Although many factors ultimately contribute to the changing patterns of work, organizational theorists point to two key drivers:

* Increasing pressures on organizations to be more competitive, agile, and customer focused—to be a "lean enterprise."

* Communication and information technology breakthroughs, especially mobile technologies and the Internet that enable work to be separated from time and space.

Changes in Organizational Focus: What does it Mean to be Lean?

The lean enterprise principles enabled many organizations to respond more rapidly to the marketplace by reducing cycle time, developing mass customization processes, and supporting continual change and innovation.

Creating the Lean Machine: Changes in Organizational Structure and Relationships. Adopting lean principles and lean thinking has led to numerous changes in organizational structure to improve the efficiency of internal processes, with a goal of eliminating waste and defining customer value. These changes have been supported and enabled by transformations in information and communications technology, especially the Internet and mobile computingand communication devices.

Key organizational changes include:

* Reduced hierarchical structure—Hierarchies are cumbersome and cannot respond quickly to changing market demands, such as pressures for reduced cycle time and continuous innovation. Hierarchies are being replaced by cross unit organizational groupings with fewer layers and more decentralized decision making.

* Blurred boundaries—As organizations become more laterally structured, boundaries begin to breakdown as different parts of the organization need to work more effectively together. Boundaries between departments as well as between job categories (manager, professional, technical) become looser and there is a greater need for task and knowledge sharing.

* Teams as basic building blocks—The move toward a team-basedorganizational structure results from pressures to make rapid decisions, to reduce inefficiencies, and to continually improve work processes.

* New management perspective—Workers are no longer managed to comply with rules and orders, but rather to be committed to organizational goals and mission. The blurring of boundaries also affects organizational roles. As employees gain more decision authority and latitude, managers become more social supporters and coaches rather than commanders.

* Continuous change—Organizations are expected to continue the cycles of reflection and reorganization. However, changes may be both large and small and are likely to be interspersed with periods of stability. Kling and Zmuidzinas identify three types of change—"metamorphosis" (far reaching, fundamental change), "migration" (shifts toward a new form), and "elaboration" (changes that enhance some aspect of work).

How Work is Changing for Individuals and Groups

Over the past two decades, a new pattern of work is emerging as the knowledge economy realizes the full potential of both new technologies and neworganizational models. The changes fall into the following domains:

* Cognitive competence

* Social and interactive competence

* The new "psychological contract" between employees and employers

* Changes in process and place

Although these domains are discussed separately, they overlap. We briefly discuss the overlaps, where they exist, and point to the benefits and concerns the new work patterns present for workers and managers.

Cognitive Competence. Cognitive workers are expected to be more functionally and cognitively fluid and able to work across many kinds of tasks and situations. The broader span of work, brought about by changes in organizationalstructure, also creates new demands, including:

* Increased complexity of work—Workers need to