scholarly journals New Technology and the Non-Manual Labour Process in Britain

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony E. Smith

Drawing on evidence from five detalled case studies, this paper focuses on the relationship between technical innovation and non-manual skills and work organization. In none of these cases could the introduction of new technologies simply equate technical innovation with deskilling and enhanced managerial control. Indeed, one of the more interesting and important findings of the research was that technological change has been more favourable for technical than for clerical occupational groups.

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilmantė Kumpikaitė ◽  
Ramunė Čiarnienė

There is emerging evidence that new technologies are related to improvements in productivity. Nevertheless, in considering the relationship between new technology and productivity, it is vital to consider human resource management and development issues due to their mediating effects on the relationship between new technology and productivity. This paper focuses on training technologies, especially e‐learning. The increasing use of new technologies to deliver training and to store and communicate knowledge means that trainers must be technologically literate. That is, they must understand the strengths and weaknesses of new technologies and implementation issues such as overcoming users’ resistance to change. The paper reports the findings of a study of 724 Lithuanian employees, which revealed relatively weak usage of new technologies and e‐learning in human resource development processes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-de Liu

Abstract: Through in-depth interviews with Taiwanese newspaper workers, this paper illustrates the “de-skilling” effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on journalists. In recent years, Taiwanese reporters have experienced an increase in workload and an intensification of managerial control due to the introduction of new technologies in the newsroom. Using ICTs in the workplace consequently has harmed journalists’ working conditions and autonomy. Moreover, ICTs have led to a trivialization of reporting tasks and devaluation of reporters’ experience and knowledge. The degradation of reporting work resulting from the use of ICTs has enabled managers at Taiwanese newspapers to hire young employees to fill the jobs of experienced reporters and to reduce salary costs. Résumé : En se fondant sur des entretiens en profondeur menés avec les employés de quotidiens taiwanais, cet article illustre la déqualification de journalistes causée par les technologies de communication et de l’information (TCIs). Depuis quelques années, les reporters taiwanais ont subi une augmentation de leur charge de travail et du contrôle administratif exercé sur eux à la suite de l’introduction de nouvelles technologies dans les salles de nouvelles. Ainsi, les TCIs au travail ont porté atteinte aux conditions de travail et à l’autonomie des journalistes. En outre, les TCIs ont banalisé les tâches des reporters et ont dévalué leur expérience et leur savoir. La dégradation du travail journalistique résultant de l’introduction des TCIs a permis aux dirigeants des quotidiens taiwanais d’engager de jeunes employés à la place de reporters expérimentés et de réduire les salaires.


Author(s):  
Paul Nemitz

Given the foreseeable pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) in modern societies, it is legitimate and necessary to ask the question how this new technology must be shaped to support the maintenance and strengthening of constitutional democracy. This paper first describes the four core elements of today's digital power concentration, which need to be seen in cumulation and which, seen together, are both a threat to democracy and to functioning markets. It then recalls the experience with the lawless Internet and the relationship between technology and the law as it has developed in the Internet economy and the experience with GDPR before it moves on to the key question for AI in democracy, namely which of the challenges of AI can be safely and with good conscience left to ethics, and which challenges of AI need to be addressed by rules which are enforceable and encompass the legitimacy of democratic process, thus laws. The paper closes with a call for a new culture of incorporating the principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights by design in AI and a three-level technological impact assessment for new technologies like AI as a practical way forward for this purpose. This article is part of a theme issue ‘Governing artificial intelligence: ethical, legal, and technical opportunities and challenges’.


Author(s):  
Fen LIN

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English only.In the dominant discourse of the "human–machine relationship," people and machines are the subjects, with a mutually shaping influence. However, this framework neglects the crux of the current critical analysis of AI. It reduces the problems with new technology to the relationship between people and machines, ignoring the re-shaping of the relationship between "people and people" in the era of new technology. This simplification may mislead policy and legal regulations for new technologies. Why would a robot killing cause more panic than a murder committed by a human? Why is a robot's misdiagnosis more troubling than a doctor's? Why do patients assume that machines make more accurate diagnoses than doctors? When a medical accident occurs, who is responsible for the mistakes of an intelligent medical system? In the framework of traditional professionalism, the relationship between doctors and patients, whether trusted or not, is based on the premise that doctors have specialized knowledge that patients do not possess. Therefore, the authority of a doctor is the authority of knowledge. In the age of intelligence, do machines provide information or knowledge? Can this strengthen or weaken the authority of doctors? It is likely that in the age of intelligence, the professionalism, authority and trustworthiness of doctors require a new knowledge base. Therefore, the de-skilling of doctors is not an issue of individual doctors, but demands an update of the knowledge of the entire industry. Recognizing this, policy makers must not focus solely on the use of machines, but take a wider perspective, considering how to promote the development of doctors and coordinate the relationship between doctors with different levels of knowledge development. We often ask, "In the era of intelligence, what defines a human?" This philosophical thinking should be directed toward not only the difference between machines and people as individuals, but also how the relationship between human beings, i.e., the social nature of humans, evolves in different technological environments. In short, this commentary stresses that a "good" machine or an "evil" machine—beyond the sci-fi romance of such discourse—reflects the evolution of the relationships between people. In today's smart age, the critical issue is not the relationship between people and machines. It is how people adjust their relationships with other people as machines become necessary tools in life. In the era of intelligence, therefore, our legislation, policy and ethical discussion should resume their focus on evolutionary relationships between people.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 41 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 831-850
Author(s):  
Raghunandan Reddy ◽  
Arun Kumar Sharma ◽  
Munmun Jha

