University of Delhi 2008 M.B.A Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) - Question Paper

involved in the use of the application of the artefacts. In
short, technology embraces the ways and means of acting in
pursuit of a goal.
How can culture be defined? Using the identical analogy of
technology, it could be understood to be an equally artefactbased
concept, which is not a means to an end, but rather an
end in itself. That is to say, it is not in itself an essential of life,
but rather something that represents a human desire (i.e., what
makes humans distinct from other residing beings). Here, too,
there is a notion that culture is not only the outcome of a process
but also this very process itself as it moves towards a goal; that
is to say, culture is a characteristic of goal-oriented actions (i.e.,
striving towards goals as well as the goals themselves).
Are there imaginable connections ranging from culture and
technology? The 2 ideal typical extreme positions are well
known, every making a single direction of determination.
The 1st position can be referred to as technological
determinism, which postulates the total, or at lowest
dominating, influence of technology on culture. Technology is
supposed to develop more or less on its own, pushing social
development along as it goes. this may be interpreted
positively or negatively. An uncritical opinion of Marxist origin
saw social advancement as an inevitable outcome of tech.
achievements, just as the ideology of the bourgeoisie justified
the progress of technically possible as socially desirable. This
view is opposed entirely by fundamentalists who hold
technological development responsible for the loss of human
values in a society. Neither philosophy accepts the possibility
of technological development being influenced in any way.
Both ignore the fact that there would be no such development
if multinational corporations and national governments were
to stop investing in research and development; if there was no
political, economic and military interests. The fact that on a
micro-level there are countless thousands of engineers
constantly involved in technology design, and that on a macrolevel
managers and politicians decide which technological
choices are realised, supports the 2nd theory—socialconstructivism—that technology is constructed deliberately to
be a part of a society. According to this view, the interests of
those groups that dominate the genesis of technology finally
are embodied in the technology, which in itself cannot be
neutral. Here again both a critical and an approving variant

Earning:   Approval pending.