Social suitability
is one
sub-objective of the decision-making process. It corresponds with the social objective of the company in a means-end-relationship: The means should be
developed in a way that it fulfills the end that is given by the objective of
the company.
The societal compatibility deals
with the needs of the local society, within which the forest company operates.
It is achieved by matching the different demands for recreation, heritage,
employment etc. In Technodiversity, we have invented the S-class.
Ergonomics,
however, is focused on the wellbeing of the workers employed by the forest
company, which is responsible for the working sites and methods. Employers must
plan and conduct their operations in a way that minimizes the risk for the
operators to suffer an accident or become ill. In Technodiversity, we have invented the E-class.
Now we combine
the assessments for ergonomics and societal compatibility in a 5x5-table, on
x-axis the E-class and on y-axis the S-class.
As an
example, a fully mechanized CTL method with harvester and forwarder falls into
the S-class S4 and E-classes E4 (forwarder) and E5 (harvester). Another option,
a partly mechanized tree-length method with horse and tractor, falls in S-class 3
and E-classes E1 (horse), E2 (chainsaw), and E3 (tractor).
Now the
decision maker can mark his individual preferences. Here we chose traffic light
colors to represent green (okay), yellow (limited), red (not acceptable).
For example,
one decision maker might feel uncomfortable with manual work due to safety
concerns and prefer mechanized work, instead. Then he marks E1 with red, E2 with
yellow, and the other columns with green (left table).
Concerning
compatibility with recreational needs (in the middle), our decision-maker may
want to avoid processing on the forest road. Loading operations, however, could
be accepted without constrains. Consequently, S1 and S2 are not acceptable, but
all other S-classes are okay for this decision maker.
When we
combine those assessments (right table), at each intersection the less
desirable color is dominant (comparable with the bottle-neck-rule).
