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"Our Just In Time manufacturing system works well in Germany. Why not in Brazil? It’s the same technology - so what’s the difference?"
CEO, German automotive manufacturing company
Invisible Architecture addresses 'socio-technical systems' and uses practical examples to highlight the potential for harnessing 'soft' factors to competitive advantage, and the pitfalls of ignoring them. A range of cases were presented to illustrate how the alignment (or misalignment) of people, processes and technology can impact on system performance. Many managers stress the lack of training on 'soft' issues, despite the fact that much of their day is spent dealing with them. The session included case studies of e-business portals, supply chains and other networks to highlight the recurring socio-technical problems that CEOs and managers face, and some of the generic solutions which are emerging. As part of the session, there was an opportunity to break out into groups and try to find solutions to some of the typical socio-technical problems the management and the technical team had to address when designing and rolling out an Intranet in a large UK company.
Jenny is a psychologist by training and co-wrote the book Invisible Architecture while a Research Fellow in the management of technology at Edinburgh University Management School. She was recently a Visiting Research Fellow at Curtin University of Technology, and has worked in a range of Universities in the UK and abroad researching, developing and evaluating collaborative, networked systems in education and business. Her current research looks at knowledge management in the design and management of complex 'socio-technical' networks such as portals, intranets and supply chains in the financial services, software design, and the oil and gas sectors. She has a particular interest in strategies for the design and management of systems which align social, technical and organisational architectures to competitive advantage – 'building the technology around the social process.'