Socio-technical Perspective
Introduction
Socio-technical perspective is form of technology is applied in organizations to help in easing the flow of information. It hinders overload of information. It involves both the human beings and the machines. The human beings put in place the relevant skills that control and manage the machines. In the end of it all goods and services are produced for the consumers. The other technical solutions are only hardware and software oriented. The success that is attributed to the organization applying the socio-technical perspective is mostly dependent on the design that is put in place with consideration to the needs of the organization. The design in coherence with the tasks put in place and the technology play a major role in the implementation of the socio-technical aspect.
Studies that focused more on the socio-technical perspective of an organization have shown that its application would have worked to add on to the production work (Petch, 1999). The technical and social aspect of the systems has been included at every level. The theory on socio-perspective states that, its involvement in the input, process and the output of the organization activities would lead to successful change in the organization’s processes. Its operations are dependent on the adaptability and the ability to change depending on the shorter or longer period applied. Its application may fully be adaptable or otherwise add to the strenuous changes hence poor production.
Studies done on the labour had to put into considerations measure that would lead to an improved working condition. Employees that do not put into play this system experience boredom in their working conditions. The employees are frequently involved in tasks that are done repeatedly, consequently leading to poor production due to the monotony. This happens with time. The relationship that involves the human and the machines is a linear one, where, it is designed to focus on the cause of the problem to be handled and give an effective response.
The socio-technical approach was chosen as a Fredrick’s Taylor’s aspect that applied it to advance production through the psycho-social manner. It contributed to massive effect on the management processes. This led to the drastic change in the processes applied by various organizations. The technique was influenced by Tavistock Institute of Human which is located in the United Kingdom. Its measures were more so based on the matter of developing social innovation.
The socio-technical system design is mostly on the group production activity and issuing a productive work (Green, 2010). This is achieved through the relation of the human labour force and the technical aspect. The socio-technical aspect puts to practice the strategic choice format. The members in this model work with the desire to provide a change, interpretation, as well as, analyzing its technical aspect. It is applicable in smaller organization as well as the huge organizations or enterprises. The structure in the organizations is integrated together in their operations from the top level through to the lowest level. The socio-perspective systems creates an opportunity for members to enquire, this translates tasks from the external to the internal set of the organizations. Members are consequently able to acquire knowledge on the operations of the system. The process of knowledge acquisition of the socio-technical system must take into consideration that there is something that does not work.
Development in socio-technical systems
Socio-technical systems technology works similarly to the internet and the information systems which hold a special place in the information technology; instances are searches engines, message boards and knowledge management. People are hence able to connect one another with technology. Knowledge is spread in the organization. The internet enables the transformation of production to knowledge related.
The technical aspect of the operations of an organization has evolved from the technical solutions and the organizational solution to the creation of demand pull technology (Heinen, 2008). In relation to the computer industry, an organization was not in a position to create a good tracking record of the systems. The information systems could not create an effective system for the purpose intended. There consequently had to be a technical system that was in a position to create a high risk procedure that was not easy to develop errors. Instances of failures due to the technical background are the London Ambulance which involved a system that could not function appropriately. Issues like the failure of information systems had been a common thing.
The failure of the information systems was not only the technical aspect of it but also the neglect that is attributed to the human and the organizational solutions. With the introduction of new technologies, most of the organizations are forced to change their operations so as to accommodate the changes. Organizations were not able to apply technical solutions in the running of their organizations (ptg-global, 2006). To accomplish the set tasks, the organizations laid most of their interests in the technical aspect that the tasks desired. The demand for the technology behind this organization was however neglected, leaving the processes free to failure.
The emergence of the socio-technical solution created a new venture and application to the businesses. It is able to create a merger between the technical aspects of an information system and as well as the human resource behind it. The socio-technical aspect applies the demand for the systems.
Limitations
The socio-technical perspective approach of the technology has however some limitations. The system is in a good position to get the desired aspect where it needs to be applied. A guideline on the relevant transformation required instances in people and processes. It however does not offer to the organization the manner in which the design should be. The relationship established by the human and the technical solution creates problems when it comes to its application in that the persons may lack the required skills to operate it. There can also be wrong application of the system leading to poor results being achieved.
Conclusion
Technology in the present world is changing at a fast rate; in consequence most of the organizations are shifting their concentration to its application. Long gone is when technology was considered to be the only dependable component of the organization. The social aspect comes to play as a flexible and similarly dependable aspect in the organization. Organizations are up to adding value to their enterprises. Technology is a useful tool that is used to make the work in the organization easier for other persons to use. The work flow, information passage and acquisition are all aimed at creating an effective organization. Poor application of the systems would lead to a drastic failure and poor performance is otherwise expected. Persons with the relevant know how are relevant for this. Training is consequently needed to pass the much needed knowledge. The socio-technical aspect is a successful tool that most of the organizations are putting into play. Technology is slowly advancing to create an easier environment for an advanced and efficient working environment. Organizations are all aiming to put into practice this technology for the best performance. As all other technology used, there are bound to be limitations and challenges one comes to face, for this technique the advantages far outweigh the disadvantage.
Socio-technical perspective aims to attend to the social and the technological interdependence in the development of several instances. Knowledge and socio-technology both do go hand in hand. The management of knowledge helps companies to establish, keep and expound on their intellectual assets. This is opposite to what manufacturing activities do, where the knowledge acquired is hard to establish and monitor. Its difficulty comes in when the total knowledge is taken internally by the organization while the remaining share is taken in by the individuals themselves. This paper tries to look at what is socio-technology and how organizations can apply it in their organizations to achieve the best of it.
The people within the organization are the ones who play a key role in the transformation of the organization; their sharing, transfer and leveraging creates a large area of chances. The new world presents the e-learning revolution. The person learning from the distant place is actually the one pushing these innovations. An individual’s knowledge in technology is steadily catching up to the developing technology. The developing socio-technological systems however are at the risk of fading when the persons championing them leave such organizations. Measures should be employed to train the incoming persons on the socio-technological systems and aim to advance them to higher heights.
References
Green, P. (2010, August 16). Social Media Is Challenging Notions of the Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom (DIKW) Hierarchy. Retrieved May 29, 2011,
from http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/social-media-is-challenging-notions-of-the-data-information-knowledge-wisdom-dikw-hierarchy–008320.php
Heinen, R. P. (2008, September). MIS Problems and Failures: A Socio Technical Perspective. Retrieved May 29, 2011,
from http://iris.nyit.edu/~kkhoo/Spring2008/Topics/STT/000MIS_Prob_MIS.pdf
Petch, D. R. (1999). GIS Organization and People: Socio-technical Approach. Philadelphia and London: Padstow, UK.
Ptg-global. (2006). Socio-technical systems: There’s more to performance than new technology. Retrieved May 29, 2011,
from http://www.ptg-global.com/PDFArticles/Socio%20technical%20systems%20-%20There’s%20more%20to%20performance%20than%20new%20technology%20v1.0.pdf
