Towards Friction-Free Work: A Multi-Method Study of the Use of Information Technology in the Real-Estate Industry

本初步研究的目标是研究信息技术（IT）在房地产行业的广泛使用如何改变该行业中人员和组织的工作方式。之所以选择房地产，是因为它已经采用了许多新技术，但作为交易中介，将受到正在向电子交易转变的极大影响。我们整体研究的目标是：1)描述信息技术的使用如何改变个体知识工作者开展工作的方式，2)描述与信息技术使用相关的组织变革，以及3)描述个人工作的变化如何改变组织结构和流程。在这项试点研究中，我们特别侧重于为前两个目标开发工具和程序，并为目标3开发理论框架。特别是，我们对个别房地产经纪人及其对引入信息技术的适应情况进行人种学研究，并对房地产经纪人样本进行案例研究和调查。本研究将对工作和IT如何相互关联以及组织如何将信息技术视为业务目标的推动者提供更深入的科学理解。此外，研究结果将阐明有关新型组织形式的问题，如“一人公司”和虚拟组织。反过来，这些发现有望为在上下文中设计IT提供关键的一般知识。http://florin.syr.edu/~crowston/real-estate.html

The goal of this pilot study is to examine how the pervasive use of information technologies (IT) in the real-estate industry changes the way people and organizations in that industry work. Real estate was chosen because it has already adopted many new technologies, but, as a transactional intermediary, will be greatly affected by the on-going shift to electronic transactions. The objectives of our overall study are: 1) to describe how the use of IT changes the ways individual knowledge workers conduct their work, 2) describe organizational changes related to the use of IT, and 3) describe how change in individual work changes organizational structures and processes. In this pilot study, we focus specifically on developing instruments and procedures for the first two objectives and the theoretical framework for objective 3. In particular, we conduct ethnographic studies of individual real estate agents and their adaptations to the introduction of IT and case studies and surveys of a sample of real estate agencies. This study will provide a deeper scientific understanding of how work and IT are interrelated and how organizations view information technology as enablers of business goals. Further, findings will illuminate issues regarding new forms of organization such as "companies of one" and virtual organization. In turn, these findings are expected to provide critical general knowledge for the design of IT in context. http://florin.syr.edu/~crowston/real-estate.html