Rising from the ashes: The deskilling debate and tobacco manufacturing

Rising From the Ashes: The Deskilling Debate and Tobacco Manufacturing

IAN M. TAPLIN* Wake Forest University

This study examines the relationship between technological change and requisite skill levels for workers. Following a discussion of skilling and deskilling theories, plus the contribution made by those advocating job dimensions analysis, it uses a case study of technological innovation in tobacco process manufacturing to examine the extent to which skill levels and work organization change. The results suggest that skill levels are determined by an interplay of production functions, managerial intent, broader organizational imperatives, and established shop floor sub-cultures. The study concludes that further specification of such variables plus more definitive conceptualizations of skill dimensions are necessary before further generalizations are attempted.

The debate on whether new technology deskills workers and produces job losses or creates new, more highly skilled occupations, has a long and inconclusive history. In it, definitions of skill have become blurred, management has been variously viewed as an omniscient force or the hapless victim of organizational imperatives, and technology sometimes becomes seen as the handmaiden of capitalist drives to reorganize work. One way of avoiding many of the above problems is to consider skill-technology issues in terms of altered job dimensions and what effect such changes have upon work sub-cultures. Worker orientation to work is shaped by more than the formal properties of jobs; it is also a product of workplace interactional dynamics. In fact the latter is a constituent, but often imperceptible, part of the integrative aspects of work organization.

*Direct all correspondence to: Ian M. Taplin, Department Salem North Carolina 27109. Telephone: (919) 7594380.

of Sociology,

The Social Science Journal, Volume 29, Number 1, pages 87-106. Copyright @ 1992 by JAI Press Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0362-3319.

Wake Forest University,

Winston-

88

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29iNo.

111992

The following discussion, based upon a case study of tobacco process manufacturing, attempts to discern how technological innovation effects jobs and the workers that perform them. By delineating the various “dimensions” of change that occur (or do not occur as the case may be) following the introduction of new technology (in this instance computerized process control systems) and comparing this with jobs that remain in conventional manufacturing systems within the firm, we are provided with a unique opportunity to clarify some of the dimensional and interactional issues implicit in this controversy. Moreover, I will specify how such changes correspond with the mandates of organizational contingencies in a continuous process production system, as well as assessing the saliency of control versus efficiency imperatives adhered to by management strategy.

SKILLINC V. DESKILLINC Advocates of the skilling thesis have argued that advanced industrial societies have undergone structural and occupational changes that have lowered the demand for low-skilled jobs and increased the need for skilled, technical workers.’ Such change in skill levels applies to both old and new job categories although neither author denies that certain job categories will become moribund. More recently, it has been argued that such post-industrial technology presents firms with opportunities for organizational redesign that maximize the flexible use of capital and human resources’ and permit, but rarely utilize, benefits associated with new “informating” technologies.’ Such approaches contrast with the deskilling thesis, most frequently associated with the neo-marxist labor process debate, which argues that capitalist production involves transformations based upon increased mechanization and automation of the work place.4 In an unrelenting effort to exert greater control over the production process, capitalist management down-grades, deskills, and sub-divides labor. Accordingly, skill quotients and worker decision-making have declined following technological change within the factory. Proponents of the skilling thesis point to a gradual secular upgrading of the occupational structure in the U.S. to butress their arguments. The deskilling advocates meanwhile, present a plethora of case studies of downgrading of individual jobs in particular firms.’ Yet others have argued that new machinery simply presents workers with &firent (as opposed to increased or decreased) skill levels,’ or that technological change results in both skilling and deskilling, depending upon occupational categories within an industry.7 In this latter “compensatory” scenario, production roles frequently undergo deskilling following mechanization and automation whereas maintenance and programming tasks in similar settings enhance skill levels. Randy Hodson meanwhile, argues that skill disruption frequently occurs following the introduction of rapidly changing production technologies.x In such settings, workers are faced with learning job skills different to those provided by pre-job training programs. Because data are often poor, measurements of skill uneven, and changes can involve compositional shifts in jobs as well as alterations in the content of work itself, a definitive resolution of the debate is unlikely.’ And while the formal

Rising from the Ashes

89

properties ofjobs provide objective evidence of changes, the requisite cognitive skills that provide workers with the capacity to perform these jobs is less easily specified. To avoid some of the above problems, it seems useful to focus upon: the dimensions of jobs that denote particular skill characteristics; the configurations of these characteristics and interactional dynamics of work place sub-cultures; the intent of managerial decision-making regarding the introduction of new technology; and the economic circumstances of the firm in which there is innovation. Noting that new technology can be introduced with or without significant work reorganization, it is also necessary to further examine skill configurations against organizational imperatives such as product supply and production contingencies, as well as specific labor market concerns. This will help clarify whether technology is an independent force that organizations adapt to in order to remain viable,” a management tool to extend employer control over the labor force (cf. the deskilling thesis), or an alternative scenario in which its introduction is part of a more complex interplay of managerial strategy, production and labor market concerns.

