New Process Technology, Job Design, and Work Organization: A Contingency Model

The introduction of programmable machines into blue-collar machining occupations affords an opportunity to study the conditions under which occupational skill upgrading occurs with technological change. How do workplaces that permit blue-collar occupations to take on programming responsibilities dif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American sociological review Vol. 55; no. 2; pp. 191 - 208
Main Author: Kelley, Maryellen R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Albany, N.Y American Sociological Association 01.04.1990
Subjects:
Automatic control
Blue Collar Workers
Computer programming & languages
Computers
Emerging technology
Employment training programs
Industrial Automation
Job Characteristics
Job design
Labor markets
Machinery
Machining
Manufacturing Industries
New technology
Occupations
Organization
Seniority
Social research
Technological change
Technology
United States of America
Work
Work organization
Workplaces
ISSN:0003-1224, 1939-8271
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The introduction of programmable machines into blue-collar machining occupations affords an opportunity to study the conditions under which occupational skill upgrading occurs with technological change. How do workplaces that permit blue-collar occupations to take on programming responsibilities differ from those that do not? This paper presents a contingency model explaining how this choice of job design is mediated by four types of factors: techno-economic forces, internal labor market structures, institutional mechanisms for governing the labor-management relationship, and the organizational context. The data are from a 1986-87 national survey of production managers in a size-stratified random sample of manufacturing establishments in 21 industries. A multivariate logistic regression analysis reveals that the technology and product market alone do not determine job design. The least complex organizations (small plant, small firm) tend to offer the greatest opportunities for skill upgrading, independent of techno-economic conditions--a finding at variance with current labor market segmentation theory.
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ISSN:0003-1224
1939-8271
DOI:10.2307/2095626