The extensification of managerial work in the digital age: Middle managers, spatio-temporal boundaries and control

Abstract

How has the experience of managerial work changed in the digital age? This two-phase (2002–2006, 2015–2019) study addresses this question by examining how middle managers perceive the spatio-temporal boundaries of their work to have shifted. Typically, such managers report change occurring in two directions: (i) the contractual employment boundary becoming stretched as hours completed inside the workplace increase; and (ii) this boundary becoming breached as managers conduct additional work voluntarily from locations outside corporate premises. Although such trends can be explained deterministically – the former stemming from corporate acceptance of consultancy-influenced organizational prescriptions (business process reengineering, lean management, agile management etc.), and the latter from widespread adoption of digital communication innovations (BlackBerry, email, WhatsApp etc.) – we argue that to achieve a more rounded appreciation of such work ‘extensification’ attention must also be paid to agentic forces of strategic and political choice. Developing this argument, and acknowledging paradox when theorizing spatio-temporal change, we suggest future research on managerial employment must entail documenting not only factors influencing the stretching and breaching of work boundaries, but also – given incipient political regulations and innovative surveillance technologies – others serving to strengthen and protect them, notably those directed at improving work–life balance and physical/psychological health.