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In the essay “Machinery and Modern Industry”, Karl Marx sought to clarify the distinction between considering machines as tools or as mechanisms to replace the “human element” in the course of producing particular goods or implementing certain services. He does so by first succinctly breaking down the difference in capabilities between man and machine.
Marx points out that machines are more efficient than human beings since they are not limited by human biology, rather they can be easily modified or adapted in order to perform ever more complex tasks.
Such a feat is not possible with an average worker since they can neither be expected to move 10 times faster, grow 2 more heads or have 10 arms. He goes on to elaborate on how ubiquitous machines have become through their development during the industrial era. The paper utilizes examples in looming, shipping as well as other such activities to point towards the transition from human workers to machine made items.
The main thrust of the essay though was not to point out how effective machines are in increasing the means of production, rather, it was the intention of Marx to reveal how the use of various machines in production lines is meant to benefit the owner of the business rather than the employees themselves.
Marx attempts to show this distinction by clarifying that the machines utilized in the production of goods and services should not be considered tools to make the lives of workers easier, rather, machines are meant as a means of limiting their ability to influence the process of production. The less workers are involved in creating particular goods, the more they can be easily replaced and, as a result, their rights are slowly being taken away from them without them even realizing it.
The essay proves this by showing how the concept of a “tool” is meant as a means of accomplishing a particular task. This can take the form of a variety of objects such as a sewing needle, a pair of clippers, a hammer, a chisel or a variety of other implements meant to aid in the production of a particular good or to perform a unique kind of service.
Yet, what must be understood is that the use of a tool requires a certain degree of skill and experience on the part of a worker which cannot be easily replicated or replaced, this creates a necessary place for them in the production line thereby solidifying the necessity of keeping them happy and upholding their rights to prevent them from leaving.
However, once the concept of “skill” is removed from production equation wherein the tool itself is incorporated into a mechanical mechanism this, as a result, removes the protections workers enjoyed. Once a job becomes easily replicable, a worker easily replaceable and the necessity of skill is removed from the equation of production, this is when workers lose all their rights and become beholden to the owners of factories, corporations and other such entities since they lose their bargaining power against them.
Introduction
When examining Moriarty’s claim that engineering developments are not simply driven by market forces, it is necessary to examine what factors drive innovations in engineering developments in the first place and how do these relate to market forces.
First and foremost, studies such as those by Nutt(2007) explain that market forces are a fundamental driver of innovative practices within most industries as evidenced by the drivers related to making technology more cost effective, efficient as well as user friendly in order to appeal to the current market segment that a company is targeting (Nutt, 2007).
Evidence of this can be seen in the Smartphone industry today wherein the competition between manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, HTC and other manufacturers have in effect made smart phones cheaper, more innovative and flexible when it comes to the preferences of individual consumers.
One problem with the assessment of Nutt (2007), is that despite demand in markets for innovation it is at times noticeable that no significant engineering developments occur. One clear example of this is seen in the case of the telecommunications infrastructure within the U.S.
As seen in the study of Malhotra & Malhotra (2009), the U.S. significantly lags behind its counterparts in Europe and Asia in terms of advancements in internet connectivity (i.e. the proliferation and speed of local internet connections), this is in spite of the fact that nearly 60% of all internet traffic is from the U.S. alone and many American consumers demand faster connection speeds at affordable prices (Malhotra & Malhotra, 2009).
Another example of this can be seen in the case of computer tablets which were originally introduced in 2002 by Microsoft but only gained popularity within the past 2 years as a result of Apple Inc. This shows that engineering developments are not necessarily connected to market forces, rather, there must be some other facilitator that results in them being created in the first place.
A more applicable method of understanding Moriarty’s claim is to consider the desire to innovate by an engineer as being one of the primary means of creating engineering developments in the first place with market forces dictating the transition of the technology into more marketable, ergonomic and user friendly versions.
Development of Innovative Practices
Most companies opt to forgo laborious and costly methods of creation and merely opt to purchase generic systems which can be configured to their needs (i.e. through the use of patent licenses or generally accepted industry practices). Such systems often follow specific formats and established methods of generalized standards resulting in multiple companies having the same system.
