Socio-Technical Theory and Work Systems in the Information Age

Work Systems As Socio-Technical Systems

After the Second World War many companies mechanised their production systems in the confident expectation of great improvements in productivity. In many instances, however, the results fell far below expectations. The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London undertook a number of studies to explore why the results were so disappointing. In one of these studies Trist et al (1963) studied the introduction of longwall coal mining techniques in two coalfields in England. In longwall coal mining the traditional small coalface worked by a small group of miners using pick and shovel was replaced by a long coalface in which the coal was ‘shot fired’ and then loaded onto conveyor belts that ran the length of the face. What the investigators found was that, although the technology made it easier to win coal, the social structure of the work roles of the miners had been completely changed in ways that made it difficult for them to co-operate. Whereas the small team at the coal face had previously worked closely together to complete the whole mining process, there were now three shifts of miners on the longwall coalface undertaking different activities on different shifts, e.g. one shift was devoted entirely to dismantling equipment and moving it forward. Each shift now had its own specialised staff devoted to the tasks that were intended to be undertaken on their shift. The new organisation was proving inflexible and whenever problems occurred, a very common occurrence in difficult underground conditions, the work of whole shifts could be lost. The authors coined the term socio-technical to demonstrate that, whilst the technical system might be an improvement on the old one, if its use disrupted the tightly organised system of work roles that was the social system, the result would be sub-optimal performance of the overall work system.