The chips debate

The current debate on automation predicted by many observers for the last 20 years of this century has produced alternative futures for industry. But they all have one thing in common. Inevitability. This agreement I find is disturbing. It assumes for example that technological advance will happen quite naturally and more disturbingly it is saying about the individual manager that he has no possibility of influencing the future of organisations. I want to disagree with both those assumptions but concentrate on the second.