scholarly journals Flexible Environments for Hybrid Collaboration: Redesigning Virtual Work Through the Four Orders of Design

Design Issues ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-69
Author(s):  
John Meluso ◽  
Susan Johnson ◽  
James Bagrow
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Collaborative Environments ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Face To Face

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic made visceral for many the fact that virtual forms of collaboration— simultaneously liberating and frustrating—are here to stay. Workers’ frustrations demonstrate that challenges remain for work and its design in increasingly “hybrid” collaboration— work in which some people, interacting face-to-face, are co-located while others with whom they work are remote. Using Buchanan's four orders of design, in conjunction with management and information systems scholarship, we present a framework for improving these virtual forms of collaboration. In this article, we review the latest knowledge from these disciplines on virtual collaboration through the lens of the four orders of design. In doing so, we demonstrate that conceiving of work in terms of flexible collaborative environments could increase the unity of purpose between work and workers by leveraging the capabilities of varying degrees of virtuality to engender experiences that benefit all those who interact with work systems.

Engaging Organisational Culture to Overcome Social Barriers in Virtual Communites

2011 ◽  
pp. 193-197
Author(s):  
Anzela Huq
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Initial Trust ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Physical Cues ◽  
Physical Limitations ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Space Distance

Recent trends in the technical development of information systems and their implementation have influenced academics to focus on specific aspects, particularly those systems that enhance and support organisational communication under physical limitations. The purpose of these ICTs is to bring together parties who are separated by those factors and allow them to collaborate and communicate for the purposes of their work without actually feeling the effect of time and distance. These tools have particular use for virtual organisations that operate in environments that are undefined physically in terms of space and time, yet allow information and knowledge to flow freely, therefore bridging the gap that is experienced by space, distance, and time. In traditional methods of face-to-face work, people are able to see and feel one another, factors that although may not seem so obviously important to begin with, are actually essential to cooperation and collaboration, because it is based on these physical cues that people begin to form the basic impressions and opinions upon which they base their trust of one another (Kreijns, Kirschner, & Jochems, 2003). Within the context of virtual work, particularly where people have never met, the basis for initial trust is missing and it seems that the success of working in virtual environments, or lack thereof, is fundamentally due to this.

scholarly journals Pengembangan Sistem Informasi Industri Jasa Menjahit Online Berbasis Web Menggunakan Metode Waterfall

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Elsa Oktavia ◽  
Yulindon Yulindon ◽  
Rahmat Hidayat
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Service Information ◽  
Drastic Increase

Information systems are currently increasing very rapidly, but it is unfortunate if the utilization is not yet optimal. Reviewing the data from literature studies and observations that have been made, many people need sewing services. The drastic increase in demand makes competition in the convection industry. Most of the work systems in the convection industry are done manually and are not economical. Product development also lacks creativity. Therefore, this researcher will use IT as marketing and design work, this can make processing time shorter and more optimal. Thus, customers will be facilitated in ordering ready-made clothes or clothes that match the customer's wishes by using a web application that only sends data on the size of the clothes or clothing model that the customer wants. This web-based application system can make it easier for customers to transact with the owner and transactions do not have to meet face to face. In addition, clothing sales and large-scale orders can be neatly organized and financial reports can be well structured and organized clearly. The results of this research will be in the form of research reports and web-based online sewing service information systems using the waterfall method. 

scholarly journals Making Virtual Teams Work: Redesigning Virtual Collaboration for the Future

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Meluso ◽  
Susan Johnson ◽  
James Bagrow
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Future ◽  
Fundamental Needs ◽  
Do So ◽  
Hybrid Forms

