Purpose In the post-pandemic workplace, companies have adopted diverse workplace strategies (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid) and employees have developed diverse work modality preferences (work-from-office, work-from-home, hybrid work). In a systematic examination of the intersection between company strategies and employee preferences, we study how company–employee alignment has evolved. Design/methodology/approach We use qualitative data collected from 89 employees at two points in time (2022–2023 and 2024–2025) and at three companies (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid). We showcase how alignment has evolved over time via data visualization. We then use thematic analysis to identify why employees switch preferences and what shared values employees within each type of company hold, despite diverse work modality preferences. Findings More employees are aligned with their company's strategy in 2024–2025 relative to 2022–2023. Employees also more clearly articulate their preferences for work-from-office, work-from-home or hybrid work in 2024–2025. Two alignment motivations explain preference switches: buy-in and dissonance reduction. Employees in each type of company (office-forward, remote-first, hybrid) share common values: flexibility, community and balance, respectively. Originality/value Five years into the post-pandemic workplace, companies and employees are still settling into a “new normal”. However, both academic and industry researchers study company strategies and employee preferences in isolation. We overlay the two, exploring how company strategies and employee preferences combine. This approach allows a comparative look at each strategy, and considers all employee preferences. We present a practical blueprint for company–employee workplace alignment.

Applying mix-methods analyses to a dataset of 89 employees from three companies with different flexibility strategies (office-forward, hybrid, and remote-first), we explore demographic differences in employees’ work location preferences. We find that women and men are equally likely to prefer office-, hybrid-, or remote work. Looking at the intersectionality of gender and other demographic characteristics, we find that women with children are more likely to prefer remote work relative to women with no/grown children who prefer office work; men with and with no/grown children do not differ in preferences. Young employees and single employees prefer office work regardless of gender. Qualitative analyses, which focus on women and men in leadership positions, reveal that some leaders advocate for office revival while others – for freedom and work re-valuing; yet, both women and men leaders advocate for flexibility. We argue that the diversity of flexibility strategies in the post-pandemic workplace should continue.

This panel report is based on an academic leadership panel at the 18th annual Midwest Association for Information Systems (MWAIS) 2023 conference held in St. Paul, Minnesota. A panel of five university chancellors and presidents was brought together to discuss the current and potential challenges and opportunities of higher education institutions, particularly the comprehensive regional universities in the Midwest U.S. region. The panel was asked to reflect on the challenges and opportunities afforded by the rapid use and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how this impacts higher education. Discussion themes and insights are presented along with the future outlook considerations. The panel discussed how universities are preparing themselves for broad challenges and opportunities necessitated by the rapid technological advances in AI along with other social and economic changes - such as declining state support and lower student enrollments, by reexamining the value of college education and reevaluating and repositioning curricula and programs. The discussion underscored that university leaders are placing a strong emphasis on human qualities in the human-AI dynamic. These qualities include adaptive skills for tackling unstructured problems, fostering collaboration, critical thinking, empathy, emotional intelligence, and a focus on ethical and social aspects. They highlight these attributes as vital elements, considering them more important than just the technological components when grappling with challenges posed by AI in human decision-making and higher education.

Virtual teams have been adopted by organizations and studied for decades. However, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of technology-supported collaboration more than ever. This growing importance of virtual teamwork suggests that business education related to virtual team collaboration and communication is critical for students today, and universities play a significant role in equipping students with the knowledge and skillsets necessary to work in a digital world. This work reviews the literature on virtual teams and educational approaches used for teaching virtual team collaboration and communication and presents a framework for virtual team education. Survey findings and illustrative cases are gathered to demonstrate current virtual team education practices. The study concludes with recommendations for the education of virtual team knowledge and skills.

