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an interorganizational relationship in which independent
organizations share their resources, knowledge, costs and risks in order to produce a product
”. Virtual
teams, in which ICT is used to work independent of time, place and organization in order to
communicate and coordinate, are becoming more common daily (Bosch-Sijtsema and Bosch, 1996;
Townsend et al., 1998; Den Hengst et al., 2008; Nenonen et al., 2009; Hyrkkänen and Nenonen,
2011). As Townsend et al. (1998) state: “
changes in organizational structure and advances in
informational technology define the environment in which the virtual team operates
”. A survey of
TNO conducted in 2004 among 500 organizations in five different industry sectors showed that 32%
of organizations already used virtual teams (Kraan et al., 2004). Ware and Grantham (2003) notice an
increase in virtual workplaces, which provide connectivity through devices such as smart phones,
laptops or tables, in a mobile and distributed knowledge work environment (Nenonen et al., 2009).
The increasing accessibility to ICT and therefore possibility to work at any place and any time
leads to a blurring line between work and private life (Wittel, 2001; Katz and Aarhus, 2002; Jarvenpaa
1
This can be an issue for Wageningen UR, since academic employees are seen as knowledge workers (Greene
and Myerson, 2011), and knowledge work takes place inside the workers’ head, making it intangible and
invisible and therefore more difficult to map and assess (Erlich and Bichard, 2008).
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and Lang, 2005; Lyons and Urry, 2005; Veldhoen, 2005; Schwanen and Kwan, 2008; Kelliher and
Anderson, 2010; Line et al., 2011; Hermelin and Trygg, 2012; Ten Brummelhuis et al., 2012; Allen et
al., 2013), with the risk of working in private time (Orlikowski, 2007), which can be a source of work-
related stress (Hill et al., 1996; Van der Voordt and Pullen, 2002). Possible negative effects of office
concepts on employee health and performance should therefore be taken into account when
developing and introducing new office concepts (Pullen and Bradley, 2004). Some companies already
turned their back towards working independent of time and place, because they did not see the
benefits (anymore). For instance, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer banned their employees from remote
working since February 2013, since she cited the need for in-person collaboration as a necessary
element for Yahoo!’s success (Fool, 2014). Another example is Volkswagen in Germany, where all
Blackberry e-mail servers are shut down after work hours due to staff complaints about work and
home lives were becoming blurred (BBC, 2011). Deutsche Telekom also placed restrictions on e-mail
and phone connectivity after work hours in order to prevent from work exhaustion (Baudewijns et al.,
2015).
Literature shows that NWW creates changes that take place at four aspects: the
physical
workspace
, (
ICT
)
technology
,
organization
&
management
, and
work
culture
(Blok, 2012; Blok et al.,
2012). Veldhoen (2005) describes NWW as the result of an integral refurbishment of the
virtual
,
physical
and
mental
work
environments
. Therefore, it is much more than just an innovative
workplace with flexible workplaces and wireless phones, contrary to what many believe (Veldhoen,
2005). Bijl (2007) states that NWW is concerned with renovation of the
physical
workplace
,
organizational
structure
and
culture
,
management
style
and
mentality
of knowledge worker and its
manager. Furthermore, NWW is often distinguished into three basic elements, known as
bricks
(housing and facilities),
bytes
(technology) and
behavior
(behavioral aspects of the organization and
its employees) (e.g. Baane et al., 2010; Clapperton and Vanhoutte, 2014). It is remarkable to see that
these aspects are similar to what Davenport (2013) defines as critical determinants for productivity
of knowledge workers, namely: management and organization, workplace design, and information
technology.
It is therefore concluded that NWW relates to three main topics: ICT (as enabler for time and
place independent working styles), Organization (i.e. structure, culture), and the Workplace (i.e.
flexible, non-territorial, NWW). The supposed relationship between these three factors is as follows:
changing ICT enables time and place independence of work, affecting the work process of
organizations which creates different organizational structures and cultures, thereby creating
different requirements for workplaces in order for the outcome (employees’ satisfaction to the
workplace) to remain positive or, ideally, even improve.
The influence of ICT developments on the organization creates a ‘new reality’ in the primary
process of the organization. This primary process is supported by the workplace. Changing
organizations caused by ICT developments therefore results in different needs for the workplace in
order to optimally support this new reality in the primary process. Therefore, this study will seek to
give insight in how changing ICT as enabler of time and place independence of work affects the
organization and its workplaces (see figure 3.1). Since this model clearly shows the relationship
between all affected factors by NWW, it will be used for this study to define ICT’s influence on the
organization and its workplace, in order for FS to anticipate on the future developments concerning
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NWW.
2
Consequently, the subjects ICT, organization and workplace and their relationships will be
elaborated on in the following paragraphs.
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