The Social Design of Worklife with Computers and Networks: A Natural Systems Perspective

This chapter examines how work with computer-based and networked systems can be organized in such a way as to have an effect on the quality of working life for clerical workers, administrative staff, professionals, and managers.

Abstract

This chapter examines how work with computer-based and networked systems can be organized in such a way as to have an effect on the quality of working life for clerical workers, administrative staff, professionals, and managers. It discusses social design of computer and communications systems to help indicate how technologies are shaped by organizations as part of a computerization effort. The consequences of computing or networking for work and workers are a byproduct of socio-technical configurations, or social designs, rather than of technology alone. The chapter examines four common conceptual models of organizational behavior: combinations of rational and natural, and open and closed systems. It conceptually integrates the analysis of workplaces that employ more traditional computing arrangements and those that use computerized networks and communication systems. It examines the study of computerization and work life within an explicit set of models drawn from sociological theories of organization and emphasizes on the tacit conceptions of organizational behavior.