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine perspective of “gendered labour process” to explore the aspectsof managerialism, which utilize gender as a control measure to achieve its ends. The paper seeks to integrate gender and labour process theory and contribute to studies on gendering of organizations that focus on organization logic as well as integrated studies of labour process theory and gender. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilizes thematic analysis as the method for analysing the interviews of senior managers in an information technology service organization in India, to identify managerial ideologies and practices. Findings A gendered labour process perspective could reveal the institutional orders that systemically discriminate or exclude women in organizations, rather than gender ideologies alone. Practical implications Rather than focussing on gender sensitization alone, as is the case with the gender diversity initiatives, it may be fruitful to revisit work design and work organization, to identify and implement changes, so that women’s marginalization and exclusion from certain workplaces could be minimized. Social implications A view of gendered labour process could aid public policies aimed at enabling women to continue their employment without disruptions. Originality/value The paper attempted to integrate gender and labour process theory by delineating the organization logic that deploys gender as a means of managerial control.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S717-S717
Author(s):  
D.F. Burgese ◽  
D.P. Bassitt ◽  
D. Ceron-Litvoc ◽  
G.B. Liberali

With the advent of new technologies, the man begins to experience a significant change in the perception of the other, time and space. The acceleration of time promoted by new technology does not allow the exercise of affection for the consolidation of ties, relations take narcissists hues seeking immediate gratification and the other is understood as a continuation of the self, the pursuit of pleasure. It is the acceleration of time, again, which leads man to present the need for immediate, always looking for the new – not new – in an attempt to fill an inner space that is emptied. The retention of concepts and pre-stressing of temporality are liquefied, become fleeting. We learn to live in the world and the relationship with the other in a frivolous and superficial way. The psychic structure, facing new phenomena experienced, loses temporalize capacity and expand its spatiality, it becomes pathological. Post-modern inability to retain the past, to analyze the information received and reflect, is one of the responsible for the mental illness of today's society. From a temporality range of proper functioning, the relationship processes with you and your peers will have the necessary support to become viable and healthy.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Paruzel ◽  
Dominik Bentler ◽  
Katharina D. Schlicher ◽  
Wolfgang Nettelstroth ◽  
Günter W. Maier

Abstract. Digitization and connectivity are hot topics for nearly every company today; numerous new technologies offer diverse options. In this project, a specific technology − smart glasses − was implemented in a manufacturing company. The implementation process was innovative, as the employees’ perspective was taken into account from the beginning, rather than solely designing the technological aspects and involving the users after decisions were taken. Employees involved with the new technology were surveyed to take into account the employees’ expectations and fears regarding work design characteristics. This allowed us to customize features of the smart glasses, adapt the work organization, and inform employees about unclear points concerning the implementation process. Moreover, the competencies required for future work were analyzed using a comprehensive work analysis method. We report the results of two quantitative studies and summarize the lessons learned from this project, which can serve as a guideline for other companies.


1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (13) ◽  
pp. 811-815
Author(s):  
Charles M. Slem ◽  
Daniel J. Levi ◽  
Andrew Young

Slem, Levi and Young (1986) developed a model of the psychological impact of technological change on the workforce. The purpose of current research was to investigate the relationship between stress and technological change. The “Impact of Technological Change Survey” was administered to workers in five large electronics manufacturing corporations. Almost one-third of the workforce believed that technological change would make the individual's job more stressful. Over 20% were worried about the future of their jobs. Anticipated role conflict, role ambiguity, and quantitative role overload produced the strongest and most consistent relationships with the global measure of stress. Qualitative role overload and beliefs about reduction in force were more closely allied to job insecurity stress. Anticipated stress is reduced somewhat when technological change is seen as providing personal and organizational benefits or when the organization is perceived as effectively dealing with the transition to the new technology.


Author(s):  
Jill Kickul ◽  
Elizabeth Belgio ◽  
Tim Hanna

This study seeks to determine the influence of the underlying factors and barriers that may inhibit the implementation of new technological investments by entrepreneurial firms. These factors and barriers may include the potential costs, risk of failure, low technological awareness, lack of an outside organization to facilitate development, lack of approachable organizations with which to form partnerships, and lack of contact with other organizations that have implemented technology successfully. Using structural equation modelling (LISREL VIII), results revealed that the value and importance that entrepreneurs placed on learning and adopting new technologies, in addition to the risk of failure, mediated the relationship between many of these barriers and the firms' technological investment during the past year, as well as their willingness to spend on new technology in the future.


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