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Performing projects with constant connectivity: interplay of consulting project work practices and smartphone affordances
Author(s) -
Azad Bijan,
Salamoun Randa,
Greenhill Anita,
WoodHarper Trevor
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
new technology, work and employment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.889
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-005X
pISSN - 0268-1072
DOI - 10.1111/ntwe.12061
Subject(s) - affordance , context (archaeology) , asynchronous communication , decoupling (probability) , constant (computer programming) , work (physics) , perspective (graphical) , computer science , human–computer interaction , engineering , telecommunications , mechanical engineering , control engineering , artificial intelligence , programming language , paleontology , biology
The broad view of projectification and the broader perspective on constant connectivity have produced insights that question the conventional wisdom. However, how project practices are mediated by constant connectivity is under‐explored and under‐theorized. We conduct a case study of the interplay between consulting project work practices and constant connectivity to address this gap. Our findings point to three potential insights. First, we highlight that consulting projects in the focal context are characterized by clockwork coordination logic. Second, we show there is affinity between front‐stage practices and synchronous smartphone affordances on the one hand as well as between backstage practices and asynchronous smartphone affordances on the other. Third, we describe how clockwork coordination and connectivity affordances give rise to decoupling of legacy timespace from backstage practices while reinforcing the legacy timespace of the front‐stage practices. Our work extends the literature via a highly nuanced and differentiated understanding of the focal phenomena.