Integrating digital nomads in corporate structures: Managerial contemplations

Abstract

The digitization of the world of work affects individuals and organizations alike. Across industries, technological and structural progress offers new potential for individuals to re-organize their work independently of time and place. In this context, the popularized catchphrase of 'digital nomadism' has become an absorbing blueprint for research on the future of work. However, at this point we do not know how organizations can best react to this emerging shift of employee preferences. In this study, we identify hitherto unknown managerial, organizational, and technological implications of integrating digital nomads into corporate structures. The results of expert interviews with executives from various industries shed light on barriers and motivators for corporations to recruit, lead, and retain digital nomads as part of their workforce. Ultimately, we found managers to wrestle with paradoxical attitudes towards digital nomad integration by clearly advocating the flexibilization of working models but resisting cultural change.