What Machines Can't Do

Robert J. Thomas is Professor of Organizational Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Citizenship, Gender, and Work: Social Organization of Industrial Agriculture (California, 1985).

• Preface1. IntroductionBridging Determinism and ChoiceThe Power-Process PerspectiveHistory MattersDissimilar Logics in an Organizational ContextChoice, Change, and WorldviewsUnderstanding Technological Choice and ChangeCase Studies in ContextResearch MethodsSite and Case SelectionReporting FindingsOrganization of the Book2. Technology as a Power Tool:Technological Choice in an Aircraft CompanyThe Industrial and Organizational ContextThe Aircraft CompanyCase 1: The Flexible Machining SystemChoosing Between TechnologiesSymptoms Versus CausesBringing Interests to the SurfaceChoosing Within the TechnologyFinessing the ROIPitching the TechnologyImplementing the TechnologySymbolic SensorsConclusionCase 2: The Robotized Assembly CellChoosing Between TechnologiesThe Dangers of "Real Engineering"Going Outside, Not Inside, for HelpChoosing Within the TechnologyPreventing a Range WarLeast Common DenominatorImplementing the TechnologyEpilogueConclusionCase 3: Shop-Programmable Machine ToolsChoosing Between TechnologiesChoosing Within the TechnologyImplementing the TechnologyConclusionConclusions and Implications3. Between Invention and Convention:Technological Choice in a Computer CompanyThe Industrial and Organizational ContextThe TechnologyChoosing Between TechnologiesThe Official StoryThe Unofficial StoryBetween Convention and InventionBuilding a MovementNetworkingAn External ThreatProduct OpeningsChoosing Within the TechnologyThe Great Investment Bake-OffImplementing the TechnologyEast Coast: From Slack to StressThe Temp SolutionBack to ConventionWest Coast: Lights On or Lights Out?Too Much TechnologyThe Cult of the ExpertConclusion4. Collaborative Change:Technological Choice in an Aluminum CompanyThe Aluminum Products CompanyThe TechnologyChoosing Between TechnologiesChoosing Within the TechnologyImplementing the TechnologyUp and RunningHitting a Brick WallCommunicating Across BoundariesConclusion5. A Contest over Content:Technological Choice in the Auto IndustryThe Auto CompanyThe TechnologyChoosing Between TechnologiesCorporate ControlPlant AutonomyUnion-Management RelationsManufacturing Renaissance and Real EngineeringFrom Context to ContentChoosing Within the TechnologyContested TechnologyA Language of Common InterestsGetting to "Yes"Implementing the TechnologyOwning the TechnologyUp and RunningConclusion6. Politics and TechnologyThe Limits ofT echnological DeterminismThe Impact of Organization on TechnologyBreaking Institutional Molds from WithinHow Independent Is Technology?The Limits of Social ChoiceWhose Strategy? Whose Choice?Class Action?The Power-Process Perspective: An ElaborationPurposive StructuringThe Political HandTechnology PoliticsCrossing the Bridge Between Determinism and ChoiceThe Politics of Innovation and Innovative PoliticsImplications for Research and Theory7. The Politics and Aesthetics of ManufacturingPolitics and ChangeThe Status of ManufacturingDesign H Manufacturing?Knowledge and PowerProduct and Process ReconsideredThe Search for an Aesthetic of ProcessAppendix 1. Talking TechnologyAppendix 2. Preliminary Coding CategoriesAppendix 3. Definition of Coding CategoriesReferencesIndex