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The impact of technology on the mental content of work in industrial operations
Industrial operations are becoming more mechanized and
automated. The increasing complexity of work affects the proportion
of physical to mental effort which workers spend in the performance
of their jobs. Traditional work measurement techniques which are
primarily designed to measure the individual's physical load have to
be complemented with other techniques to evaluate his mental load.
This study is aimed at developing a methodology which can be applied
to the analysis and measurement of the mental contribution of
workers and its associated effects.
Information Theory and the Theory of Communication are
used to provide a conceptual framework in which information
processes employed in the performance of industrial tasks are
identified and evaluated.
Depending on their complexity, the various information
processes called mental therbligs, are classified according
to four levels of integrative behavior. Information processing
rates are calculated on the basis of the amount of
information transmitted in the performance of these therbligs.
Average and, where possible, peak rates are obtained for typical
jobs representing two or more technological levels in four different
segments of the forest products industry:
a. Lumber Sorting
b. Lumber Grading
c. Groundwood Pulp Production, and
d. Sulfate (Kraft) Pulp Production.
Thus, the mental content of jobs in each of these industry segments
is evaluated.
The mental contribution of industrial workers is then
analyzed in terms of some of the following:
1. The effects of the repetition cycle rate and the
variability of the tasks' sequence.
2. The effects of increased system complexity on the
ability of operators to cope with the high informational load,
equipment malfunctions and emergency situations.
3. The effects of increased system entropy on the
operator's speed. of responses and on the requirements of system
design.
4. The effects of the addition of a process control computer
on the variability of the process parameters and on the operator's
mental load.
5. The implications regarding training and compensation
of workers slated for the jobs created by new technology
Epilogue: Working the Boundaries of International Relations and Governance Through Empathy, Listening and Questioning
US
Using systems analysis to implement cost-effectiveness and program budgeting in education /
A Metasystem Approach to Organizational Decision-Making
The metasystem approach to organizational decision-making presented in this paper is set in a control systems framework. Decision-making is approached from a control systems viewpoint. The concept of metasystem is introduced as a framework for decision-making about decision-making, that is, the structuring of a decision-nuking process and the determination of organizational objectives. The metasystem framework is illustrated by means of examples drawn from a case study.planning, organizational studies