Can the following message be posted in the AIS list, please

 

 

Information & Communication Technologies and the Work-Life Boundary @ EGOS 2012

July 2–7, 2012 | Helsinki, Finland
Aalto University & Hanken School of Economics

 

At the 2012 EGOS Colloquium in Helsinki one subtheme will focus on the relationship between Information & Communication technologies (ICTs) and the nature of the work-life boundary. Full details on the sub-theme can be found via the following link, and are outlined below.

 

Link to ICTs and the Work-Life Boundary subtheme: http://www.egos2012.net/2011/06/sub-theme-54-information-and-communication-technologies-and-the-work-life-boundary/

 

We welcome submissions from anyone interested in this topic.

For those interested in submitting a paper, relevant details are outlined below:

 

Submission deadline: 16^th January 2012

Submission length/format: short papers (3-5 pages)

Submission procedure: via EGOS2012 website (see above link)

 

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and seeing you in Helsinki!

 

Donald Hislop (Loughborough University, UK), Petra Bosch-Sijtsema (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden) & Angelika Zimmermann (Loughborough University, UK),
Information and Communication Technologies and the Work-Life Boundary

Donald Hislop, Loughborough University, UK
D.Hislop@lboro.ac.uk

Petra Bosch-Sijtsema, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
petra@petrabosch.com

Angelika Zimmermann, Loughborough University, UK

a.zimmermann@lboro.ac.uk

 

Contemporary information and communication technologies (ICTs) arguably have significant implications for the design of work organizations (facilitating global, remote/virtual collaboration, home-based or mobile working). However, these developments also have potentially significant implications for the nature of the work-life boundary.

This subtheme links together the topics of how ICTs are impacting on the design and structuring of work, and the work-life boundary by examining how people use ICTs to manage the work-life boundary. While there has been some research on how the work-related use of mobile technologies has impacted on people’s work-life boundary, this literature has generally focussed only on professional or managerial workers (for example Orlikowski 2007) and has mostly considered the way in which these technologies allow the intrusion of work into non-work time (for example Fenner & Renn 2010).

This subtheme takes a wider approach to the technology/work-life boundary relationship through welcoming contributions which

• Examine the experiences of any type of workers including: manual workers, managerial/professional workers, home-based workers, mobile workers, people involved in virtual/distributed work.
• Examine the use of any type of computer and communication technology and mode of communication in relation to the work-life boundary including: desktop and mobile computers, mobile phones or mobile email devices which can be used for synchronous or asynchronous communication.
• Examine people’s ICT mediated boundary management practices not only during non-work time, but also work-time.
• Look at both how ICTs can influence not only the way in which work can intrude on people’s non-work domain but also the ways in which people’s non-work domain can intrude on their work.
• Conceptualize the domain of ‘life’ as constituting more than simply family/domestic relations, by taking account of how workers’ non-work domain may include participating in particular hobbies, or may involve relationships with extended family, friends, and work colleagues who are also friends.
• Develop and advance theory of either the nature of the work-life boundary and/or the nature of the technologies being examined. ‘Boundary theory’ (Ashforth et al 2000) arguably provides the dominant perspective on how the work life boundary is conceptualized, and the social studies of technology perspective (see Wajcman 2006) has played a key role in highlighting how user agency is key in shaping the relationship between technology use and the work-life boundary (such as Wajcman et al 2008).Contributions are welcomed which either support or challenge/critique these perspectives, or which utilize different theoretical perspectives (such as Orlikowski 2007).
• Problematize and question the degree of agency that ICTs provide people to control their work-life boundary, through taking account of factors beyond people’s control (such as having to deal with urgent, unexpected events).

We welcome contributions, which connect with any of the themes outlined. The convenors are also happy to engage in discussion with anyone interested in submitting a paper to this sub-theme.

References

Ashforth, B., Kreiner, G., & Fugate, M. (2000). All in a Day’s work: Boundaries and Micro-Role Transitions. Academy of Management Review, 25, 472-491.
Fenner, G., & Renn, R. (2010). Technology-Assisted Supplemental Work and Work-to-Family Conflict: The Role of Instrumental Beliefs, Organizational Expectations and time Management. Human Relations, 63, 63-82.
Orlikowski, W. (2007). Socio-Material Practices: Exploring Technology at Work. Organization Studies, 28, 1435-1448.
Wajcman, J. (2006). ‘New connections: Social Studies of Science and Technology and Studies of Work’. Work, Employment and Society, 20, 773-786.
Wajcman, J., Bittman, M., & Brown, J. (2008). Families Without Borders: Mobile Phones, Connectedness and Work-Home Divisions. Sociology, 42, 635-652.

 

 

-

 

Donald Hislop

 

Senior Lecturer & Deputy Director of Centre for Professional Work and Careers

School of Business and Economics,

Loughborough University,

Loughborough,

LE 11 3TU

 

Phone: 00 44 1509 228826

 

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sbe/research/centres/cpwc/

 

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/bs/staff/bsdh3.html