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Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
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The Intellectual Assembly Line is Already Here

Willem H. Vanderburg

University of Toronto

The universal attempt to link computers by means of business process reengineering, enterprise integration, and the management of technology is creating large systems that structure and control the flows of information within institutions. Human work associated with these systems must be reorganized in the image of these technologies. The transformation of office work now parallels that of factory work as a result of the intellectual assembly line: Each so-called knowledge worker adds and transforms information in a manner almost entirely prescribed by the system, which, in turn, takes this information to the next work station and so on. The result is a loss of control coupled with growing demands and a new kind of organizational structure. It would appear that the implications for human health are possibly even greater than those associated with traditional assembly-line work.

Key Words: healthy work • intellectual assembly line • enterprise integration

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 24, No. 4, 331-341 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0270467604267299
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W. H. Vanderburg
Confronting the Spirit of Our Age as a Creator of Chaos
Bulletin of Science Technology Society, October 1, 2006; 26(5): 438 - 446.
[Abstract] [PDF]