Abstract
This paper deals with current problems of innovation in manufacturing industries. The shortcomings are analysed as contradictions within the conventional modernity. The main characteristic that makes the transition from modernity to reflexive modernity in an era of not intentional side effects is the omnipresent increase of uncertainties at various societal levels. Furthermore, the emerging need for culturally appropriate regionalized products contributes to the need for a reconsideration of innovation assumptions and goals, which will end up with a reflexive innovation of innovation. Finally, the innovation of innovation is embedded in the concept of culture of manufacturing, which provides a framework for assessing the prospects of trans-disciplinary collaboration between engineers and social scientists.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Although a trend towards an information society is discernible, there can be little doubt that most of our consumer goods are still physical – hardware is made of metals or plastics that still need to be manufactured, and even in the “world of computers” software that runs without hardware has yet to be developed! Evidently, a shift towards bionics might change the concept of manufacturing in the “old” and narrow meaning but can we really expect such a paradigmatic change within the next 20 years?
This assumed general trend of innovation processes to become spatially distributed has its clear limitations when networked processes with continuous collaboration between different actors take place or when end-user involvement is intended, because this cooperation works best when direct (face-to-face) communication is carried out. This is why a regional distribution of innovation processes is advantageous against concepts of “globalised time-sharing teledesign”. The latter at best are suitable as means for sub-contract based design but not for participative innovation processes or for cross cultural dialogues between designers and users.
For the purposes of this paper, and due to the fact that there is a large overlap in the content of the two concepts, I will use the terms as synonyms. This clearly indicates the work to be done in the future: checking the correspondence and differences, balancing and harmonising them in order to develop a unified strong concept based on culture.
References
Beck U, Giddens A, Lash S (1996) Reflexive modernisierung. Eine kontroverse. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt (English edition: Beck U, Giddens A, Lash S (1994) Reflexive modernization, Polity, London)
Bijker WE, Hughes TP, Pinch TJ (eds)(1987) The social construction of technological systems. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Ehrlenspiel K (1993) Denkfehler bei der Maschinenkonstruktion: Beispiele, Gründe, Hintergründe. In: Strohschneider S, von der Weth R (eds) Ja, mach nur einen Plan. Pannen und Fehlschläge – Ursachen. Beispiele, Lösungen, Bern
Giddens A (1984) The constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. Polity, Cambridge
Giddens A (1990): The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford University Press, CA
Horkheimer M, Adorno WT (1968): Dialektik der Aufklärung. Philosophische Fragmente. Querido, Amsterdam (English title: Dialectic of Enlightenment)
Ito Y (1997a): Culture and production – present and future. In: Ito Y, Moritz EF (eds) Synergy of culture and production, vol. I. Artefact, Sottrum, Germany
Ito Y (ed) (1997b) Culture-based manufacturing: special issue of Int J Adv Manufacturing Technology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Koestler A (1967) The ghost in the machine. Hutchinson, London
Lash (1990) Sociology of postmodernism. Routledge, London
Latour B (1993) We have never been modern. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Lynn LH, Aram JD, Reddy NM (1997) Technology communities and innovation communities. J Eng Technol Management 14:129–145
Mathews J (1996) Holonic organisational architectures. Human Systems Management 15:1–29
Mertens R, Rose H, Ligner P (1993) Fräsen mit Kopfhörer und Joystick. In: Technische Rundschau Wissen: CNC-Steuerungen (special issue for the EMO ‘93), pp 10–14
Moritz EF, Ruth K (1995) Cooperative production as a new paragon – vision or fiction. In: Proceedings of the 5th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems based on Human Skill, Berlin, pp 120–125
Rauner F (1997) Industrial culture and its implication for a development concept for a “culture of manufacturing”. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 13:464–472
Rauner F, Ruth K (1989) Industrial cultural determinants for technological developments: skill transfer or power transfer? Artif Intell Soc 3:88–102
Rauner F, Ruth K (1990). Perspectives of Research in “Industrial Culture”. In: Karwowski W, Rahimi M (eds) Ergonomics of Hybrid Automated Systems II. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Ruth K (1995) Industriekultur als Determinante der Technikentwicklung. Ein Ländervergleich, Japan–Deutschland–U.S.A., Berlin
Ruth K (1996a) Sushi or the art of juggling. In: Ito Y, Moritz EF (eds) Potentials and problems of cooperation in product innovation – a dialogue between disciplines and cultures. Joint Symposium of innovatop and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Dresden, 1995
Ruth K (1996b) Industrial culture – an action-oriented view at innovation and production, In: Rasmussen L, Rauner F (eds) Industrial cultures and production. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Ruth K (1997) Turning difference into advantage – East/west characteristics of industrial culture and their impacts on innovation in the 21st century. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Manufacturing Milestones toward the 21st Century, Tokyo
Ruth K (2001) Innovation competence: intangibles in cooperative innovation processes. In: Banerjee P, Richter FJ (eds) Intangibles in competition and cooperation. Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK
Ueda K, Vaario J (1997) The biological manufacturing system: adaptation to growing complexity and dynamics in manufacturing environment. In: Proceedings of the 29th CIRP International Seminar on Manufacturing Systems: New Manufacturing Era, Osaka, Japan, 1997
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruth, K. Industrial culture and the innovation of innovation: enginology or socioneering?. AI & Soc 17, 225–240 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0278-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0278-6