Introduction to the brave new workplace: organizational behavior in the electronic age

This paper provides an overview of the nature and meaning of organizational behavior in the electronic age. I review objectives and questions addressed by the Special Issue on Brave New Workplace. Next, I review literature on new work, new workers and the new workplace which provides the context for the Special Issue and its contributions. Specifically, I review literature on features of 'the new modernism' in society. I relate macro level social trends and globalization to the political economy of workplace risks. Four themes which characterize new work and work settings are addressed: electronic work, self-management, individualization of risks, and the inversion of the gender characteristics at work and home. Social implications of new work are explored, including implications which new work practices and new modernist institutions hold for the family, for gender relations and for communities. I conclude by discussing how papers in the current volume contribute to understanding key issues in the brave new workplace.