Technology and the Future of Work [Hardcover]

This book brings together a set of essays exploring the implications of new technologies in the workplace. The common premise of the contributions is that the effective implementation of automation in manufacturing and engineering operations will typically require a workforce with a higher skill profile. Examining the experience of countries in Europe, Australia, Asia, and the U.S., the book analyzes four themes: the new competencies required for effective implementation of new technologies; how firms can develop these new competencies; the implications of these changes for industrial relations; and how firms can weave together business strategy, technology strategy, and personnel strategy, to build competitive advantage. with greater rather than lesser skills. This argument contradicts the conventional assumption that automation will not only reduce the number of workers required to produce a given product but also require less skilled workers to do so.

Contributors
1. Introduction,Paul S. Adler
2. Automation and Competency Requirements in Manufacturing: A Case Study,Larry Hirshhorn and Joan Mokray
3. Skill and Occupational Changes in U.S. Manufacturing,Paul Attewell
4. Automation and Work in Britain,Peter J. Senker
5. New Concepts of Production and the Emergence of the Systems Controller,Horst Kern and Michael Schumann
6. Institutions and Incentives for Developing Work-Related Knowledge and Skill
7. Issues in Skill Formation in Japanese Approaches to Automation,Robert E. Cole
8. Technology, Industrial Relations, and the Problem of Organizational Transformation,Robert J. Thomas and Thomas A. Kochan
9. Union Initiatives to Restructure Industry in Australia,Max Ogden
10. Transforming the Routines and Contexts of Management, Work, and Technology,Claudio U. Ciborra and Leslie S. Schneider
11. Innovation and Institutions: Notes on the Japanese ParadiglC.