Women's Professional Identity Formation in the Free/Open Source Software Community

We examine the formation of women’s professional identity in a particular type of male-dominated domain, the free and open source software development communities, and more broadly in information technology. Through an ethnographic analysis of interviews and online forums discussions, we find that women experience two types of discrepancies or gaps that constitute obstacles in the process of identity formation: an image gap and an identity gap. We show the strategies employed by women as they attempt to bridge these gaps; we also find that some of these strategies, while tackling one gap, may also deepen the other.Gender; Identity Formation; Self-presentation

Beyond Orality and Literacy: Letters and Organizational Communication

We draw on communication theories to study organizational communication from a literacy perspective. We suggest that the current debate over the capability of new media to foster the sharing and development of ideas and allow the expression of emotions, which presupposes face-to-face communication as the ideal form of communication, disappears once we switch the focus from the medium to the modality – written versus oral communication. An analysis of personal and organizational letters illustrates the role played by written communication throughout human history, in exchanging ideas and supporting emotionalOrality and Literacy; Online Interactions; Communicative Practices; Letters; Organizational Communication

Letters and Scientific Communities

We enter the debate about the possibility of collaboration and of rich exchanges among physically distant individuals by offering a literacy perspective on communication to show how the dimensions of writing enable the development of scientific communities. We illustrate this perspective with an analysis of the correspondences of one philosopher and one scientist – Descartes and Emilie du Chatelet, as well as with a description of one of the most prominent communities of scientists and philosophers in Europe, the Republic of Letters. Our findings show that writing is essential for the expression and exchange of ideas, abstractions, complex thoughts, demonstrations, arguments – in sum, for the entire scientific enterprise. We discuss the implications of the literacy perspective and of our findings for the current understanding of online intellectual communities.Orality and Literacy; Scientific Communities; Online Communities; Letters; Organizational Communication

Relational work and the knowledge transfer process : rituals in rural Ghana

We advance understandings of knowledge transfer by showing the central role of symbolic action, taking the form of ritual, in contexts characterized by worldview differences. Using qualitative data from interactions between farming communities in rural Ghana and agriculture development specialists, we examine how rituals do relational work that enables informational work. We find that rituals (i.e., visits, value affirmations, gift-giving, prayer, performing, storytelling) do so by means of their functions–bracketing worldview differences, modeling collaboration between farmers and agriculture development specialists, and packaging new knowledge in displays of compatibility. Our work also expands scholarship on the role of rituals in organizations and on management practices in Africa. Overall, our paper offers a complex, comprehensive view of knowledge transfer as involving both relational and informational work and relying on both symbolic action and tangible elements

Connectivity in and around Organizations:Waves, tensions and trade-offs

Connectivity has become the foundation for organizing as it increasingly underpins and defines the way we live and work. Notwithstanding all the advances in connectivity within organizations, there are even more pervasive changes between and around organizations. In a digital world, more and more of us are working anytime, anyplace, and companies deliver value by better connecting with customers and external partners within digital ecosystems. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we summarize four waves of connectivity – globalization, socialization, personalization and datafication – that combine to create opportunities and challenges for contemporary organizations. We then introduce the papers in the special issue and discuss their contributions to theory and practice. Finally, we draw upon currently emerging challenges to suggest enduring tensions and trade-offs for connectivity research in the future

Beyond Being There: The Symbolic Role of Communication and Identification in the Emergence of Perceived Proximity in Geographically Dispersed Work

We develop the concept of perceived proximity, understood as a symbolic representation of one's faraway coworkers. We build on Wilson et al. (2008), present new validated measures of perceived proximity, and compare how perceived proximity and objective distance relate to relationship outcomes between geographically dispersed work colleagues. Our results show strong support for a symbolic view of work relationships. Indeed, it is the symbolic meaning of proximity and not physical proximity itself that affects relationship outcomes. Also, the symbolic meaning of proximity is defined not by physical proximity, but by people's sense of shared identity and by their use of (mostly synchronous) communication media. Furthermore, we find that how the sense of proximity is symbolically constructed mediates the effects of communication and identity on relationship outcomes.Proximity ; distance ; geographically dispersed work ; virtual work ; teams ; relationships

