Work Transformed: Automation and Labor in the Computer Age

'''Shaiken, Harley. Work Transformed: Automation and Labor in the Computer Age.''' New York: Holt, 1984.

Rev. Michael Kazin, The Nation 6 April 1985: 406-9. WT describes, in Kazin's words, "the uneven application of theoretically dazzling systems with names like CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/ Computer-Aided Manufacturing), TOPS (Total Operations Planning System) and Numerical control." Notes necessity for human supervision, making "the fully automated factory" a possibility "only in the realm of science fiction" (Kazin). Rev. implies that TOPS necessitates preliminary time-and-motion studies — see Taylorism, this Category — and constant "computerized scheduling" of operations. WT explicitly deals with political implications of automation.