The arrival of the information society in Japan has radically altered
the industrial structure, work patterns and cultural values of its
society. The innovation and implementation of information technology has
accelerated this change and made its effects more profoundly felt.
Because of this, there is now a need to widen the debate on
human-centred manufacturing systems to include broader issues such as
industrial culture, international economies and global knowledge.
Human Centred Systems in the Global Economy contains the
proceedings of an international workshop held at Tokyo Keizai University
which looked at the design of human-centred systems in the context of
these technological and social changes. The workshop attracted
contributions from internationally known researchers in Europe, Japan,
the USA, South East Asia, Eastern Europe and the USSR. The resulting
volume is unique in that it addresses the relationship of information
technology to Japanese society as a whole, rather than concentrating on
technical issues. The papers have been divided into three areas,
covering the structure, dimensions, and policies and perspectives of the
information society. Specific areas covered include: social and cultural
shaping of technology, economic interdependence, technology and
knowledge transfer, computer-aided design, management culture and
communication technologies. Human Centred Systems in the Global
Economy provides a comprehensive assessment of the debates on
human-centred systems and will be of interest to people in a wide
variety of disciplines including information technology, economic
development, management science and related studies of social science
and humanities.