National Coal Board (NCB)

An early action research project undertaken by members of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, over an eight year span (with interruptions) in the 1950s. The project explored how workers responded to changing technologies in the workplace, following the shift from conventional to composite working in longwall coal mining. Embedding themselves within the workplace, TIHR investigated how these changes impacted work satisfaction, productivity, and employee engagement. The key focus was the interaction between people and technology in the workplace, a method which later became known as sociotechnical approach, and became central to much of TIHR's work. The theory of "quality of working life" developed out of this early Tavistock Institute research.

This project was originally initiated by the Human Factors Panel of the Committee on Industrial Productivity set up by the Lord President of the Council under the Scientific Advisor to the Government, and administered by the MRC. It was then resumed through the Government's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) which administered US and UK funds as part of the Marshall Fund.

1950-1982

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