For example, the current Android operating system for a large percentage of current mobile devices, the general layout of smart phones as well as the overall design of many cars today continues to conform with what is known as “standards of design” within their respective industry with little in the way of actual deviation.
As a result, the competitive advantage that has be ascribed to the use of such engineering developments by various industry managers is in fact more akin to the use of a utility that is ubiquitous and not really a basis to be used as a measurement or tool for competitive advantage.
If everybody is using systems that are widely available and affordable it cannot be said that what they are doing is new, innovative or is a method to be used to create a competitive advantage since literally anyone could pay to get the exact same systems as another company.
Aside from problems in relation to competitive advantage, some companies are at times reluctant to diverge from current practices in the industry which also stifles engineering developments. This was actually one of the reasons behind the downfall of Research in Motion in 2008 due to their lack of innovative practices in developing their Blackberry smart phones as a result of competition from the iPhone.
Another factor that should be taken into consideration is that prior to the development of the iPhone and iPad there was no ubiquitous desire for such devices. In fact, Ayyagari, Demirgüç-Kunt & Maksimovic (2011) claims that it is innovation that results in “responses” from market forces in the form of demand for a new type of commodity that was not present before (Ayyagari, Demirgüç-Kunt & Maksimovic, 2011).
Ayyagari, Demirgüç-Kunt & Maksimovic (2011) points out to the initial engineering development of cars in the form of the Ford Model T, the creation of mobile phones and now PC tablets actually created the demand for them where it did not exist prior to their inception. It is based on this that it can be stated that new engineering developments are actually the result of the desire for innovation on the part of the engineers themselves rather than any prior market demand for such engineering developments to exist.
Analyzing Market Orientations
What must be understood is that there are three components to market orientation that dictate how a company creates engineering developments.
These are: customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination. In the case of customer orientation a company spends what resources it has in gathering data on the needs and behaviors of various consumers, the same can be said for competitor orientation however it focuses on competitors instead. What must be understood is that either method of engineering development has a distinct weakness.
Focusing too much on consumer orientation can actually blind a company to changes in the market or may actually stifle innovation since the company focuses too much on consumer satisfaction rather than changing based on trends.
Focusing too much on competitor orientation on the other hand results in too much time and capital being placed on competitive activities which results in companies at times neglecting their consumer bases and focusing too much on getting ahead of the competition. On the other hand, both methods also have their own respective strengths such as the customer orientation strategy being more effective in uncertain markets whereas competitor oriented strategies become effective in fast growing markets.
The best way to maintain a balance between the orientations is to first create a market intelligence mechanism that gathers consumer information and disseminates it within the company and secondly is to encourage the free flow of information within the organization. This is where engineers enter into the picture. Engineers can be considered one of the primary origins of engineering developments since they innovate based on what they perceive is necessary within the market.
This means that the demand for a product does not necessarily have to exist for a type of engineering innovation to be created, rather, it is based on market data that an engineer analyzes that a new product or service is created in order to serve a new need that did not exist before.
This is due to the fact that technology has as of late been under a constantly accelerating level development and, as a result, has enabled new players to enter into markets whereas in the past distinct barriers to proper entry would have been present.
As such, failure to sufficiently innovate along with new technological trends and products can be thought of as a failure on the part of the managerial practices at a company since being able to anticipate trends and use them to either reach greater market penetration or keep the company relevant to consumers is a necessity in today’s technology intensive market economy.
Reference List
Ayyagari, M., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Maksimovic, V. (2011). Firm Innovation in Emerging
Markets: The Role of Finance, Governance, and Competition. Journal Of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, 46(6), 1545-1580.
MALHOTRA, A., & MALHOTRA, C. (2009). A Relevancy-Based Services View for
Driving Adoption of Wireless Web Services in the U.S. Communications Of The ACM, 52(7), 130-134.
Nutt, H. (2007). Increasing delivery value and reducing risk through improved business development capability. Contract Management, 47(8), 8-17.
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