THE MANY DIMENSIONS

OF SKILL

The distinction between skill as determined by job specification and requirements versus skill that inheres in a person’s capacity to perform is well known. Yet in operationalizing such concepts one might end up with a descriptive account of job content that is teleologically linked to ‘human capital’ theories of employment and labor markets. To avoid this problem, Kenneth Spenner and Craig Littler delineate the differences between skill conceived as substantive complexity in a job opposed to skill measured by autonomy or control on the job.” Such distinctions are important because they begin to address the multidimensionality of skill. Using such a framework, Steven Vallas, in his study of telecommunications workers, found a compositional shift to increased skill levels over time but deskilling along the complexity and control dimensions for individual workers.‘* Meanwhile, Paul Adler’s case studies of automation in banking suggest that correlate job redesign can best be assessed by examining four crucial job dimensions that embrace quantitative (substantive complexity of tasks) as well as qualitative (responsibility, expertise and interdependence) measures of change.” The dimensional approach avoids the pitfalls of oversimplified and polarized classifications and provides objective measures of before and after cases. This clarifies the situation confronting a worker who may find him/ herself doing more specialized tasks requiring further training (skilling?) but having limited discretion and be subject to increased supervision in the performance of that job (deskilling?).14 Dimensional analysis further provides a conceptual link with technology-induced changes in labor market segmentation of the type inferred by Randy Hodson and Robert Kaufmanls and more systematically analyzed in a recent empirical study by Hodson.” While technological restructuring can raise levels for some workers, an associated increased reliance upon educational credentials can systematically relegate whole groups of workers to ‘dead-end’ jobs and intensify segmentation patterns.” Consequently, it is necessary to examine any explicit or implicit

THE

90

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No. l/l 992

consequence of dimensional change for segmentation patterns, particularly if existing internal labor markets are restructured; and what those effects are upon work place sub-cultures.

WORK PLACE SUB-CULTURES While occupational solidarity and specifically group norms are known to influence the performance of workers in groups, little attention has been given in the skilling debate to how the interactional dynamics of work settings change following technological innovation. In many firms, shop floor sub-cultures sustain socially defined occupational statuses that are independent from objectively defined competencies.18 Such situations frequently occur when the range of specified skill levels are limited, informal apprenticeship is lengthy (“paying your dues”), and internal labor markets reinforce existing hierarchies, which can be further legitimized in unionized settings where job descriptions directly follow standardized and ‘proprietal’ practices. Therefore, management may change (reduce) skill categories but the shop floor sub-culture will still operate in accordance with the traditional socially defined statuses and treat workers appropriately. Relatedly, sub-cultures can be gender based, with new technology restructuring work so that women become operators of machines but men retain technological knowledge of how machinery works.” Such occupational segregation and fragmentation is particularly evident in settings where work re-organization has been accompanied by the femininization of the labor process. Therefore, skill has a subjective component that is generated and sustained among the work force independent of managerial orchestration. Consequently, requisite cognitive changes that most case studies recognize as facing workers in the technologically transformed workplace are part of broader socio-cultural changes involving the re-integration of the work group. The dynamics of the latter process are a crucial part of worker orientations to work and need to be assessed in any case analysis.

SKILL LEVELS, NEW TECHNOLOGY

AND WORK REORGANIZATION

One of the perennial problems in the debate on changing skill levels is the misplaced assumption many authors make regarding the rationale behind technological innovation. Shoshanna Zuboff is particularly insightful in noting how many firms miss the “informating” potential of micro-electronic technology through adherence to traditional managerial needs to reproduce hierarchical authority relations in the workplace.” But, while new technology might subsequently become part of managerial strategies to improve control over labor, assuming ceteris paribus that its introduction was dictated by such an imperative, can imply a grave methodological error. Likewise, by automatically equating new technology with work reorganization, one can ignore organizational contingencies that mediate the technology - skill relationship and often result in job enrichment without concomitant restructuring

91

Rising from the Ashes

of work organization. While it is evident that technological innovation is inextricably part of managerial strategies to increase labor’s rate of output and gain production flexibility, such innovation is further shaped by organizational contingencies. These include, but are not restricted to: the nature of the production process (small batch versus continuous process for example;*’ establishment characteristics such as size, market position, and unionization levels; and whether management is primarily concerned with minimizing production costs or maximizing product output.22 Internal “appropriation” struggles and “political” conflicts between management factions and departments within a firm can influence innovation and work redesign.23 Consequently, management rarely operates in an omniscient manner, bound as they are by competing functional concerns.24 Yet, labor utilization remains dependent upon maintaining authority relations within the firm, hence the salience of any technological innovation that simultaneously affords management productivity gains without undermining the legitimacy of their control prerogatives. Changes in work place technology, with concomitant implications for skill levels, are therefore bound to be subject to managerial interpretations of market imperatives. Because such changes materialize as strategies that are subsumed under control and efficiency imperatives, understanding the former is a crucial part of unravelling the intricacies of the latter. The introduction of new technology is conditioned by a number of organizational and broader structural factors which need to be specified along with any job modifications and work redesign that accompany it. In an attempt to clarify these issues, the following case study discussion focuses on the relationship between technology and job dimensions in different plants in a continuous process manufacturing firm.

DATA AND RESEARCH DESCRIPTION Data for this study were drawn from interviews conducted during 1987 and 1988 with managers and workers at four non-union cigarette/ tobacco manufacturing plants owned by a single company headquartered in the southeastern region of the United States.25 The interviews were conducted off company premises outside of normal working hours with male and female workers chosen from each of the major occupational categories of the firm.26 In-depth, semi-structured but mainly openended question techniques (an average of two hours for each person) provided a unique opportunity to obtain detailed commentaries of both the subjective nature of the work experience as well as specific information on new technology introduction. Job analysis was based on self-reporting by job encumbents and from management and company’s job descriptions. It was hypothesized that should changes in the nature and organization of work accompany new technology, production and technical workers27 were the categories most likely to experience it. Consequently, the jobs of these two groups were the foci of this study. The workers interviewed worked at two plants that contained conventional manufacturing process equipment and two plants where computerized process control systems had been installed in 1983. While the actual tobacco processing

92

THE SOCIAL

Table

7.

Job Categories

in Tobacco

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No.

