A Research Agenda for Identity Work and E-Collaboration

Many recent management programmes have sought to establish organisation-wide collaborations that connect people in different functional and occupation groups (Blackler, Crump, & McDonald, 2000). Typically, these programmes are made possible through the deployment and use of e-collaboration technologies such as groupware, workflow systems, intranets, extranets, and the internet (Ciborra, 1996; Hayes, 2001). Examples of these technologies include the use of shared folders for reports, coauthored documents, completed electronic forms, and discussion forums. Through the use of such technologies, work and views are made accessible to staff working within and between functional and occupational groups. Such management programmes are reported to have brought about significant changes in the nature of work within and between intra organisational boundaries, including the erosion of functional and community boundaries (Blackler et al., 2000; Easterby-Smith, Crossan, & Nicolini, 2000; Knights & Willmott, 1999). A research topic that has been largely ignored in literature that has examined work-change is the formation of individual and group identities group identities through e-collaborations within and between occupational groups. The ways in which e-collaboration technologies are implicated in shaping the production and reproduction of identity is the focus of this article. We ask what identity work is, and why it is important. We then consider the effect of electronic collaboration on identity work both within and across occupational groups. Focusing on cross-occupational collaboration, we then consider how individuals rehearse their identity with others in their own group before collaborating with others, the role of hierarchy in identity work, and the role of technology and visibility in preserving dominant occupational groups. Finally we conclude the article with directions for future research. What Is IdEntItY and WhY “IDENTITY WORK”?