Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work

Mary Beth Watson-Manheim; Katherine M. Chudoba; Kevin Crowston

doi:10.1108/09593840210444746

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Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Online from: 1982

Subject Area: Information and Knowledge Management

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Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work

Document Information:
Title:	Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work
Author(s):	Mary Beth Watson-Manheim, (College of Business Administration, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA), Katherine M. Chudoba, (College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA,), Kevin Crowston, (School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA)
Citation:	Mary Beth Watson-Manheim, Katherine M. Chudoba, Kevin Crowston, (2002) "Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work", Information Technology & People, Vol. 15 Iss: 3, pp.191 - 209
Keywords:	Communications technology, Information technology, Work design
Article type:	Conceptual Paper
DOI:	10.1108/09593840210444746 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	MCB UP Ltd
Abstract:	“Virtual” is a potent buzzword, freely applied to many situations, with many meanings. In this exploratory study, we develop a more precise understanding of “virtual” to describe changing work environments. Specifically, we propose a framework to classify work environments based on the type of discontinuities involved. Discontinuities are gaps or a lack of coherence in aspects of work. The framework allows us to compare research across different topics and work settings. We use the framework to classify 75 published articles on virtual work environments or earlier, related research streams. We observed that many studies were simultaneously addressing existing or emerging continuities, factors or strategies for overcoming discontinuities. The focus of “virtual” is on changes in the work environment; however, our analysis suggests the need to be equally aware of factors that have not changed and which may become more critical with the introduction of discontinuities.