Faraway, so close: Code ownership over innovative work in the global software industry

This study investigates the factors that influence the accomplishment and allocation of innovative work among distributed settings in the international software industry. Over the past 15 years, several major software development centers have emerged in various countries. The study uses ethnographic methods of participant observation in a dispersed team of software developers working across two locations—the West Coast of the US and Bangalore, India—and additional interviews with managers in companies active in offshore software development. The collaboration between remote developers is impeded by the difficulty of achieving the creative engagement needed for work on an innovative project. Group engagement is difficult to achieve and to maintain because of two main reasons. First, the numerous barriers separating the sites create a thick opacity that impedes the knowledge of work processes at the remote site. Work in the distributed setting is affected by the scarcity of the human interface, and by the absence of boundary objects that structure intense and interactive work episodes. As a result, the development of work routines and the emergence of processes—contagion, spontaneity, and reciprocity—that sustain engagement across sites are prevented. Furthermore, the status differential between the sites leads to the underutilization of available boundary objects and boundary spanners. Second, the code ownership in which engagement is rooted—responsibility over work outcomes, entailing both coding and design tasks—is jealously guarded by existing centers. The difficulty of obtaining code ownership over innovative work limits the new centers\u27 ability to grow their capabilities and hence improve their status. The study shows that it is the emotional basis to creativity that forms the micro-foundations to the dispersion of creative work. It is the difficulty of engaging in a common activity across the multiple boundaries of geography and status that explains the fact that innovativeness thrives in proximate settings. These findings have important implications for understanding the forces that sustain agglomeration in innovation, and permit the development of capabilities in new innovative centers in the world economy

Ritualization and the process of knowledge transfer

We analyze interactions among members of rural communities in Ghana and agriculture development specialists. We find that these participants in the knowledge transfer process are separated by deep knowledge boundaries, as well as by diverging worldviews (one centered on community relations, the other on market relationships). In this context, knowledge transfer is enabled through ritualized interactions and in particular by the use of two types of ritualization strategies: marking strategies (visiting dignitaries and events, praying, gift-giving) and recurring strategies (performing, fabletelling, affirming community values). These findings show that ritualization – understood as a way of acting that distinguishes particular situations from other, usually more mundane, activities – allows encounters between opposing orders and thus enables knowledge transfer. We suggest that this is the case because ritualization speaks to people’s aspirations to change; it is morally redemptive; and it bridges across groups. Ritualized interactions facilitate knowledge transfer by creating a context for learning during mundane interactions, by fostering mechanisms for peer-learning and teaching and by triggering reverse learning on behalf of knowledge workers from rural communities. Our study contributes to the literature on organizational rituals, learning in strong culture contexts, and economic sociology

Ritualization and the process of knowledge transfer

We analyze interactions among members of rural communities in Ghana and agriculture development specialists. We find that these participants in the knowledge transfer process are separated by deep knowledge boundaries, as well as by diverging worldviews (one centered on community relations, the other on market relationships). In this context, knowledge transfer is enabled through ritualized interactions and in particular by the use of two types of ritualization strategies: marking strategies (visiting dignitaries and events, praying, gift-giving) and recurring strategies (performing, fabletelling, affirming community values). These findings show that ritualization – understood as a way of acting that distinguishes particular situations from other, usually more mundane, activities – allows encounters between opposing orders and thus enables knowledge transfer. We suggest that this is the case because ritualization speaks to people’s aspirations to change; it is morally redemptive; and it bridges across groups. Ritualized interactions facilitate knowledge transfer by creating a context for learning during mundane interactions, by fostering mechanisms for peer-learning and teaching and by triggering reverse learning on behalf of knowledge workers from rural communities. Our study contributes to the literature on organizational rituals, learning in strong culture contexts, and economic sociology