Bridging the work/social divide: the emotional response to organizational social networking sites

Organizations seem to be split on their policies governing social networking sites (SNSs) in the workplace. Recent surveys indicate that while many organizations severely restrict or ban SNSs (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) at work, a large majority are actively using, or evaluating the use of SNSs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of an internal SNS designed to help a large financial institution's IT new hire program. On the basis of a case study informed by boundary theory and the theory of positive emotions, the research describes the SNS, its uses and how it impacted both the employees and the organization. We found that SNSs blur the boundary between work life and social life and that this boundary blurring creates positive emotions for the employees that use the system. These emotions create personal resources, which then have organizational impacts. While some of the non-users of the system, the IT middle managers, experienced isolation, frustration and resentment, the executives overseeing this SNS attribute improved morale, better employee engagement and even reduced employee turnover to the internal SNS.     

Pioneering work in the field of computer process control

Dreams of using digital computers in industrial control systems surfaced almost as soon as such a computer was invented in the mid to late 1940s. By the early fifties, the concepts of such use were fairly well established. However, actual applications had to wait until relatively small, reliable, and also relatively inexpensive machines were available, along with vendor companies with the will and the initiative to pursue this field vigorously Such a company was the Ramo-Wooldridge Company, which entered this field in the mid-fifties. The company found ready acceptance of its products among the companies in the process industries. By the mid-sixties, there were installations in almost every process industry and many other vendors had entered the field. Such installations became the norm for computer applications to industrial control until the microprocessor and its associated distributed computer control systems superseded them beginning in the mid-seventies. The article chronicles the development of this early field by describing several of the early installations and their successes and difficulties     

Groupware support as a moderator of interdepartmental knowledge communication in process improvement groups: an action research study

This paper presents a review of the organizational learning literature that points to process improvement (PI) groups as an appropriate too for organizational knowledge communication. Based on this review, the impact of support provided by a class of groupware systems, email conferencing (EC) on knowledge dissemination in organizations is examined in the context of PI groups. Data were collected through an action research project, in which the researcher facilitated seven PI groups in two organizations with the support of an EC system implemented with Novel/ Groupwise and using a group methodology for PI called MetaProi. The study suggests that, overall, EC support seems to have a positive impact on knowledge dissemination in organizations when used in combination with a group methodology for PI. EC support effects on PI groups can be summarized as: (a) a reduction in, first, the influence of distance and other physical obstacles to the participation of members from different departments in PI groups, and, second, in the disruption that group discussions are likely to cause for individual group members, particularly when these members are from different departments; (b) a reduction in interdepartmental conflict obstacles to the formation of PI groups; and (c) an increase or decrease in individual learning in PI groups, depending on the complexity of the issues being discussed and the clarity of electronic contributions by members. Organizational implications of these research findings are discussed.     

Analysis of interaction dynamics in collaborative and distributed design process

This paper proposes a computational interaction analysis approach for extraction of emergent patterns and organization structures during collaborative and distributed design process based on its emergent state-problems. A better source of information on both collaborative and distributed design process as a time-based activity and the agent-agent interactions during the design process will allow design researchers to develop richer models of designing which in turn will provide the basis for a better understanding of collaborative and distributed design process and developing intelligent tools to support this process. Therefore, the proposed approach consists of discerning from the real interactions the different state-problems characterizing the mentioned process. The modelling of interactions corresponding to state-problems, permitted to observe the emergent patterns of collaborative and distributed design process: micro-groups and pivot agent. The collaborative and distributed design process is characterized by the new micro-group formation on the one hand, and by their evolution in the time on the other. Based on the properties of interaction, the approach has discerned three types of cooperation: complete, bilateral and quasi null. Results from some real collaborative and distributed design process, allow us to observe certain properties related to micro-groups, such as self-organization, dynamics and self-similarity. Self-organization results from interaction among adaptive human agents. It is an emergent structuration in response to non-linear collaborative and distributed design process. Dynamics results from the variation of micro-groups formation and the collaborative and distributed design process seems to articulate around one or several pivot agents. Self-similarity results from the similar emergent pattern in every discussion. This research served as core for developments of multi-agents system ISIAD (Intelligent System for Interactions Analysis in Design).     

