The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society

Book Description

Why do we find ourselves living in an Information Society? How did the collection, processing, and communication of information come to play an increasingly important role in advanced industrial countries relative to the roles of matter and energy? And why is this change recent--or is it?

James Beniger traces the origin of the Information Society to major economic and business crises of the past century. In the United States, applications of steam power in the early 1800s brought a dramatic rise in the speed, volume, and complexity of industrial processes, making them difficult to control. Scores of problems arose: fatal train wrecks, misplacement of freight cars for months at a time, loss of shipments, inability to maintain high rates of inventory turnover. Inevitably the Industrial Revolution, with its ballooning use of energy to drive material processes, required a corresponding growth in the exploitation of information: the Control Revolution.

Between the 1840s and the 1920s came most of the important information-processing and communication technologies still in use today: telegraphy, modern bureaucracy. rotary power printing, the postage stamp, paper money, typewriter, telephone, punch-card processing, motion pictures, radio, and television. Beniger shows that more recent developments in microprocessors, computers, and telecommunications are only a smooth continuation of this Control Revolution. Along the way he touches on many fascinating topics: why breakfast was invented, how trademarks came to be worth more than the companies that own them, why some employees wear uniforms, and whether time zones will always be necessary.

The book is impressive not only for the breadth of its scholarship but also for the subtlety and force of its argument. It will be welcomed by sociologists, economists, historians of science and technology, and all curious in general.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2003-03-21

The writer thoroughly researched his work. He studied how technology affects organizations and how crisis of information come into play when dealing with mass markets and new technologies. This is a must read work.

Outstanding book.......2001-05-20

Beniger has published two sole-authored books. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society (Harvard University Press, 1986) gained a full-page review (with brief biography) in the New York Times Book Review and the lead review (and cover illustration) in the special book review edition of Science, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Now in its third printing, The Control Revolution won the eleventh annual Association of American Publishers award for "the most outstanding book in the social and behavioral sciences" and the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award; the 1989 softcover edition was selected by the New York Times Book Review as a "Notable Paperback of the Year." Recently Harvard University Press announced contracts to publish The Control Revolution in two additional languages: in Italian by UTET Libreria, an Italian book publisher, by December 1995; and in Mandarin Chinese by Laureate, a U.S. book publisher specialized in foreign translations for export, by May 1996.

Ground breaking, empirical work, cuts thru Info Society hype.......1999-10-06

If you have, like Beniger, asked the question "Why is information so critical for our current mode of production? Why Information? Why Now?" You need to read this book.

His basic argument is that the seeds of our contemporary information intensive society was sown way back during the start of the Industrial Revolution. In fact, information was critical to make the transition from feudal to industrial society. The reason being that the industrial revolution (entailing mechanization, steam power, assembly line etc.) speeded up the process of production to the extent that human beings on their own physical powers would be unable to keep up with the speed of production. In feudal/agricultural based societies, the production process was slow (i.e., ploughing using ox) and it remained in control of the individual. With the industrial revolution, the production process was speeded, resulting in what he terms as "a crisis of control." This reminds me a lot of the Charlie Chaplin movie "Modern Times." Don't know if you have seen it, if you have, you know exactly what I am talking about.

In order to resolve the crisis of control emerging from the speeded-up production process, you need information. Example: Steam engine travels faster than a human being. How do you keep track of the train if you can't run faster than it? String telegraph line along the railway track connecting different stations along the way. When train reaches station, the station master informs the next station about the next estimated arrival time. Think about it, if you didn't have a schedule or an estimated time of arrival/departure, it would be impossible to operate a passenger train service or a goods service. Speed brings uncertainty which can only be resolved through the acquisition of information.

Today, just-in-time production (epitomizing the heights of efficiency and speed) would not be possible without flow of information to control this process.

This is a great book! Much recommended for people who would like to exercise their grey cells. WARNING: Business travellers nourished on Tofflerian hype may have indigestion!

Excellent book.......1999-10-04

This is an excellent synthesis of great information from a number of different fields. I want to point out (for anyone reading these "reviews") that the person who gave this book only one star is actually referring to a book by another author. The two authors have books with similar titles. For that reason, I urge you to disregard that irrelevant ranking and read this excellent book for yourself.

This is a highly original work spanning many disciplines........1998-08-05

Beniger has synthesized findings from scores of fields to produce a plausible and remarkably original view of economic change and commercial development in America. While some of his explanations are a bit murky and some of his linkages a bit half-baked, this a brilliant book. Nobody to my knowledge, saving perhaps only Alfred Chandler, has done a better job of explaining the evolution of administrative systems or the linkages between that evolution and the advances in information technology occuring in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in management control, competitive dynamics, or technological/economic history.

