Building coalitions in an era of technological change : Virtual manufacturing and the role of unions, employees and management

Information and communication technologies have the capacity to transform organisations into networks of spaces, where information and even physical flows are delocalized to a greater degree than previously. This capacity occurs as a managerial opportunity and is the point of departure for mobilizing critical theory’s analysis of technology. Through seven cases, it is demonstrated that the virtualization of manufacturing networks is still modest, but in progress. It is explored how collective actors tackle this and whether they are carriers of subversive rationalities.