TY - JOUR
T1 - Institutional conformity and technology implementation
T2 - A process model of ergonomics dissemination
AU - Choi, Thomas Y.
AU - Liker, Jeffrey K.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Ford Motor Company for funding for this research and Don Chaffin, Director of University of Michigan’s Center for Ergonomics, for his ongoing support. We would like to express special thanks to Karl Weick and Meyer Zald for their inspirational comments on an earlier version of this paper. We have also benefited greatly from insightful comments and suggestions from Thomas D’Aunno, Jane Dutton, Anat Rafaeli, Tony Rosa, and Barbara Trautlein. We would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief for their useful and valuable comments.
PY - 1992/6
Y1 - 1992/6
N2 - This paper examines the process of implementation of work-place ergonomics within thirteen plants of the largest division of an automobile manufacturing firm. The process began as plants reacted with varying degrees of conformance to institutional pressures to utilize ergonomics in job design. While all thirteen plants to some degree "adopted" an ergonomics program, varied conformity reactions were manifested in different internal processes which in turn ledto different types and levels of implementation. A grounded theory approach was used to build an overall process model that encompasses all plants' processes. Based on the model, ergonomics adoption is viewed as a value-laden process. The internal organizational consequences are then discussed in terms of contrasting types of internal goals, strategic structures, and implementation approaches. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the model are presented. A new direction for future research in the field of technology adoption and implementation is proposed.
AB - This paper examines the process of implementation of work-place ergonomics within thirteen plants of the largest division of an automobile manufacturing firm. The process began as plants reacted with varying degrees of conformance to institutional pressures to utilize ergonomics in job design. While all thirteen plants to some degree "adopted" an ergonomics program, varied conformity reactions were manifested in different internal processes which in turn ledto different types and levels of implementation. A grounded theory approach was used to build an overall process model that encompasses all plants' processes. Based on the model, ergonomics adoption is viewed as a value-laden process. The internal organizational consequences are then discussed in terms of contrasting types of internal goals, strategic structures, and implementation approaches. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the model are presented. A new direction for future research in the field of technology adoption and implementation is proposed.
KW - Ergonomics
KW - Human factors
KW - Institutional theory
KW - Organizational culture and change
KW - Technology adoption
KW - Technology implementation
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U2 - 10.1016/0923-4748(92)90003-N
DO - 10.1016/0923-4748(92)90003-N
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0026872433
SN - 0923-4748
VL - 9
SP - 155
EP - 195
JO - Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
JF - Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
IS - 2
ER -