ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on longitudinal research conducted in the banking sector in the mid to late 1980s. The research was particularly concerned with developments in staff participation consequent upon the introduction of new technology. In part this emphasis on banking was a deliberate attempt to situate technological innovation in a sector other than manufacturing. In banking the introduction of technology in the form of computerization was seen as a catalyst – a potentially transformative agent that would have profound influences upon the landscape of the industry. The chapter aims to assess the limitations of the union's institutional approach to regulating technological change. It explores the work force's responses and attitudes to the effects of new technology at the workplace. The chapter assesses what information technology is doing in the medium to long term and its consequences for work-force involvement and participation.
