Empirically testing the benefits, problems, and success factors for telecommuting programmes
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1999 Operational Research SocietyLtd. All rights reserved 0960-085X/99 $12.00 http://www.stockton-press.co.uk/ejis
Empirically testing the benefits, problems, and success factors for telecommuting programmes T Guimaraes1 and P Dallow2 1
Jesse E. Owen Chair of Excellence, College of Business Administration, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN 38505; 2Information & Communication Systems Department, City of Fort Collins, 300 LaPorte Avenue, P.O. Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522–0580, USA The benefits of telecommuting have been recognised by government and business organizations throughout the world. As companies implement their telecommuting programmes many problems are encountered which require management attention. For organizations contemplating the implementation of such programmes it has become exceedingly important to know what can be done to improve the likelihood that the many potential benefits will be derived and that the many possible problems are reduced or eliminated. What organizations should do to accomplish this was the quest for this study. The voluminous literature is mostly comprised of anecdotal evidence, personal opinions, or experience based on a single organization. A thorough survey of the relevant literature was undertaken to exhaustively identify the many potential benefits, problems, and the proposed success factors for telecommuting programmes in practice. Using the benefits derived from telecommuting programmes and their impact on company performance as the measures of programme success, six main success factors were empirically tested with a sample of 316 telecommuters from eighteen companies. The results corroborate at least partially the importance of carefully considering the characteristics of supervisors, employees, tasks, and work environments, as well as management support and problems encountered, for the success of telecommuting programmes.
Introduction Telecommuting (defined as working from home or alternate workplace) seems to be a growing worldwide trend. The number of telecommuters in the US today is 8.8 million, and it is estimated to jump to 25 million by the year 2000. Most (57%) of telecommuters are men and 43% are women (Sullivan, 1995). Advances in technology, workforce demographics, government regulations, employee motivation, and the need for a lowcost employee benefit are the biggest factors pushing managers to seek more information and training on how to effectively use flexible work arrangements as a management tool. In 1983 it cost over $10 000 to equip a home with a PC, phone, fax, etc, but in 1994 the cost was less than $3000 (Sullivan, 1995). Many nations are investing in telecommuting programmes, including Great Britain, Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden (Humble et al, 1995). It is being strongly encouraged in countries with dense population such as England and Japan because of the extreme costs of real estate in overcrowded cities. A British Telecom report reveals that one in five British workers now spend at least some of th
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