Virtual workforces and the shifting frontier of control

Abstract

Adopting a networked organisational model is argued to improve organisational performance mainly by providing opportunities for innovation and creativity. The model is premised on introducing a range of Information and Communication Technologies into the work environment. ICTs establish a fundamentally different interface between workers and their tasks and also connect managers and workers in new ways that require a reconceptualisation of labour management relations. This process, in turn, necessitates adapting existing organisational arrangements such as the division of labour and traditional managerial practices to account for changes in the way work is scheduled and organized and the way workers are managed. It is argued that organisations implementing such new organisational forms create non-traditional boundaries and fewer bureaucratic structures through the formation of networks. These network arrangements may present an opportunity for a shift in the labour management control nexus.