Distributed working, innovation and the blurring of organizational boundaries

This session will focus on the impact that information technology can have on the way a business is structured. The aim of the session is to give you an understanding of the ways in which recent approaches to information systems can used to transform an organization's structure, the way it does business and the broader implications of these changes.

By the end of this session you should have:

• an understanding of the ways in which technology can be change established ways of working

• an appreciation of the ways in which new forms of organization can lead to innovation and opportunities for new ways to do business

• an appreciation of the impact that new forms of organization can have on working life and sustainability

Having looked at the effect that IS / IT is used inside a company, we will now shift our focus and look at the inter-organizational level, in particular, we will focus on the threats and opportunities that the new world of distributed work can offer.

We will start by looking in general terms at some of the new forms of 'IT enabled' organization that have emerged in recent years. Following this we will look at some examples in more detail. The first is the topic of inter-organizational collaboration and innovation and some the issues this raises; the second is the example of fully fledged virtual organizations.

We will conclude by looking at some more case studies to see the complexities of a 'real life' application of these ideas.

Additional reading / background information for session 5

Some examples of new organizational forms

The links below are just a small selection of the many examples of web pages and articles you can find about new organizational forms and new ways of working. I have also included a section on the development of open source software as this provides an excellent example of many of the features of the new forms of work we will discuss in this session.

• The New Workplace
  Walls are falling as the office of the future finally takes shape - From Businessweek.
  An (unmaintained) web page on networked organizations from a previous version of this course may also provide some material that may be of use.

• Telework in the UK
  The extent of telework in the UK based on official figures - from Flexibility.
  An (unmaintained) web page on telework from a previous version of this course may also provide some material that may be of use.

• Managing Virtual Teams
  Teams aren't what they used to be - From GroupJazz.
  An (unmaintained) web page on virtual teams from a previous version of this course may also provide some material that may be of use.

Open source software development

• The Essence of Distributed Work: The Case of the Linux Kernel
  Tells the history of how the Linux operating system kernel was developed from three different perspectives, the individual, group, and community level, and describes critical success factors for each; it also discusses the implications for managing other forms of distributed work.

• The Cathedral and the Bazaar
  Eric Raymond's widely cited personal account of the philosophy that lies behind how open source software is developed.

Collaboration and Innovation

• Virtual Communities of Practice: Design for Collaboration and Knowledge Creation
  A study of several Professional and Government/Organizational community portals designed with the objective of knowledge sharing.

• Experiences with Communities of Practice in India
  This Working Paper is the outcome of a study commissioned by Intercooperation on existing communities of practice in India and shows their use for knowledge sharing in both industry and NGOs.

• Linking Agricultural Innovations to Knowledge Sharing in Africa
  A different perspective on knowledge sharing and innovation from the world bank - this example concerns agricultural innovations through knowledge sharing in Africa.

Some examples

• Community Knowledge Sharing in Practice: The Eureka Story
  This article gives a broader and longer term view of the project described in the Xerox case study from session 4.

• Understanding the Benefits and Impact of Communities of Practice
  Michael Fontaine and David Millen from IBM give some advice about knowledge sharing in Networks (Full chapter downloadable from publisher's web site)

Virtual and Distributed Organizations

• Emerging forms of ICT-supported distributed work
  A long paper that reports on a study of Networks of Practice in a multinational company in the marine insurance industry. Contains a useful overview of Virtual and Distributed Organizations.

• The Economics of Teleworking
  "With the very large investments being made and with continuous advances in the power and user friendliness of equipment, we are all being forced to accept change. But why are these changes seen by Government as "a good thing" for society? The vision can be illustrated as follows ..."

• Distributed Design Teams as Communities of Practice
  This paper presents some results from case studies in the European product design, aerospace and construction industries that illustrate the limits of distributed working.

Some examples

• Extreme Telecommuting
  Jack in, wire up, drop out! The internet is all about freedom - freedom from soft-walled cubicles, freedom from bad coffee, freedom from rules that just don't apply anymore. Why do you need to be in a corporate business park when there's a whole wide, wired world out there?

• Project Big Green
  This is a link to IBM's "project Big Green" - a variation on the firm's traditional name of the Big Blue. "... a five stage approach to help transform even the biggest energy glutton into a green giant" - comes complete with a video.

Reading

In addition to the text books for the course, I have chosen some extra reading for you to do. I have selected two articles from the Harvard Business review for you to read. The link to the articles (with a short summary of each) can be found below:

• Required reading for session 5

You may also find the following of use:

• C. Kimble, F. Li and A. Barlow. Effective Virtual Teams through Communities of Practice

• P. Hildreth, P. Wright and C. Kimble. Knowledge Management: Are We Missing Something?

For private study

Self Assessment

There is a set of self assessment questions to go with this session. The goal of this session was to understand how IS / IT can transform an organization's structure and the way it conducts its business. The objective of these self assessment questions is to make you to think about some of the issues that were raised during this session. There are no right and wrong answers, the questions are there for you, not as part of a formal assessment.

The notes for this session are available as a presentation (in pdf format) - lecture notes for session 5.