DOI•
Enterprise content management systems and the application of Taylorism and Fordism to intellectual labour
01 Jan 2010-
TL;DR: In this paper, a content analysis of ECM system technical white papers reveals that such systems are potentially disastrous to intellectual workers, by subdividing intellectual tasks into the smallest possible constituent parts and automating as many tasks as possible.
Abstract: Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Systems confer numerous advantages to corporations including superior data management, streamlining of office workflows and potential costs savings. However, a content analysis of ECM system technical white papers reveals that such systems are potentially disastrous to intellectual workers. The trends of increasing management control, routinization and deskilling observed and critiqued by Harry Braverman in the 20th century in industrial labour are fully realized in intellectual labour by such systems. In addition to the detailed surveillance capabilities of content management systems (CMS), the employer captures and retains the entire iterative history of the documents produced by its workers. Content management systems deskill workers by subdividing intellectual tasks into the smallest possible constituent parts and automating as many tasks as possible. Content management systems provide some potential opportunities for the reskilling of workers, but a critical examination of the effects of these systems is necessary to determine their exact influence on digital work
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89 citations
Proceedings Article•
01 Jan 2012TL;DR: After approximately one decade of ECM research, this paper provides an in-depth review of the body of academic research: the ECM domain, its evolution, and main topics are characterized.
Abstract: Managing information and content on an enterprise-wide scale is challenging. Enterprise content management (ECM) can be considered as an integrated approach to information management. While this concept received much attention from practitioners, ECM research is still an emerging field of IS research. Most authors that deal with ECM claim that there is little scholarly literature available. After approximately one decade of ECM research, this paper provides an in-depth review of the body of academic research: the ECM domain, its evolution, and main topics are characterized. An established ECM research framework is adopted, refined, and explained with its associated elements and working definitions. On this basis, 68 articles are reviewed, classified, and concepts are derived. Prior research is synthesized and findings are integrated in a conceptcentric way. Further, implications for research and practice, including future trends, are drawn.
24 citations
01 Jan 2013
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three prominent strands of literature suggest conflicting expectations about the direction of change in the complexity of work and the required skill levels of the labour force in Europe, and they suggest conflicting expectation about job complexity and skill levels.
Abstract: What are the directions of change in the complexity of work and the required skill levels of the labour force in Europe? Three prominent strands of literature suggest conflicting expectations – ups...
17 citations
Cites background from "Enterprise content management syste..."
...A literature review by McNally (2010) found that Braverman’s argument remains relevant in explaining deskilling in traditionally high-skill occupations, such as nursing, librarianship, journalism and law (p. 359)....
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References
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TL;DR: A review of the book "Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution" by Michael Hammer and James Champy can be found in this article, where the authors discuss the following:
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution,” by Michael Hammer and James Champy.
1,845 citations
"Enterprise content management syste..." refers background in this paper
...Its early proponents stressed that it empowered workers and increased their skill base (Hammer and Champy, 2001: 245); however, they also emphasized BPR’s ability to deliver cost savings in the form of staff reductions....
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Book•
01 Jan 1988
1,709 citations
"Enterprise content management syste..." refers methods in this paper
...…using the collaborative features of such software including blogs, wikis and instant messaging, to make work more social, though workers must remember that even new mechanisms for social exchange created by information systems can fall under the panoptic control of management (Zuboff, 1988: 382)....
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TL;DR: The introduction of democracy in south africa brought some hope to millions who were previously marginalised and the new government transformed the public.
Abstract: (1995). Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution. European Journal of Information Systems: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 116-117.
1,605 citations
"Enterprise content management syste..." refers background in this paper
...…Company used reengineering to reduce its North American accounts payable division from 500 to 125 employees (Hammer, 1990: 106), while Taco Bell was able to cut the number of area supervisors it employed by two-thirds even while increasing the number of restaurants (Hammer and Champy, 1993: 250)....
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TL;DR: The field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success, suggesting that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors.
Abstract: As more organizations undertake business process reengineering (BPR), issues in implementing BPR projects become a major concern. This field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success. Based on past theories and research related to the implementation of organizational change as well as field experience of reengineering experts, a comprehensive list of sixty-four BPR implementation problems was identified. The severity of each problem was then rated by those who have participated in reengineering in 105 organizations. Analysis of the results clearly demonstrates the central importance of change management in BPR implementation success. Resolutions of problems in other areas such as technological competence and project planning were also determined to be necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for reengineering success. Further, problems that are more directly related to the conduct of a project such as process delineation, project management, and tactical planning were perceived as less difficult, yet highly related to project success. This situation was also true for human resource problems such as training personnel for the redesigned process. These findings suggest that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors. To succeed, it is essential that change be managed and that balanced attention be paid to all identified factors, including those that are more contextual (e.g., management support and technological competence) as well as factors that pertain directly to the conduct of the project (e.g., project management and process delineation). As one of the first pieces of empirical evidence based on a field study, this research emphasizes the importance of addressing BPR implementation within the broader context of organizational change in a complex sociotechnical environment.
601 citations