Technological Change

5Experiencing Technological Change

The previous three chapters have addressed technological change at different levels: social, organizational and individual. They have thus provided insights from different disciplines (anthropology, history, philosophy, economics, psychology) on the subject. This chapter proposes to mobilize these different elements to address the issue of the dynamics of technological change and finally to suggest appropriate practices and change management strategies. To this end, it focuses on supporting technological change within work organizations. This focus allows for a better understanding of the subject and is justified by the fact that much of the technological change comes from and affects organizations, and by the need for managerial decision-makers to have guidelines.

The working organizations also have the particularity of grouping together the three levels described in the previous chapters. Thus, organizations are made up of individuals involved in systems of activities and having to use technical objects (Chapter 4), as well as of collectives of individuals whose dynamics of work and cooperation can be modified by technological change (Chapter 3), and finally they are embedded in a societal ecosystem in which they play a key role (Chapter 2).

This chapter begins by presenting the different threats and opportunities associated with technological change (section 5.1). It thus takes up elements disseminated in the previous chapters, but resituates ...