Human-Centred Systems in the Global Economy

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SOCIETY

Series Editor: KARAMJIT S. GILL

Knowledge, SkiII and Artificial InteIIigence Bo Goranzon and Ingela losefson (Eds.)

Artificial InteIIigence, Culture and Language: On Education and Work Bo Goranzon and Magnus Florin (Eds.)

Designing Human-centred Technology: A Cross-disciplinary Project in Computer-aided Manufacturing H.H. Rosenbrock (Ed.)

The Shape of Future Technology: The Anthropocentric Alternative Peter BrOdner

Crossing the Border: The Social and Engineering Design of Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems 1. Martin Corbett, Lauge Baungaard Rasmussen and Felix Rauner

Artificial Intelligence and Human Institutions Richard Ennals

Dialogue and Technology: Art and Knowledge Bo Goranzon and Magnus Florin (Eds.)

Understanding the Artificial: On the Future Shape of Artificial Intelligence Massimo Negrotti (Ed.)

Computer-aided Manufacturing and Women's Employment: The Clothing Industry in Four EC Countries Swasti Mitter (Ed.)

Connectionism in Context Andy Clark and Rudi Lutz (Eds.)

Yuji Masuda (Ed.)

Human-Centred Systems in the Global Economy

Proceedings from the International Workshop on Industrial Cultures and Human-Centred Systems held by Tokyo Keizai University in Tokyo, 1990

With Introduction by Mike Cooley

With 20 Figures

Springer-Verlag London Berlin Heidelberg New York Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest

Yuji Masuda, BA, BE, ME Faculty of Business Administration Tokyo Keizai University 1-7 Minami-cho Kokubunji-Shi Tokyo 185, Japan

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Human-Centred Systems in the Global Economy: Proceedings from the International Workshop on Industrial Cultures and Human-Centred Systems held by Tokyo Keizai University in Tokyo, 1990. - (Artificial Intelligence and Society Series) I. Masuda, Yuji II. Series 006.3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data International Workshop on Industrial Cultures and Human Centred Systems (1990 : Tokyo, Japan)

Human centred systems in the global economy: proceedings from the International Workshop on Industrial Cultures and Human Centred Systems, held by Tokyo Keizai University in Tokyo, May 1990 1 Yuji Masuda (ed.) ; with introduction by Mike Cooley.

p. cm. -- (Artificial intelligence and society) Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-3-540-19745-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4471-1967-8 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4471-1967-8

I. Industrial sociology--Congresses. 2. Technology--Social aspects-Congresses. I. Masuda, Yuji, 1938- II. Tokyo Keizai Daigaku. 1Il. Title. IV. Series. HD6952.I58 1990 92-10114 306.3 '6--dc20 CIP

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Preface

This book originates from an international workshop held in Tokyo in May 1990 on Industrial Cultures and Human-Centred Systems. The workshop brought together researchers and practitioners from Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and North America in the areas of industrial and production cultures, human-centred systems and anthropocentric technologies, organisational innovation, technological change and working life issues. The workshop also discussed contextual issues of industrial culture, society and technology, technology and the citizen in the modern society, technology and knowledge transfer.

The workshop was organised as part of the centenary celebrations of the Tokyo Keizai University, and was the first workshop on human-centred systems in Japan. The interest in industrial cultures, globalisation, and technology shaping is increasing not only in Europe but also in Japan and North America. The present volume is a contribution to the widening of the European debate on human-centred manufacturing systems to broader issues of industrial cultures, economic competitiveness and globalisation of knowledge. The international debate on these issues is covered in the international journal, AI & Society, and its sister book series on Anificial Intelligence and Society. The interest in societal and cultural issues in the volume is also a reflection of the current European debates on human-centred ness and sustainable systems design, social and cultural shaping of technology, information technology and social citizenship.

The contributions to the volume vary in their styles of articulation and presentation, and have been largely left in their original form so as to reflect the cultural diversity and research traditions of the contributors. I very warmly appreciate the support and advice given by Karamjit S. Gill and Mike Cooley in bringing out this volume. The SEAKE Centre researchers Jim Thorpe, John GffiZe, David Smith assisted by Harinder Gill have supported me in coordinating the editing and the production of the manuscript. I am indebted to Tokyo Keizai University for sponsoring the workshop and this book.

