Workshop on the Social Aspects of Distributed Work

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a workshop that focuses on the social and organizational aspects of geographically and functionally distributed work. There is a perception among leading researchers that technological and economic change during the past five years has lead to substantial change in the way that Americans work and that we have little overall understanding of the long-term implications of these changes. Workers are increasingly mobile, use a variety of technologies to connect with their colleagues and have to contend with a variety of complex work arrangements that might include: long-distance commuting; working on teams where members are distributed geographically; extensive travel; and multi-organizational work (e.g., due to joint ventures, mergers, consulting, outsourcing, etc.) With more advanced computing and telecommunications technologies, such as Internet 2, on the horizon, even more significant changes are envisioned. Much new research is being conducted by a variety of researchers from psychology, sociology, anthropology, information science, computer science, industrial engineering and history. Due to the diverse backgrounds, venues for publication and academic peer groups, there have been few opportunities for these researchers to meet and share their research studies and perspectives. This workshop will bring the key researchers from these various disciplines together and will result in a web site and book where the research will be collected. Overall, the workshop will contribute to the establishment of a research agenda for this important line of work.