The article focuses on a current trend in office design: Activity Based Work (ABW). This is an office solution that instead of providing employees with designated places, it provides them with a variety of spaces in the office that offer different functionalities. A case study is presented of the ongoing effort of a multinational technology company in the software industry to implement ABW at a local site in Sweden. Based on an analysis of the individual and focus group interviews of company employees, the article argues that the non-territorial foundation of ABW is seen as a threat to the work-related identity among certain groups within the company. The findings presented comprise specific insights into how the material aspects of organizational life interact with social identity construction.
The research area of Digitalization and Privacy, as defined and delimited within the context of this knowledge review, (mainly through the selection of search strings), is in a phase of development. The present study has been delimited to articles in English that have been published in scientific peer-reviewed journals. During the past ten years, the number of scientific articles per year has increased more than five times. For example, a search of the database WEB OF SCIENCE for the year 2006 renders 13 matches, while an identical search for the year 2014 renders 72 matches. In the present systematic knowledge review, two types of investigations have been conducted. First, a bibliometric analysis that aims to produce a comprehensive overview of the current state of the research in the area at a statistically analytical level. Second, a systematic literature study that has identified relevant scientific articles, analyzed their content and categorized them. The bibliometric analysis demonstrates that research on digitalization and privacy is quite strictly divided, mainly between three scientific fields. In other words, communication between the various fields (i.e., intertextual references and citations of each field's research) is somewhat limited. The research fields can be described as: (a) a technical field that is largely concerned with systems development, (b) a legal field that focuses on issues regarding legislated protection of privacy, and (c) a social sciences and behavioral sciences oriented area that includes informatics, psychology, sociology, political science and marketing and management research and more. This systematic literature review, based on close reading of all included articles, shows a lack of clear, mutually shared, conceptual terminology and common understandings of methodologies within the various scientific disciplines. However, there are a number of areas (or focuses of research) that recur frequently. The five dominant areas are: (a) technology, (b) legislation, (c) the state, (d) theory, and (e) working life. Further, the research identifies different approaches to digitalization and privacy. First, as a problem (or, perhaps, a challenge) that can be managed using new, improved and more privacy-sensitive technology. Secondly, as an opportunity to work towards achieving good values such as improved health, through practical applications of potentially sensitive data. Thirdly, as a threat to citizens and employees. And, finally, as a relationship of ex-change between usefulness and risks, for example, with regards to state needs for information in order to prevent threats and protect the citizens rights of privacy. It is also strikingly clear that there is insufficient knowledge of the relation-ship between digital surveillance and potential behavioral changes in society. Various studies highlight that a lack of respect for privacy risks leading to reduced Internet use and reduced political involvement (at least on the Internet). However, at this point in time there is no empirical evidence to support that this is the case.
