Works
- Some social and psychological consequences of the longwall method of coal-getting, Human Relations 4(1), 3 to 38, 1951
In Organizational Structures
Known for
The longwall study, with Eric Trist.
Ideas
Joint optimization and organizational choice. With Trist, showed that the longwall method in coal mining broke up self-regulating work groups, and argued that social and technical systems must be designed together. Caveat: The terms joint optimization and organizational choice are not in the 1951 article. Kelly (1978) reread the cases and questioned joint optimization.