Artikel

Toward a Socioeconomic Company-Level Theory of Automation at Work

The current understanding of automation is dominated by “routine-biased technological change” (RBTC). This theory predicts a strong automation dynamic in jobs with high routine-task share and a polarization of employment structures. While RBTC theory has many merits, this paper develops a systematic critique of the theory and a counter-proposal of a socioeconomically grounded company-level theory of the automation of work. It distinguishes between feasibility conditions of automation, technology choices, and social outcomes. With regard to feasibility conditions, the relevant factor is not routine-task intensity but the interaction between product architecture (product complexity) and process complexity. Which technology choices are made in this feasibility space is in turn influenced by companies’ profit strategies and power relations between management and labor. The social outcomes of automation depend on these technology choices, but also on managerial strategies pursued in the restructuring of organizational roles and skills. These managerial strategies are shaped by national institutional systems.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Journal: Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society ; ISSN: 1932-6203 ; Volume: 2 ; Year: 2022 ; Issue: 1 ; Pages: -- ; Berlin: Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society - the German Internet Institute

Classification
Politik
Subject
automation
technological change
labor and industrial relations
manufacturing
employment

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Krzywdzinski, Martin
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society - the German Internet Institute
(where)
Berlin
(when)
2022

DOI
doi:10.34669/WI.WJDS/2.1.5
Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET

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Object type

  • Artikel

Associated

  • Krzywdzinski, Martin
  • Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society - the German Internet Institute

Time of origin

  • 2022

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