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The Contributions of Eric Trist to the Social Engagement of Social Science

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This article addresses the contributions of Eric Trist to the social sciences. Among his contributions to the literature are the formulation of sociotechnical systems theory; the conceptualization of self-directed work teams; the development of the notion of organizations as open systems in the context of environments with unique causal textures; the formulation of social ecology as a new field of inquiry; and the creation of processes for bringing about change on the individual, group, organizational, and interorganizational levels. Underlying all of his theoretical contributions is his innovative work with groups, organizations, and communities around the world, reflecting his commitment to social science that is socially engaged in the service of humanity.
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... Management saw the source of their problems in the workers' unwillingness to comply with directives about how to exploit the new technology. The local workforce insisted that the new technology could not be operated as directed by the engineers, because of extremely unpredictable underground conditions and resulting safety issues [23]. Yet, results in one mine, in which management chose the approach of closely collaborating with the workers, were extremely good [22]. ...
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... The same is true for the assumption that awareness is key [3]. Instead, it is a range of social factors [23] that contribute to safe behaviour. As technology advanced from coal mines to cloud computing, the underlying principles of STS still apply. ...
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