2026-09-19T06:30:21Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/900792022-01-13T07:54:52Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Wanda Orlikowski.
Beane, Matthew I. (Matthew Ian)
Orlikowski, Wanda J
Sloan School of Management.
Sloan School of Management
2014-09-19T21:38:29Z
2014-09-19T21:38:29Z
2014
2014
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90079
890141945
Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 30-32).
What difference does robotic telepresence make to the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work? We examined this question in a post-surgical intensive care where remote medical workers struggled to coordinate their work in the face of ambiguities related to their extremely sick patients. Our in-depth field study allowed us to explore how differently ambiguity was managed when night rounds were performed through robotic telepresence, allowing distributed medical workers to be virtually co-present at the site of work. In contrast to the literature, which suggests that co-located, face-to-face interaction should reduce ambiguity and facilitate coordination, we found that ambiguities were both reduced and intensified with robotic telepresence, resulting in contradictory implications for coordination. We found that these differences in the management of ambiguity and coordination were crucially related to how the distributed work and commitment to that work were materially enacted in practice. After discussing our findings, we explore their significance and contributions to research on the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work.
by Matthew I. Beane, Wanda J. Orlikowski.
S.M. in Management Research
34 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Sloan School of Management.
What difference does a robot make? managing ambiguity in distributed knowledge work
Managing ambiguity in distributed knowledge work
Thesis
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