| Summary: | The continued assimilation of advanced computing and information technologies in the
workplace in the midst of rapidly changing socioeconomic conditions has led many corporations to
transform their corporate culture and structure. These profound changes are implicating corporate
functions such as planning, design, manufacturing, and marketing. A significant form of corporate
re-structuring has been in the computer and information technology mediated integration of these
functions which is sometimes labeled Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). Fundamental
questions are provoked regarding the reshaping of these emerging modes and relations of
production. Do these developments represent a departure from traditional Taylorist or Fordist
workplace operations and organization? Are these emerging modes of work which generally are
interwoven with Japanese inspired quality improvement programs and associated manufacturing
methods producing a more human-centered workplace? Do these shifts in corporate re-structuring
support the possible unfolding of forms of human-centered workplace democracy?
To critically inquire and address the above questions, a case study was conducted involving
a large manufacturing firm which has been undergoing a radical re-structuring of all its corporate
operations. The case study method involves an analysis of the internal discourse(s) and practice(s)
of an emerging manufacturing facility called the Factory of the Future (FOF) in the context of a
changing corporate culture mediated by computer and information technologies and changing
organizational practices. Many sources of information were appropriated to construct a collage of
textual material in order to present FOF's unique genealogy and to provide a detailed description of
the emerging phenomenon of CIM. Among these were internal documents, videos, and interviews
conducted with factory and office workers.
Based on a critical interpretation of the case study findings a number of provisional
conclusions were reached and may be summarized as follows:
• Certain neo-Taylorist and neo-Fordist modes of production are emerging both in the factory and
office as the transformation of the corporation proceeds toward a CIM mode of operation.
• More human-centered organizational practices have marked the changing corporate culture
although they are at times subject to conflicts and contradictions.
• Managerial power has grown in the midst of computer and information mediated systems, even
though worker participation and involvement in work related decisions has also been enhanced.
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