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted how many teams work, from face-to-face interactions to remote and hybrid forms of collaboration. Even at its best, though, virtual collaboration remains less effective than face-to-face collaboration, leaving millions of workers with both the temporary and permanent challenges of virtual work. Virtual collaboration as we know it was designed in and for a colocated world without prioritizing diverse needs. Design is uniquely positioned to not only alleviate these ails but even make virtual teams strategically advantageous by developing solutions specifically for hybrid virtual collaboration. To do so, designers must incorporate attributes that make virtual collaboration “work”. This article provides background on communication technologies before summarizing the attributes of collaboration and leadership that “work” for effective virtual collaboration. We then highlight several outstanding concerns and possibilities as an impetus for designers and researchers to develop solutions to the challenges of sustained remote and hybrid collaboration. In doing so, we seek to motivate designers and researchers to redesign the artifact of virtual work itself for the fundamental needs of collaboration.

scholarly journals COVID-19’s Influence on the Future of Agile

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-316
Author(s):  
Dennis Mancl ◽  
Steven D. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Work ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Hospitality Education ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Virtual Work Environment ◽  
High Bandwidth ◽  
The Impact

Abstract As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the way the world works, collaborates, and plays has changed. Commerce has stalled with travel, hospitality, education, retail, and health sectors particularly affected. This paper is based on an XP 2020 panel organized by Steven Fraser and featuring Aino Corry, Steve McConnell, and Rachel Reinitz. The panel discussed the impact of COVID-19 on knowledge workers, the acceleration of digital workplace transformation, and anticipated long term effects from the pandemic in the context of agile practices. Four key observations emerged from the discussion: First, virtual collaboration between those working from home is enabled by a variety of communication tools – substituting for face-to-face interactions. Second, agile work practices are harder to perform given the virtual nature of meetings and interactions. Third, communication tools are not always adequate for high-bandwidth or informal interactions, such as brainstorming, side discussions, or hallway conversations. Fourth, forming new teams and onboarding staff is challenging in a virtual work environment.

Mobile Collaboration Support for Virtual Teams

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keng Siau ◽  
Min Ling
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
Qualitative Technique ◽  
Sophisticated Technology

Organizations increasingly depend on virtual teams in which geographically distributed individuals use sophisticated technology to interact and collaborate. With the advancement of mobile and wireless technology, mobile support for collaboration among virtual team members is becoming increasingly important and popular. In this research, we study the values of mobile support for virtual team members. Using the qualitative technique, Value-Focused Thinking approach, proposed by Keeney, we interviewed 30 subjects who were involved in information systems development teams and asked them the values of mobile support for virtual collaboration. This study uses Alter's Work Systems Theory as the conceptual foundation.

From technical to non-technical skills among information systems suppliers

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte Branchet ◽  
Pierre-Yves Sanseau
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Key Skills ◽  
Critical Skills ◽  
Education And Society ◽  
Is Outsourcing

Purpose Existing research infers that in the information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) fields, a shift may occur between technical and non-technical skills. However, relatively little research has focused on going changes in terms of key skills in the IS suppliers sector. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by investigating these skills evolution in the IS suppliers domain and discusses their impacts on IS and IT curricula. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative method based on 15 semi-structured face-to-face interviews, with highly dedicated operational managers in senior positions in the field. Findings This study identifies, for the IS suppliers, the critical skills, which are basically non-technical, and peripheral skills, which are primarily technical. It then considers the consequences of this change and the necessary adaptations it requires for businesses and training for this field. Practical implications The findings suggest the need to redesign the educational curricula for future managers, and the adaptations required to the work organization, human resource management and business models of firms in the field. Originality/value The paper’s value is twofold. First, it focuses on IS service suppliers, an understudied area (most research examines IS outsourcing from the customer’s standpoint); second, it reveals the shift away from technical toward non-technical skills in a field that is intrinsically technical – a change that may occur more slowly than in other less technical sectors – and the consequences of this change for firms, education and society.

Inventing Non-Discursive Text in Virtual Collaboration Environments

2010 ◽  
pp. 360-373
Author(s):  
Joddy Murray
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Collaborative Environments ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Visual Technologies

Virtual collaborative writing must acknowledge and encourage a range of symbolization practices because textual products simply are likely to be hybrids of words (discursive) and visual images, aural images, haptic images, olfactory images, and even gustatory images (all non-discursive). Though digital technologies are still limited to aural and visual technologies, the authors must theorize collaboration for and within media that are as yet not widely developed or possible. Today’s collaborative environments require more from interfaces if we are to invent texts that become edited images, Web pages, films, and/or animations. This chapter argues that virtual collaborative environments must accommodate the invention of non-traditional, multimodal texts.