1/1992

Processing’

Approx. No. oi

Workers /O/J Categories

Title General

per shift 8

Floor sweeptng,

and Tasks unloading,

and general

maintenance

plant Plant

Responsibilities

attendant

Attendants 1

Manage general plant attendants

Plant clerks

3

Routine administration

Service

I

oiling, routine

and

Head cleaning

Service

crew

Workers

taltbration

Categories Matntenance Workers! Met hanit s

Servtc c

I

B-operators

Lab technicians, for processing

Categories 2

General

mainly responsible equipment

mat hine operations,

ble for processing

response

equipment

departments Kelirf

2

be able to run depts as B-operators

A-operators

and are also met-hanic s

Operators h-operators

.I

Supervise equipment

and workers

in

his area and also are chief mechanics Section leaders Nofc~

” Categories, trtle\

I

Responsible

for overseeing

the over-

hauling of equipment

XKI ntrnlber ui workers rerndirl the same for both non-computerrred XK computer~red \ettrngs.

machines remain the same in both settings (but with larger capacity in the computerized plant), it is the control systems that have changed. When the computerized process control systems had been installed production workers were transferred from the old to the new plants following training. Accordingly, it was possible to compare requisite skill levels for such workers who have been employed on both old and new machines. Company specified job categories among production workers at old and new plants remain similar and are aggregated into occupational groups that correspond to job designations (see Table 1). Although derived from managerial classifications which reflect the wage hierarchy of jobs at the plants they also correspond closely to informal hierarchies that are subjectively adhered to by workers in the factory sub-culture.

93

Rising from the Ashes

INTERNAL

LABOR MARKETS

The company maintains an internal labor market, with two categories of workers; one on temporary but renewable contracts with no pension, vacation and only limited health care benefits, and the other who are permanent with extensive benefit packages and virtually guaranteed lifetime employment.” Plant attendants are primarily on temporary contracts (usually of 6 months duration) which have been renewed in some cases for up to 10 years. Mechanics and Operators are permanent employees who have “graduated” through the various positions on the job hierarchy. These internal job ladders, in which seniority and earnings levels are interdependent, are a crucial part of the organization of work at the company. As the better jobs (higher pay and improved benefit packages) are a reward for longevity, the longer a person remains at the company the less likely she/ he will be able to find alternative equally well renumerated employment opportunities elsewhere. This promotes an effective coordination of interests between workers and management and is particularly beneficial for management in that it reduces problems associated with labor turnover and expensive worker training programs.29 The introduction of computerized process control systems has also resulted in the employment of technical workers (engineers and computer programmers) who were hired from outside of the company on the basis of objectively measured technical educational and performance skills. Some were hired as permanent workers, others on 6 month renewable contracts. Unfortunately it was not possible to determine accurately proportions for each or even criteria for the different contracts. These workers, as noted earlier, are centrally located and have limited interaction with shopfloor workers in the production process.

TOBACCO PRODUCTION Tobacco production is the transformation of the tobacco leaf into consumer products ranging from plug or chewing tobacco to cigarettes. After the tobacco leaf has been dried and stemmed it is stored for two to three years before being blended. The blending process reconstitutes the raw product (leaf) into cigarette tobacco by exposing tobacco to set humidities and temperatures after which it is aged through drying. This is followed by a casing and cutting process during which time tobacco is further impregnated with liquids. This is a complicated process where tobacco must be continuously weighed and the moisture content closely monitored. In addition it is cut and further flavored/ blended prior to being transported via a pneumatic vacuum system to making machines. Here a continuous rod of tobacco is wrapped in bonded paper, sealed then cut by a revolving knife so that individual cigarettes are produced. It was such a continuous process system in which computerized process control technology was introduced in 1983 into the casing and cutting part of tobacco processing. With 80% of the cost of a cigarette coming from tobacco, ways of increasing the volume of tobacco through improved saturation processes and a more accurate control of the moisture levels in this process permit cost savings and raise

94

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No. 1/1992

the output per worker. Operationally this has involved moving from a closed to an open processing system so that operators can more extensively monitor and control the processing. In turn, this facilitates an immediate identification of, and response to, problems in moisture levels which can be more easily rectified within minutes of their occurance. It is this part of the overall system, henceforward referred to simply as ‘processing,’ that is the focus of this study.

JOB DESCRIPTIONS Formal job categories in both the non-computerized are the same.

and computerized

factories

l Plant Attendants (generally 40-50 percent of workers on any shift) perform general cleaning, trans-shipment and routine administrative tasks. Such work is structured and specified but with little supervision. It consists of simple, repetitive tasks that principally involve loading and unloading supplies, packaging and keeping the work area clean. These are entry level, temporary (6 months contract) positions requiring no prior work capabilities other than a sixth grade educational level. Future skills are acquired on the job or through company sponsored training.

l Maintenance Workers/Mechanics (generally 2 per shift). The primary responsibility of such workers is to perform routine maintenance tasks (oiling, machine cleaning and technical repair) on the processing machines. Although manuals provide detailed procedures for maintenance, mechanics are also expected to “trouble-shoot” minor malfunctions. As one mechanic with 33 years experience with the company put it “our primary objective is to see that all machines are running and cigarettes properly produced.” This work is largely unsupervised and permits some discretion in determining how actual maintenance procedures can best be done. Workers for these positions are selected, following “bidding” based on seniority, from plant attendants and are then given a three month (on the job) full-time training for the new tasks. Interviews with managers indicated that vaguely defined criteria associated with worker’s attitudes were an important element in selecting such workers who otherwise had similar objective backgrounds. For example, one manager said he looked primarily for “solid types who showed both initiative and a willingness to learn new skills-the sort of a person you’d like to work with.” In attaining such a promotion, workers are generally taken off temporary contracts and provided with enhanced benefit packages in addition to an incremental wage increase.

