Search

The article presents abstracts of management literature. They include "Administration and Economic Development in India," edited by Ralph Braibanti and Joseph J. Spengler, "Automation and Technological Change," edited by John T. Dunlop, and "The Business Representative in Washington," by Paul W. Cherington and Ralph L. Gillen.

This paper discusses some of the implications of technological modifications and improvements on industrial management in two types of advanced manufacturing systems displaying flow-like characteristics and designated "process" and "quasi-process" systems. Technological advances often result in the structuring of functional relationships and responsibilities, and affect development of an organizational control system which includes human, procedural and mechanical elements. This analysis is based on field research studies as well as studies reported in the literature. Theoretical considerations and empirical findings are set forth to account for organizational developments such as the simplification or complication of organizational structure. Finally, the managerial-supervisory job functions emerging in these advanced systems provide a basis for clarifying the role of supporting groups and added considerations for a key executive function such as managerial manpower planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As an exploration of the frustration of users of an online interactive retrieval system, students from the School of Library Science of Syracuse University participated in an experiment using an experimental reference retrieval system for library literature on the IBM system 360/50. The searching consisted of sample searches using key-words. The data base contained library literature citations for the year 1970. In the control group, students were instructed to locate literature related to library management and information retrieval systems. The particular terms in the search and the format were outlined in an instruction session before the students used the system. The experimental group was not restricted to a sample search, or specified search terms, but the format of the searches were to be the same as the control group. It was anticipated that significant variations in the behavior of the users would be displayed and identified by comparing measures of behavior as the man-computer interaction proceeded through the search process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper gives a qualitative treatment of a new approach to the synthesis of sequential control systems. Complex sequential control systems can be assembled from a relatively small number of standard sequence packages. These have useful sequential properties in their own right, but the methods for coupling them together to form larger sequential systems are described by the authors. Additional benefit is gained by using the machine actuators alone as memory devices. This removes any possibility of unintentional disturbance of the state of the memory function in the control system. Three examples are chosen to illustrate the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarises theoretical and experimental studies of some problems concerning the realisation of broaching of ring thrust faces. It presents descriptions of devices and investigations into the limits of application of this technology such as tool life, the deformation of rings under cutting forces and the stability of rings under clamping forces. The objectives of this project were to increase the productivity rate and continuity of production and to facilitate automation. SUMMARY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of various articles on management topics, including "Management and Motivation," by Sven E. Kock, "Office Automation Administrative and Human Problems," by W. H. Scott and "Acceptance and Resistance," by Alain Touraine.

The article reports on technological innovations, particularly automation, and the impact these developments can have on all segments of business. Most of the significant progress in automation has previously been confined to production processes and manufacturing. Only recently have automation methods been linked with marketing. This has been confined largely to warehousing, transportation, order picking and handling. These innovations speed up the distribution process and lower marketing costs. But what about the other important marketing functions: selling; new product development and testing; communications, including advertising, public relations, and publicity; packaging; and marketing research?

The subject of automation in business has had extended coverage in the business press during recent months. Electronics has also captured the imagination of marketing men, but the areas for automation have not been clearly defined. This article answers some important questions and gives specific results that have been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of electronics in record-keeping and data-processing has placed the office equipment industry in the most challenging, yet potentially rewarding, role in its history. And the same thing can be said for accountants. Electronics is a new mode of transportation. Because of its tremendous speed in carrying out the errands, the electron can take one just about anywhere, statistically speaking. This revolution in office procedures and data-processing, promises to do for man's mind what the industrial revolution did for his body. By harnessing the electron, one will be able to multiply a single clerical employee's efforts many times. In a few more years American business would have been figuratively snowed under by its ever mounting volume of paperwork. At the start of the 20th century, only one man in every 40 employees was a paper worker. With pen and ink as his chief tools, this early-day clerical was able to keep up with all of the demands placed on accounting by business.

