Abstract :
In management of technology in the late 20th century period, many trends are identifiable. With the importance of technology in today´s world, these industrial/technological/sociological trends present great challenges and opportunities to management. For example, a proper balance between productivity and quality of life is an elusive goal. The writer had a unique opportunity to study some of these trends and developments in the automotive production line setting in northern European countries: Sweden, Germany, England, and Norway. The following report is a summary of these studies. Clearly, traditional production line problems involving boredom and labor unrest can be amelorated by job enrichment and teamwork organization which modifies cycle times* from about one minute to as much as 30 to 50 minutes. These trends and their impact on engineering management are worthy of careful study.
