Digital Tools in Need of an Organizational Framework

Varia
The Case of an Internal Skills Platform in a Research and Innovation Department
By Marie Benedetto-Meyer
English

How do collaborative tools change the organization of work? This article is based on the analysis of a “skills platform” introduced in the research and innovation division of a big firm to foster mutual help and contact between employees so that they would work collectively. The analysis shows that this device seems to have been very loosely articulated to existing forms of coordination, without offering a clear alternative. This lack of precision made the users somewhat uncomfortable: they had difficulty adopting the tool and were reluctant to publicize their skills and their need for help on the platform. Moreover, employees tended to mistrust the idea of fostering ties without commitment or organizational supervision. On this basis, the article shows the incompleteness of these tools that promote new forms of regulation, coordination and trust in organizations, without providing the required conditions.

Keywords

  • collaborative tools
  • digital platforms
  • internal social networks
  • competences
  • organization of work
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info