ABSTRACT

This article investigates how the Norwegian Engineering Association responded to challenges from Americanization and industrial democracy in the period from 1945 to 1980. This period was the heydays of the engineering way to top management positions in Norway. The engineering way was justified with reference to the engineers technical ‘Fachkompetenz’. As in many countries, Norway became subject for an institutional push toward Americanization of management the first decades after WW2. This process challenged the engineering way to management by propagating the need for management education. In Norway, there was not a smooth and swift process of Americanization of management and business. Rather, the Norwegian trajectory is a complex set of international and national influences and agendas. Primarily, Norwegian management practice was from the 1970s shaped by a political push for industrial democracy that was initiated by the Labor party and the labor movement in the 1960s. The process of introducing industrial democracy challenged both the traditional engineering way and the American way of making managers in Norway. This article unpacks how the Engineering Association responded to the challenges from Americanization and industrial democracy.

摘要

本文研究了挪威工程协会如何应对1945年至1980年期间的美国化和工业民主化的挑战。这一时期是工程技术进军挪威最高管理职位的全盛时期。参照工程师的技术“ Fachkompetenz”证明了工程方法的合理性。与许多国家一样，第二次世界大战后的最初几十年中，挪威成为推动管理美国化的制度化主体。该过程通过传播对管理教育的需求，对工程管理方法提出了挑战。在挪威，管理和业务的美国化没有一个顺畅而迅速的过程。相反，挪威的轨迹是一系列复杂的国际和国家影响力与议程。首先，挪威的管理实践始于1970年代，当时是由工党和工人运动在1960年代发起的推动工业民主的政治推动。引入工业民主的过程既挑战了传统的工程方法，也挑战了美国在挪威培养管理人员的方法。本文介绍了工程协会如何应对美国化和工业民主的挑战。