Making a World of Difference: IT in a Global Context

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.

Spis treści:
Series Preface.
Preface.
IT IN SOCIETY.
Introduction.
Contemporary Society.
Computers at Work.
CHANGING WAYS OF WORKING.
Shifting Identity.
Teaming Up.
Reorganizing the Enterprise.
Trust in Networks.
DIFFERENT WORLDS.
Culture as Context.
Working Across Cultures.
CONCLUSIONS.
Designing for Diversity.
References.
Author Index.
Subject Index.

Nota biograficzna:
GEOFF WALSHAM is a Research Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University, UK. His teaching and research is centred on the development, management and use of computer–based information systems, and the relationship of information and communication technologies to stability and change in organizations and societies. He is particularly interested in the human consequences of computerization in a global context, including both industrialized and developing countries.

Okładka tylna:
Information technology has become an essential component of contemporar y 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.