Mobile Communication in Organizations

Mobile information technologies within organizations shape the way work is conducted. Equally, working practices and organizational arrangements shape the specific technological configurations. Whereas much of the research into mobile communication emphasizes peer-to-peer voice and message communication, the organizational use of mobile communications has for much longer engaged in more complex configurations of mobile technologies. As such, the organizational experiences precede the widespread consumer use of a diversity of smartphone and tablet apps. This chapter explores, based on a review of the related literature, the broader role of mobile communications where peer-to-peer mobile voice and message connectivity is only one aspect among several. The chapter discusses in detail and exemplifies through cases the impact of mobile communication on interactional barriers, the degree of individual discretion and centralized control, and the possibilities to exercise algorithmic agency. Portfolios of data services shape the possibility for redesigned and complex collaborative patterns.