This project aims to explore the new forms of working embraced by technology and digital tools and how they support the design of agile and sustainable organizational models in the public sector. In this regard, this research will create a connection between the fields of public sector, agile forms of working, human-centred and ethical development, implementation and use, and sustainability.
The project will aim to deepen understanding of both the bright and dark sides of these new forms of working, the related HRM practices and the underlying technologies, to favour a comprehensive picture that would be supportive for theoretical, practical, and policy implications (Todisco et al., 2023). Understanding how these forms have changed the working methods and organizations would also be prominent in shaping a less resources consuming, more sustainable and agile public sector. For instance, the Wall Street Journal has recently published an article describing how Milan’s Mayor has changed his mind about employees working at home as the electricity and heating bills of Milan Municipality have raised in 2022, compared to his previous efforts in trying to get the city’s public servants back to the office after working from home at the height of the pandemic.
Given the prominence of these new technology-enabled forms of agile working (Saura et al. 2022), an exploration of the related changes, how they are redefining individuals’ boundaries and social bonds, and their consequences (in terms of challenges, risks, and threats) from a multilevel perspective is needed: individual (e.g., diversity management, control, motivation, well-being, and other psychological aspects), organizational (e.g., technology, performance, flexibility) and societal (e.g., circular economy impact considering the benefits for environment and productivity).
Indeed, although technology may deliver value added in terms of flexibility, efficiency and speed of communication, the effects, challenges and risks that technology and new technology-embraced approaches to work will bring to societies, organizations and employees are still under exploration and the literature shows disparate, unclear, and contrasting results (Tursunbayeva et al. 2021).
The first objective would be to clearly define the boundaries between the different forms of working and defining what human-centred and ethical use of technologies for these purposes will intend to avoid the existing overlapping conceptualization (hybrid-, flexible-, tele-, and remote work) in the literature (Castriotta et al. 2022). This conceptualization risks fragmentation with unclear and inconclusive debates, especially when these are (partly or totally) disconnected from reasoning on the impact the new forms of working have at different levels.
By doing so, the project addresses also the limits of existing research which has until now focused too much on the aspects of technology (e.g., what technology is capable of) and flexibility while overlooking the human-centred processes comprising also cognitive and psychological aspects (Castriotta et al. 2022). We will therefore provide a deep analysis of the different levels (individual, organizational and societal) and look at the intertwined (across levels) and bi-directional (from macro to micro and vice versa) effects that the implementation of the new forms of working engender (Dabrowska et al. 2022).
Because this proposed project is designed to be interdisciplinary and inclusive, it will encompass any study referring to emerging digital technologies aimed at supporting, augmenting, or even replacing the management, development, and collaboration practices of employees in the public sector, and whether used solely by HR professionals or jointly by HR and employees, managers, and leaders (Tursunbayeva 2018) bringing all these usually studied separately topics together.
The project also aims to draw together the theoretical and empirical organizational, management, technological, ethical, and administrative perspectives (characterizing this research topic and) influencing the context of public administrations and will provide useful implications for public managers, employees, policymakers, technology developers, and job designers.
It is worthwhile to acknowledge that the public sector is particularly important and interesting to study because it is characterized by the complexity of governance, including issues regarding technological and workforce structures, reactive attitudes, evidence-based approaches toward innovation, and a notorious track record of emerging digital technologies failures caused primarily by users’ resistance to innovations (Tomo 2018). Meanwhile, the Italian context is particularly imperative to examine, as it differs slightly from the typical European models or policies (Danielsen 2021), thus deserving distinct attention. Overall, similar international (though fragmented) context-specific efforts have recently started to emerge (Meijerink et al. 2021) demonstrating recognition of the international research community of the importance of this research topic, and thus their growing interest in it.