ABSTRACT
When Trist first introduced the concept of a socio-technical production system it was to examine all the dimensions of a system and their interaction with each other. It was first used to describe what has here been called a primary production system. Subsequently, in examining the management of a total coal-getting operation, he added the concept of a system external to the production system which serviced and controlled the primary unit. When, later, he and I were trying to account for changes in the labour-turnover of the Glacier Metal Company we called this external system, 'the governing system'. 1 We defined it as the system, external to the production unit, which controls, coordinates, and services its activities. A convenient illustration of our meaning was to be found in the 'governor' of the early forms of mechanization, and in the habit of referring to the owner of a business as the 'Governor'. In the work with the Calico Mills the concept has been further extended to facilitate the analysis of more complex systems. The terms 'operating' and 'managing' have been used to accord with the transition from comparatively small-scale industry with its personal and informal management, to larger and more complex organizations with their formal and professional management.
