Work in the Ination Age.ppt

1,workintheinformationage,johnl.krummel,2,ifiwasaskedforoneshortsentencetodescribethispresentationitwouldbe“thekeytoworkingintheinformationageiseffectivecommunication”.,3,doweshapeourworkingworldorisourworkingworldshapingus?informationmanagementanditsassociatedtechnologiesisseenasawondrousevolutionforhumankind.newbreakthroughsutilisinginformationmanagementasacorecomponentarehappeningeveryday.,4,ontheotherhandourjobsarebecomingevermorecomplexandchallenging,requiringsteeperlearningcurvesandfulloffutureuncertainty.,5,aboutherewecouldgetbreakoutandgetinvolvedindiscussionsconcerningculture,consumption,pseudoindividualisation,standardisationandwholeschoolsofphilosophicalthought.wecouldalsogetinvolvedwiththeworksoftaylor,maslow,daftandlengel,mcgregoretc.butouraimistodiscussworkinginainformationageratherthandiscusstheworkphilosophyofhumankind.,6,besides“imnotheretodullyourbeliefs,buttosharpenyourcuriosity”,7,in1973danielbellmadethefollowingstatement:“inthecomingcentury,theemergenceofanewsocialframeworkoftelecommunicationsmaybedecisiveforthewayinwhicheconomicandsocialexchangesareconducted,thewayknowledgeiscreatedandretrieved”.bell,daniel.(1973).thecomingofthepost-industrialsociety:aventureinsocialforecasting.newyork,ny:basic.p.487.,8,“peopleofthemid-nineteenthcenturyencounteredtremendousculturalandsocialchangewiththedawnoftheindustrialage.“thepeopleofthelatetwentiethcenturyexperiencedtremendousculturalandsocialshiftswiththeadventoftheinformationage.”hill-1992,1996/%7erhill/workethic/hist.htmtheindustrialage(itwassaid)wasgivingwaytotheinformationage,9,industrialagejobs:low-discretion(in-abilitytochooseaccordingtoonesowndesires)withminimaldecisionmaking.taskswereanalysedandbrokenintosimplestepswhichrequiredverylittlethinkingorjudgementonthepartofworkers.informationagejobs:incontrast,arehigh-discretionandrequireconsiderablethinkinganddecisionmakingonthepartofworkersmiller,w.f.emergingtechnologiesandtheirimplicationsforamerica.usatoday,60-65,10,beginningnineteenseventiesandexpandingintotheeighties“bluecollar”workersbeganforthefirsttimetooutnumberedbytheir“whitecollar”cousins.co-incidentallyalso:theadventoflaserprinting,“wysiwyg”“macs”,ibm“pcs”,bitmapimaging,graphicaluserinterfaces,barcodescanners,internet(arpanet),floppydisk,ethernet,etcetc.checkout:,11,innovations(especiallywithinthesemiconductorarea)arisingfromtheseventiesallowedbusinessandorganisationstocaptureinformationinadigitalformandmanipulateandsharethatinformation.thedigitalageallowedthistobeginhappeningonatrulyrapidandglobalstage.,12,earlysystemswereunfriendlywhencomparedtothoseoftoday.usershadtoadaptworkroutinestothesystembeingused.lotsofcrashesanddowntimeduetosystemfailures.systemswereexpensive.specialistsruled(andwereexpensive),13,todayssystems:muchmoreaffordablemorepowerfulmoreinteractiveusertosystem,systemtouser,usertouser,systemtosystem.allowsforagreaterdepthofinformationprocessingutilisingacontinuouslyupdatingdatastream.,14,tomorrowstechnologywillmaketodaysfeellikeyesterdays,15,workintheinformationagenolongerconfinedtooneindustryorarea.decentralisedtelecommutingprovidesmobileoffices/workfromhomescenarios.“virtualoffice”basicbusinesscorecomplementedby“asneeded”specialistconsultantswithareaspecificknowledge.“workissomethingyoudo,notsomethingyoutravelto”(anon),16,endlessopportunitieswegenerallyholdtothebeliefthattheflexibilityandtheopportunitiesforincreasedproductivityofferedbytodaysinformationtechnologiesarerealbenefits.or,arethey?therearemorebusinessesusinginformationtechnologybuttherearealsomoreinformationspecialists.specialistsareavailableinincreasednumbersbutatreducedcost.