Technology´s Transformative Effects on When, Where and How Individuals Work: A Grounded-Narrative Approach

This paper reports on an exploratory study of perceptions of the effects of the impact of technology on the way mobile workers work and live. Narrative enquiry was used to gather stories from people using technology enabled mobility tools, and grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Narrative enquiry allowed participants to tell the stories that they perceived to be important and grounded theory permitted emergence of a meta-narrative that revolved around the transformative effects of technology on the way the participants work and how technology transforms the participants and their relationship to work. Key sub-themes are presented which detail these transformations. We frame these transformations through Kakihara & Sorensen´s [1] theory of the three interrelated dimensions of mobile- human interaction: spatial, temporal, and contextual. Although exploratory in nature, implications for research and practice are suggested.