Abstract
Our research question focusses on the complex networks of organizations of business partners that by exchanging data and sharing control collaborate for typical business or social objectives. We revisit such networks of organizations studied under the collaborative networks research area in a multidisciplinary attempt to construct a common balanced sociotechnical framework based on the interactions between social and engineering sciences. Our proposal discusses the collaborative network under the 4.0 following industry time frame classification, considering momentous evolution steps towards the digital. This paper presents and discusses research towards balanced sociotechnical concepts and definitions founded on previous studies with a recognized influence from social science and engineering systems. The paper further points out a strategy to validate the research in a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) case and, in the context of the HORUS project with BP Portugal.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The International Council on Systems Engineering - https://www.incose.org/.
- 2.
Interaction Design Foundation - https://www.interaction-design.org/literature
References
Afsarmanesh, H., Camarinha-Matos, L.M.: A framework for management of virtual organization breeding environments. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Afsarmanesh, H., Ortiz, A. (eds.) PRO-VE 2005. ITIFIP, vol. 186, pp. 35–48. Springer, Boston, MA (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29360-4_4
Afsarmanesh, H., Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Ermilova, E.: Vbe reference framework. In: Methods and Tools for Collaborative Networked Organizations, pp. 35–68. Springer, US (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79424-2_2
Afsarmanesh, H., Ermilova, E., Msanjila, S.S., Camarinha-Matos, L.M.: Modeling and management of information supporting functional dimension of collaborative networks. In: Hameurlain, A., Küng, J., Wagner, R. (eds.) Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems I. LNCS, vol. 5740, pp. 1–37. Springer, Heidelberg (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03722-1_1
Baxter, G., Sommerville, I.: Sociotechnical systems: from design methods to systems engineering. Interact. Comput. 23(1), 4–17 (2010)
Berggren, C.: Alternatives to Lean Production. Cornell University Press, Ithaca (2019)
Broadbent, E., Kuo, I.H., Lee, Y.I., Rabindran, J., Kerse, N., Stafford, R., MacDonald, B.A.: Attitudes and reactions to a healthcare robot. Telemed. J. e-Health Off. J. Am. Telemed. Assoc. 16, 608–613 (2010)
Camarinha-Matos, L., Rabelo, R., Osorio, L.: Balanced automation. In: Tzafestas, S.G. (eds) Computer-Assisted Management and Control of Manufacturing Systems. Advanced Manufacturing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0959-4_14
Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Fornasiero, R., Ramezani, J., Ferrada, F.: Collaborative networks: a pillar of digital transformation. Appl. Sci. 9(24) (2019)
Cañas, A.J., et al.: Cmaptools: a knowledge modeling and sharing environment (2004)
Cellary, Wojciech: Non-technical Challenges of Industry 4.0. In: Camarinha-Matos, Luis M., Afsarmanesh, Hamideh, Antonelli, Dario (eds.) PRO-VE 2019. IFIP AICT, vol. 568, pp. 3–10. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28464-0_1
Dalpiaz, F., Giorgini, P., Mylopoulos, J.: Adaptive sociotechnical systems: a requirements-based approach. Requir. Eng. 18(1), 1–24 (2013)
Dori, D., et al.: System definition, system worldviews, and systemness characteristics. IEEE Syst. J. 14(2), 1538–1548 (2020)
Hofmann, P., Samp, C., Urbach, N.: Robotic process automation. Electron. Markets 30(1), 99–106 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00365-8
Kato, S., Ashley, S.R., Weaver, R.L.: Insights for measuring social value: classification of measures related to the capabilities approach. VOLUNTAS: Int. J. Voluntary Nonprofit Organ. 29(3), 558–573 (2018)
Madakam, S., Holmukhe, R., Jaiswal, D.: The future digital work force: robotic process automation (rpa). 16, 01 (2019)
Mulgan, G.: Measuring social value. Stanford Social Innovation Review (2010)