The Open University of Catalonia as a Virtual University

2010 ◽  
pp. 1145-1150
Author(s):  
Morales
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Open University ◽  
Virtual University ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning

Electronic Web-based campus information systems and e-learning educational delivery became increasingly important for higher education practice in the late 20th and early 21st century (Bates, 2000; Cobarsí, 2005). These emergent information technologies brought about changes in the traditional face-to-face campus and paper-based communication and teaching (Brown & Duguid, 2000). There are several trends in the introduction of information technology in universities that can be summarised into three main types (Duderstadt, 2000; Folkers, 2005). Firstly, most universities gradually adopted electronic campus information systems and e-learning to reinforce functionalities offered by their physical campus, with no intention of substituting the traditional campus but simply to strengthen their capabilities. Secondly, other institutions, the so-called first generation distance universities, had no physical campus from the very beginning, such as the institutions founded in the 1970s: the British Open University http://www3.open.ac.uk or Spain’s Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia http://www.uned. es/portal/index.htm. Thus, they incorporated electronic media to complement their usual means of communication by post or periodical face-to-face tuition. Thirdly, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, hereinafter the OUC) is a quite different case: it was created from the very beginning (the academic year 1995-1996) as a wholly e-learning and Internet-based higher education institution, where a virtual campus with wide-ranging functionalities supports most of the day-to-day activities. As a result of these original premises, this university has some important organizational and information system features, which are summarised and discussed in the sections below, from the chronological perspective offered by its having been in operation for 10 years.

Removing Barriers to Collaborating in Virtual Writing Projects

2010 ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
William Carney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Potential Barriers ◽  
Psychosocial Barriers ◽  
The Media ◽  
Successful Collaboration ◽  
The U.S

While there are some obvious rewards of virtual collaboration, technological, organizational, and psychosocial barriers to effective collaboration certainly exist. First, familiarity with the media used for collaboration and opportunities for practice are essential. Next, organizational concerns can hinder successful collaboration. Huws (2005) suggested that traditional face-to-face hierarchical organizations or even those with a degree of hybridity can subvert successful collaboration of any sort but also contain features that might enhance collaboration, if used correctly. Additionally, making work roles clearly defined and making the collaborative endeavor explicit and transparent can ensure positive outcomes. Finally, knowledge of the personality traits and values of the participants in a collaborative project is necessary for project managers. This chapter discusses these three potential barriers; provides examples from higher education and the U.S. Army; and discusses possible solutions.

scholarly journals A Set of Best Practices to Design Face-to-face Teaching Sessions for Technology-centered University-level Computing Courses

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Ilse Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Information Systems Management ◽  
Computing Education ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Enterprise Level ◽  
Working Set

Since more than a decade, all kinds of businesses and organisations are intensively exploring enterprise-level information systems to better integrate their business processes, information flows and people. Consequently, the industry demands for technically skilled, but also “business-savvy” IT professionals are permanently growing. To meet this need, more and more computing education programs try to incorporate enterprise-level information systems into their curricula. While there is some computing education research done to investigate the need for this new type of IT-business professional and to analyse general implications for higher education, only very few research works or practice papers exist which report on concrete attempts to design and deliver higher education computing courses which intensively use enterprise-level systems. In this paper, the author reports on a series of experiences made within the Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management) degree program offered by the School of Information Systems (SIS) at the Singapore Management University (SMU). The primary focus of this paper is put on establishing a working set of best practices for the design of an effective structure of the face-to-face teaching sessions for courses which use enterprise-level systems and applications in their curricula. While this paper is principally based on education experiences made within the frame of an Information Systems program, the best practices presented in this paper are equally applicable to any other computing education field or even to the engineering education in general.

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