Many organisations are using an increased range of information technologies to support a variety of new organisational practices and organisational forms. The book aims to investigate the integration of information technologies into work places and their effect on work and work-life. Issues include changes in: the nature, quantity and quality of work; power relations; privacy; and aspects of organisational culture. The book also considers the social process of shifting from present organisational structures and practices to new ones.

Information technology has become an essential component of contemporary society, allowing much faster and more widespread communication, not least through the growth of the internet. However, many issues concerned with the human aspects of the use of IT remain problematic despite technological advances. An enhanced ability to collect and process data, or to communicate electronically across time and space, does not necessarily lead to improved human communication and action.

This book explores the social aspects of computerization, using a wide range of detailed case studies, analysed from a variety of conceptual viewpoints. A further distinctive feature of the book is that it draws epirical material from accross the world as a whole, including non-Western countries. It is argued that we should be using IT to support a world in which diversity and difference are respected.