Past studies of the impact of the physical work environment on workers have generated mixed results in the organizational space literature. We apply an alternative perspective on how the workspace influences grounded in theorizing on place rather than space. Focusing on the corporate office, we explore the notion that organizations are best positioned to influence employees when they transform their work spaces into work places. Through a qualitative case study, we first uncover a time-spanning placemaking strategy that designers (i.e., organizational leaders) and users (i.e., employees) execute together to infuse place into organizational space. We also uncover place meanings that emerge in the corporate office, and describe outcomes of placemaking. Next, focusing on the longitudinal nature of our exploration which spanned both sides of the COVID-19 pandemic (pre-pandemic; lockdown; hybrid work), we reveal how place evolves with changing work contexts. Thus, our theoretical contribution is twofold: exploring place (including placemaking, place meanings, and place effects) in an under-explored work environment—the corporate office, and showcasing place as a dynamic phenomenon that responds to contextual forces. Practically, our findings illustrate the role place plays in the modern, virtual and physical, workplace. Potential challenges are discussed.

The rapid adoption of collaboration technologies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the advancement, growth, and proliferation of metaverse technology capabilities, has created a heightened awareness and comfort with the use of advanced collaboration technologies for online and distance education. This paper presents an exploratory study of how metaverse technologies can be adopted for the teaching and learning of project management concepts and skills specifically, as metaverses have been identified as a legitimate tool for the support of virtual projects. As a part of this work, a task was designed and adopted in an undergraduate project management course. Study results related to the teaching and learning of project management as well as student perceptions of metaverse technology adoption show that students were able to work together in a metaverse environment and collaborate with one another to achieve group consensus on a task. Ultimately, the findings from this case can guide future adoptions of metaverse technologies both in and out of the classroom.

Fifteen years ago, Davis et al. (2009) defined and described the metaverse's capabilities and presented a foundation for research in this environment. Since then, particularly in the past few years, researchers have paid considerable attention to metaverses in both research and practice. This growth in attention suggests it is time to assess what we learned about metaverses and explore future opportunities. Therefore, in this paper, we review what we learned over the past 15 years related to metaverse research and present important possibilities and opportunities for future research. We summarize foundational research findings in relation to the metaverse, people/avatars, metaverse technology capabilities, behaviors, and virtual world outcomes. Additionally, we present research opportunities in metaverse education, development, lifestyle, work and job design, and gaming-all areas where metaverse technology innovation and application have received attention since Davis et al. (2009). The research opportunities that we outline illustrate how the metaverse continues to present rich possibilities and promise for the future.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore key collaboration technology affordances from virtual collaboration and remote work during the time of COVID-19. The purpose of this exploration is to improve the understanding of technology-supported collaboration in order to achieve individual and organizational success with the adoption, use and implementation of virtual collaboration in a pandemic and post-pandemic world.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data is collected from 55 graduate students during a time of work transition due to COVID-19. This paper distills key collaboration technology affordances identified from participant feedback.FindingsThis paper identifies topics of virtual collaboration success as well as challenges related to organizational transitions during COVID-19. The findings from this work relate to four collaboration technology affordances including: (1) flexibility and productivity, (2) social connectedness and organizational culture, (3) technology support and (4) management and leadership. Additionally, this research provides insight into the complexities of virtual collaboration in these areas while also making recommendations for the post-pandemic future.Originality/valueThis research makes a contribution through the analysis of a unique set of data elaborating on participant experiences during a global pandemic as well as through the exploration of future implications.

