Do digital telecommunications affect work and organization? The state of our knowledge

This paper reviews empirical evidence on how telecommunications technologie s affect the context of work and organizations at the individual, group, or ganizational, and inter-organizational level of analysis. Telecommunication s is defined broadly to include both networks themselves and applications t hat enable not only computer-mediated communication but also digital transa ctions. Because digital telecommunications is an emergent phenomena, our kn owledge of its implications for work is sparse. Despite this lack of eviden ce, numerous claims are made in the literature. Telecommunications are depi cted as freeing the work of individuals and organizations from the constrai nts of time and space. In addition, telecommunications are said to facilita te market coordination and cause greater interdependence among organization s. In general, predictions of the effects of telecommunications neglect int ervening variables and are overly deterministic. We evaluate the claims tha t have been made about telecommunications technology in light of the availa ble evidence and conclude with suggestions for further research.