The Internet in the Workplace: How New Technology is Transforming Work

by Patricia Wallace

• ISBN13: 9780521809313
• ISBN10: 0521809312
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-02-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The capabilities offered by netcentric technologies might seem to eliminate the need for physical workplace altogether, but the workplace remains, partly because the virtual, and in fact, the physical appearance of a typical office looks about the same. Nevertheless, the psychological characteristics of the workplace have changed considerably. Workers, from the mail room clerk to the CEO, are learning new skills - to capitalize on the net's power, but avoid the egregious blunders that the net so dramatically amplifies. In The Internet in the Workplace, Wallace shows how netcentric technologies touch every kind of workplace, and explores the challenges and dilemmas they create.

Author Biography

Patricia Wallace, Johns Hopkins University

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
1. THE INTERNET TRANSFORMS THE WORKPLACE	1	(26)
Internet in the Workplace: A Brief Tour	2	(4)
The Context of Change: The Evolving Netcentric Economy	6	(1)
Information Asymmetries	7	(4)
Disintermediation along the Value Chain	11	(5)
The Disintermediated Fight Back	16	(3)
Extreme Disintermediation: The Case of Digital Products	19	(1)
Business Models, Strategies, and Industry Competition	20	(4)
The Workplace in the Middle	24	(3)
2. THE NETCENTRIC TECHNOLOGIES EMERGE	27	(26)
Waves of Technological Transformation	27	(3)
The Internet at the Core: Design Principles	30	(5)
Technologies at the Edge	35	(12)
Security and Netcentric Technologies	47	(4)
Swimming Inside the Netcentric Wave	51	(2)
3. WORK, NONWORK, AND FUZZY LINES BETWEEN THEM	53	(25)
Are We Working More?	55	(2)
Why Are Some People Working Longer Hours?	57	(10)
Netcentric Technologies and the Anytime/Anywhere Workplace	67	(11)
4. BUSINESS COMMUNICATION	78	(35)
From Sender to Recipient and Back	79	(2)
The Range of New Choices	81	(2)
Describing the Communication Channels	83	(5)
Attitudes about New Media	88	(1)
Email: A Case Study	89	(17)
Business Communication across Cultures	106	(3)
Instant Messages in the Workplace	109	(3)
Extending Netiquette	112	(1)
5. LEADERSHIP IN THE INTERNET AGE	113	(22)
Leadership under the Microscope	114	(4)
Leadership Styles in the Internet Era	118	(2)
New Challenges for Internet-Age Leaders	120	(13)
Leaders of the Future	133	(2)
6. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT	135	(22)
The Origins of Knowledge Management	136	(2)
What Is Knowledge?	138	(3)
Creating Information and Explicit Knowledge for the Organization: Pre-Internet	141	(1)
Post-Internet Knowledge Management	142	(2)
Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining	144	(2)
Knowledge Management Practices and Projects	146	(5)
The Knowledge Management Hype Cycle	151	(2)
Social and Psychological Factors in Knowledge Management	153	(2)
The Future of Knowledge Management	155	(2)
7. VIRTUAL TEAMS AND COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK	157	(34)
Technology Support for Teamwork	158	(1)
Expanding the Radius of Collaboration for Teamwork	159	(3)
The Context of Teamwork	162	(3)
Group Dynamics in Virtual Teams	165	(6)
Group Dynamics for Problem Solving and Decision Making	171	(7)
The Performance of Actual Virtual Teams	178	(3)
What Will Make Virtual Teams More Effective?	181	(8)
Tomorrow's Virtual Teams	189	(2)
8. E-LEARNING	191	(24)
E-Learning: A Virtual Tour	192	(6)
Defining the Terms	198	(2)
Advantages of E-Learning Programs	200	(2)
How Effective Is E-Learning?	202	(4)
The Challenges of E-Learning	206	(7)
Is Less More?	213	(2)
9. WORKPLACE SURVEILLANCE AND PRIVACY	215	(31)
How Are Employees Being Monitored?	216	(6)
Why Monitor the Workplace?	222	(4)
Concerns about Productivity	226	(3)
Electronic Performance Monitoring	229	(4)
The Internet and Disinhibition	233	(2)
Developing and Implementing Monitoring Programs	235	(6)
Workplace Privacy: An Oxymoron?	241	(5)
10. THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF EMPLOYMENT	246	(21)
Employment Trends and Technology	247	(5)
Changing Employee - Employer Relationships	252	(3)
Challenges in Managing New Employment Relationships	255	(3)
Changing Organizational Forms	258	(4)
The Volunteer Organization	262	(5)
11. THE NETCENTRIC WORKPLACE: FUTURE TRENDS	267	(24)
The Internet and Productivity	267	(2)
Transforming the Economy, 0ld and New	269	(5)
Offices of the Future	274	(7)
The Internet in the Workplace: A SWOT Analysis	281	(6)
A Social Dilemma	287	(2)
Extending the Sphere	289	(2)
Index	291