Fluid Interaction in Mobile Work Practices

2005 ◽  
pp. 171-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masao Kakihara ◽  
Carsten Sorensen ◽  
Mikael Wiberg
Keyword(s):  
Working Life ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Mobile Interaction ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Mobile Work ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Fluid Interaction

This chapter discusses the increasing fluidity of interaction that workers perform in contemporary work settings. Everyday working life is increasingly constituted of a heterogeneous mélange where people, work objects and symbols, as well as their interactions, are distributed in time, space and across contexts. When considering interaction where participants, work, and interactional objects are mobile, the challenges of supporting the fluidity of interaction in collocated settings are immense. This chapter outlines mobile interaction in terms of the fluid topological metaphor and analyses the dimensions of struggling with fluid mobile interaction based on a framework characterising interactional asymmetries.

Beyond time-binds: Rethinking work–family dynamics for a mobile world

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 924-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen D Hughes ◽  
William A Silver
Keyword(s):  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Family Studies ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Work And Organizations ◽  
Work Family

Contemporary work is increasingly mobile, sparking new challenges for scholars of work and organizations. In this review article, we argue that a ‘mobilities lens’ offers strong potential for rethinking established approaches, focusing on one important sub-field: work–family studies. Drawing on a ‘problematization’ approach (Sandberg and Alvesson, 2011) and a systematic literature review (SLR) of work–family research published from 1995 to 2015, we show how theoretical assumptions about time, space, and place have narrowed the scope of work–family studies, focusing attention on ‘time’ and ‘time-binds’, and a limited subset of mobilities (e.g. telework, commuting). We argue that a mobilities lens can help us ‘think differently’ about work–family dynamics, prompting theoretical and methodological reorientations that recognize the inextricable connection of time and space (as ‘time–space’) and the need for a more encompassing excavation of the power, practice, and meaning of employment-related mobility (ERM) in work–family life. We sketch out a ‘mobilities inspired’ agenda to illustrate how ideas from mobilities studies can enrich work–family inquiry. We also discuss how mobilities studies can benefit, in turn, from greater engagement with work–family and organizational research.

scholarly journals Multiple Forms of Professional Agency for (non)crafting of Work Practices in a Hospital Organization

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3a) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaija Collin ◽  
Susanna Paloniemi ◽  
Katja Vähäsantanen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Hospital Organization ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Hospital Work

In recent working life studies, professional agency is seen as pivotal to the development of work communities and work organizations. This paper addresses professional agency during a practicebased intervention (work conference) in a Finnish hospital setting. To develop work practices, the intervention sought to create a dialogical space for the promotion of collective professional agency. Here, we present an investigation of the manifestations of professional agency and how they emerged within and between professional groups. We also elaborate how professional positions frame the emergence of different manifestations of professional agency. The audio and video materials from the intervention are analyzed through the utilization of qualitative content analysis and analysis of key incidents illustrating the emergence of professional agency and its connection to prevailing circumstances in a hospital work context. Transformative, responsive, relational, and resisting forms of agency were identified. The emergence of these forms differed amid the intervention and across the professional groups, reflecting power relations in the organization. In light of the findings, we discuss the meaning of different forms of professional agency for developmental efforts and how professional agency may trigger or hinder sustainable organizational development.

scholarly journals Introduction to NJWLS 2019-1

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Buch
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Liminal Spaces ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Work Disabilities ◽  
Diverse Area ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Contemporary Work

In this issue, we present four articles that illuminate working life in the Nordic coun- tries. These articles span a diverse area of work practices and accentuate different aspects of regulative mechanisms and policies that structure the unfolding of contemporary work in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The research examines the minute and subtle practices and narratives of human resource experts in Sweden that are active in organizational recruitment processes, and it explores pension schemes in Norwegian companies. In the articles, we learn about the temporary liminal spaces of professionals in Finland, and we get a review of the literature on employer strategies for preventing mental health related work disabilities (...)

Doing Research Upside Down: Action and Research in Cross Self-Confrontations

2019 ◽  
pp. 202-218
Author(s):  
Laure Kloetzer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Work Analysis ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Objective Research ◽  
Mainstream Psychology

This paper highlights three main points. Firstly, it argues that despite the positioning of mainstream psychology as “objective research” i.e. disengaged from taking action in public life, there has always been in psychology a (quantitatively) minor but (qualitatively) strong tradition of intervention, defined as a joint practice engaging researchers and practitioners in social transformation. It shows how this alternative way of doing research affects all dimensions of the researchers’ professional practice, for better or for worse. Secondly, it presents a specific perspective on intervention, created in France and used in multiple work settings in the last twenty years, called Clinic of Activity. It then introduces and discusses a methodology designed to support development at work through collaborative work analysis and structured dialogue, the Cross Self Confrontations. Thirdly, it reports on a research in Cross Self-Confrontations recently conducted in a Swiss factory, and shows how this methodology supports the co-creation of knowledge and the development of dialogue within a group of workers and across the hierachical lines, therefore contributing to the deep discussion and transformation of work practices.

