how the integration enthusiasts blame senior management for blocking their initiative to j develop the company's CAD system into an integrated set-up: ;
"We've had all sorts of problems trying to integrate our AutoCAD into the company's system, | The only obstruction I might see are the Directors! .... again, it's top management.
They've cut [up] the organisation first so we've got all these ongoing activities for the computer integration to ttike place. It would require some of their people not to be doing some
work to do tlie computer integration work." .
In particular, senior management is criticised for being traditionalist and unwilling to
learn and adapt. It should be said that the pro-integration group of engineers look : seriously at learning as an essential element of their career development experience. ; Many of these engineers seem to enjoy learning "the hard way" as they put to use [ whatever theoretical and practical skills they possess: j
"You keep learning I was coming at week ends and early in the morning .... I do much of the customisation work .... CADplus in one way was a disaster from the point of view that it .... didn't do the job for us. On the other hand, we learnt a lo t... from mistakes that we made
from [i.e. with] that package if we hadn't had it I don't think some of the benefits that ^
we've had with AutoCAD we would be seeing these benefits now. We learnt expensively
before and we haven't made any of the same mistakes again." I
Nevertheless, in this case resistance to integration remains uncompromisingly strong at î
the top of the organisation. No positive decision has been made at the senior
management level to adopt an integrating strategy. The forces against change in this 1 case seem to have outweighed the forces for change, so far at least. j
The experience of this company with regard to the lack of any progress towards integration will be explained further in Chapter 7 (section 7.3) using the study's conceptual model. In this respect, the experience of Company 10 will be contrasted with, and analysed against, the experience of Company 4 which adopts an integrating strategy.
5.4 Summary
This chapter presented background information on the cases in the study and, thus, provided the first basic account of the data that was collected on the ten companies during the filed research. Case presentations were divided into two groups corresponding to the primary companies (Company 1 to Company 5) and the secondary ones (Company 6 to Company 10). In essence, the difference between the two lies in four fundamental questions: (1) Should existing or potential CAD and CAM systems be interfaced for a more effective flow of information between the design/engineering and manufacturing functions? (2) Should these functions be integrated organisationally as part of the interfacing process? (3) Should company-wide organisational integration mechanisms be developed around CADCAM so as to extend its benefits beyond these functions? and (4) Should long-term business objectives be reviewed in the light of, and aligned with, CADCAM integration since CAD and CAM are perhaps two of the most important strategic technology applications for any manufacturing concern? The primary companies’ responses to these questions are positive; thus, they have adopted what can be called an integrating strategy. The secondary companies’ are negative; thus, theirs can be described as a non-integrating approach.
The crucial difference between the two positions lies in the fact that by adopting an integrating strategy the primary companies have fomially decided to develop the core of their technical set-ups in favour of integrated CADCAM. The integrating strategy they have followed for the last few years shows a positive line of accumulative action in a direction which is significantly dictated by the technical requirements of integration as a long-term project. In so doing they find that they have to introduce organisational changes, some of which are unpopular to some individuals and groups within their settings. Yet, the trend towards integration persists despite resistance. This partly reflects a determination on the part of the leading change agents to mobilise their organisations towards integration in spite of the psychological, organisational and political challenges involved. In contrast to this position, the secondary companies have not adopted CADCAM integration formally, nor have they seriously attempted to do so. It can be said that they have been indifferent or that they have taken a passive approach to integration for the foreseeable future at least.
In conclusion, one important point should be stressed regarding the organisational implications of the two positions. The integrating strategy adopted in the primary cases is bound to induce a high degree of transformation (for better or worse) with regard to the manner in which working relations have been shaped historically, not only between different individuals and different groups but also within a single group. Ironically, if it is not managed skilfully, an integrating strategy may mean a greater convergence in technology hardware terms but exactly the opposite in organisational and social setting terms. The level of uncertainty associated with technical change is much higher in an integrating strategy as individuals and groups are expected to adapt to continuous change.
By comparison, the situation is different when it comes to a non-integrating approach. Assuming that an integrating strategy will not be adopted by the secondary companies in the near future and that unanticipated turbulent events will not arise, a non-integrating approach per se does not entail such uncertainty and, thus, can be regarded as a more conservative and stable strategy. It is an approach that may avoid - consciously or unconsciously - potential threats to the existing social order in the secondary companies.
The next chapter will build on the data this chapter provided, concerning the cases but will involve a cross-case analysis of the data in the framework of the tentative questions of the present research.