertainties. Both approaches with their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed and consequences for system design drawn.
This paper presents a literature review of the critical success factors (CSFs) in the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) across 10 different countries/regions. The review covers journals, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertation, and textbooks from these 10 different countries/regions. Through a review of the literature, 18 CSFs were identified, with more than 80 sub-factors, for the successful implementation of ERP. The findings of our study reveal that ‘appropriate business and IT legacy systems’, ‘business plan/vision/goals/justification’, ‘business process reengineering’, ‘change management culture and programme’, ‘communication’, ‘ERP teamwork and composition’, ‘monitoring and evaluation of performance’, ‘project champion’, ‘project management’, ‘software/system development, testing and troubleshooting’, ‘top management support’, ‘data management’, ‘ERP strategy and implementation methodology’, ‘ERP vendor’, ‘organizational characteristics’, ‘fit between ERP and business/process’, ‘national culture’ and ‘country-related functional requirement’ were the commonly extracted factors across these 10 countries/regions. In these 18 CSFs, ‘top management support’ and ‘training and education’ were the most frequently cited as the critical factors to the successful implementation of ERP systems.
It is widely acknowledged that the safe and efficient supervisory control of complex dynamic systems requires that human operators are capable of checking the state of the controlled system against given performance criteria. In addition, it is important to consider how changes in the state of the controlled system and its environment influence the control situation: the possibility of bringing about system state changes by performing control actions on the controlled system ( the control possibilities), and the requirements for bringing about appropriate state changes in the controlled system ( the control requirements). This paper addresses fundamental problems related to the design of human-machine systems that can track changes in control situations. Based on a theoretical analysis of control actions, a generic structure is proposed for control situations. The issues of how to specify control situations and how to derive changes in the control situation, based on a representation of the work domain, are also addressed, using examples.
Because stress implies a particular kind of commerce between a person (or animal) and environment, it provides an ideal vehicle for addressing the subject matter of this book on internal and external determinants of behavior. We believe this issue is expressed especially well by differentiating between two metatheoretical concepts, transaction and interaction. We have been drawn inexorably toward an emphasis on transaction by the very nature of stress phenomena and the evolving theoretical perspective within which we have worked.
This paper provides an account of the way Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems change over time. These changes are conceptualized as a biographical accumulation that gives the specific ERP technology its present character, attributes and historicity. The paper presents empirics from the implementation of an ERP package within an Australasian organization. Changes to the ERP take place as a result of imperatives which arise during the implementation. Our research and evidence then extends to a different time and place where the new release of the ERP software was being `sold' to client firms in the UK. We theorize our research through a lens based on ideas from actor network theory (ANT) and the concept of biography. The paper seeks to contribute an additional theorization for ANT studies that places the focus on the technological object and frees it from the ties of the implementation setting. The research illustrates the opportunistic and contested fabrication of a technological object and emphasizes the stability as well as the fluidity of its technologic.
In the design of a production control system much attention is usually paid to technicalaspects, whereas the elaboration upon social aspects remain underexposed. SociotechnicalSystems Theory (SST) emphasizes the importance of finding a joint optimization between the technical and the social systems of an organization. This paper investigates to what extent STS-principles can be applied in the design of a production control system. Part of the paper is devoted to the integration of STS-principles in a bottom-up design methodology for a production control system. A case study demonstrates the usefulness of such an integration in the design and allocation of production control tasks and responsibilities among the various departments /people of the firm.
This article presents a formal reconstruction of James D. Thompson's classic contribution to organization theory, Organizations in Action. The reconstruction explicates the underlying argumentation structure for Thompson's propositions---literally, theorems or problems to be demonstrated. This allows Thompson's propositions to be derived as theorems in a deductive theory. As it turns out, the formal theory is based on general assumptions using only few primitive concepts. In addition, this theory explains why Thompson's propositions do not hold for noncomplex or "atomic" organizations (a restriction on the domain of application). Furthermore, this study reveals that organizations attempt to reduce constraints in their environment---a heretofore unknown implication of the theory. 1 Introduction Thompson's Organizations in Action was published more than three decades ago but is still one of the classics of organization theory. The book provides a unifying perspective on open- and clos...
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