The virtualization construct, even with the intensification of researches on the theme in the information technology management area, still demands studies exploiting its meanings in the organization environments and work relations. This paper aims to analyze, through the discourses of actors practicing virtual work, perceptions with regard to the technology, the processes and behaviors manifested in the use of virtualization. In the investigative process, one adopted discourse analysis, a method still poorly applied in information system administration researches. Through the interdiscourse technique, it was possible to explore the discourses of presidency, board of directors, management, and the operators working with virtual activities in an information technology organization. The results reinforce the theoretical contributions on the difficulty, on the part of people involved, to accept the complete physical absence from the workplace due to the need for sociability. The search for formulating more rigid processes which guarantee control over the virtually performed tasks, the worry about an effective communication, and the new role that the manager should assume in the virtual environment were some of the manifestations identified in this study, which contributes to expand the empirical evidence on the work virtualization management.
Work virtualization; Information technology; Work processes; Intra-organizational relations
