Sociotechnical systems in health care: a field experiment
Article Abstract:
A health care management intervention case study is examined, in which a laboratory utilized sociotechnical systems (STS) analysis to improve job procedures and quality of work life. The intervention was effected in 1982 by recruiting volunteers to participate in the analysis. Over the course of the experiment, technologists were allowed alternative paths of career upward mobility, job rotation was achieved through set-up changes, the work environment was upgraded, and paperwork was reduced. After two years, laboratory personnel evaluated the effect of the intervention. Quantitative and interview results are compiled for two sections of the lab: microbiology and biochemistry. Results indicate that the desired effects were not achieved in either department, and that the STS process did not facilitate the introduction of participative redesign of work. Explanations focusing on cultural elements are discussed.
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-8863
Year: 1986
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A method for facilitating controversial social change in organizations: Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers
Article Abstract:
Leading social change in organizations is a difficult and politically dangerous balancing act. These risks increase if the social change in question directly challenges accepted societal and organizational norms. This article examines the racial integration of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team as an example of a successful social change that challenged organizational and societal norms. The seven-step method used by Dodgers general manager, Branch Rickey, was guided by an understanding of the social implications of integration. Rickey's method also relied on an awareness of the differing perspectives of important stakeholders. This article pays particular attention to the linking and sequencing of action learning strategies used during the change. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-8863
Year: 1997
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The change process of innovative work designs: new design and redesign in Sweden, Canada, and the U.S
Article Abstract:
A change process model for increasing the quality of work life (QWL) in organizations is described that is the product of three individually conducted research efforts on change process of new work designs in the U.S., Canada, and Sweden. The model reflects the change process occurring in organizations of both new design and redesign, determining three important subsystems (work, design, and legitimization), with demonstrations of inter-subsystem 'feedback loops' that are linked to viability, commitment, and performance. The value element of the model is explored as the impetus behind the new philosophy. Technology is examined in regard to task social aspects. Education forms applications are discussed. Structure and process, and conditions of design versus redesign are contrasted.
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-8863
Year: 1986
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