ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers some brief introductory commentary on the nature of the change associated with new information technology - by way of justifying and explicating the goals pursued and hopefully to provide at least an initial point of reference. It then discusses the nature of the managerial response implied by such changes. The book is concerned with the impact of the new technology on production systems. It is also concerned with the question of the enhancement of the ability of organisations to exert social control using the new information technology. The book reviews the theoretical analysis of the implications of technology for industrial relations, contrasting the US and Japanese situations. It delas with a number of general management questions inherent in new information technology. The book considers the relationship between new information technology and organisational design and managerial control.
