Socio-Technical Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Socio-Technical Systems - Essay Example Throughout the various stages involved in this case study, its success was highly shaped by the organization’s social system. Before the E-File system was adopted by the company, its workers were frustrated with the level of service they received. The workers termed this as â€Å"deteriorating service† as their issues were not addressed in time. Those that were injured at work had to wait for a long period of time for their claims to be processed, a process that was greatly tiring and time consuming. This meant that the level of relationship between the workers and the organization’s administration was strained. However, the adoption of the new technological system was a breath of fresh air to all. The E-File system was swift and convenient. The workers claims could now be processed in a timely manner. This helped in saving time for both the workers and the management, a time that could now be used in carrying out other organizational activities (Golden-Biddle, 2 ). According to Golden-Biddle (2), human beings organize themselves into the different kinds of social groupings they interact with in everyday situations. In this case, the workplace can be considered as a social grouping in which the company workers associate with everyday. When carrying out the transition from the paper based work processes into the more technical E-File system, the company’s social system played a vital role in shaping its final outcome (Parker, 6). As such, the company’s staff was in a position to consult amongst one another on how the new system worked. Though much of the staff was already highly skilled on the new tasks at hand, those that did not understand the technical aspect of the new system were in a position to learn from those that already had more knowledge and expertise in the system. This ensured that no worker was left behind in the evolution from the paper based process into the new paperless system. At the same time, the workers we re in a position to learn how the system worked from a much better perspective when taught by their co-workers than from the technical experts. The insurance management understood that it would highly depend on the ability and willingness of its employees to develop new work practices and skills in order for this new project to take effect. This meant that the organization had to find ways through which any interference or hindrance to these changes could be eliminated (Stebbins & Shani, 17). As such, the company devised new ways through which they could appeal to the employees socially and dampen whatever fears they had in regards to the project. In order to achieve this, the company recognized the need for reassure its workers that they would not be affected by the technological changes. To this effect, the insurance company negotiated a provision within the collective employment agreement and a wage protection for its entire staff that would be affected by the technological chang e within the organization (Parker, 5). In this case, the technical system interacted perfectly with the social system in shaping the outcome of this new project. After the implementation of these new provisions, more workers embraced the new system. This is because they felt that their social surroundings were safe and were not on the verge of collapsing (Stebbins & Shani, 28). This new agreement demonstrated that the employees would be given the support and time that they would require to learn how the new syste