 Present-but-online: How mobile devices may harm purposeful co-presence in organizations (and what can be done about it)Peter Holdt Christensen and Nicolai J. Foss European Management Journal, 2021, vol. 39, issue 1, 84-94 Abstract: The introduction of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets), to the workplace has had many positive effects. While research also indicates that mobile devices may lead to the misallocation and depletion of attention, the negative effects, particularly on interactions in organizations, remain less well understood. We draw on micro-sociology to analyze the use of mobile devices in situations of purposeful co-presence, such as meetings and settings that require a joint effort to solve one or more problems. In these situations, the use of mobile devices is likely to de-energize actors and lead to behaviors that are contrary to the aims of establishing situations of purposeful co-presence. We identify ways in which organizations can avoid the negative consequences of mobile devices (while keeping the positive consequences), ranging from building norms regarding the use of such devices to restructuring work processes (e.g., making activities less interdependent and making less use of purposeful co-presence). Keywords: Mobile devices; Micro-sociology; Purposeful co-presence; Effervescence; Work motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eurman:v:39:y:2021:i:1:p:84-94 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2020.07.006 Access Statistics for this article European Management Journal is currently edited by Michael Haenlein More articles in European Management Journal from Elsevier |
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