Autonomy of Group Work: The Realm of Work Groups and Information Systems

A work group in an organization always has some level of autonomy, i.e. it is relatively autonomous. A work group’s activity, that is group work is a highly popular form of work, because such a work form is self-regulating, flexible and adaptable. These are features of an open system. They are also features that can be attached to the concept of autonomy that includes the issues of the right to do something and the obligation to do something. The research question is that if a group in an organization is autonomous and if the work that the group is engaged in is seen in the long run as a challenging activity (i.e. self-management of uncertainties), what requirements and properties are demanded from the IS used in such a setting. As the uncertainties the group faces increase, the control and management systems will have to deal with new and complex challenges when it is set, for example, to process masses of information originating from complex social behavior. Information technology (IT) provides many possibilities and solutions due to its efficient data storing, processing and mediating functions in networked environments. Thus the aim in IT related group work studies is to design support to group work in terms of collaboration, coordination, control and communication. For example, group decision support systems, computer-supported cooperative work and groupware are such somewhat technically biased areas. These groupcentered requirements specifications for information system (IS) support and actual group work applications have obtained some good results, yet they are not well merged to organizations. The sociotechnical approach explicitly states that an autonomous work group is a very suitable form of organization in terms of efficiency and job satisfaction. The principles of good sociotechnical design suggest that an IS of an autonomous work group in an organization could be defined. However, sociotechnical literature does not mention the autonomous work group’s IS (AGIS). Obviously the work group needs some management of work flows and control of group’s resources. The social side of the group, that is the core of group work may also need some support. However, these social and technical issues are of no use unless they are included in an organizational context, from where the relative autonomy originates. The organizational context and autonomy provide better requirements for AGIS that can be derived from group work’s social and technical perspectives alone. Thus the IT centered approaches and the sociotechnical approach are in this study supplemented by a preliminary framework of grouporiginated approach, which emphasizes the group’s autonomy and uses it as an essential feature in information requirements analysis.