l Machine Operators (between lo-20 percent of workers per shift) are at the apex of skilled workers and are responsible for running the tobacco processing machines, making the necessary adjustments to the product mix and monitoring the automatic valves and cylinders that control the “casing” process. They are broken down into two categories: B operators are de facto apprentices who are frequently used as relief operators; A operators supervise B operators, co-

Rising from the Ashes

95

ordinating their tasks when not themselves operating machines. In practice, little difference appeared between the work of these two groups, as many B operators had worked in this capacity for 5-10 years and were prevented from becoming A operators solely because of company specifications on number of workers per shift in each of the “skilled” categories. A and B operators receive the same benefit packages as maintenance mechanics, are also viewed as permanent workers, and have hourly pay rates of between $11 and $17 depending upon category and seniority. Consistent with the company’s internal labor market policies, all workers in this category are selected from lower job categories (including some mechanics who bid for such jobs) and given four months formal training prior to becoming a B operator. Because such jobs do not often become available (usually only when an encumbant retires) seniority-based selection procedures-together with management assessment of “attitude’‘-are enforced. Operator jobs involve considerable responsibility that includes starting, operating, and stopping equipment; making standard practice adjustments to machines; supervision of plant attendant deliveries of raw materials; directing the use of raw materials; and ensuring standard safety procedures are performed in all facets of the operation. They are answerable to, but not really physically overseen by, the shift manager. The latter’s role appears in practice to be facilitative rather than directive. Because career ladders are well defined and workers in the maintenance mechanic and operator categories are objectively and subjectively defined as skilled workers and renumerated accordingly, a strong shop-floor sub-culture existed in the noncomputerized plants. Mechanics and operators here commented on the equitable way in which the company promoted and rewarded employees; managers were not seen as intrusive agents; and a strong emphasis upon work-based, experiential skills over formal educational qualifications was apparent. Comments such as “you work hard, do your job and don’t screw up, then the company will take care of you” (12 year veteran mechanic); “I always felt they (managers) don’t worry you if you do your thing properly’ (16 year veteran B operator); and “they’s a good bunch of guys, you work together team-like, like 1 practically live with the guys so we’re real close” (15 year veteran A operator) are typical of these workers. Only among plant attendants did one find less enthusiasm, probably due in part to the tedious nature of their work. Many in this category aspire towards a position where the manifestation of company benevolence will be more forthcoming. One female plant attendant who had worked for the company for 4 years said “It’s a good company, they treat you right. The work’s boring as hell but it’s a good money.. .better than my friends make someplace else in this town” Dissent appeared minimal as systematized procedures designed to promote effective work groups and augment task interdependency were pervasive. As with any continuous process production system, managerial control of the production process relied more on developing consent among workers than through direct supervision of discrete tasks. Past company experiments with new technology had

96

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No. l/l 992

not led to significant job redesign, increases in the quantity of work or modifications of occupational hierarchies. Consequently, workers were not skeptical of management attempts to further rationalize the production process through microelectronic innovations.

NEW SKILLS FOR OLD? According to the managers, the company made provisions for operators and service workers to move at appropriate skill levels from old to new processing equipment and although some rejected (or failed) the re-training program, their old jobs were not in jeapordy. Mechanics and operators corroborated this, although it was not possible to conclusively ascertain whether those who were successful in this program necessarily had better earlier job performance records than those who failed or refused the training program. Also, some workers did report that the company promised promotion, then reneged on its offer, if a worker agreed to be transferred to one of the computerized plants in a community 10 miles from the existing plant. Others, however, indicated no such threat or promise was made to them. In the plants with computerized process systems, the same formal internal labor market hierarchies for production workers exist, as do the number of managers and their essential coordination function, and the numbers of workers per shift (and in the respective categories). However, the presence of a new category of workers-technicians-was occasioned to deal with systems malfunctions. These workers, primarily computer programmers and computer engineers, were not attached to any shift per se, merely functioning as technical troubleshooters to be called upon by the shift manager in the event of processing machine malfunctions that could not be dealt with by one of the operators. l Plant attendant work remains essentially the same as in the non-computerized setting, although a number of janitorial staff commented that the new work areas needed to be kept cleaner thus requiring of them a more constant effort. Supervision, the absence of training, and basic work routines remain unchanged. Robotized material handling permits each plant to handle an increased volume of goods (associated with production increases) but has not involved any reduction in the number of workers per shift. Although the job dimensions of plant attendants remain unchanged, their objective status as temporary contract employees, given the company’s continued commitment to micro-processor technology and attendant productivity increases, might not eventually be changed to a permanent status. The addition of workers in the ‘technical category’ does appear to have been at the expense of further additions of entry level unskilled workers and uncertainty over the future of existing large numbers of temporary staff. The company’s emphasis upon flexibility together with recent marketing failures of new products result in greater turnover in entry level positions and diminished promotion certainty for more senior temporary employees. A plant attendant who had worked 4 years for the company best summed up the opinion of his fellow workers when he said

Rising from the Ashes

97

“They want more and expect more but don’t give us no real hope of being permanent. I like working here and want to, but it ain’t what it was like before. Just seems we clean all the time. And we’re told more that we gotta work harder at keeping the place clean. I’m doing. This is my job.”