“businesscanbeseentogainbuttheworkersloose”,17,thebenefitsofthevirtualofficearenotobtainedsimplybyarmingworkerswithportableinformationsystemsandsendingthemoutoftheoffice.managingpeopletoworkwellvirtually,requiresnewskillsandattitudesonthepartsofbothorganisationsandworkers.,18,informationageorganisationsneedtobe:moreadaptive.moreacceptingofchangingprocesses.mustspendtostaycompetitive.mustbepreparedtouseoutsideexpertiseratherthanrelyoninternalworkforceabilities.hasanythingreallychanged?,19,informationageworkersdesirableattributesmoreadaptiveandacceptingofemerginginnovation.abletocreatesocialnetworks,collaboratewithfellowworkersandthoseoutsidethemainbusinesscore.,20,sideeffectsbecausethetechnologyisaglobaloneorganisationshavetobecomeglobaltosurviveorsufferlossestothosewhoare.whobuysontheinternet?morestressedascontinuallylearning,adaptingandnetworking.studentrequirementshigherandmoredemandingthanpreviousandonlinelearningrequiresthepurchaseandmaintenanceofphysicaltechnology.socialisingisbecomingpartofwork.whohastimeforfriends,21,considerationisolationorintegrationsomepeoplearesurroundingthemselveswithmoderntechnologywhilepayinglittleattentiontotheneedsofothers.othersusetechnologytobetterunderstandtheirfellowmantoovercomephysicaldistance,establishingdigitalrelationships./ideas/technology/,22,discussion,arewestillsimpletaskorientatedlikewewereintheindustrialage?areourworkingandsociallivesmerging?arewebecomingmorereliantonsocialbondingtogetthejobdone?issocialchangedrivingtechnologyoristechnologydrivingsocialchange?thislastquestioncanbeconsideredbyaquicklookatthephilosophicalpropositionof“determinism”.,23,determinismthephilosophicalpropositionthateveryevent,includinghumancognitionandaction,iscausallydeterminedbyanunbrokenchainofprioroccurrences.nomysteriousmiraclesorwhollyrandomeventsoccur.,24,determinism,hardvssoftdeterminismstance(smithandmarx,1994)hard:technologydrivessocialchangesoft:technologyisinfluentialbutsocietyhasachoiceinwhichtoolstodevelop.smith,m.r.andmarx,l.(eds),doestechnologydrivehistory?thedilemmaoftechnologicaldeterminism,mitpress,cambrdige,ma.non-determinismstance(mcdermott,1993,1991)“freewill”-imachildofthe60ssocialforcesshapetechnology,notcausallydetermined.technologiesreflectdifferentdegreesofsocial,politicalandeconomicpowerpossessedbythesponsorsandtheopponentsofparticulartechnologies.mcdermott,j.:1991,corporatesociety:class,property,andcontemporarycapitalism.interventions:theoryandcontemporarypolitics,westviewpress,boulder,co.(slidestolenfromfaysudweekscollection),25,workingintheinformationageiftechnologicalabilityisimportanthowdowefunctionmoreeffectivelyutilisinganawarenessoftechnologyrequirements.ifsocialpresenceisimportant-howdowefunctionmoreeffectivelyutilisinganincreasedawarenessoftheimportanceofsocialinteractions.,26,communicationtheinformationmediawechooseallowsusto:-communicatewiththesystem.-communicatewithotherusers.,27,theproblemisinchoosingtherightmethodsofcommunicating.,humantomachinecomponent(technicalaspect),humantohumancomponent(socialaspect),28,themediaweusetocommunicateneedstoreflecttheimportanceofthecommunication.