Businesses are increasingly embracing new technologies to enhance their effectiveness and resilience. These technologies offer the potential to improve business processes and job quality. However, this endeavor presents significant challenges for organizations, as the same technology can lead to both positive and negative outcomes. While designed to innovate and enhance, technology projects can also fail or negatively affect job quality. Ultimately, success depends on how the technology is deployed.

This webinar explores the impact of work organisation, HR management practices, and employee participation on changes in job quality brought about by digital technologies. Drawing from 22 Belgian case studies, key conclusions highlight the role of work organisation in shaping digital transformation outcomes and the necessity of a tailored approach to digital transformation, acknowledging the varied effects across different organisational contexts. Special attention is given to the changing role of line managers amidst digital transformation. Digitalisation not only alters their responsibilities and often increases their workload, but also positions them as key players in shaping job quality outcomes for other employees.

Ezra Dessers, Ph.D., is a Research Manager at HIVA – Research Institute for Work and Society, KU Leuven (Belgium). Ezra holds graduate degrees in sociology, spatial planning and information technology. His research is focused on the relation between work, organisation and technology, in various societal domains. Ezra’s most recent books are Designing Integrated Care Ecosystems (2019) and Robot Zoekt Collega (‘Robot Seeks Colleague’) (2022). Ezra has an extensive experience in research, teaching, consultancy and project management. He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Care Coordination, and of the European Journal of Workplace Innovation.

Ine Smits is a Senior Researcher at HIVA – KU Leuven, specialising in the impact of technology on work. She has participated in various research projects, investigating new forms of employment arising from technological change, such as platform work, and examining the effects of new technology on organisations and the quality of work. Her work offers valuable insights into how digital technology affects workers’ conditions, with a particular emphasis on the role of line managers. Ine’s contributions are intended to inform both academic discourse and policy-making in the field of labour and technology.