The management of technical change : automation in the UK and the USA since 1950

This book examines the management of technical change in Britain and the USA in the years since 1945, focusing on the automation of manufacturing and office processes. The management of change is analysed within a political-economic and comparative framework. Résumé : This study examines the management of automation in Britain and America since 1950 and is divided into three parts. The first creates a framework for studying technology transfer by exploring the most important international and national political and economic conditions that affect the pace of this process. The second takes four case studies : automatic transfer technology and computer-controlled machine tools in engineering; accurate and refined instrumentation and control technologies in continuous flow industries like oil refining, chemicals and steel making; computerisation of routine clerical work and management decision-taking; and bank automation as an example of over-enthusiastic learning about the potential of computerisation. the third part deploys the same methodology to understand the impact of Japanisation on both Britain and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of knowledge about technological opportunities and the management of skilled labout throughout parts two and three "This study examines the management of automation in the UK and USA since 1950 and is divided into three parts. The first creates a framework for studying technology transfer by exploring the most important international and national political and economic conditions that affect the pace of this process. The second takes four case studies: automatic transfer technology and computer-controlled machine tools in engineering; accurate and refined instrumentation and control technologies in continuous flow industries like oil refining, chemicals and steel making; computerisation of routine clerical work and management decision-taking; and bank automation as an example of over-enthusiastic learning about the potential of computerisation. The third part deploys the same methodology to understand the impact of Japanisation in both the UK and the USA in the 1980s and 1990s. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of knowledge about technological opportunities and the management of skilled labour throughout parts two and three."--BOOK JACKET Front Matter....Pages i-xi The Political Economy of Technical Change....Pages 1-23 World Roles and International Technology Transfer....Pages 24-47 National Politics of Productivity and Technical Change....Pages 48-70 Automation in Engineering....Pages 71-94 The Continuous Flow Industries: Feedback Control and Computerisation....Pages 95-116 Office Automation: Computers, Clerical Work and Management Systems....Pages 117-140 Bank Automation....Pages 141-164 Japanisation....Pages 165-189 Conclusion....Pages 190-197 Back Matter....Pages 198-274 This book examines the management of technical change in manufacturing and services through an explicit political-economic framework. It examines the management of automation in Britain and America since 1950, and it applies the same useful framework to explore the impact of Japanization on both Britain and the US in the 1980s and 1990s.