In or Out

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinglei Wang ◽  
Darren Meister ◽  
Peter H. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Switching Behavior ◽  
Knowledge Sources ◽  
External Knowledge ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
International Consulting ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Consumer Switching

The way individuals use internal and external knowledge sources influences organizational knowledge integration, an important source of competitive advantage. Drawing on research into knowledge sourcing and consumer switching behavior, the authors develop an integrated model to understand individuals’ choices between internal and external knowledge sources in contemporary work settings, where information technology has made both easily accessible. A test of the model using survey data collected from an international consulting firm yields an important new insight: satisfied individuals in knowledge reuse friendly environments are likely to use internal knowledge sources while they may also be tempted by easily accessible external knowledge sources. The implications for researchers and practitioners are also discussed.

Relevance of Mobile Computing in the Field of Medicine

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Henrique M.G. Martins ◽  
Matthew R. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Computing ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Business Sectors

Mobile information and communication technologies (MICTs) are widely promoted as increasing the efficiency of work practices in many business sectors, including healthcare. There are numerous types of mobile computing devices available that provide users with capabilities that can be applied in a wide range of different work settings. Case studies of the use of different MICT devices by doctors in different hospital settings indicate that while some doctors easily adopt MICT devices and find them a helpful tool, others encounter problems with their usage and, in fact, a majority do not use MICTs at all. This chapter deals with identification of five factors influencing the uptake of MICTs in clinical work practices and proposes a framework for analysing their interactions with the aim of increasing its uptake in medicine.

scholarly journals Gamification: What it is, and how to fight it

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Woodcock ◽  
Mark R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Alternative Conception ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Situationist International ◽  
Active Resistance ◽  
User Behaviour ◽  
Ideal Form ◽  
Game Elements

‘Gamification’ is understood as the application of game systems – competition, rewards, quantifying player/user behaviour – into non-game domains, such as work, productivity and fitness. Such practices are deeply problematic as they represent the capture of ‘play’ in the pursuit of neoliberal rationalization and the managerial optimization of working life and labour. However, applying games and play to social life is also central to the Situationist International, as a form of resistance against the regularity and standardization of everyday behaviour. In this article, the authors distinguish between two types of gamification: first, ‘gamification-from-above’, involving the optimization and rationalizing of work practices by management; and second, ‘gamification-from-below’, a form of active resistance against control at work. Drawing on Autonomism and Situationism, the authors argue that it is possible to transform non-games into games as resistance, rather than transferring game elements out of playful contexts and into managerial ones. Since the original ‘gamification’ term is now lost, the authors develop the alternative conception as a practice that supports workers, rather than one used to adapt behaviour to capital. The article concludes with a renewed call for this ‘gamification-from-below’, which is an ideal form of resistance against gamification-from-above and its capture of play in pursuit of work.

scholarly journals A Systematic Literature Review on Extended Reality: Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality in Working Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Minna Vasarainen ◽  
Sami Paavola ◽  
Liubov Vetoshkina
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Remote Collaboration ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Academic Publications

Extended reality (XR), here jointly referring to virtual, augmented, and mixed (VR, AR, MR) reality, is becoming more common in everyday working life. This paper presents a systematic literature review of academic publications on XR indicating changes in practical organization of work. We analyse both application areas of XR and theoretical and methodological approaches of XR research. The review process followed the PRISMA statement. Design, remote collaboration, and training were the main application areas of XR. XR enabled overcoming of obstacles set by time and space, safety, and resources by mediating experience of space. Research on XR applications in actual working life settings is yet relatively rare and covers primarily three areas: collaboration, evaluation of knowledge transfer, and work practices. Virtual reality was the most common form of applied XR, although the hardware used varied case by case. We identified four research areas regarding XR: collaboration, work practices, and evaluation of knowledge transfer, which somewhat followed the application areas. We did not find XR-specific methodologies in the reviewed articles, only few recent studies used novel ways of collecting research material, such as recording the movement in virtual reality. For now, XR still holds significant potential rather than clearly confirmed general advantages in working life.

scholarly journals Working in a post Covid-19 world: Towards a conceptual framework for distributed work

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Henry ◽  
Daniel B. Le Roux ◽  
Douglas A. Parry
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Distributed Work ◽  
Conceptual Integration ◽  
Technological Environment ◽  
Work Settings

Purpose: Against the backdrop of the increased prevalence of telework practices as a result of Covid-19, the purpose of the present article is to address the conceptual confusion, overlap and ambiguity characterising much of the published literature in this domain through the development of an integrated conceptual framework describing distributed work practices at various levels of organisations.Design/methodology/approach: To develop the framework, a collection of definitions for distributed work concepts were systematically selected and reviewed. These concepts include telework, remote work, distributed work and virtual work, as well as telecommuting, virtual teams, virtual organisations and distributed organisations. The reviewed definitions were systematically analysed to elicit the key principles underlying each concept, and then integrated to produce the conceptual framework.Findings: Our analysis suggests that virtuality and distributedness can be defined as distinct continua which, when combined, can be used to describe particular work settings. Additionally, we identify four factors which impact organisational policy in terms of virtuality and distributedness: interdependence of tasks, nature of work, technological environment and temporal distance.Practical implications: The framework offers managers a foundation for establishing distributed work policies and determining policy implications. Additionally, researchers conducting empirical investigations of distributed work practices can utilise the framework to differentiate between and describe particular work settings.Originality/value: The conceptual integration of virtuality, distributedness and organisational levels present a novel and important development. As organisations adapt to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the framework we propose serves as a useful artefact to support and inform their decision making.

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