The Machine Tool Industry in Germany and the United States from the Perspective of Industrial Culture

Abstract

The understanding of technology as based on and emerging from social, economic, and cultural conditions shows configurations of influencing aspects which throw light upon technological developments in a new way. The following results of a study on U.S. and German CNC machine tool design are a starting point for perceiving technological development and technical artefacts from an industrial cultural perspective. This article also points out how persistent and dynamic forces of an industrial culture effect implementation and design of technical artefacts. They either become an advantage or hindrance to competition on the global (CNC machine tool) market. Existing structures like the organization of workforce and production systems contain persistent elements. Performing people seldom notice the underlying values and norms in these structures and themselves. ‘As nearly all our mental programs are affected by values, nearly all are affected by culture, and this is reflected by our behavior. The cultural component in all kinds of behavior is difficult to grasp for people who remain embedded in the same cultural enviroment; it takes a prolonged stay abroad and mixing with nationals there to recognize the numerous and often subtle differences in the way they and we behave, because that is how our society has programmed us.’(Hofstede, S. 23)