This document summarizes research into how blackberries and mobile devices impact work practices at an engineering firm. Interviews were conducted with 46 employees across four user groups - corporate managers, local operations managers, technical specialists, and mobile operations engineers. The research found tensions between individual efficiency and overwhelming others, speed of exchange versus quality of exchange, and issues of visibility, accessibility, and being observed through mobile email use. The conclusions discuss why these tensions exist and what organizations can do to address them through reflection and informed practice.

1. Blackberries and mobile work: fruitful and frustrating? Gillian Symon and Katrina Pritchard Acknowledgement: This work is supported by a grant from the British Academy (SG-54143) IWP 2010: 29/6 – 1/7/10 Tensions and paradoxes in a virtual working world

2. Mobile Technologies and Mobile Work Mobile Technologies Laptops (and etc) and Handhelds (as here) Workspaces outside workplace or work times Home, commute, spaces ‘between’ Evenings, weekends, holidays Embedding workspaces (Multi-tasking)

3. Blackberry functions Mobile Phone (text, voice) Camera Calendar GPS Mapping Mobile Email Internet access IM (via Blackberry PIN service) “ spare brain”

4. Research Issues In addition to work-life balance issues (e.g. Middleton, Mazmanian etc), what implications do mobile technologies have for working practices?, including: knowledge management? communication practices? work relationships? Across different groups of employees Theoretical perspective: practice lens

5. Research Overview Engineering firm operating in the rail industry: time and space key operational variables blackberries widely distributed 46 interviews across four user groups Initial thematic coding completed using nVivo8

6. Sampling Framework Corporate Managers Professional background HQ-based Automatic issue of BB because of seniority Local Operations Managers Operations background Local offices Automatic issue of BB because of geography (remote) Technical Specialists Professional background HQ-based but mobile work Make business case for BB issue Mobile Operations Engineers Operations background Mobile work (rapid response) Automatic issue of BB because of mobile work

7. Tensions in mobile email use Individual efficiency Overwhelming others Knowledge Management Speed of exchange Quality of exchange Communication Practices Visibility & accessibility Observed & tracked Work relationships

8. Tensions in mobile email use DATA REMOVED FROM SLIDE SHARE VERSION Individual efficiency Overwhelming others Knowledge Management

9. Tensions in mobile email use DATA REMOVED FROM SLIDE SHARE VERSION Speed of exchange Quality of exchange Communication Practices

10. Tensions in mobile email use DATA REMOVED FROM SLIDE SHARE VERSION Visibility & accessibility Observed & tracked Work relationships

11. Conclusions Why are there tensions? Responsiveness as de facto performance measure? organizational culture economic context QUOTE REMOVED FROM SLIDE SHARE VERSION What can be done about them? organizational reflection informed practice