Title: Managing operations with people and technology

Authors: Audley Genus, Maria Kaplani

Addresses: School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK. School of Business and Management, Brunel University, Cleveland Rd, Uxbridge, UK

Abstract: The paper addresses the synergy between operations, technology management and human resource management by way of a study of operational innovation in firms within the Cypriot clothing manufacturing sector. Three case studies of change involving the automation of manufacturing are analysed with reference to the notion of a ||coping cycle||. In each case, the firm in question experienced difficulties with the implementation of operational innovations which made change problematic to sustain. Key factors reside in the general nature and historical context of employee relations and in the tactics employed to implement change. These have implications for the effective management of change and these are discussed within the paper. More broadly, the paper identifies human resource issues as falling within the proper scope of operations and technology management research. There remains a need to temper the traditional ||hardware|| focus of studies of operational/technological innovation with the ||reality|| of human behaviour.

Keywords: operations management; technology management; innovation; organisational change; employee management; case studies; Cypriot clothing manufacturers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2002.003005

International Journal of Technology Management, 2002 Vol.23 No.1/2/3, pp.189-200

Published online: 09 Jul 2003 *

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