I only wish the author had taken one more cut at simplifying and clarifing his basic thesis, It is also a pity that the volume was written prior to the development of transaction cost economics.

Book Description

Creating Knowledge Based Healthcare Organizations brings together high quality concepts closely related to how knowledge management can be utilized in healthcare. It includes the methodologies, systems, and approaches needed to create and manage knowledge in various types of healthcare organizations. Furthermore, it has a global flavor, as we discuss knowledge management approaches in healthcare organizations throughout the world. For the first time, many of the concepts, tools, and techniques relevant to knowledge management in healthcare are available, offereing the reader an understanding of all the components required to utilize knowledge.

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Some companies may want to move in this direction

Creating Knowledge Based Organizations

Manufacturer: IGI Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1591402190

Book Description

Creating Knowledge Based Organizations brings together high quality concepts closely related to organizational learning, knowledge workers, intellectual capital, virtual teams and will include the methodologies, systems and approaches needed to create and manager knowledge-based organizations of the 21st Century.

Customer Reviews:

Some companies may want to move in this direction.......2004-04-11

Increasingly, it appears that for many of us and our companies, our core competence focuses around knowing certain things and being able to use this knowledge better than others. Especially with all the publicity about outsourcing and offshoring to developing countries that have many smart, educated people willing to perform skilled tasks at much lower wages.

Book Description

Communication technology not only changes the face of organizations, but can support organizations in their strive to become learning organizations. In Using Communication Technology, Bettina Buuml;chel examines the relationship between information technology and organizations from a range of perspectives, and highlights the managerial implications stemming from this relationship. Analysis is based on theoretical work in organizational studies, management and computer science, and draws upon case studies from companies in Europe and Asia.This book provides managers with guidelines for individual choice among communication media and goes on to suggest means of evaluating the outcome of communication technology strategy. The author shows how organizational use of communication technologies can lead the way towards the creation of knowledge organizations.

Knowledge Management and Knowledge-Based Organizations.(Book Review): An article from: Information Management Journal

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Knowledge Management and Knowledge-Based Organizations.(Book Review): An article from: Information Management Journal
Norman Mooradian
Manufacturer: Association of Records Managers & Administrators (ARMA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Information Management Journal, published by Association of Records Managers & Administrators (ARMA) on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 843 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Knowledge Management and Knowledge-Based Organizations.(Book Review)
Author: Norman Mooradian
Publication: Information Management Journal (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: Association of Records Managers & Administrators (ARMA)
Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Page: 58(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

The issue of food production in Africa dominates international development thinking. In this innovative book Allan Low uses the theory of household economics to establish the link between the stagnation of African farming and the rapid development of modern market sectors in southern African economies. In the process he sheds new light on cropping patterns, technology adoption, the nature of rural-urban migration, the impact of rural development initiatives, and the success of research approaches aimed at increasing the production of small-scale African farming.

Book Description

This study assesses economic developments and policies during the inaugural year of Europe's single currency. It analyzes the economic performance and prospects of the Euro area as a whole, and highlights to what extent aggregate trends are shaped by convergence or divergence at national or regional levels.

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This paper discusses the changes in Public Debt Management under European Monetary Union (EMU) and their implications for Monetary Policy. The paper makes important policy recommendations concerning the functioning of primary markets and calls for action by the European Commission to promote co-operation and co-ordination of issuing policies across EMU Member Sates.

On the feasibility of a one or mutli-speed European monetary union (NBER working paper series)

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On the feasibility of a one or mutli-speed European monetary union (NBER working paper series)
Alberto Alesina
Manufacturer: National Bureau of Economic Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006P0PB8

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One Money
Christopher Taylor
Manufacturer: European Schoolbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0850487293

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One money for Europe

Manufacturer: Credit Communal
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 287193147X

ONE MONEY FOR EUROPE?---The Economics And Politics Of EMU

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ONE MONEY FOR EUROPE?---The Economics And Politics Of EMU
Malcolm Crawford
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTKP4I

Book Description

Most of the ADSL and other broadband equipment sold world-wide is made either in Taiwan or by Taiwanese companies. This report analyzes Taiwan's broadband scene. It includes an overview of Taiwan's domestic Internet and broadband markets, detailing major suppliers and their customers, services and pricing. In addition, it covers Taiwan's broadband equipment makers - the companies that supply the WLAN cards, modems, switches, etc. to Taiwan's and the world's service providers. This report provides a hands-on tool that can be used to identify potential partners and to gain a broad understanding of Taiwan's domestic broadband market and its position in the global market.

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