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This paper introduces “virtual fun at the virtual workplace” and conceptualizes its impact on virtual socialization and the formation of virtual professional ties. The conceptual model also recognizes the moderation of a few variables: “awareness of being observed,” “diversity in the virtual workplace” and “virtual impression management.”

The paper takes a theoretical approach to develop a conceptual framework of virtual fun in the virtual workplace, drawing on social exchange theory (SET) and social network theory (SNT).

The study extends the tenets of the SET and extends the applicability of SNT to a virtual workplace. The study suggests that managers should introduce semi-organized virtual fun during scheduled breaks within work hours to aid in virtual socialization, which further aids in the formation and strengthening of “professional ties” in the virtual workplace.

This study is the first of its kind to conceptualize a model for virtual fun in the virtual workplace.

However, while the benefits of adopting virtual work structures have been extensively discussed, ethical considerations have been largely ignored in the existing literature. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the key ethical issues associated with virtual workplaces. It also aimed to examine the various preventive measures that could be considered for effectively managing such challenges.

The study adopted an inductive research approach using qualitative methodology. Data was collected by executing the technique of dual moderator focus group discussion. By using the purposive sampling technique, the sample comprised 24 software professionals from emerging economies such as India. All sessions were transcribed, and the data were analysed using the content analysis method.

The study reports some interesting results related to various ethical issues and the preventive measures to handle such issues in virtual workplaces. The themes that emerged related to ethical issues have been categorised into three broad categories, i.e. People, Technology and Culture. In contrast, preventive measures have been reported in both contexts, i.e. pre-preventive and post-preventive measures. Furthermore, few recommendations have been made to improve virtual work experiences for remote work professionals. The identified themes and categories were classified and arranged in “Network View”, a feature embedded in Atlas.ti7 software, to analyse the conceptual relationships.

The findings may help managers regarding various ethical issues in virtual work settings. It may also provide an insight to the managers about the benefits of adopting preventive measures for handling ethical dilemmas in virtual workplaces in an emerging economy like India.

The study may be seen as one of the earliest attempts to consider the lingering debate on ethics in virtual workplaces. The findings of the study have implications for further theoretical research on the topic.

This study aims to compare levels of communication satisfaction between virtual workplace and traditional workplace employees in a single firm and explore the potential causes of the differences.

Two groups, virtual office and traditional office workers, from a single firm were surveyed using Down and Hazen's Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire. Based on previous research, this study developed and tested hypotheses that traditional workers would have higher levels of satisfaction in personal feedback, communication climate, relationship with supervisors, horizontal and informal communication, organizational integration and overall communication satisfaction. Further analysis of the sample groups and of the company's process of implementation helped explain the differences found.

Contrary to the hypotheses, this study found that virtual office workers were more satisfied with organization communication than traditional office workers. A discussion of these findings suggests this firm actually took steps recommended by researchers and consultants: upper level support, appropriate technology and technological support, culture training as well as technical training, restructuring work to support a virtual workplace, and providing extra social support systems to reduce alienation.

The results of the study are limited by the company‐specific nature of the sample and number of responses.

This study should help managers and practitioners in planning and implementing the technical and human side of a virtual workplace programme. It shows that communication satisfaction can improve in a virtual workplace and describes some of the steps the sample firm took in their implementation. Academic researchers can benefit by having a basis for further research and building beyond the limitations of this study.

This paper explores the collaborative dynamics and dimensions within a virtual multi-cultural and interdisciplinary workplace. The study focusses on the use of online communication technologies to enhance social inclusion and networking within academia.

This study uses an autoethnographic approach to draw on the personal experiences of a team of four scholars, including three early-career researchers and a senior scholar. Their reflections on their academic positionality and the institutional constraints reveal both the strengths and vulnerabilities of collaborating in a virtual workplace.

The findings offer insights into the complexities of navigating social dynamics, such as delegating responsibilities, organising meetings across various time zones and encouraging continuous collaboration, inclusivity and effective communication during an extensive timeline. As a result, their experiences revealed that a virtual workplace culture with similar and different attributes to a “normal” workplace emerged.

The paper demonstrates how to create an effective and inclusive virtual workplace by exemplifying best practices in academia and providing practical guidance for individuals and institutions based on honest, co-produced autoethnographic reflections of the authors’ lived experiences.

This empirical paper aims to assess how social media can foster workplace learning within a globally dispersed project environment. In general, there are few studies on the use of social media in organizations, and many of these emphasize on issues related to knowledge transfer. Although learning traditionally has been as acquisition of knowledge, increasingly researchers point to learning-as-participation occurring through work collaboration. Social media promise increased opportunities for communication and collaboration, extending the context of collaboration beyond the local setting. However, there exists limited research on how social media can foster workplace learning, for example, between globally dispersed colleagues.

The study is based on an exploratory, in-depth single case study of an international professional service firm’s implementation of an internal wiki system to address the research question: how are social media utilized in an organization to foster workplace learning among its dispersed individual experts? Data are gathered in 35 semi-structured interviews, as well as documents studies and observations. Data are coded and analyzed utilizing the context and learning factors of workplace learning.

