The implementation of new technology: A question of attitudes

Few of us are unaware of the problem of low productivity in the UK. It is difficult to escape the many various diagnoses and solutions expounded by politicians, economists, management and unions alike. There seems to be little doubt that to improve our productivity and competitiveness is the fundamental economic question of the day. Yet, knowing this, and all that it implies for the sort of life we are all seeking, we seem to have lost the will to make it happen. Why is this so? After all, we enjoy certain advantages which some of our international competitors do not, e.g. plentiful energy supplies and a well‐educated workforce with proven inventive ability. Yet, overall, we are suffering from a psychological malaise which is proving just as abrasive and possibly even more damaging than the current economic recession. Until recently, the chemical industry in the UK was judged to be one of the strongest. Indeed, the profitability and prospects of ICI were, and still are, looked upon as indicators of the nation's economic health. Now even this industry is running into problems. However, the UK chemical industry is not alone as two of our major competitors, America and Japan, are in a similar situation. In all three countries, the rate of productivity improvement is slowing down, but the UK is in danger of falling further behind. The problem is not primarily one of invention, where the UK has shown it can hold its own, but in getting the fruits of invention applied — the innovation process — effectively and on time. It appears that the implementation of new technology is easier in the USA and Japan than in the UK. A study by Professor Frank Bradbury and myself indicates that part of the answer appears to lie in the differences in the attitudes of employees in the UK, USA and Japan to the implementation of new technology. Even more striking are the differences in management attitudes as shown in our interviews with them.