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Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work

Mary Beth Watson‐Manheim (College of Business Administration, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Katherine M. Chudoba (College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA,)
Kevin Crowston (School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Publication date: 1 September 2002

Abstract

“Virtual” is a potent buzzword, freely applied to many situations, with many meanings. In this exploratory study, we develop a more precise understanding of “virtual” to describe changing work environments. Specifically, we propose a framework to classify work environments based on the type of discontinuities involved. Discontinuities are gaps or a lack of coherence in aspects of work. The framework allows us to compare research across different topics and work settings. We use the framework to classify 75 published articles on virtual work environments or earlier, related research streams. We observed that many studies were simultaneously addressing existing or emerging continuities, factors or strategies for overcoming discontinuities. The focus of “virtual” is on changes in the work environment; however, our analysis suggests the need to be equally aware of factors that have not changed and which may become more critical with the introduction of discontinuities.

Keywords

  • Work design
  • Information technology
  • Communications technology

Citation

Beth Watson‐Manheim, M., Chudoba, K.M. and Crowston, K. (2002), "Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work", Information Technology & People, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 191-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/09593840210444746

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Publisher

:

MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited

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