The article provides information on the impact of automation on the society particularly in the U.S. It is stated that automation is part of the larger process of social change which has been going on in human society since its inception and it has had an enormous impact on the production, communication and scientific investigation. The paper emphasizes that since automation represents the highest development to technology, it is inevitable that industries will move in its direction. It discusses the relation of automation to other technologies and how technology is related to the organization of society.

The article presents information about the Industrial Relation section of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The principal research projects at present and in the coming year center on the implications of technological change and automation under a grant to the Section and to the Sloan School of Management, in which the Section is now administratively housed. The impact of computers on management organization and the nature of managerial work has been and is the principal research area. Professor Douglass V. Brown is in general charge of the over-all project, and Professor Charles A. Myers has taken responsibility for theses and special studies in the computer-impact area. Studies in the life insurance industry have been conducted by Professor George E. Delehanty, who was on leave from Northwestern University in 1964-1965. A paper by Delehanty, "Computers and the Organization Structure in Life Insurance Firms: The External and Internal Economic Environment," will appear in published form. A doctoral thesis on "The Impact of Office Automation on Supervisory Behavior" by David R. Meredith, based on a special study in one of the insurance companies involved in the research, was completed in June 1966.

A description of a system using punched paper tape for the retrieval of documents, by author, title, place and date of publication, and subject employed at the Fluid Mechanics Division of the National Engineering Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Much attention is given to the construction of the codes employed in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information about new methods of printing and reproducing scholarly materials. Three lines of development are being pursued: composing typewriters producing positive images on paper; film composing machines based on standard matrix assemblies; and film composing machines based on non-standard matrix assemblies. The development of composing typewriters is characterized by two forces, to do something as cheaply as possible and to do it as much like metal types as possible. Major developments in printing machinery can be grouped under two heads, faster and more automatic printing equipment, and refinements in offset.

The role, nature, status and future of Information Systems. Objectives and approach of paper. Illustrations of problems for automation. On-Line-Real-Time Information Systems. Control of space travel. Control of airline reservations. Military Command and Control. Planning and Control of Research and Development. Where computers excel. Where men excel. How man works. Heuristic problem solving. Man-machine communications consoles. Solution of ordinary differential equations. Computer aided engineering design. Solution of partial differential and integral equations. Automated Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Automated Teaching of Languages. Approach for automation. Conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the writing on the new "Management Science", that is on the application of systematic methodology to the job of managing in the business enterprise, has so far come from the scientists. Understandably it has therefore focused on the finding of areas in business to which the scientist can apply tools and techniques with which he is already familiar, and on the sharpening and development of these tools. The all but universal approach has been: here is a scientific method, here are scientific tools and techniques; let us find applications for them in the business enterprise. This paper proposes to look at "Management Science" from the point of view of the Manager. Its focus will therefore be on determining what methodology, what tools and techniques the Manager needs to do an orderly and systematic job of managing. Concretely the focus will be on the specific process through which the Manager does his work, and on the specific object to which his work is directed; one focus will be on Decision Making, one on the Business Enterprise and its structure. And the aim of this paper is to develop, albeit in rough and sketchy form, some specifications for "Management Science". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current investigations on the influence of technology upon other organizational variables have remained exploratory because there is disagreement over the boundaries of the construct and there is a dearth of valid and reliable measures of technology. This study develops a measure of technology that could be used for comparative purpose. It also develops a seven-item scale that provides a valid and reliable measure of Perrow's technology construct. The scale discriminates among the technologies of 15 functional departments in three academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite all the talk, the organizational environment itself is a prime factor impeding automation of the process industries. Process companies, computer manufacturers, makers of process machinery, and systems engineering firms must work together in this market. INSET: Quality Control in the Manufacture of Beer.... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses ways to help workers adjust to automation. The psychological response of the worker to change generated by modern technological transition is of significant importance. The overall "tone" or climate of an organization in a behavioral sense is an integral factor enhancing or detracting from the level of teamwork present in a work situation. Experts say by making definitive plans, anticipating morale fluctuations during periods of technological change, and developing preventive action to cushion the negative effects managers can mediate the reaction of employees.

