New boundaries of time, space, business unit, culture, company partnerships and software tools characterize these novel organizational forms. On a macro-level, these changes have started to reshape society, leading some to speak of the “Network Society” and the “Information Age”. The word “virtual” has become a compelling catchphrase to describe these changes, with different underlying meanings. “Virtual” is used to identify emergent work forms that differ from traditional work on dimensions such as the location of the workers, where and how work is done, how workers and teams or managers interact, and the relationships between partner organizations. “Virtual” can describe work environments where individuals are dispersed in time and space.

Examples are individuals working at home (telecommuting), or teams of employees from different organizations managing a supply chain or shared project. Teams may disband when a project is over, and individuals may work on several teams at a time. Finally, these novel work arrangements may be called “virtual” because the work is done via ICT with simulated images and processes rather than exchanges of physical materials and performance of physical processes. While there is broad agreement about the nature of these changes, the scope and significance of the changes needs more in-depth research and debate. The increasing reliance on computer-mediated interaction has been heralded by some as the emergence of a new organizational form, while others have criticized this perspective as techno-utopian, pointing out that in fact, organizations often resist attempts to change, or change in unanticipated ways. The phenomenon of virtuality highlights the dual nature of technology, in which human action and the social context in which the action takes place both shape technology, while simultaneously technology influences human actions and social structures. This perspective invites us to reflect on the nature, direction, and future of technology, organizations and virtuality. The focus of the conference is on virtual work and virtualization (in their varieties of meanings) and their recursive influence on work practices, organizations and society. Possible topics include:

• defining virtuality
• personal experiences of virtual work
• theories to explain effects of virtuality
• teamwork in distributed teams
• the nature of distributed work practices
• virtuality and communication, coordination and collaboration processes
• technologies contributing to virtualization
• mediation and disintermediation of work practices and organizations
• virtuality and team/organizational learning
• virtuality and changing organizational form and function
• impacts of virtuality on supply chains
• drivers, opportunities, and challenges of distributed production
• labour pools in countries contributing to distributed teams
• reinvention of place and time associated with virtualization

Conference Information Date: 29-31 July 2007 (Sunday to Tuesday)

General Chair: Wanda Orlikowski (MIT)
Organizing Chair: Eleanor Wynn (Intel, Portland, OR)
Program Co-Chairs: Kevin Crowston (Syracuse) and Sandra Sieber (IESE)
Keynote Speaker: Michael Cohen (Michigan)

Location: Portland Marriott City Center, Downtown Portland, OR, USA Hotel information: http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=PDXCT Sponsor: Intel Corporation Key dates (planned):
• Submissions due: 1 November 2006
• Notification of acceptance: 1 February 2007
• Final copy due: 1 March 2007
• Conference: 29-31 July 2007