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9 EPILOGUE Chapters 1-8 have reported the committee's findings on ANT implementation obtained primarily at plant sites visited by one or more committee members. Some of the f indings have been additionally supported by examples known personally to committee members (usually because these cases are Internal to their own companies or unions). The committee has carefully reported findings about implementation practices, often without drawing conclu- ~ions about the general applicability of any particular practice to AMT. It certainly cannot be certified in any particular instance that the particular practice (e.g., selection strategy) will work out as intended or expected by the planners. What the committee does endorse as appropriate to the types of ANT applications studied is the overall thrust of the practices involved: · defining jobs more broadly to include more inter- related tasks, · creating more flexibility in work assignments, · delegating more discretion to lower levels of the organization where the information and expertise exist, · communicating more about plans and business conditions, · involving more employees and their representatives in more activities that affect them and require their support and cooperation, and · changing the culture in ways that reflect and encourage these changes in practices. Throughout the report, the committee has emphasized how these practices were tailored to fit the technology, 68
69 and the committee believes the practices were particu- larly instrumental in implementing the technologies represented by its ANT examples. Beyond that, however, the committee views these and related practicer as suitable responses to the increasing competitive pressures on managers to improve their motivation and use of.employees, and to the changing expectation. of these employees about their participation and treatment in the workplace. .
