Individual, social and situational determinants of telecommuter productivity

Productivity of remote workers is of critical concern to organizations and managers contemplating telecommuting arrangements. Here we suggest a general theoretical framework for understanding telecommuter productivity, and then report on a two-phased research study. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews with 32 telecommuters were conducted in one organization, and individual, social, and situational factors associated with telecommuter productivity were qualitatively explored. The second phase involved a survey of 100 telecommuters in two organizations, followed by predictive discriminant analyses to identify factors that might usefully distinguish between telecommuters exhibiting low and high levels of productivity. Results indicate that telecommuter beliefs and attitudes, and the quality of their social interactions with managers and family members, were strongly associated with productivity. Furthermore, telecommuters' social interactions with colleagues, managers, and family members had a strong influence on their beliefs and attitudes about telecommuting.

[1]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[2]  D. Silverman.  Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction , 1994 .

[3]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[4]  Tor Guimaraes,et al.  Exploring Differences in Employee Turnover Intentions and Its Determinants Among Telecommuters and Non-Telecommuters , 1999, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[5]  Christopher A. Higgins,et al.  After-Hours Telecommuting and Work-Family Conflict: A Comparative Analysis , 1992, Inf. Syst. Res..

[6]  Keri E. Pearlson,et al.  Two Cheers for the Virtual Office , 1998 .

[7]  Srilata Zaheer,et al.  Concentration and Dispersion in Global Industries: Remote Electronic Access and the Location of Economic Activities , 2001 .

[8]  Margrethe H. Olson,et al.  New Information Technology and Organizational Culture , 1982, MIS Q..

[9]  Chee-Sing Yap,et al.  Factors associated with attitudes towards telecommuting , 1990, Inf. Manag..

[10]  Chee-Sing Yap,et al.  Top Management Support, External Expertise and Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses , 1996, Inf. Syst. Res..

[11]  S. Tietze,et al.  When "Work" Comes "Home": Coping Strategies of Teleworkers and their Families , 2002 .

[12]  D. Leonard-Barton,et al.  Managerial influence in the implementation of new technology , 1988 .

[13]  D. Sandy Staples,et al.  A Self-Efficacy Theory Explanation for the Management of Remote Workers in Virtual Organizations , 1999, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[14]  Marilyn E. Gist,et al.  Self-Efficacy: A Theoretical Analysis of Its Determinants and Malleability , 1992 .

[15]  D. Harris.  Organizational Linkages: Understanding the Productivity Paradox, , 1997 .

[16]  P. Mokhtarian,et al.  Modeling the Desire to Telecommute: The Importance of Attitudinal Factors in Behavioral Models , 1997 .

[17]  Janet Fulk,et al.  Organizational Colleagues, Media Richness, and Electronic Mail , 1991 .

[18]  E. Rogers,et al.  Diffusion of innovations , 1964, Encyclopedia of Sport Management.

[19]  Linda Duxbury,et al.  An empirical evaluation of the impacts of telecommuting on intra-organizational communication , 1999 .

[20]  A. Bandura.  Social learning theory , 1977 .

[21]  Reagan M. Ramsower,et al.  Telecommuting: The Organizational and Behavioral Effects of Working at Home , 1985 .

[22]  Wayne F. Cascio,et al.  Managing a virtual workplace , 2000 .

[23]  Icek Ajzen,et al.  From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior , 1985 .

[24]  Gary S. Nickell,et al.  The computer attitude scale , 1986 .

[25]  A. J. Hawkins,et al.  Work and family in the virtual office: Perceived influences of mobile telework. , 1996 .

[26]  Kea G. Tijdens,et al.  Employees' opportunities, preferences, and practices in telecommuting adoption , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[27]  Christopher A. Higgins,et al.  Attitudes Of Managers And Employees To Telecommuting , 1987 .

[28]  A. Venkatesh,et al.  An emerging distributed work arrangement: an investigation of computer-based supplemental work at home , 1992 .

[29]  Richard I. Hartman,et al.  Developing Successful Organizational Telecommuting Arrangements: Worker Perceptions and Managerial Prescriptions , 1992 .

[30]  B. Elango,et al.  The Effect of Attitudes, Goal Setting and Self-Efficacy on End User Performance , 2001, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[31]  France Bélanger,et al.  Workers' propensity to telecommute: An empirical study , 1999, Inf. Manag..

[32]  Michael J. Ginzberg,et al.  Early Diagnosis of MIS Implementation Failure: Promising Results and Unanswered Questions , 1981 .

[33]  A. E. Bateman.  The Statistics of Canada , 1878 .

[34]  Dianna L. Stone,et al.  A Model of Factors Affecting the Treatment of Disabled Individuals in Organizations , 1996 .

[35]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[36]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[37]  Magid Igbaria,et al.  The driving forces in the virtual society , 1999, CACM.

[38]  IgbariaMagid.  The driving forces in the virtual society , 1999 .

[39]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[40]  E. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations , 1962 .

[41]  Donald Tomaskovic-Devey,et al.  Telecommuting innovation and organization: a contingency theory of labor process change , 1993 .

[42]  D. Morgan,et al.  Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. , 1983 .

[43]  A. Tenbrunsel,et al.  Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 2013 .

[44]  Jack M. Nilles.  Development of Policy on the Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff, Final Report. , 1974 .

[45]  Ritu Agarwal.  Individual Acceptance of Information Technologies , 2000 .

[46]  L. G. Tornatzky,et al.  Innovation characteristics and innovation adoption-implementation: A meta-analysis of findings , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[47]  S. Folkman,et al.  Stress, appraisal, and coping , 1974 .

[48]  D. Sandy Staples,et al.  A Study of Remote Workers and Their Differences from Non-Remote Workers , 2001, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[49]  Sridhar Narasimhan,et al.  Communication and Coordination in the Virtual Office , 1998, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[50]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[51]  Alladi Venkatesh,et al.  Computing in the home: shifts in the time allocation patterns of households , 1985, CACM.

[52]  Robert M. Aiken,et al.  Validity and Temporal Stability Issues Regarding Two Measures of Computer Aptitudes and Attitudes , 1988 .

[53]  Paul S. Goodman,et al.  Productivity in Organizations , 1995 .

[54]  Rosann Webb Collins,et al.  Technology Requirements and Work Group Communication for Telecommuters , 2001, Inf. Syst. Res..

[55]  Nancy B. Kurland,et al.  Telecommuting: Justice and Control in the Virtual Organization , 1999 .

[56]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Attitudes toward telecommuting: Implications for work-at-home programs , 1984, Inf. Manag..

[57]  Janet Fulk.  Social construction of communication technology , 1993 .

[58]  Peter A. Todd,et al.  Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..