Osório, A.L., Belloum, A., Afsarmanesh, H., Camarinha-Matos, L.M.: Agnostic informatics system of systems: the open ISoS services framework. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Afsarmanesh, H., Fornasiero, R. (eds.) PRO-VE 2017. IAICT, vol. 506, pp. 407–420. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65151-4_37
Osório, A.L.: Towards vendor-agnostic IT-system of IT-systems with the CEDE platform. In: 17th Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises (PRO-VE), vol. 480. AICT of Collaboration in a Hyperconnected World, pp. 494–505, Porto, Portugal, October 2016
Petukhov, I., Steshina, L.: Decision-making problems in sociotechnical systems. In: Pomffyova, M. (ed.) Management of Information Systems, chapter 8. IntechOpen, Rijeka (2018)
Ragosta, M., Martinie, C., Palanque, P., Navarre, D., Sujan, M.A.: Concept maps for integrating modeling techniques for the analysis and re-design of partly-autonomous interactive systems. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Application and Theory of Automation in Command and Control Systems, ATACCS 2015, pp. 41–52. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2015)
Ropohl, G.: Philosophy of sociotechnical systems. Techné: Res. Philos. Technol. 4, 186–194 (1999)
Roth, C.: Socio-semantic frameworks. Advances in Complex Systems, World Scientific, 16 (ffhalshs-00927322), pp. 1350013 (2013)
Sillitto, H., et al.: Defining “system”: a comprehensive approach, July 2017
Sony, M., Naik, S.: Industry 4.0 integration with sociotechnical systems theory: a systematic review and proposed theoretical model. Technol. Soc. 61, 101248 (2020)
tepsie. Social innovation theory and research: a guide for researchers. Technical report, TEPSIE EU FP7 Project (2014)
EL Trist. Organizational Choice. Continuity in Administrative Science and Ancestral Books in the Management of Organizations. Garland, 1963
Trist, E.L.: The Evolution of Socio-technical Systems: A Conceptual Framework and an Action Research Program. Issues in the quality of working life: a series of occasional papers. Ontario Ministry of Labour, Ontario Quality of Working Life Centre (1981)
Urze, P., Machado, T.: On the assembly line: a view from industrial sociology. In: Information Technology for Balanced Manufacturing Systems, pp. 291–300. Springer, Boston (2006)
Wil, M.P., van der Aalst, Bichler, M., Heinzl, A.: Robotic process automation. Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 60(4), 269–272 (2018)
von Bertalanffy, L.: The theory of open systems in physics and biology. Science 111(2872), 23–29 (1950)
Walker, G.H., Stanton, N.A., Salmon, P.M., Jenkins, D.P.: A review of sociotechnical systems theory: a classic concept for new command and control paradigms. Theor. Issues Ergon. Sci. 9(6), 479–499 (2008)
Winter, S., Berente, N., Howison, J., Butler, B.: Beyond the organizational ‘container’: conceptualizing 21st century sociotechnical work. Inf. Organ. 24(4), 250–269 (2014)
Acknowledgments
This research develops in the context of the SOCOLNET scientific network and its ARCON-ACM initiative. The research project HORUS sponsored by BP Portugal has partially funded this work. Research has the participation of the consulting company BTEN offering UiPath solutions, as a validation case for the RPA technology. This work has also been partially funded by the Center of Technology and Systems – UNINOVA, and the Portuguese FCT Foundation project UIDB/00066/2020, and by Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology – CIUHCT- and the Portuguese FCT Foundation project UIDB/00286/2020.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
Urze, P., Osório, A.L., Afsarmanesh, H., Camarinha-Matos, L.M. (2020). A Balanced Sociotechnical Framework for Collaborative Networks 4.0. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Afsarmanesh, H., Ortiz, A. (eds) Boosting Collaborative Networks 4.0. PRO-VE 2020. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 598. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62412-5_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62412-5_40
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62411-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62412-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)