La Fiat e la nuova fase della razionalizzazione

Abstract

Fiat’s organisational model is undergoing a radical change, leading it away from its previous Fordist-Taylorist pattern toward a scheme of “integrated factory” (functional integration, fewer hierarchical levels, “lean production”, etc.). This change is in line with organisational trends that can be seen in all Western countries. The concrete outcomes of such trends are up to now diversified, and they may not lead to an organisational model as universal as the Taylorist one. However, they all seem to be related to a new phase of rationalisation, in which the (neo)classical model of perfect rationality is being superseded by a model of “imperfect rationality” in the sense defined by Herbert A. Simon. This new model of rationality is analyzed in relation to questions such as the absorption of uncertainty, the relation between man and machine, the absorption of organisational slack, and the relation between the worker and the firm’s information system. The difficulties and problems inherent in such a profound change (not only in organisational structure, but in the firm’s social system and culture) seem to be enhanced, in the case of Fiat, by the weakness of the “ culture of rationalisation” in the previous phase. Taylorist patterns had in Fiat a peculiarly authoritarian version, with a bias against the establishment of a web of explicit and acknowledged rules; this is especially evident in the history and patterns of industrial relations in Fiat throughout the postwar period. The article ends by sketching some open questions about the role of workers in the new phase of rationalisation.