Aim/Purpose: The complexity of today’s organizational databases highlights the importance of hard technical skills as well as soft skills including teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. Therefore, when teaching students about databases it follows that using a team approach would be useful. Background: Team-based learning (TBL) has been developed and tested as an instructional strategy that leverages learning in small groups in order to achieve increased overall effectiveness. This research studies the impact of utilizing team-based learning strategies in an undergraduate Database Management course in order to determine if the methodology is effective for student learning related to database technology concepts in addition to student preparation for working in database teams. Methodology: In this study, a team-based learning strategy is implemented in an undergraduate Database Management course over the course of two semesters. Students were assessed both individually and in teams in order to see if students were able to effectively learn and apply course concepts on their own and in collaboration with their team. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed in order to determine if the team approach improved learning effectiveness and allowed for soft skills development. The results from this study are compared to previous semesters when team-based learning was not adopted. Additionally, student perceptions and feedback are captured. Contribution: This research contributes to the literature on database education and team-based learning and presents a team-based learning process for faculty looking to adopt this methodology in their database courses. This research contributes by showing how the collaborative assessment aspect of team-based learning can provide a solution for the conceptual and collaborative needs of database education. Findings: Findings related to student learning and perceptions are presented illustrating that team-based learning can lead to improvements in performance and provides a solution for the conceptual and collaborative needs of database education. Specifically, the findings do show that team scores were significantly higher than individual scores when completing class assessments. Student perceptions of both their team members and the team-based learning process were overall positive with a notable difference related to the perception of team preparedness based on gender. Recommendations for Practitioners: Educational implications highlight the challenges of team-based learning for assessment (e.g., gender differences in perceptions of team preparedness), as well as the benefits (e.g., development of soft skills including teamwork and communication). Recommendation for Researchers: This study provides research implications supporting the study of team assessment techniques for learning and engagement in the context of database education. Impact on Society: Faculty looking to develop student skills in relation to database concepts and application as well as in relation to teamwork and communication may find value in this approach, ultimately benefiting students, employers, and society. Future Research: Future research may examine the methodology from this study in different contexts as well as explore different strategies for group assignments, room layout, and the impact of an online environment.

•Foundational understanding of virtualness and hybrid teamwork.•Opportunities and challenges that can occur with hybrid teamwork.•Strategies for effective leadership of hybrid team members.•Quick start guide with actionable suggestions for leaders of hybrid teams.

The field of Information systems (IS) is dynamic and rapidly changing due to technology innovation and emerging technologies. The changing nature of this field poses a significant challenge for educators trying to stay up to date in their preparation of future technology leaders. Despite this challenge, the IS2020 model curriculum, as well as organizational leaders, are calling on IS educators to find ways to develop and deliver student competencies related to innovation and emerging technologies to meet the needs of the IS workforce. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to present a plan for the teaching and learning of these topics within an IS program. This paper outlines a framework for course delivery based on foundational topics that can be utilized for mastering the technology innovation challenge in the classroom and be adapted in response to the changing nature of the discipline. The course plan focuses on theoretical foundations and connects with practice for exploring the application of concepts so students can be introduced to what is really happening in relation to technology in business and the discipline of IS. The course model was tested in-person and online and can be adapted depending on university schedules and teaching modalities.

Past studies of the impact of work space on work outcomes have generated mixed results in the organizational space literature. We apply a new perspective grounded in theorizing on place rather than space, and explore the notion that organizations are best positioned to influence employees when they transform their workspaces into workplaces. Through an ethnographic case study, we uncover a process of place crafting—a multi-level collaboration to transform the office space into place, initiated by the organization, taken up by employees, and sustained by a partnership between the organization and employees—that engenders employee place attachment. The model we develop shows that space and place are involved in a symbiotic relationship – space provides structure and social fabric for place to emerge, and place breathes life, humanity, and meaning into space. We discuss potential challenges, and practical applications, of the place crafting process.

In this paper, we analyze and categorize research related to Agile teaching and learning in Information Systems education using an existing conceptual framework. To this end, a systematic literature review beginning with 642 papers led to the identification of 30 relevant papers written in English and published through 2018 in academic IS outlets. Our analysis reveals three ways in which Information Systems educators incorporate Agile into their courses: 1) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach non-Agile content, 2) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach Agile content, and 3) using non-Agile pedagogical approaches to teach Agile content. The majority of relevant papers were published between 2016 and 2018. We present an analysis of the three instructional approaches to serve as a resource for interested individuals and recommend directions for future studies related to Agile teaching and learning in IS education.

Organizational databases are seldom designed and used by individuals. In fact, database design benefits from the idea that two heads are better than one. Therefore, when teaching students about databases it follows that using a team approach would be useful. This research studies the impact of utilizing team-based learning (TBL) strategies in an undergraduate Database Management course in order to determine if the methodology is effective for student learning related to database technology concepts in addition to student preparation for working in database teams. Findings related to student learning performance and perceptions are presented as well as future research opportunities.