Time: 4pm, Nov 30th
Place: 110 South Hall

Telework: The changing technology, geography and culture of work
                      Nicole Ellison (USC)

Abstract 
This presentation will explore the social aspects of telework,
including various approaches to telecommuting and mobile work, in the
household and the organization. I will review the most salient literature
on telework, covering a spectrum of issues that include transportation
implications, productivity concerns, and the division between "home" and
"work." I will then discuss and synopsize my research on telework. Through
an in-depth, embedded case study of two organizations and their members,
my project explores the way in which organizational members negotiate the
shifting boundaries of "home" and "work," the way in which organizational
knowledge is communicated among members of a dispersed organization, the
threats to traditional modes of management and supervision posed by remote
work, and other issues. I focus primarily on the role of information and
communication technologies, such as e-mail, in shaping patterns of
telework in the home and workplace. These cases suggest that while
telework is socially shaped both in the household and the organization,  
technical change has implications for how telework is organized
and negotiated.