Reference:Principles of STS Analysis and Design/Introduction
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Some Principles of Sociotechnical Systems Analysis and Design was originally published in 1992 by the Dr. Eli Berniker for the School of Business Administration, Pacific Lutheran University and is copyright Dr. Eli Berniker. Reproduced here with permission.
| Cover page | Introduction | Philosophical Premises and Values | Design Process | Structuring Work Groups | Work Design | Continuity | Epilogue | References |
Abstract
In the half century since the Durham coal mine experiences, sociotechnical systems (STS) analysis practice has evolved into an effective technique for the design of innovative work organizations. Albert Cherns[1] (1976) elaboration of nine principles of sociotechnical systems design has become the classic formulation of the body of experience and knowledge about work group design that has been accumulated over the years. This paper seeks to further elaborate STS design principles by examining the experience and writings of many contributors to STS practice. The result is twenty-four principles presented in a framework of five aspects of design practice: philosophical premises, design process, work group structuring, work design, and continuity.
These principles are guidelines to, rather than prescriptions for, design practice. Principles give direction to the process, suggest innovative premises and provide an anchor for what is necessarily a creative sensemaking process, a craft rather than a science. A further goal is to facilitate discussion and criticism of the ongoing evolution of self-regulating work groups as an organizational form.
Introduction
In 1976, Albert Cherns, in what has become a classic paper, elaborated nine principles of sociotechnical systems (STS) design. The paper has been often reprinted and cited. In the 13 years since, STS has been taught, critiqued, and researched. STS practice has evolved into an effective organization design technique (Pasmore, 1988). Our purpose is to revisit Cherns' nine principles, unconfound some of them, and develop additional concepts and principles from recent experience. These principles, like Cherns' original nine, are intended as guidelines to the 'art of organization design'.
Cherns (1976) offered these principles "as a checklist, not a blueprint"; concepts distilled from the experience of many consultants and researchers in many settings. They are not prescriptive. As a design team is met with seemingly unlimited design choices, these principles best serve to critique and design decisions. Without such an explicit effort, traditional job design practices of fragmentation, control, and the assumptions of worker incompetence and irresponsibility often will find uncritical expression in design decisions whatever the professed intentions of the designers. As a checklist, the principles are tools with which to flush out hidden assumptions and appreciate potential outcomes of work design decisions.
Sociotechnical systems evolved from a peculiar history, a set of accidental discoveries in British coal mines (Trist, 1981). It developed much more as a craft (Majchrzak and Glasser, 1990) than a science. Mintzberg's characterization of the craft of strategy-making as "dedication, experience, involvement ", "the personal touch, a sense of harmony and integration" (1987, p73) applies equally well to work group design and STS practice. Technologies emerge from crafts as experience is codified and transmitted to others. Technology is not science. Fire technologies were in use for millions of years before they were understood scientifically. We cannot, in the limitations of a paper, attempt to present STS as a scientific discipline and integrate practice into a coherent theory. Our goal, then, is to codify further the technology of work group design by deriving useful principles from experience.
Twenty-four principles are presented instead of Chern's (1976) original nine. Some, subsumed by Cherns under others, have been elevated as separate principles. Others principles have been derived from the works of Berniker (1985, 1987), Cummings (1978, 1981), Cummings and Mohrman (1987), Davis (1982), Kelly (1978), Mumford (1983) and Susman (1976, 1990). Figure 1 maps the 24 principles in relationship to the original nine. Authors are not cited as the originators of these principles but as references who discussed them. The list is cumbersome, overlapping, and paradoxical. This suggests that STS work design remains much more of an craft than a technology. We may be comforted by the argument that paradox is a characteristic of effective organizations (Cameron, 1986).
The principles are classified into five sets roughly approximating their relevance to the design process and its outcomes: Philosophical Premises and Values, Design Process, Structuring Work Groups, Work Design, and Continuity. Others might suggest different but equally valid rubrics and assignments.
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