Мениджърите и последиците от технологичната промяна — сходството между Изтока и Запада
Social Organization and the Aftermath of Techno¬logical Change — Similarity Between the East and the West

Summary/Abstract: The "unpredictability“ hypothesis is based upon data from the Western countries about the influence of technology over labor. According to this hypothesis the technological change has no simple and synonymous aftermath. Its consequences are determined by the market forces influence, the management strategy and different organizational factors. The "similarity" hypothesis supports the opinion that the influence of technology over labor in the socialist enterprises and economy as a whole is determined by one and the same basic interrelations. The paper summarizes the data from the Western countries and gives some indirect data in support of the "similarity" hypothesis based upon the experience of two socialist states - USSR and PRB. The given data fully endorse the last hypothesis and especially in regard of the key role of the manager. With the last changes in the socialist countries the interrelation "technologies - managers - labor" becomes more and more dependent on the "unpredictability”, in other words – more and more it resembles the situation in the Western countries. We outline a model of comparative study which tests both hypotheses. The model is a longitudinal one and gives national section of capitalist and socialist enterprises. Special attention is given to enterprises and institutions and at the same time some other levels of the social organization are examined. The changes in the character and the content of labor and the autonomous control as function of the technological change are examined too. The model scrutinizes some explanations of the "similarity" hypothesis which include: the direct diffusion and the life cycle of technologies in respect to the level of qualification; the authoritarian-hierarchical style of management; the compensatory mechanisms for neutralization of uncertainty; and activities in introduction and development.

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