1 mean

the money’s

good

but I wanna

like what

l Mechanic/ Maintenance workers perform similar tasks to their counterparts in the non-computerized setting, although those in one job category, following 1 month extra training, had responsibility for the maintenance of the computer process control machines. Machine malfunctions are referred to the technical staff who are called in to analyze the problem. Routine repairs however, remain the responsibility of the maintenance mechanic yet (1) are subject to more rigorous inspection and management supervision than in the non-computerized plants, and (2) ‘fudging’ and other non manufacturer’s specified ‘tuning’ are not permitted. For mechanics, job complexity has increased with a corresponding increase in the training period for the job as more technical information must be assimilated. Likewise there has been a correlate increase in the level of abstractness as routine maintenance requires enhanced cognitive skills.” A larger volume of material handled necessitates improved accuracy in maintenance thereby increasing the magnitude of error should mechanics be faulty in their tasks. In this respect, their interdependence has been magnified and their level of work autonomy (responsibility) diminished somewhat. Some of the mechanics interviewed who worked in the computerized setting commented on how the increasing complexity of the job was accompanied by a more rigid ‘governance’ of their problem-solving techniques (“I can do it but they don’t seen to trust me,” said one 9 year veteran mechanic). The knowledge and almost ‘proprietal’understanding that they claimed to possess after years of working on conventional machines has dissipated following their transfer to computerized settings. Some also complained at being insufficiently trained for the new machines so that their perception of managerial supervision and the imposition of discrete procedural tasks for routine maintenance might conceivably be a temporary measure until their familiarity with the technology is attained. A 13 year veteran of the company said

“With the old machines you couldn’t do no damage because they was closed. But I made them work any way and they was real smooth. Now these new machines are like a pretty woman - you can look but you better not touch. I just do what they tell me to do, what I’m trained for. Nothing more. 1 can’t tune them like 1 did to the old machines. But these new ones run well and produce more plug (tobacco product) so I guess they’re better.”

Objective measures of job dimensions for mechanics suggest an increase in requisite skills. Yet their functional efficiency is now dependent upon technicians whose overall technical knowledge of the production process displaces the mechanic’s traditional role of problem solving. One mechanic reported that he liked what he felt was the added responsibility, was proud of his new skills, but felt

98

THE

frustrated He said

when outsiders

SOCIAL

were called in to handle

SCIENCE JOURNAL

all but the routine

Vol. 29iNo.

1il992

malfunctions.

“It’s real easy to service the machines now. You just follow the manuals exact like. I like working them now that I know what I’m doing. We all trained together from the old plant and that makes for a friendly place to work in. You know it’s like we all know what to do-us and the managers like, they’re okay. But sometimes the techs (technicians) that come for a breakdown, they don’t wanna talk. They just do their thing, then leave. No conversation, nothing. They seem okay but then I don’t really know them. It seems if they stuck around a little longer we could talk about the problems. You know we used to do that with the old machines. We’d figure out what was wrong, talk about it and then know what to do the next time. We don’t have that now. I mean I know what I’m doing but then sometimes weird things happen. l Operators of computerized process control machines rely less upon “intuition” and “past experience” to arrive at a correct mix of the raw materials; instead the computer requires exact combinations that each operator must calculate according to pre-established formulas at the outset of the process (one operator described the change as simply one of having gone from “the pencil to the computer”). The actual processing machines are the same, only larger with improved production capacity and more extensive opportunities for quality control.3’ Operators are still required to monitor, make standard adjustments to the numerous machines in the production process, and ensure that correct casing solutions are maintained. But, because of more extensive instrumentation, operators can more accurately monitor the complete process and make adjustments to the mixing/ casing by means of a simple “stop lights” system (a red light indicates a problem, a green light acknowledges it rectification). Operators’ job dimensions changed the most. Unlike their counterparts in noncomputerized plants they are now able to intervene at almost any stage in the production process and make the necessary alterations. Generally, their jobs have become less routine and less ‘passive’ and more analytic and ‘action oriented.’ “I’m always busy, adjusting the dials, checking the levels-it’s more demanding than before but I feel that I’m more in control of the mixing,“commented one B operator. Training periods for the jobs have lengthened (increased complexity) and enhanced cognitive skills are needed as micro-processor data requires almost constant assimilation, interpretation and response. Increased product volume and the need for operators to comprehend the intricacies of the production process, suggest an increase in functional interdependence. Operators continue to enjoy a high degree of responsible autonomy in the job and micro-processor technology has enhanced their ability to be responsible for effort. Forced to acquire new and different interpretive skills requiring them to make constant assessments of the numerical controls, some operators reported feeling their operating discretion had been reduced. “The work is less predictable than before but I’m watched over (by the shift manager) more,” reported one 16 year

Rising from the Ashes

99

veteran B-operator who has worked on the computerized machines for two years. However, even he admitted that the supervision was facilitative rather than coercive and probably attributable to the newness of the operating equipment and procedures. He said “When we first had the new machines one guy decided to adjust the mixing without following the manual. He figured it needed moisture so he added some. Next thing we know it was all bubbling out of the can. Flooded the building and out onto the highway. Boy what a mess, screwed up traffic for hours and took ‘em almost 2 days to clean it all up. Since then we’ve been real careful to follow the book. By the way, the company didn’t fire him ..but he sure got chewed out”

He went on to make the following comments about technicians: “Those guys think they know it all. The come in, try and boss us around, telling us we screwed up something when really it was the machine that shut down. It’s just they don’t think like us, they haven’t worked the different easers (processing machines) and they don’t know how we work. They’re outsiders. We know it and they know it and it bothers them. When they’re here there’s tension. It’s not good.” l Technicians are often seen as outsiders by the shift workers, never on the shop floor long enough to become socially integrated with the operators or mechanics, and frequently resented by the other workers because of their ‘technical arrogance.’ One mechanic complained that technicians appeared unwilling to share their conceptual skills (how the machine works) with shift workers whose manual skills were rooted in concrete processes. Their presence apparently disrupts shop floor sub-cultures because their skills are non-cumulative and their recruitment independent from existing career ladders. However, their deleterious impact is minimized because their presence is non-routine and temporary. For the most part, technicians have no desire to become socially integrated with existing work groups, preferring as one said to me, “spending time with people who better understand the bigger picture.” The few technicians (all of whom were males) interviewed saw themselves as superior to shop floor workers, and as quasi professionals whose importance to the company should be self-evident. When asked to describe their work in general terms they relied upon phrases such as “problem solving,” “high-tech engineering” and “damage control specialists” for what are essentially abstract, analytical skills. Not surprisingly they were better able to explicate the knowledge-based nature of their technical skills than shop floor workers for whom skill was a subjective concept, both tacit and implicit in the nature of the job. This suggests a qualitatively different cognitive awareness of the requisite job tasks and how they relate to the overall production process-a function of their credentialled educational background.

