Browsing by Author "Nurminen, Kamilla"

In this literature review, I explore collective expertise in distributed work. The topic is relevant, because work has become more distributed and more mobile. It is not necessary to work physically at spesific place and spesific time. At the same time, however, achieving the goals in working life requires close cooperation between many different experts. The goal of this study is to explore success of collective expertise in distributed work. Research questions are 1) what distributed work is, 2) how to determine expertise and 3) what kind of challenges distributed work poses for successful collective expertise. Distributed work is defined in research as a way to organize work in order that employees work remotely to achieve a common goal. Work can be disrtibuted on the basis of location, time, diversity of employees, and the way they interact. It is essential that distributed team communicates mainly through information and communication technology. In this study, I examine collective expertise as a process of knowledge creation that also combines cognitive individual-oriented expertise and expertise in participating in socio-cultural practises. Collective expertise is a conscious and purposeful activity together, whereby experts share their knowledge and expertise. This literature review indicates that, in distributed work, the key to the success of collective expertise is close cooperation and interaction. Technology mediation creates challenges for collaboration and interaction, so the work community must have clear common understandable operating models and interaction processes. The versatile use of technology tools can make communication easier, but regular face-to-face meetings are still considered invaluable. Close cooperation between experts requires mutual trust and genuine community spirit, which is challenging in distributed work. Distributed work requires the employee to have an active, self-directed and controlling approach to employees own work, as it involves balancing between independent and joint work.