Telework and Social Change - by Nicole Ellison (Hardcover)

About the Book

As technology comes to permeate every aspect of work, it liberates organizations and their employees from the physical boundaries of the workplace, and yet amplifies many of the interpersonal and cultural challenges inherent to corporate life. Drawing from an in-depth study of two dynamic organizations, along with extensive research on technology and organizational behavior, Nicole Ellison explores the subtle and powerful ways that distance working influences management effectiveness, worker productivity, and such intangible elements as social cohesion and trust.

Featuring interviews with executives, managers, and employees, Telework and Social Change illuminates the ways in which access to always-on information and communications technologies-which allow people to work from virtually anywhere-influence their work styles, interactions with colleagues and supervisors, and the ways in which they define the boundaries between work and home. Offering insights for future research and practice, Telework and Social Change provides a multi-dimensional perspective on the evolving relationships among technology, geography, and the structural and cultural aspects of work in the digital age.

Book Synopsis

As technology comes to permeate every aspect of work, it liberates organizations and their employees from the physical boundaries of the workplace, and yet amplifies many of the interpersonal and cultural challenges inherent to corporate life. Drawing from an in-depth study of two dynamic organizations, along with extensive research on technology and organizational behavior, Nicole Ellison explores the subtle and powerful ways that distance working influences management effectiveness, worker productivity, and such intangible elements as social cohesion and trust.

Featuring interviews with executives, managers, and employees, Telework and Social Change illuminates the ways in which access to always-on information and communications technologies-which allow people to work from virtually anywhere-influence their work styles, interactions with colleagues and supervisors, and the ways in which they define the boundaries between work and home. Offering insights for future research and practice, Telework and Social Change provides a multi-dimensional perspective on the evolving relationships among technology, geography, and the structural and cultural aspects of work in the digital age.

Review Quotes

?[H]elpfully and clearly establishes the historical and theoretical background of telework and its usefulness as a method of work organization. For employers and policy-makers who view telework as an innovative tool to help reconcile work and family life, Ellison cogently identifies such issues as how it is used (whether a teleworker always works at home or does so periodically), trust between employer and worker, and the mental separation needed between work and personal life for teleworkers as essential factors requiring further reflection.?-International Labour Review

?While many publications about remote working arrangements focus on the management of such efforts, this book addresses the important aspect of social changes resulting from telecommuting....Ellison makes a good observation about telework research being more relevant when embedded within the cultural context of the organization. Notes on method in each chapter. Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections.?-Choice

"ÝH¨elpfully and clearly establishes the historical and theoretical background of telework and its usefulness as a method of work organization. For employers and policy-makers who view telework as an innovative tool to help reconcile work and family life, Ellison cogently identifies such issues as how it is used (whether a teleworker always works at home or does so periodically), trust between employer and worker, and the mental separation needed between work and personal life for teleworkers as essential factors requiring further reflection."-International Labour Review

"[H]elpfully and clearly establishes the historical and theoretical background of telework and its usefulness as a method of work organization. For employers and policy-makers who view telework as an innovative tool to help reconcile work and family life, Ellison cogently identifies such issues as how it is used (whether a teleworker always works at home or does so periodically), trust between employer and worker, and the mental separation needed between work and personal life for teleworkers as essential factors requiring further reflection."-International Labour Review

"While many publications about remote working arrangements focus on the management of such efforts, this book addresses the important aspect of social changes resulting from telecommuting....Ellison makes a good observation about telework research being more relevant when embedded within the cultural context of the organization. Notes on method in each chapter. Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections."-Choice

About the Author

NICOLE B. ELLISON is an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University. Previously, she was a faculty member at California State University, Stanislaus, and a senior researcher for Sapient Corporation in San Francisco. She has published research on virtual communities, telework and online culture in journals and as book chapters in Virtual Culture and Doing Internet Research.