100

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No. l/1992

The technicians evidently thought of themselves as similar professionally to managers, and derived great satisfaction from the success of their work. Their involvement in shop floor interaction was minimal because their presence there was temporary. They appeared to have a considerable amount of what one might call occupational solidarity, a self confidence that crystalized in the ‘Mr. Fixit’ jokes that were paramount in their conversations with me.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES The following points are salient. No jobs were lost and existing career paths continue to be maintained in accordance with internal labor markets (workers come in at the unskilled entry level positions and work their way up). The training period for mechanics and operators increased in accordance with the expanded range of tasks required of workers in computerized settings. Socially defined statuses have been weakened, especially for those workers who failed in the re-training program and who did report some loss of self-esteem and difficulties in functioning in the old factory sub-cultures. Although new jobs (technicians) have been created outside of production categories and these workers complement rather than replace the tasks of production workers, their existence appears to have temporarily destabilized shop-floor subcultures. Mechanics and operators who in the past felt secure in the acquisition of requisite skills that assured their importance in the production process, now admit to being concerned about the future. The presence of workers (technicians) integral to tobacco processing yet outside of the traditional job ladders created de facto segmentation patterns. It also reminded many of the workers of the growing importance of formal credentials for work in a high-tech environment. One B operator commented: “We always knew you needed schooling to be a manager, but soon even operators will have to have a college degree to keep their job.”

MANAGERS AND THE COMPANY POSITION This remains a profitable company that sees new technology as an integral part of its strategies to increase market share through productivity gains. Because the firm competes in a somewhat uncertain market, dominated by a few large diversified requires labor enhancing technology that companies, increased profitability facilitates productivity increases and an expansion in market share.32 Consequently, company statements indicating the necessity of technological innovation appear consistent with evidence from this research. With a long history of such innovation, the company has generated worker acceptance of such changes by establishing a tradition of protecting semi-skilled and skilled jobs, and paying above average wages and benefits.‘j The company kindles its ‘paternalist’ image and the labor force remains nonunion and largely non-adversarial. Both permanent and temporary workers interviewed indicated a high level of commitment to the company and job satisfaction (measured largely through low turnover rates, the absense of strikes, low absenteeism plus positive comments concerning the work) was moderate to

101

Rising from the Ashes

high. Together with the lack of alternative employment opportunities with similar generous benefits, the firm’s longstanding tradition of “dealing fairly” with employees means workers have been more likely to accept the company statements and actions at face value and not see new technology as part of covert managerial attempts to displace workers. Having made investments in its labor force in terms of skill enhancement (part of the internal career structure for hourly workers), it is not surprising that the company is reluctant to downgrade job requirements or dismiss workers. Also, it is important to remember that raw material costs (tobacco) constitute a far greater percentage of total product costs than labor, making management more likely to seek ways of containing the former rather than subverting the latter. With raw material costs overshadowing labor costs as the potential ‘de-stabilizing’ factor in the production equation, new technology in this case has been designed to reduce produce deficiencies rather than circumvent labor’s work place power. It appears that changes that have occurred in the production process are the indirect consequence of these broader market and industry imperatives rather than an obsession by managers within the firm for augmenting control. All of the managers interviewed claimed that the new system was much more efficient, especially after initial start-up problems had been overcome. They stressed how the computerized processes were simply a productivity enhancing measure that would improve the performance of the workers without work speed-ups being necessary. One manager did comment on what he felt was some tension when technicians were called in, but he also acknowledged that processing shut-downs are much more costly than before and people are aware that they have to deal with the problems more expeditiously. When pressed on this point, he said “Some of the older workers are real stubborn and don’t like too much change. After all, they have a lot at stake having spent a lifetime working these machines. In time they’ll learn to adapt, to get used to working with the technicians and the new procedures. We try and prepare them for the new equipment and make it as easy as possible for them to manage.”

SUMMARY COMMENTS While this research indicates a change on a cognitive level for certain job categories as job dimensions have been expanded, more pronounced modifications of skill levels or work reorganization have not been detected. Thus far, no jobs have been lost and a new category (technicians) has been added. Furthermore, job boundaries and job hierarchies remain essentially the same, although autonomy for skilled workers appears to have been eroded somewhat. To the extent that work has been reorganized following the introduction of a new category of workers, its major impact appears to have been in areas where effect measurement is most difficult. The interactional dynamics of the shop-floor have changed, in part because of some operating uncertainty with new equipment. But they have also been altered by the presence of new workers whose functional legitimacy has created uncertainty among other skilled groups and somewhat

102

THE SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29iNo.

