In recent years a growing number of commentators have declared that we are at the beginning of a technical revolution that will see profound changes in the way we live and work. Yet what constitutes a technological revolution, and what logic supports how successive technological revolutions have unfolded in Western societies? How do technologies change organizations and what are the implications of intelligent technologies for work and employment? Here, Stephen R. Barley reflects on over three decades of research to explore both the history of technological change and the approaches used to investigate how technologies are shaping our work and organizations. He begins by placing current developments in artificial intelligence into the historical context of previous technological revolutions, drawing on William Faunce's argument that the history of technology is one of progressive automation of the four components of any production system: energy, transformation, transfer, and control technologies. He then considers how technologies change work, and when those changes will and will not result in organizational change. In doing so he lays out a role-based theory of how technologies produce changes in organizations. He then tackles the issue, alongside Matt Beane, of how to conceptualize a more thorough approach to assessing how intelligent technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can shape work and employment. They identify the main reasons why the current state of research on intelligent technologies in the workplace is inadequate, and provide pointers on how empirical studies in this area may, and must, be improved. He concludes with a discussion with his long-time colleague Diane Bailey about the fears that arise when one sets out to study technical work and technical workers, and the methods that they, and future ethnographers, can use for controlling those fears.

About the Author
Stephen R. Barley is the Christian A. Felipe Professor of Technology Management in the College of Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is also the Richard Weiland Emeritus Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He co-founded and co-directed the Center for Work, Technology and Organization at Stanford's School of Engineering from 1994-2015. He was editor of Administrative Science Quarterly from 1993 to 1997 and the founding editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Reviews
Barley and his co-authors have managed to write a short book that covers a breathtaking range of topics. It does so in a clear and concise manner, accessible to non experts and people like me, who are not too familiar with industrial sociology...The book is thoroughly recommended for anyone interested in work and technological change, and it will be useful for students and researchers alike. * Henrik Skaug SA|tra, Prometheus *
The book is both important and timely. Barley addresses the possible impact of intelligent technologies, an issue of great significance. As we are witnessing a dramatic change in work patterns for some sectors of the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a large natural experiment underway on the effects of technology on work, and Barley's ideas and framework are salient. * Kim B. Clark, Brigham Young University, Administrative Science Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198795209
Author Stephen R. Barley
Format Hardback
Page Count 174
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 147mm * 16mm