Observability of Work in the Context of Digitalization: Evolution and Management Implications
Résumé
Existing studies highlight that digitalization is changing work practices. These studies evidence several management issues in the context of digitalization: integration of new organizational modes in the workplace, net generation management, organizational behavior evolution, virtual team management, etc. However, the observability of these changes, in other words, the perceivability manifested by these changes in work and in work-life, and their implications for managerial cognition has not yet been explored. From a systemic-cognitive approach, this study examines the evolution of the observability of work in the context of digitalization and the management implications of this evolution through four dimensions of work: the form of work, the content of work, the results of work, and the multiplicity of work-life. It explores the implications of this evolution in terms of the managerial cognition through three types of management observation: highly standard observation, highly open observation and hybrid observation.