Al-Taitoon, Adel

Making Sense of Mobile ICT-Enabled Trading in Fast Moving Financial Markets as Volatility-Control Ambivalence: case study on the organisation of off-premises foreign exchange at a Middle East bank

(2005)

This research study is concerned with the organisation of mobile work. The change towards increased physical separation and the wide adoption of mobile technology are likely to entail fundamental changes to the organisation of work. The de-contextualisation and mobilisation of social activities magnifies the complexity of organising remote working.

When the context of mobile interaction and ICT-enabled remote working is highly volatile environment which involves instantaneous decision making and spontaneous acts within institutionalised systems of control, then researchers are presented with added complexities that require careful analysis. Thus, embarking on theoretical endeavours to build an understanding of mobility and the organisation of mobile work in highly fluid and dynamic environments should not be underestimated.

This study explores how mobile ICT-enabled remote working is organised. Inspired by emerging theoretical developments on mobile interaction and motivated by the researcher's self-interest in social, technological and economic issues concerning the financial market, the research aims to make sense of the distinct mobility of foreign exchange traders.

The use of mobile computing technologies in foreign exchange trading represents a mode of remote working in a highly dynamic and fluid environment. The study, specifically, examined the influence of market volatility and corporate control on the organisation of mobile ICT-enabled off-premises trading. To achieve this objective, I have undertaken empirical case study research at a large banking organisation in the Middle East.

I have adopted Weick's theory of 'organising as sensemaking' which offers a conceptual framework that consists of ecological change and three sensemaking processes (ie enactment, selection and retention) together with feedback loops. The findings of this study are, therefore, based on employing Weick's framework as an analytical lens.

Furthermore, drawing upon Weick's conception of ambivalence and loose-coupling, I have argued that the existence of volatility-control sensemaking entails organising mobile foreign exchange as loosely-coupled mobility. The market volatility represents not only the fluctuation of exchange rates but also the equivocality that characterises the foreign exchange environment. To cope with such volatility, equivocality and uncertainty, financial institutions adopt systems of control that, in turn, influence the traders' interaction. This ambivalence of volatility and control entails an optimal compromise.

In this study, I have argued that this optimal compromise is achieved by adopting loosely-coupled organisation of mobile work to satisfy the simultaneous effects of volatility and control as two antithetical factors.

Adel Al-Taitoon is currently assistant vice president for group IT planning, Global Information Technology at the Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain.

Supervisor: Dr C Sørensen