Tokyo November 1991

Yuji Masuda

Introduction Mike Cooley

The term human-centred was first used in 1976 when I described 'telechiric devices' which respond to human skill and ingenuity and did not objectivise or marginalise human capacities. They were, therefore, in the Heidegger sense, tools rather than machines. The term arose in the rich and diverse context of the Lucas Workers' Plan for socially useful, sustainable technologyl.

The Plan caused quite a stir at that time and was met with incredulity by those who should have known better.

In order to demonstrate in practice what might be possible, projects and prototypes were developed to demonstrate different aspects of the Plan. Many of the products proposed at that time are being manufactured worldwide as the growing consciousness of environmental issues requires a dramatic realignment of what we perceive economic feasibility to be.

Demonstrating the wider concepts of human-centredness proved, however, to be much more difficult. It was not until 1983 that a multidisciplinary team of engineers, social scientists, philosophers and academics, linked with industrialists in Denmark, Germany and Britain approached the EEC for funding to design and demonstrate the world's first Human-Centred Computer Integrated Manufacturing System (ESPRIT Project 1217). This inevitably meant that the project had to be highly focussed on production systems so that the attributes of such a system could be clearly demonstrated. This was done successfully but since most people heard of human-centred systems for the first time in a CIM context, they came to think of it as applying solely to manufacturing concerns. This was an unfortunate but understandable narrowing of the scope of the concept.

The great service that Tokyo Keizai University and Professor Yuji Masuda have done with this present book is to restore human-centred systems to their rightful, more universal context.

The book is also timely. Spectacular failures of machine centred systems, particularly in the United States, have brought into sharp focus the vulnerability and lack of robustness in those systems where the human capacity to handle uncertainty has been systematically removed. As ESPRIT 1217 has demonstrated, a human-centred system is less vulnerable to disturbance, displays less downtime and is significantly more productive2 •

viii Introduction

These are, of course, the instrumental and economic considerations. Of more long term significance are the issues of human dignity, motivation and the form, nature and role of science and technology as the most extraordinary millennium in human history edges precariously to the dawn of the 21st century.

The present book is rich in the issues covered, embracing such topics as industrial culture, diversity, anthropocentric systems, political and economic interdependence and much, much more. Fortunately, these are not merely viewed from the usual Eurocentric standpoint. They may be said to represent a truly global view and reflect the insights of researchers, academics and policy makers from Japan, China, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Australia, Hungary, France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and England.

Given Japan's pivotal role in the world economy, the growing interest in human-centred systems in that country is an important boost for ideas which started out so unpretentiously at Lucas Aerospace in 1973. Tokyo Keizai University is to be thanked for deciding to celebrate its 90th anniversary by hosting this event in Tokyo.

Notes

1 Cooley, M (1987) Architect or Bee? Chatto & Windus, London. Japanese edition ISBN 4-275-01329-8 COO 36 P329E Tokyo 1989. 2 Rosenbrock, H H (1990) Machines with a Purpose, Oxford University Press, London. Forthcoming Japanese edition Tokyo 1992.

Contents

Contributors ....................................................... xiii

SECTION I. Industrial Cultures and Technology Development

1. The Use of New Technologies in the Development of Social Citizenship and of the Welfare State Achille Ardigo ....................................................... 3

2. Working Women in Japan - After Enforcement of the Equal Opportunity in Employment Law Yukiko Inoue ........ .......... ............ ....... ......... ........... 11

3. Adjustment in Foreign Assignment: A Comparative Study of Japanese and American Expatriates in Australia Kuniko Mochimaru ................................................. 21

4. Intercorporate Relations in Japan Hiroshi Okumura ................................................... 43

5. Social Structure under the New Information Technology Fumihiko Sato.fuka ................................................. 51

6. Can the Family Survive the New Communications Media? 'Human-centredness' and the Challenge of Consumer Technologies David Smith .......................................................... 59

7. Anthropocentric Production Systems in the Context of European Integration Werner Wobbe ...................................................... 71

