The management of distances in distributed-work : a Deleuzian approach to control

Distributed-work has introduced challenges for both employees and managers alike. Maintaining a form of supervision and discipline remains then necessary as control is the ultimate means for the hierarchy to bridge the issue of distance. With regard to the unprecedented changes generated by the significant development of ICTs in organizations, we expressed the necessity to analyze how control is reconsidered within the managerial breakdown introduced by distributed-work. Our theoretical reasoning finally led us to use the works of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze as a basis for a more relevant conceptual framework. Data coming from 49 interviews and 7 days as non-participant observer enabled us to provide evidences for the disruption of management practices due to the reconsideration of control in distributed-work. Both for managers, evolving from a supervisory to a facilitator status, and distributed-workers themselves, whose activities will mainly be directed by the management of their visibility, responsiveness and modulation. Ultimately, this PhD dissertation provides concrete managerial manifestations for Deleuzian societies of control