Please note: Change of room!

On 30 August at 12:00 in room 2630-K101, there will be an ODA seminar by Jen Rhymer (University College London) entitled:

Enabling Social Connections in Location-Independent Organizations

Abstract
Social connections are essential to organizations yet can be a challenge when employees are distributed. Prior research suggests that proximity increases the likelihood of interactions and therefore connection between individuals. While these studies have primarily focused on physical distance, other forms of distance such as temporal and cultural, are increasingly being studied by organizational scholars. Despite the impact of distance on social connections an increasing number of organizations utilize distributed work arrangements. For instance, location-independent organizations lack any physical office such that the employees are fully distributed, and as such significant physical, and other forms of, distance are persistent. To understand how these distributed organizations enable strong social connection among employees, I undertook an inductive qualitative study of six location-independent organizations. The preliminary findings identify an emergent process incorporating a culture of social empowerment and a portfolio of social activities which are both in-person and virtual as well as formal and in-formal; the social activities allow for a distinctive social structure to develop supported by high perceived proximity and leading to strong social connections among employees. This study speaks to the organizational design literature specifically the ongoing discussion of how formal and informal elements interact. Additionally, the distributed work literature is engaged by highlighting the process allowing for strong social connections to be established and maintained in location-independent organizations.

Everyone is welcome!