8. The Beginning of the Third Industrial Revolution and Changes in Industrial Sociology: Towards a Better Environment for Man Valery K. Zilitsev ................................................... 83

x

9. Industry, Culture and Technology Transfer: Contemplation on Recent Changes in China's Consumption Culture

Contents

Feng Zlzao-Kui ...................................................... 89

SECTION II. New Technology and the Shaping of World Economy and Industrial Cultures

10. The New Shape of Industrial Culture and Technological Development Mike Cooley.. ................................... .................... 101

11. The Coming New Age of Politico-Economic Interdependence in the Global Economy Alexander Dynkin ................................................... 109

12. High-Tech Development, Competition, and Industrial Culture in the Age of the Global Economy Marc Giget ........ ................................................... 113

13. New Trends in the Producer-Consumer Relationship: A Vital Aspect of Industrial Cultures Andras Hernadi ..................................................... 123

14. Impacts of Information Technology on Japanese Industrial Culture Takao Nuki ........................................................... 131

15. Japanese Human Resource Management in the Cross-Cultural Interface: A Case Study of US-Sited Japanese Subsidiaries Kazuo Takeuchi ..................................................... 141

16. Industrial Cultures in the Age of the Global Economy Yuji Masuda ......................................................... 153

SECTION III. Human-centred Shaping of New Technologies: The Praxis

17. Theoretical Reflections from Experiences with Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing Richard J. Badham ................................................. 165

Contents xi

18. Human Centredness: A 21st Century Paradigm for Industrial Cultures Karanljit S. Gill ..................................................... 179

19. The Evolution of Information in Human and Artefactual Systems Susantha Goonatilake .............................................. 199

20. A Conceptual Framework for the Concept of the Artificial Massimo Negrotti ................................................... 213

21. Dialogue and Design of Computer-Based Technology Satinder P. Gill ..................................................... 217

22. Applying Human Centred Concepts to the Development of Expert Systems in Manufacturing Peter Holden ........................................................ 229

23. Anthropocentric Principles - Tools and Organisation of Industrial Design Lauge Baungaard Rasmussen and Poul Tettrup .............. 249

24. Skill in Software Production - The Deskiller is Deskilled Yoshihiro Sato ............................ , ......... .......... ....... 261

Contributors

Achille Ardigo Faculty of Political Sciences, and Director of CERDSI (Centre for Research and Documentation on Computer and Society), Department of Sociology, University of Bologna, Italy

Richard J. Badham STS (Science and Technology Studies) Department, University of Wollongong, Australia

Mike Cooley Independent Researcher and Centre Chairman of SEAKE Centre (Social and Educational Applications of Knowledge Engineering), Brighton Polytechnic, England

Alexander Dynkin Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Academy of Sciences, (former) USSR

Marc Giget Euroconsult, France

Karamjit S. Gill SEAKE Centre (Social and Educational Applications of Knowledge Engineering), Brighton Polytechnic, England, and the editor of Springer-Verlag's Artificial Intelligence and Society book series

Satinder P. Gill Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England

Susantha Goonatilake Research Department, Peoples Bank of Sri Lanka

Andras Hernadi Institute for World Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

xiv Contributors

Peter Holden Innovation and Technology Assessment Unit, School of Policy Studies, Cranfield Institute of Technology, England

Yukiko Inoue Graduate School of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan

Yuji Masuda Faculty of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan

Kuniko Mochimaru Graduate School of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan

Massimo Negrotti Methodology of Human Sciences IMES, University of Urbino, Italy

Takao Nuki Musashi University, Japan

Hiroshi Okumura Department of Economics at Ryukoku University, Japan

Lauge Baungaard Rasmussen Institute for Social Sciences, Technical University of Denmark

Yoshihiro Sato Research Institute of System Science, NIT Data Communications Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Fumihiko Satofuka Sagami Women's University, Japan

David Smith SEAKE Centre (Social and Educational Applications of Knowledge Engineering), Brighton Polytechnic, England

Kazuo Takeuchi Tokyo Keizai University, Japan

Poul Tettrup Department of Production Technology, Danish Technological Institute

Contributors

Werner Wobbe Directorate-General for Science, Research and Development Joint Research Centre, Programme FAST, EC Belgium

Valery K. Zaitsev Japan Economic Section, Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Academy of Science, (former) USSR

Feng Zhao-Kui Institute of Japanese Studies, Academy of Social Sciences, China

xv