Preface Emergence.of.cognitive.work

In 1885, Frederick W. Taylor presented a paper to the Society BLOCKINof BLOCKINMechanical BLOCKINEn-gineers in which s/he proposed a method for analyzing the timing and movements of work. In 1913, Henry Ford and his partners perfected an assembly line in the Highland Park factory adopting Taylor's principles. In Taylor's framework and Ford's factory, the timing and movements of work were determined by an objective technical system rather than an arbitrary factory hierarchy. In the spring of 1914, the technological and organizational model now known as the Fordist paradigm was a reality. Perhaps the most relevant aspect of the Fordist factory is that the work is organized, evaluated and regulated on the basis of standards that prescribe both the results and the timing of the work, as well as the ways it is carried out. The process of defining standards proceeds from the formal planning of the work, it is further developed through the definition of procedures and is sustained by an intense activity of measuring each operation. Once the standards have been constructed, human needs can also be taken into account , but always with the awareness that every mediation means moving further away from the ideal, causing a weakening of " rational " action. The BLOCKINrecurrent BLOCKINproblem in BLOCKINmanaging BLOCKINthe BLOCKINwork BLOCKINin BLOCKINa BLOCKINFordist BLOCKINfactory BLOCKINis BLOCKINhow BLOCKINto BLOCKINimpose BLOCKINthe BLOCKIN " rationality " BLOCKIN of the BLOCKINstandards BLOCKINand BLOCKINhow BLOCKINto BLOCKINdefuse BLOCKINthe BLOCKINthreats BLOCKINto BLOCKINorder BLOCKINarising BLOCKINfrom BLOCKINthe BLOCKINindividual's subjectivity and initiatives. Historically, this problem was resolved in different ways within the diverse ideologies and power relationships operating outside and inside the factory, but always with respect to the Fordist paradigm, that sees in the standard a point of reference which cannot be renounced. Even the toughest paradigms are not eternal. Around the middle of the 1960s, the Fordist paradigm began to wear thin due to a series of social, economic, technical and cultural reasons. Surely one of the most relevant changes came in the technological center of gravity of the companies, following the spread of automation, information