Information systems strategizing,organizational sub-communities,and the emergence of a sustainability strategy

The realized strategy contents of information systems (IS) strategizing are a result of both deliberate and emergent patterns of action. In this paper, we focus on emergent patterns of action by studying the formation of strategies that build on local technology-mediated practices. This is done through case study research of the emergence of a sustainability strategy at a European automaker. Studying the practices of four organizational sub-communities, we develop a process perspective of sub-communities’ activity-based production of strategy contents. The process model explains the contextual conditions that make sub-communities initiate SI strategy contents production, the activity-based process of strategy contents production, and the IS strategy outcome. The process model, which draws on Jarzabkowski’s strategy-as-practice lens and Mintzberg’s strategy typology, contributes to the growing IS strategizing literature that examines local practices in IS efforts of strategic importance.     

Articulation of work process models for organizational alignment and informed information system design

Articulating and representing procedural aspects of work in conceptual models is a prerequisite for informed information system (IS) design. Instruments supporting articulation need to establish common ground about the interaction of the collaborating actors. This article proposes a methodology for the articulation of work processes by inexperienced modelers. It consists of phases of articulation and consolidation of case-based models and interactive elaboration toward comprehensive representation of the process via virtual enactment. The resulting models can be directly interpreted by IS. A case study confirms that the methodology meets the identified requirements and identifies areas of improvement.     

Information systems and organizational learning: The social epistemology of organizational knowledge systems

Current literature on organizational learning tends to be theoretically fragmented, drawing on analogies to individual learning theory or simply using organizational learning as an umbrella concept for many different kinds of organizational change or adaptation. This paper introduces a framework for the analysis of organizations as knowledge systems (Holzner & Marx, 1979) composed of a collection of knowledge processes: constructing, organizing, storing, distributing, and applying. The knowledge system framework draws heavily on the sociology of knowledge and emphasizes the social nature of each of these constitutive processes. The paper uses the framework to analyze the case of a small engineering consulting company that implemented a new information system to automate one of its core business activities: energy audits of commercial buildings. Traditional approaches to organizational learning have emphasized the ways in which information systems can lower the costs and increase capacity for search, storage, and retrieval of information. The knowledge system framework suggests a deeper level of influence, whereby information systems can also affect the objects of knowledge and the criteria for knowledge construction.     

Influence of shift work in process industry on workers' occupational health,productivity, and family and social life: An ergonomic approach

Shift work is a major feature of modern work practices. It involves working at times considered unconventional for most workers, such as at night. Although the community often benefits from such work practices, shift work can be hazardous for both the workers and the community. There are increased risks for accidents and errors, increased sleepiness and fatigue due to difficulties sleeping, increased health problems, and disruptions to family and social life. More shift workers complained of sleep disturbance, poor sleep quality, tiredness at awakening, and sleepiness in work than did non‐shift workers. More shift workers also complained of gastrointestinal disturbances than did non‐shift workers. The aim of this article is to provide general information on shift work, work schedules, and the effects of work schedules on sleep, fatigue, performance, the health of the human operator, and productivity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Crossing the divide: architectural issues and the emergence of thestored program computer, 1935-1955

The rapid advance of computing technology since the 1940s has created an impression that all that happened in computing before then was somehow mere prologue to the real history. According to this popular notion, the computer age began with the invention of machines that computed at electronic speeds, that were capable of automatic sequence control with conditional branching, and that stored their programs internally. The classification of computing into “generations” with the “first” generation being those with vacuum tubes further reinforces this notion. The paper looks at some examples of machines built in the 1930s and 1940s that straddle both ages: machines that had some sort of sequence control, partially electronic counting circuits, or primitive branching capabilities. In particular, the author examines a few systems that reveal especially well the nature of this transition: the ensembles of punched card equipment used by L.J. Comrie (1932) and W. Eckert (1984) for scientific instead of business use; the “Aberdeen Relay Calculator” that IBM built for the US Army; and the “Card Programmed Calculator” that Northrop Aircraft invented for engineering applications that IBM later marketed     

Responses on computer surveys: Impression management,social desirability,and the big brother syndrome

The quality of responses on computer and paper surveys was examined using 247 Navy recruits randomly assigned to a 2 (anonymous/identified) × 3 (administration modes: paper, computer-nonlinked, computer-linked) design. The computer-linked condition was included to simulate the ‘Big Brother Syndrome’ alluded to but not studied in past research. Higher levels of impression management were found in the identified computer-linked condition. It was concluded that perceiving that one's responses are linked to a larger database may lead to more impression management on computer surveys.     

