Improvements in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have brought about a sea change in the ways in which most people in the industrialized world work. In many organizations the ability to "work remotely" or "telecommute" has helped productivity improve. However, many of the benefits promised by the onset of "mobile working" have failed to materialize. This book explains the technology and strategic issues surrounding mobile working and presents a clear analysis of how this process can be managed. Combining a better understanding of the state of the art in e-business technologies with a focus on how organizations can effectively provide information support for mobile working, this book will also investigate the relationship between human and organizational factors and success in mobile working. With detailed case studies from a range of countries, this book will be useful reading on a range of courses at Masters and MBA level, including e-business, mobile technologies, operations management, technology management and change management.
Mobile Working Machines are defined by three characteristics. These machines have a cer-tain task of doing a working process, they are mobile, and they have a signifi cant energy share in their working functions. The machines should be as productive, efficient and of high quality as possible. All these machines in the fi eld of agriculture, forestry, construction, logistics, municipal sector, and in other special applications work in different applications. But, many technologies placed in the machines are the same, similar or comparable; therefore, different branches can learn from each other. Mobile Working Machines provides a wide and deep view into the technologies used in these machines. Appropriate for new engineers as well as those who wish to increase their knowledge in this field, this book brings together all the latest research and development into one place.
Dear Reader This is a book about mobile virtual work. It aims at clarifying the basic concepts and showing present practices and future challenges. The roots of the book are in the collaboration of few European practitioners and - searchers, who met each other under the umbrella of the Swedish SALTSA programme (see next page) in January 2002 in Stockholm. The group was first called ‘ICT, Mobility and Work Organisation’ but redefined itself quickly as ‘Mobile Virtual Cooperative Work’ group. The change of the name reflects the development of reasoning in the group. We could not find much material on mobile work, certainly not systematic studies, - though a growing interest in mobile technologies and services could be found. Practices of telework and virtual organizations were better known, but we were convinced that the combination with mobile work was so- thing different and new. Our main target became to understand what it was all about. The next step was an expert meeting in October 2004 at Rånäs Castle again in Sweden. A wider group of experts was invited to present their views on mobile virtual work and ideas about book chapters from different perspectives of working life. Some of the expertise could be found through the network of the AMI@Work family created by the New Working En- ronments unit of the European Commission’s Information Society Dir- torate-General. Also close collaboration was developed with the related MOSAIC program.
1 The Nokia journey 3 2 What is a mobilized business? 9 3 The skeptics speak : challenges to mobility 23 4 Identifying the benefits of mobility 37 5 Getting to know your workforce 55 6 Mobilizing business processes 63 7 Choosing mobile technology enablers 83 8 Optimizing the mobile workplace 107 9 Managing a mobile workforce 123 10 Building business cases for mobility 153 11 Getting started 175.
The contemporary period has witnessed the rapid evolution in a wide range of mobile technology. This book charts the profound implications these technological changes have for workers and business organizations. From an organizational point of view they have the potential to transform the nature of organizations, through allowing workers to be increasingly mobile. From the perspective of workers these changes have the potential to impact on their work-related communications, how they manage the increasingly blurred public-private divide, and the nature of the home-work boundary. These chapters provide a detailed insight into these issues through bringing together an international collection of contemporary studies and analysis and taking a critical perspective towards some of the advertised myths regarding mobile technology usage. Issues covered include: Travel and changing nature of spatial mobility patterns. Work-Space and Place and the ‘leaking’ out of organizations into more public domains. Mobile Work Practices including detailed and heterogeneous case studies. Home-work dynamics and the changing nature of the home-work boundary. Implications for Public Policy
How wireless technology is redefining the relationship of communication, technology, and society around the world—in everyday work and life, in youth culture, in politics, and in the developing world. Wireless networks are the fastest growing communications technology in history. Are mobile phones expressions of identity, fashionable gadgets, tools for life—or all of the above? Mobile Communication and Society looks at how the possibility of multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere at any time affects everyday life at home, at work, and at school, and raises broader concerns about politics and culture both global and local. Drawing on data gathered from around the world, the authors explore who has access to wireless technology, and why, and analyze the patterns of social differentiation seen in unequal access.They explore the social effects of wireless communication—what it means for family life, for example, when everyone is constantly in touch, or for the idea of an office when workers can work anywhere. Is the technological ability to multitask further compressing time in our already hurried existence? The authors consider the rise of a mobile youth culture based on peer-to-peer networks, with its own language of texting, and its own values. They examine the phenomenon of flash mobs, and the possible political implications. And they look at the relationship between communication and development and the possibility that developing countries could "leapfrog" directly to wireless and satellite technology. This sweeping book—moving easily in its analysis from the United States to China, from Europe to Latin America and Africa—answers the key questions about our transformation into a mobile network society.
