Getting the Job Done: Workarounds in Complex Digital Infrastructures

Sara Willermark, Anna Sigridur Islind (), Helena Vallo Hult and Livia Norström
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Sara Willermark: University West
Anna Sigridur Islind: Reykjavik University
Helena Vallo Hult: University West
Livia Norström: University West

A chapter in Exploring Digital Resilience, 2022, pp 118-132 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Work today consists of complex arrangements of loosely interrelated digital tools that shape work and form digital infrastructures. These digital infrastructures can either support or hinder the workers in their daily tasks. Working in an environment where some digital tools are designed for work purposes, and others without the proposed end-users in mind creates a need for improvisation. The consequence for workers may include finding various types of workarounds when shifting between digital tools. These workarounds become important for how work is performed. Through a multiple case study, this paper explores how workarounds are manifested in different work settings through four cases in the public sector. We conceptualize workarounds as practices of flexibility, efficiency, and responsibility, and show how workarounds result in new and innovative ways of working, which can be understood as a form of infrastructuring.

Keywords: Workarounds; Digital tools; Digital work; Digital infrastructures; Infrastructuring; Innovation; Public sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:lnichp:978-3-031-10902-7_9

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-10902-7_9

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