Fluid organizing of work in the ubiquitous information environment

Abstract

The strong trend of miniaturization and personalization of computing devices that continues in our everyday lives has become inseparably linked to the various services and functions these technological artifacts offer. Mobile workers can do their jobs, not just informal office space, but in locations as varied as hotels and train stations. These workers are actively utilizing various ICTs in their highly mobile work practices. This paper explores an emerging pattern of work practice in the ubiquitous information environment, namely, fluid organizing of work. In rapidly changing businesses such as media, entertainment, and ICT-related areas, an increasing number of workers perform their jobs independently and bring their distinct skills and expertise to organizations on an ad hoc basis. Since business activities are increasingly knowledge-intensive, the importance of effective utilization of external professional workers is increasingly important as well Such a pattern of organizing work practice has blurred the formal boundaries of organizations. This paper addresses structural changes of those work practices, particularly in the context of mobile professional work, and the technological impacts on those changes. The paper concludes by proposing that in order to appreciate the emerging pattern of work practice in today's ubiquitous information environment, we should take seriously the fluid perspective of work and organization. © 2005 by International Federation for Information Processing.