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Purpose The authors present nine dimensions to provide structure for the many Futures of Work (FoW). This is done to advance a more sociotechnical and nuanced approach to the FoW, which is too-often articulated as singular and unidimensional. Futurists emphasize they do not predict the future, but rather, build a number of possible futures – in plural – often in the form of scenarios constructed based on key dimensions. Such scenarios help decision-makers consider alternative actions by providing structured frames for careful analyses. It is useful that the dimensions be dichotomous. Here, the authors focus specifically on the futures of knowledge work.Design/methodology/approach Building from a sustained review of the FoW literature, from a variety of disciplines, this study derives the nine dimensions.Findings The nine FoW dimensions are: Locus of Place, Locus of Decision-making, Structure of Work, Technologies' Roles, Work–Life, Worker Expectations, Leadership Model, Firm's Value Creation and Labor Market Structure. Use of the dimensions is illustrated by constructing sample scenarios.Originality/value While FoW is multi-dimensional, most FoW writing has focused on one or two dimensions, often highlighting positive or negative possibilities. Empirical papers, by their nature, are focused on just one dimension that is supported by data. However, future-oriented policy reports tend are more often multi-faceted analyses and serve here as the model for what we present.

Discusses the characteristics of packaged software versus information systems (IS) development environments that capture the differences between the teams that develop software in these respective industries. The analysis spans four levels: the industry, the dynamics of software development, the cultural milieu, and the teams themselves. Finds that, relative to IS: the packaged software industry is characterized by intense time pressures, less attention to costs, and different measures of success; the packaged software development environment is characterized by being a "line" rather than "staff" unit, having a greater distance from the actual users/customers, a less mature development process; the packaged software cultural milieu is characterized as individualistic and entrepreneurial; the packaged software team is characterized as less likely to be matrix managed and being smaller, more co‐located, with a greater shared vision.

ABSTRACTGeographic Information Systems (GIS) enable decision makers to view tabular data geographically, as maps. This simple yet powerful visual format appears to facilitate problem solving, yet how it does so is not clear, nor do we know the types of problems that benefit from this representation. To begin to understand the contributions of geographic representations over tabular representations, we conducted a three‐factor experiment in problem solving. The experiment contained two different representations (map and table), three different geographic relationships (proximity, adjacency, and containment), and three levels of task difficulty (low, medium, and high). We found that maps generally produced faster problem solving than tables, and that problem‐solving time increased with task difficulty. Most importantly, for the proximity and adjacency geographic relationships we found that maps kept problem‐solving time low, while tables tended to increase time dramatically. However, we found that the number of knowledge states for each task explains performance times quite well and is a useful tool for understanding performance differences and interaction effects. As tasks become more difficult, representing them as maps generally keeps the number of knowledge states small, while for tables, the number of knowledge states increases dramatically. Correspondingly, problem‐solving times increase dramatically with tables, but not with maps.In sum, as difficulty increases, maps are more effective for problem‐solving tasks. Using maps, the tasks are simplified using visual heuristics that keep problemsolving times and error rates from rising as quickly as they do with tables.

This essay reports the results of a survey of IT exporters from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The survey identifies the key competitive advantages and disadvantages of Central European IT companies as they compete for outsourcing work in the US and Western European markets. The results of the survey are then interpreted in the context of data on the development of IT environments, markets and sector investment in the region. We find that unlike key competitors' governments the Central Europeans have not pursued policies of supporting their infant IT exporters, which are small and underinvested. The paper proposes a set of measures that should be taken if needed Western Investment is to start flowing into the export oriented IT sector. ; Die vorliegende Studie berichtet über die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage unter ITExporteuren aus Polen, Ungarn, Rumaenien, Bulgarien und der Tschechischen Republik. Die Umfrage streicht die massgeblichen Wettbewerbsvor- und -nachteile oseteuropäischer IT-Firmen heraus, die ins Spiel kommen, wenn sie um Outsourcing-Verträge konkurrieren. Die Ergebnisse der Umfrage werden dann im Zusammenhang mit Daten über den IT-Markt und der regionalen Investitionstätigkeit interpretiert. Im Gegensatz zu den Regierungen von Konkurrenznationen haben osteuropäische Regierungen es versäumt, ihre jungen IT-Exporteure zu unterstützen, die klein und finanzschwach sind. Diese Studie schlägt mehrere Massnahmen vor, die dem IT-Exportsektor Investitionen verschaffen können.