Introductory Essay: The Systems Approach to Technological Change

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Abstract
The systems perspective to technology is briefly presented and types of reconfiguration in large technical systems. One point of departure is that an understanding of how and why large technical systems are reshaped is useful for policy makers, managers, engineers, and other operators who are responsible for the workings of these systems. The point of departure for a systems perspective is that many technologies cannot be viewed as isolated artifacts. Instead they are parts of larger "wholes" which support and sustain. The systems approach to technology has a long history.6 As Staudenmaier has pointed out, Adam Smith used the machine as a metaphor for the interconnectedness of systems. The undoing of closure opens up the potential for transformation. The system is in transition from a "business as usual" mode to a new phase in which various aspects of system operation.

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