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32 Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Q. 5 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/npvolsq32 and id is 1 raw text is: ARTICLES Information Technology and the Voluntary Sector Workplace Judith R. Saidel Stephanie Cour University at Albany, State University of New York There is little debate over whether technological change affects work processes and tasks. Yet, exactly how this happens is not at all clear. This study asks the question: How have information technologies changed the nature and distribution of work and workplace relationships in voluntary sector organizations? The authors conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with 23 respondents in three nonprofit agencies in the capital region of New York State that had an extensive history of involvement in contracting relationships with multiple government bureaucracies. The results indicate that the autonomy and flexibility associated with much of the work performed by the nonprofit labor force influence how information technology affects workplace processes and rela- tionships. Employees with widely varying backgrounds fill newly defined IT jobs. Job sat- isfaction, workload, and the distribution of power have been altered in a number of com- plex ways. Responses regarding technology and the relationship between nonprofits and government are also explored. Keywords: information technology; voluntary sector workplace; human resources management There is little debate over whether technological change affects work pro- cesses and tasks. Yet, exactly how this happens is not at all clear. According to Futurework, a 1999 U.S. Department of Labor report, technology has fun- damentally changed work as we know it. Studies conducted in business and government settings offer evidence of the complexity of workplace issues associated with the introduction of new technology. At the same time, how- ever, one theme appears consistently-the potential of technology to trans- form the substantive content of individual jobs (Hodson & Parker, 1988) and Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 1, March 2003 5-24 DOI: 10.1177/0899764002250004 @ 2003 Sage Publications 5

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