The construction of the Dutch computer industry: The organisational shaping of technology

Business History

Volumn 39, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 81-104

  De Wit, Dirk ^a  

^a Telematics Research Cent   (Netherlands)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0003670115     PISSN: 00076791     EISSN: 17437938     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00076799700000100     Document Type: Review

References (51)

1. The historical material is drawn from D. de Wit, 'Wat niet te verzekeren valt, Electrologica als casus uit de opbouw van de Nederlandse Computerindustrie 1956-1968', Jaarboek voor de geschiedenis van bedrijf en techniek (Amsterdam, 1992), pp.261-92. Research for this article was carried out in the archives of the AEGON insurance company. AEGON is the successor of Nillmij, Electrologica's mother company.
2. F.M. Fisher, J.W. McKie and R.B. Mancke, IBM and the US Data Processing Industry: An Economic History (New York, 1983), p.21.
3. S.W. Usselman, '1BM and its Imitators: Organizational Capabilities and the Emergence of the International Computer Industry', Business and Economic History, Vol.22 No.2 (Winter 1993), pp. 1-35.
4. See for instance R.R. Nelson and S.G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (Cambridge, MA, 1982).
5. J. Yates, 'Co-evolution of Information Processing Technology and Use: Interaction between the Life Insurance and Tabulating Industries', Business History Review, Vol.67 (Spring 1993), pp. 1-51.
6. The social constructivist perspective primarily deals with the dynamics of technological development. General introductions to this subject can be found in: W.E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA, 1987): W.E. Bijker and J. Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1992); W.E. Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Socio-Technical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1995). The technology aspect is related to organisations in S. Blume, Insight and Industry: On the Dynamics of Technological Change in Medicine (Cambridge, MA, 1992), and D. de Wit, The Shaping of Automation: A Historical Analysis of the Interaction between Technology and Organization, 1950-1985 (Hilversum, 1994).
7. The social constructivist perspective primarily deals with the dynamics of technological development. General introductions to this subject can be found in: W.E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA, 1987): W.E. Bijker and J. Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1992); W.E. Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Socio-Technical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1995). The technology aspect is related to organisations in S. Blume, Insight and Industry: On the Dynamics of Technological Change in Medicine (Cambridge, MA, 1992), and D. de Wit, The Shaping of Automation: A Historical Analysis of the Interaction between Technology and Organization, 1950-1985 (Hilversum, 1994).
8. The social constructivist perspective primarily deals with the dynamics of technological development. General introductions to this subject can be found in: W.E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA, 1987): W.E. Bijker and J. Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1992); W.E. Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Socio-Technical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1995). The technology aspect is related to organisations in S. Blume, Insight and Industry: On the Dynamics of Technological Change in Medicine (Cambridge, MA, 1992), and D. de Wit, The Shaping of Automation: A Historical Analysis of the Interaction between Technology and Organization, 1950-1985 (Hilversum, 1994).
9. The social constructivist perspective primarily deals with the dynamics of technological development. General introductions to this subject can be found in: W.E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA, 1987): W.E. Bijker and J. Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1992); W.E. Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Socio-Technical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1995). The technology aspect is related to organisations in S. Blume, Insight and Industry: On the Dynamics of Technological Change in Medicine (Cambridge, MA, 1992), and D. de Wit, The Shaping of Automation: A Historical Analysis of the Interaction between Technology and Organization, 1950-1985 (Hilversum, 1994).
10. The social constructivist perspective primarily deals with the dynamics of technological development. General introductions to this subject can be found in: W.E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA, 1987): W.E. Bijker and J. Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1992); W.E. Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Socio-Technical Change (Cambridge, MA, 1995). The technology aspect is related to organisations in S. Blume, Insight and Industry: On the Dynamics of Technological Change in Medicine (Cambridge, MA, 1992), and D. de Wit, The Shaping of Automation: A Historical Analysis of the Interaction between Technology and Organization, 1950-1985 (Hilversum, 1994).
11. J. Law and M. Callon, 'Life and Death of an Aircraft: A Network Analysis of Technological Change', in Bijker and Law (eds.), Shaping Technology, pp.21-53.
12. N. Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, MA, 1982); G. Dosi, Technical Change and Industrial Transformation (London, 1984).
13. N. Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, MA, 1982); G. Dosi, Technical Change and Industrial Transformation (London, 1984).
