Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Local Virtuality in an Organization: Implications for Community of Practice

  • Conference paper
Book cover Communities and Technologies 2005

Abstract

We focus on two phenomena in our case study of a high-tech firm. Local virtuality: The pervasive use of computer mediated communication for interaction with physical proximate people, even when located near-by. Hyperconnectivity: The instant availability of people for communication anywhere and anytime. We show that computer mediated communication has gone beyond long-distance media to be the predominant mode of communication. The result is a high level of trust and community, especially in a department with high interdependence and a common goal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adler, P.S. (2005). Beyond hacker idiocy. In C. Heckscher and P. Adler (eds.). Collaborative Community in Business and Society. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

    Google Scholar 

  • Adler, P. S., & Borys, B. (1996). Two types of bureaucracy: Enabling and coercive. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1), 61–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahuja, M., & Carley, K. (1999). Network structure in virtual organizations. Organization Science, 10(6), 741–757.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, J. P., Birkets, S., Kelly, K., and Slouka, M. 1995. "What are we Doing On-Line." Harper's, August, pp. 35–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bimber, B. A. (2003). Information and American democracy: Technology in the evolution of political power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsook, P. (2000). Cyberselfish: A critical romp through the terribly libertarian culture of high tech. NY: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradner, E. (2001). Social factors in the design and use of computer-mediated communication technology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Irvine, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradner, E., Kellogg, W. A., & Erickson, T. (1998). Babble: Supporting conversation in the workplace. SIGGROUP Bulletin, 19(3), 8–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradner, E., Kellogg, W. A., & Erickson, T. (1999). Social affordances of Babble: A field study of chat in the workplace. Paper presented at the ECSCW'99, the Sixth European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Copenhagen, Denmark, 12–16 September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, F. P. (1974). The mythical man-month. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmel, E. (1995). Cycle-time in packaged software firms. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 12(2), 110–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmel, E., & Sawyer, S. (1998). Packaged software development teams: What makes them different? Information, Technology & People, 11(1), 7–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2000). The Rise of the Network Society. 2d. ed. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choo, C. W. (1998). The knowing organization: How organizations use information to construct meaning, create knowledge, and make decisions. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D., & Prusak, L. (2001). In good company: How social capital makes organizations work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, L. L. (1995). Constantine on peopleware. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall/Yourdon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culnan, M. J., & Markus, M. L. (1987). Information technologies. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam, K. H. Roberts, & L. W. Porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 420–443). Beverly Hills:CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbish, L., & Kraut, R. (2004). Controlling interruptions: awareness displays and social motivation for coordination. Proceedings of CSCW2004 conference, Chicago, Nov (pp. 182–91).

    Google Scholar 

  • Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32(5), 554–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daft, R. L., Lengel, R. H., & Trevino, L. K. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection and manager performance: Implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (1997). Information ecology: Mastering the information and knowledge environment. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (2000). Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know (2nd ed.). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, T. O. (1999). Human capital: What it is and why people invest in it (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMarco, T., & Lister, T. (1987). Peopleware: Productive projects and teams. NY: Dorsett House.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W. R., & Robinson, J. P. (2001). Social implications of the internet. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 307–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubé, L. (1998). Teams in packaged software development: The software corp. Experience. Information, Technology & People, 11(1), 36–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, E. (1960). The division of labor in society (2nd ed.). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, T., & Kellogg, W. A. (2000). Social translucence: An approach to designing systems that support social processes. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 7(1), 59–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, C. S. (1982). To dwell among friends. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fish, R., Kraut, R., Root, R., & Rice, R. (1992). Video as a technology for informal communication. Communications of the ACM, 36(1), 48–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, R. 1995. "Newstrack." Communications of the ACM 38(8): 11–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2003). Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet supports community and social capital in a wired suburb. City & Community, 2(4), 277–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handel, M., & Herbsleb, J. D. (2002). What is chat doing in the workplace? Paper presented at the CSCW 2000, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 16–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckscher, C., & Adler, P. (2005). Introduction. In Charles Heckscher and Paul Adler (eds.), Collaborative Community in Business and Society. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckscher, C., & Donnellon, A. (Eds.). (1994). The post-bureaucratic organization: New perspectives on organizational change. London: Sage

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbsleb, J.D. & Olson, G. (Eds.) 2004). Computer Supported Cooperative Work Conference Proceedings. Chicago, November. New York: ACM Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbsleb, J. D., Atkins, D. L., Boyer, D. G., Handel, M., & Finholt, T. A. (2002). Introducing instant messaging and chat in the workplace. Paper presented at the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heydebrand, W. V. (1989). New organizational forms. Work and Occupations, 16, 323–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J. M., Christensen, J., Kellogg, W. A., & Erickson, T. (2002). "I'd be overwhelmed, but it's just one more thing to do": Availability and interruption in research management. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in computing systems, Minneapolis, April 20–25, ACM Press, (pp. 97–104).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Ives, B. (1994). The global network organization of the future: Information management opportunities and challenges. Journal of Management Information Systems, 10(4), 25–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. E., & Rice, R. E. (2002). Syntopia: Access, civic involvement, and social interaction on the net. In B. Wellman & C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.), The Internet in everyday life. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keil, M., & Carmel, E. (1995). Customer-developer links in software development. Communications of the ACM, 38(5), 33–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kling, R. and Gerson, E. 1978. "The Social Dynamics of Technical Innovation in the Computing World." Symbolic Interaction 1: 133–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koskikallio, I. (2002). Empowering rural communities (by ICT). Paper presented at the International Workshop, Helsinki, November 22–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan, M. S. (1998). The role of team factors in software cost and quality: An empirical analysis. Information, Technology & People, 11(1), 20–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantei, M, Baecker, B., Sellen, A., Buxton, W., Milligan, T. and Wellman, B. 1991. "Experiences in the Use of a Media Space. Reaching Through Technology." Pp. 203–208 in Proceedings of the CHI '91 Conference, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, R. E., & Snow, C. C. (1986). Organizations: New concepts for new forms. California Management Review, 28(Summer), 62–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monge, P. R., & Contractor, N. S. (1997). Emergence of communication networks. In F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monge, P. R., & Contractor, N. S. (2003). Theories of communication networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nardi, B. A., Whittaker, S., & Bradner, E. (2000). Interaction and outeraction: Instant messaging in action. Proceedings of Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 2–6, ACM, Inc, (pp. 79–88).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nohria, N., & Eccles, R. (1994). Networks and organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlikowski, W. J. (1996). Learning from Notes: Organizational issues in groupware implementation. In R. Kling (Ed.), Computerization and controversy: Value conflicts and social choices (2nd ed., pp. 173–189). San Diego: CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poe, R. (2001). Instant messaging goes to work. Business 2.0, http://www.business2.com.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quan-Haase, A. (2004). Information brokering and technology use: A case study of a high-tech firm. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quan-Haase, A., & Cothrel, J. (2003). Uses of information sources in an Internetera firm: Online and offline. In M. Huysman, E. Wenger, & V. Wulf (Eds.), Communities and technologies (pp. 143–162). Deventer, NL: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quan-Haase, A., & Wellman, B. (2004). Networks of distance and media: A case study of a high-tech firm. Analyse und Kritik, 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quan-Haase, A., Wellman, B., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2002). Capitalizing on the Internet: Social contact, civic engagement, and sense of community. In B. Wellman & C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.), Internet and everyday life (pp. 291–324). London, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spears, R., & Lea, M. (1994). Panacea or panopticon? The hidden power of computer-mediated communication. British Journal of Communication, 21, 427–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sproull, L. S., & Kiesler, S. B. (1991). Connections: New ways of working in the networked organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, B. (2004). Who let the blogs out? A hyperconnected peek at the world of weblogs: St. Martin's Griffin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strong, R and Bill G. 1996. "Feather, Scent, and Shaker: Supporting Simple Intimacy." Presented at CSCW '96 Workshop on CSCW and Organizational Learning, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, P. (1999). Hackers. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Alstyne, M. (1997). The state of network organization. Journal of Organizing Computing and Electronic Commerce, 7(3), 83–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, R., Wamsley, G., Schroeder, A., & Robins, D. B. (2000). Networked organizational development in the public sector: A case study of the federal emergency management administration (FEMA). Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(11), 1018–1032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walther, J.B. (1997). Group and interpersonal effects in international computer-mediated communication. Human Computer Research, 23, 342–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B (ed.). (1999). Networks in the Global Village. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B. (2001a). The Persistence and Transformation of Community: From Neighbourhood Groups to Social Networks. Report to the Law Commission of Canada. October.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B. (2001b). "Physical Place and Cyberspace: The Rise of Personalized Networks." International Urban and Regional Research 25(2): 227–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B. (2002). Designing the Internet for a networked society. Communications of the ACM, 45(5), 91–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B., & Gulia, M. (1999). Net surfers don't ride alone. In B. Wellman (Ed.), Networks in the global village (pp. 331–366). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B., & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.). (2002). The Internet in everyday life. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B. & Hogan, B. (2004). The Immanent Internet. Pp. 54–80 in Netting Citizens: Exploring Citizenship in a Digital Age, edited by Johnston McKay. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, B, Salaff, J., Dimitrova, D., Garton, L., Gulia, M. & Haythornthwaite, C. (1996). Computer Networks as Social Networks: Virtual Community, Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Telework. Annual Review of Sociology 22: 213–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice: The key to knowledge strategy. In E. L. Lesser, M. A. Fontaine, & J. A. Slusher (Eds.), Knowledge and communities: Resources for the knowledge-based economy (pp. 3–20). Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wired. (2002, September 10). Born digital: Children of the revolution. Retrieved October 16, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/borndigital.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachary, G. P. (1998). Armed truce: Software in an age of teams. Information, Technology & People, 11(1), 62–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Western Ontario, Canada

    Anabel Quan-Haase

  2. University of Toronto, Canada

    Barry Wellman

Authors
  1. Anabel Quan-Haase
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Barry Wellman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Van Den Besselaar

  2. University of Milano, Bicocca, Italy

    Giorgio De Michelis  & Carla Simone  & 

  3. University of Maryland, USA

    Jenny Preece

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2005 Springer

About this paper

Cite this paper

Quan-Haase, A., Wellman, B. (2005). Local Virtuality in an Organization: Implications for Community of Practice. In: Van Den Besselaar, P., De Michelis, G., Preece, J., Simone, C. (eds) Communities and Technologies 2005. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3591-8_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3591-8_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3590-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3591-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation