Wireless support for mobile distributed work: taxonomy and examples

Individually, the penetration of distributed networks and mobile telecommunications in the developed world has evoked considerable change in our daily lives - how we work, live and learn. Combined, the potential impact of the wireless networks and related applications is immense. Although the literature on wireless applications has predominantly focused on business-to-consumer markets, following the patterns in the media and e-commerce research, it is now becoming clear that mobile networking will provide a tremendous impetus to the development of other strategic applications for businesses. This paper explores this emerging area of wireless applications in the business. It provides a background to conceptual ideas of mobile distributed work (MDW), and a framework for understanding the development of MDW in organizations. The paper also begins to apply these conceptual ideas in a number of case studies. The paper rounds off with a summary and some conclusions regarding the future of MDW.