Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Organization Studies
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bechky, B. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Talking About Machines, Thick Description, and Knowledge Work

Beth A. Bechky

University of California, Davis, USA

In the decade since the publication of Julian Orr’s Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job, the field of organization studies has yet to develop a rich and complete picture of the world of knowledge workers. In this essay, I argue that organization theory would benefit if scholars followed Orr’s lead and devoted increased ethnographic attention to knowledge and technical work. Thick descriptions of the situated work practices of knowledge workers would help us understand the complex relationship of work, occupations, and organizations. In particular, I suggest further investigation of the intersection of occupational communities within organizations, as well as additional empirical studies of networks of practice that extend beyond organizational boundaries.

Key Words: work • knowledge • ethnography

Organization Studies, Vol. 27, No. 12, 1757-1768 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0170840606071894
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 EthnographyHome page
M. Iszatt-White
Catching them at it: An ethnography of rule violation
Ethnography, December 1, 2007; 8(4): 445 - 465.
[Abstract] [PDF]