“howwouldyouratetheseinorderofimportance?”emailvideoconferencingaudioconferencingtelephoneircfaxtelemarketinghandwrittenletteradvertisingbrochurewordprocessedletteryoucant,unlessyouknowthecontextrelativetothequestion.wecannotproclaimthatvideoconferencingisthebestcommunicationmediaforallcommunication.,29,weallviewthemediatypedifferentlydependinguponthesituation.thereforescrutinyofmediaselectionisimportantbuthowdowechoose?,30,peopleandorganisationscanmakebadchoices!canbeinfluencedbysocialandculturalcontexts!canbemisinformed!canbemisled!donotknowwhattheywant!donothaveachoice!,31,theoriesandmodelsofcommunicationneedscanassistindeterminingtheclosestmatchtosuittherequirements.however!,32,theoriesandmodelsaboundfordescribingtechnologicalandsocialinteractionsandsuitableforanalysingandchoosinginformationagerequirements“therearetheoriesandtheoriesthatdebunktheoriesandmodelsandmodelsthatanti-modelothermodels”,33,despitetheoverwhelmingandoftencontradictoryevidencethatthesecancreate,theoriesandmodelsprovideameansofaddressingtherelationshipbetweentechnologyandsocietyandpromptquestionsaboutagency,determinism,andautonomy(howmuchofaninfluencedoestechnologyhave?);andteleonomy(thescienceofadaptation)(doesithaveaparticular,inevitable,end?).foramoreindepthdiscussiongoto:/wiki/theories_of_technology,34,youhavealreadycoveredseveraltheoriesinthiscourseandalsoduringyourotherstudiesyouwillhaveuncoveredseveralmore.mediarichnesssocialinfluencetwootherstofurtherillustrateandbrieflyshowhowtechnologicalandsociologicalissuesshapeourworkingworld.technologymomentumtheorydiffusionofinnovationtheory,35,technologymomentumtheorywhenatechnologyisyoung,deliberatecontroloveritsuseandscopeispossibleandenactedbysociety.howeverasatechnologymatures,andbecomesincreasinglyenmeshedinthesocietywhereitwascreated,itsowndeterministicforcetakeshold.thomasp.hughes,technologicalmomentum,inalbertteich,ed.,technologyandthefuture,8thedn.,2000.,36,diffusionofinnovationfrenchsociologist“gabrieltarde”originallyclaimedthatsociologywasbasedonsmallpsychologicalinteractionsamongindividuals,especiallyimitationandinnovation.tarde,g.(1903)thelawsofimitation,translatedbye.c.parsonswithintroductionbyf.giddings,newyork,henry,holtandco.,37,diffusionofinnovationdiffusionofinnovationstheorywasformalisedbyeverettrogersina1962bookcalleddiffusionofinnovations.rogersstatedthatadoptersofanynewinnovationorideacouldbecategorizedasinnovators(2.5%),earlyadopters(13.5%),earlymajority(34%),latemajority(34%)andlaggards(16%),basedonabellcurve.eachadopterswillingnessandabilitytoadoptaninnovationwoulddependontheirawareness,interest,evaluation,trial,andadoption.rogers,everett.(1995).diffusionofinnovations.fourthedition.newyork,ny:thefreepress.,38,roundingoffourworkinglifeisaneverchangingprocessionoftasks.intheearlyyearsthetasksweperformedweretypicallysteepedintraditionand(hunting,gathering,mining)evolvingaroundculturalandsocialvalues.associetyevolvedtasksexpandedbecomingmoreintricateinnaturerequiringmorefinesseandcraftsmanship,still,theywerelinkedtosocialandculturalvalues.duringtheindustrialrevolutiontasksbecamemoresimplifiedandautomatedasmachineryevolved.socialandculturalvaluesbecamelinkedtoindustrialprocesses.todaythetasksaremoresteepedininnovationwheretheneedforworkersistorapidlyadapttochangingconsumerprocesses.simpletaskinghasgivenwaytomultitasking.socialandculturalvaluescanbeseenaslinkedtoconsumerprocesses.,39,thewaywecommunicateiscentraltoourcurrentinformationprocessingrequirements.communicationmethodsaremorenumerousinourcurrenterathanwewerepreviouslyexposedtowhichinitselfcreatesproblemsinknowingtherightmediumforeffectivecommunication.