14. E. Constant, 'The Social Locus of Technological Development', in Bijker, Hughes and Pinch (eds.), Social Construction of Technological Systems, pp.223-30.
15. E. Constant, The Origins of the Turbojet Revolution (Baltimore, MD, 1980).
16. Bijker, On Bicycles, Bakelite, and Bulbs,
17. Bijker gives a tentative list of elements which are included in a technological frame. He distinguishes goals, key problems, problem-solving strategies, requirements to be met by problem solutions, current theories, tacit knowledge, testing procedures, design methods and criteria, user's practice, perceived substitution function and exemplary artifacts. Bijker shows that the professional chemical training of L.H. Baekeland leads to an inclusion in different technological frames which offers an explanation of the discovery of Bakelite. Ibid.
18. D. MacKenzie, Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Cambridge, MA, 1990).
19. Hughes' foremost interest is the designer-entrepreneur, who is able to create socio-technical systems. Hughes is not just interested in technological innovation but also in an organisational innovation, which changes the environment. He analyses how successful entrepreneurs have to be system builders creating technological, economical and political systems. He does not make an a priori distinction between the micro- and the macro-level. See T.P. Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (Baltimore, MD, 1983).
20. The historical development of the hardware in computer technology is characterised by three generations. The first generation used vacuum tubes, the second transistors and the third is distinguished by the use of integrated circuits. A more recent approach focuses on consecutive phases of hardware-, software- and user-related technologies and problems. See A.L. Friedman with D.S. Cornford, Computer Systems Development: History, Organization and Implementation (Chichester, 1989).
21. A.D. Chandler, Jr., Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA, 1990); C. Harvey and G. Jones (eds.), Organisational Capability and Competitive Advantage (London, 1992); W. Lazonick, Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy (Cambridge, 1991); Usselman, 'IBM and its Imitators'.
22. A.D. Chandler, Jr., Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA, 1990); C. Harvey and G. Jones (eds.), Organisational Capability and Competitive Advantage (London, 1992); W. Lazonick, Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy (Cambridge, 1991); Usselman, 'IBM and its Imitators'.
23. A.D. Chandler, Jr., Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA, 1990); C. Harvey and G. Jones (eds.), Organisational Capability and Competitive Advantage (London, 1992); W. Lazonick, Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy (Cambridge, 1991); Usselman, 'IBM and its Imitators'.
24. A.D. Chandler, Jr., Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA, 1990); C. Harvey and G. Jones (eds.), Organisational Capability and Competitive Advantage (London, 1992); W. Lazonick, Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy (Cambridge, 1991); Usselman, 'IBM and its Imitators'.
25. Law and Callon point out the importance of the construction of global and local networks in the development of the Technical Strike and Reconnaissance project. See Law and Callon, 'The Life and Death of an Aircraft'. This was an initiative of the Royal Air Force in Great Britain to develop a combat aircraft (the TSR2). A global network is described as a set of relations between an actor and its neighbours on the one hand and between those neighbours on the other 'to generate a space, a period of time in which an innovation may take place'. This space is called negotiation space. The process of building a project is considered a local network, 'a heterogeneous set of bits and pieces that are necessary to the successful production of any working device'. Between global and local networks there is need for an 'obligatory point of passage'; a central point, office, person or agency through which information flows, who can control information and actors in both networks. The failure of the TSR2 was partly caused by the impossibility of the management to impose itself as an obligatory point of passage.
26. S.S. Blume, Insight and Industry (London, 1992).
27. An interesting comparison can be drawn to the work of JoAnne Yates, who discusses the coevolotion of information-processing technology and use by life insurance companies. She focuses on interactive relations between vendors and customers; she demonstrates how users stimulate technical innovations. J. Yates, 'Co-Evolution of Information Processing Technology and Use'.
28. M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History (Oxford, 1989); J. Hendry, Innovation for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer Industry Cambridge, MA, 1989); R. Hamilton, 'Despite Best Intentions: The Evolution of the British Minicomputer Industry', Business History, Vol.38 No.2 (April 1996), pp.81-104; R. Coopey, 'Industrial Policy in the White Heat of the Scientifc Revolution', in R. Coopey, S. Fielding and N. Tiratsoo (eds.), The Wilson Governments, 1964-70 (London, 1993), p.67.
29. M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History (Oxford, 1989); J. Hendry, Innovation for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer Industry Cambridge, MA, 1989); R. Hamilton, 'Despite Best Intentions: The Evolution of the British Minicomputer Industry', Business History, Vol.38 No.2 (April 1996), pp.81-104; R. Coopey, 'Industrial Policy in the White Heat of the Scientifc Revolution', in R. Coopey, S. Fielding and N. Tiratsoo (eds.), The Wilson Governments, 1964-70 (London, 1993), p.67.
