Current research on technological innovation seems preoccupied with studying the varying outcomes of technological innovation on work and organisations. To understand this variation and explain why technological innovation leads to specific outcomes, the process of technological innovation must be scrutinized. A comparative case study was conducted to examine the design, implementation and use of an identical technology (Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)) in three Belgian SMEs. We explain the organisational and labour related outcomes of MES deployment by analysing both the strategic choices during the selection, design, implementation and utilization of MES in relation to the division of labour between employees, management and technology developers during the technological innovation process. Our findings show how various strategic choices and different divisions of labour lead to both overarching similarities (e.g. increased centralisation, standardization and employee control) as well as important variations in technological outcomes (e.g. degree of (de)centralisation, standardization and employee control). These results illustrate the relative autonomy organisations have in shaping technological outcomes while simultaneously showing the limitations they face, stemming from (I) the material characteristics of technology shaped at meso and macro political level and (II) the social relations at organisational level.

中文翻译：

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相同但不同：了解类似技术结果的差异和相似性。关于在三家比利时中小企业中部署制造执行系统的比较案例研究


当前关于技术创新的研究似乎全神贯注于研究技术创新对工作和组织的不同结果。为了理解这种变化并解释为什么技术创新会导致特定结果，必须仔细审查技术创新的过程。进行了一项比较案例研究，以检查三家比利时中小企业中相同技术（制造执行系统 （MES））的设计、实施和使用。我们通过分析 MES 选择、设计、实施和使用过程中与技术创新过程中员工、管理层和技术开发人员之间的分工相关的战略选择，来解释 MES 部署的组织和劳动力相关结果。我们的研究结果表明，各种战略选择和不同的劳动分工如何导致总体相似性（例如增加的集中化、标准化和员工控制）以及技术成果的重要变化（例如（分散）化、标准化和员工控制的程度）。这些结果说明了组织在塑造技术成果方面的相对自主性，同时显示了它们面临的局限性，这些限制源于 （I） 在中观和宏观政治层面塑造的技术的物质特征，以及 （II） 组织层面的社会关系。