In this article two important organizational concepts - lean production and
sociotechnical systems design - are evaluated on their reflective capacity
and their (moral) outcomes. At least in theory both concepts entail a prom
ise of overcoming some of the irreflexive pitfalls of rational organization
. As will be shown, both concepts do have shortcomings too. It is argued th
at the meaning and value of the concepts is related to the context in which
the systems are implemented.