The paper shows how the wiki system enables hybrid knowledge management strategies linked to virtual collaboration on daily project tasks, involving documentation, search, interaction and knowledge exchange, as well as socialization and learning from practice among dispersed groups and individuals. The learning mechanisms involved in virtual collaboration do not differ much from what is reported on face-to-face workplace learning, however, the context factors are extended beyond the local setting.

The findings identify four determinants for using the wiki that can be of use to other organizations implementing similar virtual collaboration technology. First, the wiki must directly relate to the daily work by offering interactive and updated information concerning current project challenges. Second, the system must enable transparency in the daily project work to allow search. Third, the intention with the search is of lesser degree to identify encyclopedic information than it is to visualize individual competence. Fourth, the quality assurance of the data posted at the wiki is important.

The study reveals how an international knowledge-based organization can utilize social media to leverage knowledge and experiences from multiple geographically dispersed projects by enabling virtual collaboration. Extant empirical research on workplace learning emphasizes on face-to-face interactions in groups, for example, when engineers, or accountants, in teams interact and collaborate at client premises. However, there exists limited knowledge concerning how workplace learning can be achieved through virtual collaboration.

Sustainable Accommodation for the New Economy (SANE) is a two‐year EC‐funded research programme considering the combined impact of the new economy on people, process, place and technology to identify new ways of accommodating work. Its focus is on the creation of sustainable, collaborative workplaces for knowledge workers across Europe, encompassing both virtual and physical spaces. The key operational goal of the project is to develop a unified framework for the design of sustainable workplaces in Europe. This multidisciplinary framework will generate designs that will allow distributed organisations to take full advantage of coming advances in location‐independent computing and ubiquitous networking SANE will broaden the range of workplace design parameters to include consideration of degrees of privacy and relations between physical and virtual spaces. By embracing considerations of public and private space, the workspace environment model developed will locate the office environment in the wider context of the sustainable urban development and the regeneration of European cities. This paper describes the work currently being undertaken by the SANE project’s Space Environment Modelling work package, which is led by DEGW. This work package focuses on the architectural aspects of the human environment in organisational settings. Other key theoretical packages are Human Environment Modelling, which examines communications and interaction in physical and virtual environments, and Processes and Tools, which will examine current and likely future technology tools and processes to support the distributed workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss major criticisms of traditional undergraduate accounting programmes and to introduce virtual internships as a curriculum innovation that addresses these criticisms.

The main aim of the paper is to inspire curriculum innovation in accounting programmes though the introduction and discussion of virtual internships as a contemporary teaching model.

The paper provides a detailed outline of the virtual internship model, its advantages and disadvantages, and its development in practice.

The paper is likely to be most relevant for academics in undergraduate accounting programmes because it provides a practical guide to the development of this curriculum innovation.

Given the growing popularity of virtual human resources development (VHRD) in organizations and among human resource development (HRD) professionals, it is highly essential to deeply examine the nature and scope of the affective dimensions of the VHRD approach. Over the past decade, VHRD has become an important part of the HRD process.

The present study used an integrative literature review to investigate the nature of VHRD in the literature, present a descriptive analysis of the literature and categorize the existing VHRD research.

The results indicated three major themes, namely, VHRD and socialization, VHRD and learning and VHRD and the psychological characteristics of the work environment. In addition, a new conceptual model was developed based on the findings.

This study has reviewed the main concepts of VHRD. The potential actions which HRD researchers can take to address the identified challenges are discussed.

This integrative literature review could provide a roadmap for future research. Based on this model, the VHRD position is within the organizational context and different tools and processes in constant interaction are introduced. Finally, a general view of the VHRD approach was provided, which can help human resources experts deal with a wide range of technologies in the organization.

This paper aims to explore the implications of virtual work arrangements on employee knowledge hiding (KH) behaviour and the different strategies of KH used by employees in these arrangements.

Following a grounded theory approach to understanding KH, 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with employees engaged in virtual working setups. The data collected from these informants were then analysed using qualitative methods.

The study revealed that virtual work arrangements increase employee KH behaviour because of three reasons: ease of hiding, digital burnout and loss of control. Further, the study found that rationalized hiding is the most commonly adopted strategy by employees engaged in virtual work arrangements, while inclinations towards evasive hiding strategy decrease in this arrangement.

This is the first study in knowledge management literature that seeks to explain KH in the virtual work context.

The purpose of this paper is to integrate the concept of lean in the world of virtual leadership by continuously engaging employees and building efficient teams to increase the effectiveness of digital workplaces.

Secondary research from various research articles by authors in lean and leadership was done.

Lean leadership can serve as a great way to boost employee morale and enrich their experience in times of global crisis. Employees can effectively contribute to the organization with the help of virtual lean teams and tools.

This paper adds to the scarce literature on the integration of lean and leadership by exploring the various ways in which employees can be empowered to achieve organizational goals in the virtual workplace.