Research and Consultancy in Industrial Enterprises
A review of the contribution of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations to the development of industrial sociology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2323641 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard K Brown (Durham University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1967 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 33-60 |
| Publication date | 1967-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/003803856700100103 |
| OpenAlex | W2080371610 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 54 |
This paper reviews the contribution of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations to the development of industrial sociology. Four major contributions are discussed: the development of an 'open socio-technical systems' model of the industrial organization; the study of industrial work groups, particularly with reference to different forms of social organization within the same technological limits; the elaboration of ideas concerning management organization; and discussion of the sources of resistance to change in organizations, and means for handling them. Much of the research has been carried out in combination with consultancy and this has affected the sorts of problems examined and the modes of explanation attempted: the emphasis has necessarily been on social problems as defined by the 'directorate' of an enterprise; there has been little discussion of industrial conflict and industrial relations, and insufficient attention to the structure of the wider society; sociological and psychological/psycho-analytical problems and explanations have not always been kept sufficiently distinct; and insufficient attention has been given to the work of others in this field. Despite important limitations the contribution is a distinctive and valuable one
Economics · Engineering ethics · Field (mathematics) · Industrial society · Industrial sociology · Management · Resistance (ecology) · Social science · Sociological research · Sociology · Work (physics) · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Engineering · Industrial relations · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Management Theory and Practice
Durkheim on Rationality
Neo-Durkheimian Analyses of Economic Life and Strife
Technology and Industrial Democracy An inquiry into some theoretical issues and their social basis
Analysing Men
On the social organisation of organisations
Social and Technological Characteristics of Coal-Face Work
A Reappraisal of Sociotechnical Systems Theory
Doors and boundaries
Sociological Futures and the Sociology of Work
The Tavistock Programme
Deviancy Theory and Industrial Praxis
Michael Banton and Sociology
The social psychology of organizations
The social problems of an industrial civilization
Experiences in Groups
The Man on the Assembly Line
General Systems Theory—The Skeleton of Science
The Theory of Open Systems in Physics and Biology
New patterns of management
Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy
Organizational Choice (RLE
Out of Utopia
Social Therapy
The Relative Independence of Sub-Institutions as Illustrated by Departmental Labour Turnover
A Consideration of Industrial Accidents as a Means of Withdrawal from the work situation
Technology, Territory, and Time
Changes in Accidents and other Absences with Length of Service
The Use of Unrecognized Cultural Mechanisms in an Expanding Machine-Shop
Institutional and Sub-institutional Determinants of Change in Labour Turnover
Studies in the Social Development of an Industrial Community (The Glacier Project)
Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal-Getting
The Causal Texture of Organizational Environments
An Examination of the Boundaries of Part-Institutions
A Consideration of Labour Turnover as the Resultant of a Quasi-Stationary Process
The Directions of Activity and Communication in a Departmental Executive Group
Interpretive Group Discussion as a Method of Facilitating Social Change
Measurement of Behaviour Structures by Means of Input-Output Data
The Representation of Labour Turnover as a Social Process
Our Adult World and its Roots in Infancy
The Social and Psychological Impact of a Change in Method of Wage Payment
The Science of Society
A Note on Labour Turnover in an Iron and Steel Works
Bion's Experiences in Groups
Some Socio-technical Aspects of Automation
New Ways in Management Training
Measurement of Responsibility
The Changing Culture of a Factory
An Outline of General System Theory
The Enterprise and its Environment
The Analysis of Social Flow Systems
A Case-Study in the Functioning of Social Systems as a Defence against Anxiety
Theoretical Requirements of the Applied Social Sciences
On the Dynamics of Social Structure
Social Theory and Social Structure
The conflict intersystem and the change agent
Technical Organization as a Factor in Supervisor-Worker Conflict
Problems of Involvement and Detachment
A Main Theme of Contemporary Sociological Analysis
The University Teaching of the Social Sciences
Society
Social Science Approaches to Business Behavior
Exploration in Management
Closed Systems and Open Minds
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 2019 (42) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |