The Lure of the Virtual

TLDR

Organizational scholars have begun to study virtual work but have not fully grappled with its diversity, and simulations—though least studied—hold the greatest potential to decouple work from physical objects. The study uses semiotics to distinguish three types of virtual work—virtual teams, remote control, and simulations—based on how technology makes work virtual and whether work is done with, on, through, or within representations, and draws implications for how work organization varies by type. The authors employ semiotics to classify virtual work types and conduct a case study of an automobile manufacturer, showing that digital simulation technologies shift vehicle performance representation from symbolic to iconic. The case study shows that as iconic simulation models became more realistic, workers’ interdependence and reliance on physical objects diminished, leading managers to misinterpret representation work and organize simulation tasks in virtual teams, which distanced workers from physical referents and hindered empirical validation.

Abstract

Although organizational scholars have begun to study virtual work, they have yet to fully grapple with its diversity. We draw on semiotics to distinguish among three types of virtual work (virtual teams, remote control, and simulations) based on what it is that a technology makes virtual and whether work is done with or on, through, or within representations. Of the three types, simulations have been least studied, yet they have the greatest potential to change work's historically tight coupling to physical objects. Through a case study of an automobile manufacturer, we show how digital simulation technologies prompted a shift from symbolic to iconic representation of vehicle performance. The increasing verisimilitude of iconic simulation models altered workers' dependence on each other and on physical objects, leading management to confound operating within representations with operating with or on representations. With this mistaken understanding, and lured by the virtual, managers organized simulation work in virtual teams, thereby distancing workers from the physical referents of their models and making it difficult to empirically validate models. From this case study, we draw implications for the study of virtual work by examining how changes to work organization vary by type of virtual work.