The effects of computer mediated communication on an individual's judgment: A study based on the methods of Asch's social influence experiment

Because of the importance placed on social influence in the group process, this study investigates how the exclusion of the contextual cues provided by face-to-face interaction influences individual judgments in computer mediated contexts. The study employs a computerized revision of the classic procedures of Asch's “majority against a minority of one” investigation. The results of the study indicate that computer mediated communication is likely to diminish the effects of social pressures to conform to majority judgments.     

Transcending the meat: immersive technologies and computer mediated bodies

In this paper we will call into question the philosophical grounding for the belief that our mind can in principle be removed from, or transcend, our bodies. We will show that modern immersive technology, such as virtual and web technologies, tacitly attempt to implement this philosophy. We will find that there is a growing community called the Transhumanists who are a loosely knit group of highly educated hi-tech professionals and scientists who explicitly accept the transcendent mind hypothesis. Through the work and influence of these professionals values that are antagonistic to the body enter, explicitly or tacitly, into computer technology. It is our claim that the transcendent mind hypothesis is in error and that immersive technologies have to take seriously issues regarding the embodied nature of their users and that this embodiment can not be transcended in any meaningful way.     

Error dynamics: the dynamic emergence of error avoidance and error vicariants

Certain kinds of interactive systems can learn to avoid error and develop vicariants for impending or potential error. This paper presents a model of the nature, emergence and development of such error dynamics.     

Culture,the process of knowledge,perception of the world and emergence of AI

AI & SOCIETY - Considering the technological development today, we are facing an emerging crisis. We are in the midst of a scientific revolution, which promises to radically change not only the...     

Technological and organizational change in the Brazilian computer industry: A case study

Abstract

This article gives an account of the results of a case study undertaken at a pioneer and particularly prominent firm in the Brazilian computer industry: COBRA — Computadores e Sistemas Brasileiros SA.

The study is part of a research project¹ whose main goal is the identification of viable organizational and technological options that could enhance the performance of firms in the Brazilian electro‐electronics industry. Among the more important findings, it was observed that the firm has the potential to evolve to a more flexible structure, in keeping with the new requirements of the probable future market scenarios within its sector.

Everything indicated, however, that the main constraining factors for bringing about such a structure were connected with the firm's culture and beliefs and with the indirect influence of the National Policy of Information Technology upon these. An hypothesis was put forward for an organizational model, and the necessary supportive computerized technology, which could be particularly appropriate in view of the impending deregulation, of the Brazilian computer industry. Also, in the scope of the current discussion on the restructuring of this industry in terms of a greater concentration, an alternative to the prevailing school of thought was proposed, and for whose success the organizational model at issue purports to be particularly relevant.     

Irony,critique and ethnomethodology in the study of computer work: irreconcilable tensions?

Abstract. To broaden discussion of critique in the field of information systems beyond current approaches, we look outside the core management discourse and examine the critical element in ethnomethodological research on computer-based work environments. Our examination reveals a form of critique that is above all without irony, seeking always to be respectful of the competence of research subjects, and informed by an in-depth understanding of participants' practices. We argue that ethnomethodology is an often unrecognised critical approach that attempts to speak from within a community of practice and deliver critical insights that are responsive to the kinds of practical problems of interest to practitioners.     

Musculoskeletal disorders among visual display terminal workers: individual,ergonomic, and work organizational factors

A number of individual, ergonomic, and organizational factors of presumed importance for the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders were investigated in a group of 260 visual display terminal (VDT) workers. The cross-sectional study utilized medical and workplace investigations as well as questionnaires. The results were subjected to a multivariate analysis in order to find the major factors associated with various upper-body muscular problems. Several such factors were identified for each investigated type of musculoskeletal problem. Some were related to the individual: age, gender, woman with children at home, use of spectacles, smoking, stomach-related stress reactions, and negative affectivity. Organizational variables of importance were opportunities for flexible rest breaks, extreme peer contacts, task flexibility, and overtime. Identified ergonomic variables were static work posture, hand position, use of lower arm support, repeated work movements, and keyboard or VDT vertical position.