Going nowhere – but fast! E-employment – the next internet revolution

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 26, Issue 11

Messer R.Business Information Review, June 2010, Volume 27 Issue 2, Start page: 101, No. of pages: 3

The internet has rapidly become both a facilitator and enabler for the exchange of information. Today’s knowledge workers create, manage and actively exchange information while producing value for their companies. In doing so, they have become the primary business assets of the new millennium. By overcoming time and space constraints the Internet provides the opportunity for knowledge workers to work anytime and anywhere, creating a true 24/7 society. In this context, mobility means going nowhere by using electronic transportation systems to move information and not people. This e-employment model of work is more expansive than simple telecommuting, which only overcomes local,short-distance space constraints. Telecommuting neither addresses time constraints, nor does it achieve the significant cost savings possible when the internet’s capability to overcome space limitations is fully utilized. The fact that electronically enabled work options, or e-employment, have not been fully realized is primarily because of antiquated notions concerning corporate culture and creating value. Here, the open source software movement shows us that culture can exist in cyberspace and also provide real value for companies. This new e-employment model of work represents the next Internet revolution.Article type: Conceptual paperISSN: 0266-3821Reference: 39AS048

Keywords: Culture, E-employment, Knowledge workers, Value,Virtual working