The article discusses research pertaining to U.S. managers' thoughts on electronic data processing (EDP). The study showed wide differences among the firms with regard to management's computer objectives, acquisition practices, employment impact, system design, programming methods, and other factors associated with data processing. Analysts say management misconceptions about EDP may be due to the use of factory automation as the basis for comparison and predictions about computerized office automation. They say management must abandon their oversimplified view of EDP and meticulously analyze the data processing needs of their firm.

The liaison between science and management, which has made terms such as linear programming and statistical decision theory part of the business vocabulary, is now being extended in this country and abroad to open new horizons for business and the scientist. Here is a quick roundup of developments to date and a look into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report discusses the introduction of a computer as a group member in a task-oriented group. It demonstrates that such an introduction is actually possible. It also describes some tentative results of the study: organization changes, emotional reactions, some considerations on how to facilitate such a change, and a discussion of mechanisms tending to retard such an innovation. Finally, some questions are raised for further study of the relations between man and thinking machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of articles on marketing. They include "Employed Women," "Who is Going to Sell Tomorrow's Goods?" and "Cooperative Retailing as a Competitor in the Consumer Market," by Henry A. Burd.

The article discusses the role of automatized industrial processes in economic growth. The author observes that many operations in industry, commerce and services are enjoying improvement in their efficiency with the application of automation processes. However, underdeveloped economies may experience difficulty in terms of transitioning to automation processes. Some of the problems in the early stages of development are the lack of capital to buy the necessary equipment, scarcity of skilled labor and well-trained engineers and applied scientists.

Concerning the impact of automation on managerial jobs, the following prediction is provocative. "By 1985, we will possess the technical capability required to handle most managerial jobs with machines." Leavitt and Whisler foresee as a consequence of automation an increasing gulf between the few middle managers that are left over and the top executives. These statements seem to foreshadow widespread technological unemployment for numerous managers. They also suggest that the content of managerial jobs will become simpler. On the other hand, MacNiece, speaking of "automatic computers" in connection with the production control manager's job, predicts a change toward greater difficulties and complexities. Such conflicting predictions call for empirical studies. More facts should be known about the extent and the characteristics of changes in managerial jobs due to the introduction and use of computers. This would help in recruitment, training, payment, and the establishment of performance standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on job opportunities provided by mechanization and automation. A machine technology creates jobs in the long run when production cost is high preventing mass sale of products due to the high price that must be charged and when the machine technology is geared fundamentally to a completely new industry that has a virgin market relatively untapped. Several solutions have been proposed by those who have given consideration to the problems automation has created, including reduced taxation, reduced work hours, retaining of man power and plans such as Longshoremen's Contract and Meatpackers' Contract.

The article emphasizes that a capacity for leisure and work is indispensable for health growth and creative development. The advancement of technological science and automation is causing a shrinkage of workaday world. Plans for a six-week vacation and a three-day weekend is now underway. Boris Pregel, former president of the New York Academy of Sciences, states that the work week will be reduced by 20 hours within the next decade. In his book "The Great Contest," Isaac Deutscher states that Russia has now a nation-wide plan of preparing its people for a three-hour workday by 1984.

This article points out some reasons for marketing's lag in the use of computers and quantitative techniques. The systems approach is suggested as one which can minimize or eliminate the causes of this lag. The systems approach outlined by the author uses marketing theory to guide the firm's efforts in establishing performance criteria, organizing an information collection activity, and developing analytic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While automation exists today in only a small number of institutions, the author believes it will have a profound influence on the future of American marketing institutions. He goes on to analyze this impact on both the wholesale level and retail level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which analyzes the consequences of introducing electronic data processing (EDP) in several large offices in the U.S. The introduction of computers in offices revolutionizes the office system, alters the nature of the office work, increases labor productivity, upgrades the structure of the labor force, and changes its sex composition. Office automation reduced total labor requirements, but EDP has developed the skill composition of labor force. The application of EDP in office works of several companies included in the study had significant impact on office employment. However, office automation may be responsible for the decrease in growth rate of clerical jobs and that it may be reducing employment opportunities for women employees.