The Effect of Technological Innovations on the Social Discipline System in Industrial Institutions: A field Study Applied to a Sample of Industry Workers

The present study aims at exploring the effect of using technology on the social discipline system in industrial institutions. This aim is further divided into several aims: (a) exploring the extent to which technology is utilized in industrial institutions, (b) identifying the effect of the use of technology on the development of the performance of employees in industrial institutions, (c) analyzing the impact of technology on the social relationships within industrial institutions, and (d) investigating the impact of using technology on the standards of evaluating employees in industrial institutions. It is to be noted that the current research is a descriptive and analytical study where the social survey method is adopted by the researcher. The researcher has also designed a scale as a tool for the field study in an attempt to unveil the real effect of technological innovations on the social discipline system as well as the nature of social relationships in industrial institutions. The geographical domain of the present study was Toshiba El Araby Factory in Quesena (Monufia), with a sample of 200 workers and an in-depth interview with a sample of 10 workers. The study has revealed the multiple effects of technology on the nature of social relationships among workers in industrial institutions. Some of these effects are found to be negative, that is, the human aspect is neglected; the media of technology have a bad effect on the employees’ personal freedom; technology decreases social communication and interaction between employees and violates their privacy. On the other hand, some effects are found to be positive, e.g. technology achieves justice between employees; it reduces the gathering of employees for other purposes than work; it helps discover and solve problems rapidly; it regulates relationships and interactions between employees. These effects reflect the importance of the role that modern technology plays in reformulating the nature of relationships between employees in such a way that would support the objectives of the institutions and contribute to the improvement of production. These effects also highlight the importance of technological means in the objective and unbiased evaluation of employees, particularly by depending on technological equipment which is not subject to personal prejudice and deviational practices. Moreover, it has been found out that technological innovations lead to lowering the costs of supervision and observation.