Body/Sex/Work focuses on the intimate, embodied and sexualised labour that occurs within body work and sex work. Bringing together an internationally renowned group of academics, it explores, empirically and theoretically, labour processes, workplace relations, regulation and resistance in some of the many work sites that make up the body work and sex work sectors. The book makes a key contribution to research recognising the embodiment of labour and the body, reframing the key questions in critical studies of work and employment. Key Benefits: - The first book that draws together the sub-disciplines of body work and sex work - Written by leading international experts - Contains cutting edge empirical research on contemporary topics Body/Sex/Work is an ideal companion for upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students of labour and organisation studies, body studies, gender, and sexuality. It will also appeal to researchers and lecturers in these fields.
The second edition of Benefits Management has been updated with current examples, further insights from experience and recent research. It shows how the enduring challenges achieving business value from information systems and technology projects can be addressed successfully. The approach, which is synthesized from best practices, sound theories and proven techniques from a range of management disciplines, is exemplified from the authors' extensive experience of working with a wide range of organizations. The book includes examples from a wide variety of projects including non-IT projects. The book is written in an accessible style, ideal for practicing managers, and includes check lists and templates for using the processes, tools and techniques and real-life case studies of their application and impacts. The book now also includes: International survey results that reinforce the importance of the topic, the key management issues and evidence of how the more successful organizations' practices are closely aligned with those described in the book. A Benefits Management Maturity diagnostic which enables organizations to understand the reasons for their current investment success levels and then how to increase them. Discussion of the role and contribution Project Management Offices (PMOs): how they can improve the delivery of value IT projects. Further practical advice and guidance on Program and Portfolio Management, including findings from the authors’ recent research in several large organizations.
Progress in collaborative networks continues showing a growing number of manifestations and has led to the acceptance of Collaborative Networks (CN) as a new scientific discipline. Contributions to CN coming from multiple reference disciplines has been extensively investigated. In fact developments in CN have benefited from contributions of multiple areas, namely computer science, computer engineering, communications and networking, management, economy, social sciences, law and ethics, etc. Furthermore, some theories and paradigms defined elsewhere have been suggested by several research groups as promising tools to help define and characterize emerging collaborative organizational forms. Although still at the beginning of a long way to go, there is a growing awareness in the research and academic world, for the need to establish a stronger theoretical foundation for this new discipline and a number of recent works are contributing to this goal. From a utilitarian perspective, agility has been pointed out as one of the most appealing characteristics of collaborative networks to face the challenges of a fast changing socio-economic context. However, during the last years it became more evident that finding the right partners and establishing the necessary preconditions for starting an effective collaboration process are both costly and time consuming activities, and therefore an inhibitor of the aimed agility. Among others, obstacles include lack of information (e.g. non-availability of catalogs with normalized profiles of organizations) and lack of preparedness of organizations to join the collaborative process. Overcoming the mismatches resulting from the heterogeneity of potential partners (e.g. differences in infrastructures, corporate culture, methods of work, and business practices) requires considerable investment. Building trust, a pre-requisite for any effective collaboration, is not straight forward and requires time. Therefore the effective creation of truly dynamic collaborative networks requires a proper context in which potential members are prepared to rapidly get engaged in collaborative processes. The concept of breeding environment has thus emerged as an important facilitator for wider dissemination of collaborative networks and their practical materialization. The PRO-VE'05 held in Valencia, Spain, continues the 6th event in a series of successful working conferences on virtual enterprises. This book includes selected papers from that conference and should become a valuable tool to all of those interested in the advances and challenges of collaborative networks.
