ARTICLE IN PRESS Technology in Society 28 (2006) 445–476 www.elsevier.com/locate/techsoc Major system change through stepwise reconfiguration: A multi-level analysis of the transformation of American factory production (1850–1930) Frank W. Geelsà Eindhoven University, Department of Technology Management, IPO 2.10, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands Abstract The common view is that major transitions come about through breakthroughs of technological discontinuities. This article proposes gradual and stepwise reconfiguration as an alternative transition pathway. In it, new elements are adopted in the existing socio-technical regime to help solve particular problems. But as more is learned and circumstances change, these elements may trigger further changes in technology, user practice, infrastructure, and policies, eventually altering the basic architecture of the regime. These notions are integrated in a multi-level perspective on transitions and system changes. The resulting reconfiguration perspective is illustrated with a historical case study of the transition from traditional factories to mass production in America (1850–1930). The analysis shows that mass production was the last step in a much longer reconfiguration process involving cumulative changes in machine tools, building materials, materials handling technologies, power generation, and power-distribution technologies. The reconfiguration perspective has wider relevance for other systems that function through the interplay of multiple technologies, e.g., agriculture, retailing, and hospitals. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Transition; Reconfiguration; Multi-level perspective; Factory production ÃTel.: +31 40 247 5414; fax +31 40 2444602. E-mail address:
[email protected]. 0160-791X/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd.