The Internet in the Workplace How New Technology Is Transforming Work [Paperback]

This book focuses on the ways in which netcentric technologies have transformed the workplace.Though many books have examined the net's importance for business leaders and strategists, Wallace focuses on the ways in which netcentric technologies have transformed the workplace itself, and changed the psychological connectivity and the blurred line between work and nonwork, virtual teamwork, the difficulty of developing trust between coworkers who do not meet in person, workplace surveillance, changing employer-employee relantionships, and e-learning on the job.Though many books have examined the net's importance for business leaders and strategists, Wallace focuses on the ways in which netcentric technologies have transformed the workplace itself, and changed the psychological connectivity and the blurred line between work and nonwork, virtual teamwork, the difficulty of developing trust between coworkers who do not meet in person, workplace surveillance, changing employer-employee relantionships, and e-learning on the job.The Internet, and all the netcentric innovations that emerge from it, have transformed the workplace and our working lives in a very short time. The net added a window to the world on worker's desks, and made 24 by 7 connectivity to the workplace a reality--blurring the line between work and time off. It triggered new styles of teamwork, new leadership challenges, new modes of communicating, new job roles and employer-employee relationships, and new, alarmingly effective tools for workplace surveillance. The capabilties offered by netcentric technologies might seem to eliminate completely the need for a physical workplace, but the workplace remains, partly because the virtual, and in fact, the physical appearance of a typical office looks about the same. Nevertheless, the psychological characteristics of the workplace have changed considerably. Workers, from the mail room clerk to the CEO, are learning new skills--to employ on the net's power but al…