Publisher's Synopsis
This book is the result of a ten-year research programme mounted by the European Foundation which was designed to throw new light on two issues crucial to businesses and other organizations that seek to profit from the use of the new technologies: How can these technologies be most effectively implemented? How should they be used to maximize the benefits to employees, customers and the public at large?;The researchers examined the use of new technology in a wide range of contexts, including, engineering and other manufacturing industry, banking and insurance, retailing and the public sector and investigated its impact on mass and batch production, process operations and office work. They were concerned not only with its role in improving the efficiency of working practices but also with its impact on employees at all levels, and its effects on the service given to customers and on the interests of consumers as a whole.;The six major reports which make up the main body of the text are the work of experts based in research centres in five community countries and the concluding chapter is a summary of the debates at a conference held in Dublin where the findings of the six research groups were discussed.