l/l 992

diminished the latter’s interactive autonomy with production systems. While some skill disruption has occurred, it is not of the magnitude referred to by Randy Hodson when skilled workers whose prior, experience-based training are left ill-prepared to cope with vast amounts of new, often abstract information.34 Instead, it is the psychological security that workers derive from stable work place sub-cultures which is threatened. As no production problems were reported, it is difficult to ascertain what, if any, cumulative and tangible consequences of such changes might occur. No worker (or manager) interviewed suggested a crisis was imminent. Yet so many of the former complained about transitional problems in the sociointegrative dimensions of work that are difficult to reconcile given that new procedures have been in place for at least 3-4 years. Throughout the interviews, no adversarial image of employer-employee relations emerged. Such apparent consent appears to be rooted in the nature of the production process as much as it is a product of benevolent management. Firms with continuous process systems that operate in highly competitive markets frequently conceive of technological innovation as a means to heighten production efficiencies rather than subvert skilled labor. Such production systems where discrete operating tasks are difficult to implement frequently delimit management attempts to extend their control over workers in the production process. Insteadand this study is a case in pointPcomputerized processing generally permits them a greater certainty over the final product. While confirming many of Shoshanna Zuboffs findings,“’ this case study more forcefully emphasizes the distinctiveness of the production process (in this instance continuous processing) in shaping the impact micro-electronic innovation can have upon work organization therein. Relatedly, in firms where labor costs are only a small part of total production costs, new technology appears to be associated with creating structures of responsible autonomy rather than deskilling. In firms such as this that are reliant upon skilled operatives whose functional skills are not amendable to direct supervision (or robotization), managerial emphasis upon manufacturing consent among workers (in this instance through generous wage and benefit packages plus employment security) is both understandable and inevitable. Consequently, such firms can attain productivity increases without intensification of the work process or any change in job demarcation. Yet, even without the above changes, the impact of new technology can be indirect, as in this case where new categories of workers whose presence is necessitated by the technology are introduced. While this can be accomplished without significant changes in internal labor or career ladders, it can have a deleterious effect upon work place cultures, thus confirming what Cynthia Cockburn argued about the importance of cultures of skill.” Work-based sub-cultural changes are clearly important to workers. When 1 asked each of the operators what their response would be to permanent technical staff attached to each shift, all said it would seriously undermine their own position. They saw new technology as a way to make their jobs better and accepted it insofar as it didn’t threaten their own occupational security orjeapordize their skilled-based status. It was clear from my conversations with most of the mechanics and operators that any permanentjob category additions to the shift would result in existing skilled workers subjectively defining such changes as a form of skill displacement.

103

Rising from the Ashes

CONCLUSION Designed to contrast work in a technologically transformed setting with that of a conventional manufacturing system in the same firm, this research provided an opportunity to analyze job dimensions and work organization in an otherwise similar production process. By examining the impact of new technology in a continuous process industry it has been possible to show the importance of production imperatives in determining the extent to which actual jobs can be modified. This study also suggests what skill restructuring occurred impacts differently upon different groups in the production process and has normative implications for the social integration of workers within shop floor sub-cultures. While no significant fragmentation of work occurred with the computerized setting, it was evident that the company continues to use internal labor markets to structure career ladders (and ipso facto consent) despite the presence of an additional category of skilled workers. Perhaps the most telling, but on the other hand least quantifiable, evidence of change suggested by this study is how altered job dimensions might be less problematic for skilled workers than more subtle changes in the interactional dynamics of the workplace. In other words, how are changing worker orientations to work following technological innovation in the workplace simultaneously shaped (and re-interpreted) by altered interactional dynamics as well as requisite production related cognitive changes? If we are to fully understand how new technology changes requisite skills levels for workers, we need to focus upon job dimensions as an objective measure of skill and the subjective assessments of that skill that inhere in and are sustained by work place sub-cultures.

NOTES I.

2. 3. 4.

5.

6.

See Alain Touraine, The Post-Industrial Society (New York: Random House, 1971) and Daniel Bell, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (New York: Basic Books, 1973). See Michael Piore and Charles Sahel, The Second Industrial Divide (New York: Basic Books, 1984). Shoshanna Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine (New York: Basic Books, 1988). Steven Marglin, “What Do Bosses Do?,” Review of Radical Political Economy 7 (Spring 1973): 20-37; Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974); Richard Edwards, Contested Terrain (New York: Basic Books, 1979); David Gordon, Richard Edwards and Michael Reich, Segmented Work, Divided Workers (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982); and Harley Shaiken, Work Transformed (Lexington: Lexington Books, 1984). For example, Andrew Zimbalist, Case Studies in the Labor Process (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1979); Michael Wallace and Arne Kalleberg, “Industrial Transformation and the Decline of Craft,” American Sociological Review 47 (June 1982): 307-324; and Stephen Wood, The Degradation of Work (London: Hutchinson, 1982). Larry Hirschorn, Be_vond Mechanization (Boston: MIT Press, 1984) and Paul Attewell, “The Deskilling Controversy,” Work and Occupations 4 (August 1987): 323-346.

