Question

What Trist (1993) had discovered was a new paradigm of work, and what is interesting, the coal miners had designed it themselves. Trist went on to conceptualize and further develop the new paradigm, and it became known as sociotechnical systems, a new field of inquiry and approach to organization change. Some of the primary principles of sociotechnical systems are as follows (Trist, 1993):1-Work organizations consist of two interdependent systems: the technical system (equipment, machinery, chemical processes, etc.) and the social system (individual workers and groups of workers).2-The work system is the basic unit, comprising a set of activities that make up a functioning whole, rather than single jobs and tasks.3-The work group, rather than the individual jobholder, is central.4-Regulation of the system is performed by the group itself, instead of by supervisors (completely counter to Taylor’s scientific management notions).5-An individual worker is complementary to the machine, rather than an extension of it. There is more to the sociotechnical systems field than these principles; however, those presented are designed to provide a flavor of sociotechnical systems thinking.Considering organization change through a sociotechnical lens means that one would gather data about both the social and technical systems but would then consider and act with the perspective that the two are interdependent: A change in one system will directly affect the other, and this effect must be treated as another leverage in the change process. For example, changing a piece of software in an organization’s information system (the technical) will directly affect how employees who use the software interact with one another in the future.A final point: Sociotechnical studies need to be conducted at three broad levels, from micro to macro, according to Trist (1993). All three levels are interrelated. The first is primary work systems, identifiable and bounded subsystems of a whole organization, such as a department or a business unit. The second is whole organization systems, the entire company or institution; they persist, as Trist points out, by maintaining a reasonably steady state within their environment. And the third is macrosocial systems, organizations within communities and industrial sectors, as well as institutions operating at a societal level, such as national government.

Question:Trist uncovered what is known as sociotechnical systems. He stated that "The work group, rather than the individual jobholder is central." This might be the case working in a coal mine - but what industries do you think it applies to? And what industries would it not?

Answer 1

The industries that sociotechnical systems applies to most readily are manufacturing industries in which both machines and manpower are used side by side to manufacture a product. Take for example the steel manufacturing industry. The steps in this industry are – making the iron, primary steel making, secondary steel making, continual casting, primary forging and secondary forging. Man and machine work in tandem. In industries like these both the social as well as the technical system will be interdependent and the focus is always on the whole rather than on parts.

The industries in which the sociotechnical system will not apply are industries in which knowledge is the most important driver. Take the case of equity research industry. Each equity analyst works on a particular set of industries like companies in the capital goods sectors, engineering companies etc. while another analyst will track another set of industries like the consumer goods industry, electronics industry and so on. In such knowledge intensive industries the sociotechnical system will not apply as focus is on individual outcome of employees on a primary basis. Another industry in which the sociotechnical system will not apply is the consultancy industry and the reasons are the same. The functioning whole is solely dependent on the individual analysts and consultants.