"No, she was a manager who thought that shouting and forcing people to work would automatically fix any technical or scientific issues."
Once again here another example that you can't railroad until it's time to railroad.
I love the James Burke Connections series and there has been a few more along the same lines that show how we got to where we are today in terms of technology, society, etc. One thing that should be very apparent is that huge leaps in technology are excruciatingly rare. Even then, it's often incremental improvements that happen rapidly over time rather than one big step.
Looking back, I wish my Uni course requirements included some classes in engineering history. It's been independent study when I can find a book or video from somebody that has done the research. A very good lesson at present is the story of Uranium. It was thought to be very rare and in the 1940's the US was buying up as much as they could worldwide while the Manhattan project was still secret. Once the cat was out of the bag and a big demand was in place, it was found all over. I see much the same thing happening with Li and Co. I'm seeing more and more stories about deposits now that there is a big market for both. While Cobalt has a tainted past due to where easy to get surface deposits exist, the requirement for the metal in quantity will drive out the family and individual miners since they can't produce in the quantities that manufacturers want to purchase in. The same goes for what the West would call "underage" labor.
Anybody claiming that they can fully automate an automobile plant needs to be screened for insanity. If it could be done, the big players would have cracked that nut. They do continuously make strides towards complete automation, but it will be some time if it can ever be acheived or it's deemed to be worthwile. As one of the biggest and most competitive industries on the planet, it can be a good place to draw parallels from.