30. M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History (Oxford, 1989); J. Hendry, Innovation for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer Industry Cambridge, MA, 1989); R. Hamilton, 'Despite Best Intentions: The Evolution of the British Minicomputer Industry', Business History, Vol.38 No.2 (April 1996), pp.81-104; R. Coopey, 'Industrial Policy in the White Heat of the Scientifc Revolution', in R. Coopey, S. Fielding and N. Tiratsoo (eds.), The Wilson Governments, 1964-70 (London, 1993), p.67.
31. M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History (Oxford, 1989); J. Hendry, Innovation for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer Industry Cambridge, MA, 1989); R. Hamilton, 'Despite Best Intentions: The Evolution of the British Minicomputer Industry', Business History, Vol.38 No.2 (April 1996), pp.81-104; R. Coopey, 'Industrial Policy in the White Heat of the Scientifc Revolution', in R. Coopey, S. Fielding and N. Tiratsoo (eds.), The Wilson Governments, 1964-70 (London, 1993), p.67.
32. J. Connoly, 'History of Computing in Europe' (IBM World Trade Corporation, 1968, unpublished), p.55.
33. G. Alberts, F. van der Blij and J. Nuis (eds.), Zij mogen uiteraard daarbij de zuivere wiskunde niet verwaarlozen (Amsterdam, 1987).
34. C.S. Scholten, 'Computers ontwerpen toen', Informatie, Vol.22 No.4 (1990), pp.337-41.
35. Mathematisch Centrum was not the only institution in Holland to build computers. The research laboratory of the Dutch Post and telephone company, PTT, constructed two computers in the 1950s, the Ptera and the Zebra. The latter was put into production by Standard Electric. Philips also built computers. During the 1950s it produced Peter, Stevin and Pascal for the company's own use. See E. Kranakis, The Computerization of Dutch Society: The Early Decades (Amsterdam, 1987); idem, 'De eerste computers in Nederland', Informatie, Vol.32 No.4 (1990), pp.324-35.
36. Mathematisch Centrum was not the only institution in Holland to build computers. The research laboratory of the Dutch Post and telephone company, PTT, constructed two computers in the 1950s, the Ptera and the Zebra. The latter was put into production by Standard Electric. Philips also built computers. During the 1950s it produced Peter, Stevin and Pascal for the company's own use. See E. Kranakis, The Computerization of Dutch Society: The Early Decades (Amsterdam, 1987); idem, 'De eerste computers in Nederland', Informatie, Vol.32 No.4 (1990), pp.324-35.
37. T.J. Pinch and W.E. Bijker, 'The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and Sociology of Technology might Benefit Each Other', Social Studies of Science, Vol.14 No.3 (1984), pp.399-441.
38. The concept 'relevant social group' has recently been criticised by Langdon Winner, 'Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding it Empty: Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Technology', in J.C. Pitt and E. Lugo (eds.), The Technology of Discovery and Discovery of Technology: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (Blacksburg, 1991), pp.503-19. In a critical review of social constructivist approaches, he points out the difficulty identifying those groups which are relevant. The use of this concept could lead to an exclusion of groups which are not actively involved. These silent actors may have an impact despite their silence.
39. Kranakis, The Computerization of Dutch Society.
40. R.T. Delamarter, Big Blue: IBM's Use and Abuse of Power (London, 1986).
41. Delehanty puts its this way: Taking a very abstract point of view, one may say that the entire life insurance product is based on mathematical principles. Given this, one might expect that computer technology should have applications in the industry beyond routine record-keeping and calculations.' G.E. Delehanty, 'Computer and the Organisational Structure in Life Insurance Firms: The External and Internal Economic Environment', in C.E. Meyers (ed.), The Impact of Computers on Management (Cambridge, MA, 1967), p.73.
42. Usselman, 'IBM and its Imitators'.
43. Elliot-Automation was a specialist in process control. Elliot had been one of the fastest growing firms in the post-war period. It was active in defence projects, including the TSR2. The cancellation of this project made Elliot search for partners in England as well as abroad.
44. R. Winsbury, 'Out of the Computer Maze', Management Today (July/August 1966).
45. In the USA the relation between IBM and the other companies was typified as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.
46. Bijker's concept of the technological frame has a cultural connotation. As Constant states, technological frames develop within departments. The interaction of departments, the goals set by a company, the way an organisation is structured, the prevailing sort of management, historical experience will attribute to a company's culture.
47. Winner, 'Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding it Empty'.
48. Philips used its contacts with the government to gain entry to the Postal Cheque and Clearing Service. Ironically enough, although it was aiming for the industrial market, this replacement of computers in an administrative setting became Philips' pilot project.
49. N. Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, 1982).
50. See also K. Flamm, Creating the Computer: Government, Industry and High Technology (Washington, DC, 1988), on the role of government in Europe, the USA and Japan.
51. G. Tweedale, 'Marketing the Second Industrial Revolution: A Case Study of the Ferranti Group, 1949-63', in Harvey and Jones (eds.), Organisational Capability and Competitive Advantage, pp.96-127.