104

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29/No. l/l 992

Roger Penn and Hilda Scattergood, “Deskilling or Enskilling” British Journal of Sociology 36 (December 1985): 61 l-630; Roger Penn, “Where have all the craftsmen gone?,” British Journal of Sociology 37 (December 1986): 569-580. Randy Hodson “Good Jobs and Bad Management, ” in Industries, Firms and Jobs edited by G. Farkas and Paula England (New York: Plenum Press, 1988). Kenneth Spenner, “Technological Change, Skill Requirements, and Education: The Case for Uncertainty,” in The Impact of Technological Change on Employment and Economic Growth, edited by Richard M. Cyert and David C. Mowery (Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1988). Industrial Organisation: Theory and Practise (Oxford: Oxford IO. See Joan Woodward, University Press, 1980) and Alfred Chandler, The Visible Hand (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977). Prometheus: Temporal Changes in the Skill Level of 1 I. Kenneth Spenner, “Deciphering Work,” American Sociological Review 48 (December, 1983): 824-873; and Craig Littler, The Development qf the Labour Process in Capitalist Societies (London: Heineman, 1982). Job Content and Worker Alienation,” Work and 12. Steven Vallas, “New Technology, Occupations 15 (May, 1988): 148-178. New Skills,” California Management Review 24 (Fall, 13. Paul Adler, “New Technologies, 1986): 9-28; and Paul Adler, “Automation, Skill and the Future of Capitalism,” Berkeley Journal of Sociology 33 ( 1988): l-36. also avoids many of the measurement problems associated with 14. Such an approach making longitudinal comparisons between different time periods. For example, within functional hierarchies many job specifications have been transformed, jobs eliminated and jobs created. Often therefore, it is less a question of deskilling than it is simply that ofjob status redefinition. See Thomas DiPrete, “The Upgrading and Downgrading of Occupations: Status Redefinitions vs. Deskilling as Alternative Theories of Change,” Social Forces 66 (March, 1988): 725-746. “Economic Dualism: A Critical Review,” and Robert Kaufman, 15. Randy Hodson American Sociological Review 47 (December, 1982): 727-739. 16. Hodson, “Good Jobs and Bad Management.” Organizations and Control,” Organization Studies IO 17. Beverly Burris, “Technocratic (I, 1989): l-22. IX. Veronica Beechey, “The Sexual Division of Labor and the Labor Process.” in Wood,

The Degradation of’ Work. 19.

20. 21.

22.

Cynthia Cockburn, Machiner,r, of’ Dominance (London: Pluto Press, 1985); and Beverly Burris, “Technocracy and Gender in the Workplace,” Social Problems 36 (April, 1989): 165-180. Zuboff, ltz the Age qf. the Smart Machine. It is important to recognize that some manufacturing will lend itself to the introduction of deskilling technology-~-large batch processing is pertinent here-while others make capital substitution for skilled work difficult because of shorter production runs. Basic organizational forms, particularly if one considers the markets versus hierarchy patterns. will also have implications for the introduction of new technology and its useage. See Arthur Francis, Nek, Technolog_v at Work (New York, Oxford University Press, 1986) for a full discussion of these distinctions. William Form. Robert Kaufman, Toby Parcel and Michael Wallace, “The Impact of Technology on Work Organization and Work Outcomes,” in Farkas and England,

Industries, Firms und Jobs.

Rising from the Ashes

23.

24. 25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30. 31.

32.

105

See John Purcell, “The management of industrial relations in the modern corporation,” British Journal of Industrial Relations 21 (March 1983): 1-16; and Robert Thomas, “The Politics of Technological Change: An Empirical Study,” Working Paper ~2035 2088, Sloan School of Management, MIT. Ian McLaughlin and Jon Clark, Technological Change at Work (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1988). Because of the proprietal nature of much of the new technology, the company rejected my numerous overtures to gain access to the plants. Consequently, 1 was forced to secure interviews and information from workers and managers outside of the plants and in the local community. While workers for the most part appeared willing to answer all of my questions, managers were more circumspect. Several did eventually provide me with details of company operations. In consideration of their obvious concern for their jobs, I have withheld data that might in some way implicate them in this project. Company employees are divided into three basic occupational categories: hourly paid, production workers; salaried and hourly paid technical workers (including computer programmers); and salaried managerial staff. Aside from computer programmers who constitute a new work category, all the other workers who were interviewed had worked for the company in excess of ten years. Approximately one third of the company’s production workers were female, although their representation in the higher skilled, and technical ranks is limited. 1 was unable to obtain precise details, although none of the women I interviewed felt they had been denied opportunities for advancement. Hired following the introduction of computerized process control systems, this new category of engineers and computer operators do not fit into the traditional managerial category. In company specifications they are a hybrid category referred to as “technical workers,” with a function that complements rather than replaces work done by production workers. In the community the company continually emphasises its commitment to its workforce by stressing that it has never laid off a permanent worker. In recent years however, in an effort to trim its labor force, it has encouraged early retirements by offering “sweetened” pension packages to such workers, has cut back on new hirings, and reduced the number of opportunities for workers to transfer from temporary to permanent status. How internal labor markets generate worker identification with the interests of the firm is central to Michael Burawoy, “Between the Labor Process and the State,” American Sociological Review 48 (1983): 587-605. By making it progressively more costly for workers to leave theirjob, he shows how management can significantly reduce uncertainties associated with changes in the external labor market and generate consent among labor for management policies. This is similar to Zuboff’s findings about the technologically transformed workplace. See Zuboff, In the Age qf the Smart Machine. Whereas the older non-computer controlled machines process approximately 11,000 Ibs of tobacco an hour (about 5,000 cigarettes per minute), the new, larger capacity computerised control machines process approximately 18,000 Ibs of tobacco an hour (8000 cigarettes per minute) with much less wastage. The industry consists of 8 diversified companies. According to Census of Manufactures Industry and Geographic Area Studies, employment in cigarette manufacturing (SIC 2111) has declined from around 40,000 workers during the mid 1970s to 32,000 in 1987; and production workers as a percent of total employment has similarly declined, from 86% (1974) to 74% (1987). While detailed data on productivity are not made available, a decline in the cost of materials as percent of value of shipments (from

106

33.

34.

35.

THE

SOCIAL

SCIENCE JOURNAL

Vol. 29iNo.

1/1992

41% in 1975 to 32% in 1983, and to 25% in 1987) suggests that companies have realized more cost effective ways of manufacturing the product. With a tradition of generous wages and benefits relative to other employers in the geographic area, this company relies upon such renumeration packages and job security to help sustain employee consent to managerial practices. Hodson, Good Jobs and Bad Management. Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine. Cockburn, Machinery of Dominance.