NetWORKing: Connecting Workers In and Between Organizations (IFIP Transactions A: Computer Science and Technology)

This book offers a multi-disciplinary examination of many of the implications of computer based networks for organizations and for the people who work in and manage them. It addresses the technical challenges involved - and the new approaches and concepts needed to tackle them - as well as the consequences for work, organization and social practices. Several features distinguish it from other publications in the area - namely, an emphasis on the implications for workers, rather than management; critical rather than celebratory studies; and a reflection of a broad range of disciplines.In addition to providing a theoretical overview of the field, the publication specifically explores the themes of: participation and power; reading over distances; privacy versus transparency; information policy and the changes that networking can bring to organizations and how to manage them. It also aims to shed new light on fundamental questions about how we understand our social/technical worlds in this time of great flux, threat and promise.Academic and industrial researchers concerned with the workplace implications of computer networking will find the book of particular importance. However, it will also provide stimulating reading for a variety of social scientists, especially sociologists and political scientists.