Technology and skill: Educational considerations in the implementation and use of advanced manufacturing technology.

Abstract

This study examined how the implementation and use of advanced manufacturing technology altered job skill requirements, as perceived by four categories of affected employees. A cross-sectional survey of 156 managerial, technical, skilled and production employees conducted at a unionized plant was preceded by a series of site visits during which qualitative interview and written data were collected. Skill was defined as consisting of four dimensions: manual ability, knowledge or problem-solving ability, autonomy and control. Employee attitudes about the new technology also served as an outcome variable. The results suggest that the top-down manner of technology implementation and the failure to inform and involve employees early in the change process had an adverse effect on certain dimensions of skill and on employee attitudes toward the new technology. Moreover, the complexity of the one of the forms of new technology--an automated storage and retrieval system, along with the subordination of training to production needs, created further problems in system implementation and use. Reactions to the technological change varied by job position. Production employees who worked with the most complex form of new technology reported lower levels of required manual ability, knowledge, autonomy and control than any other category of employee. Skilled trades employees working with the storage and retrieval system reported the highest levels of perceived autonomy and control. Technology type was also found to influence perceived job skill requirements. Employees of all categories who worked with the most complex form of technology--the storage and retrieval system--reported lower manual ability and control than those who worked with a simple, computer-controlled piece of equipment. A key finding of this study was that the change process itself has as much to do with skill and attitude enhancement as does the actual use of the technology. Employee involvement in this process in ways that maximize continuous learning is a vital contributor to skill upgrading and successful human-technical integration.