Teleworking: Frameworks for Organizational Research

Teleworking is a work practice that entails remote working for at least some of the time. Common arrangements include work done at home or in the field, by teleworkers in a range of occupations. As such, telework is one of the most radical departures from standard working conditions in the suite of flexible work practices now gaining widespread acceptance. In this paper, we develop an explanatory model of organizational adoption of teleworking. We do this as a means of integrating the current literature on the incidence of teleworking and to provide a theoretical grounding and framework for understanding differentials in the growth of teleworking in different organizations, industries and countries. We begin by developing an appropriate framework for conceptualizing teleworking. We propose a multivariate approach that is able to differentiate the various forms of teleworking. We then use this framework to develop a model and a series of propositions concerning the adoption of different forms of teleworking. Neo-institutional theory, as well as recent empirical evidence on teleworking informs this model.     

The legal aspects of teleworking

This article discusses teleworking from a legal perspective. Although spreading rapidly, the many legal aspects of teleworking are under‐represented in the literature. The main issues covered in this article are the definition of teleworking, employment relationships and employment contracts, civil liability, and other legal considerations. Lastly, implications are discussed for both the management of organisations and the legal establishment.     

Telework: a challenge to knowledge transfer in organizations

Over the last decade, teleworking has gained momentum. While it has been portrayed as both employer- and employee-friendly, we question the positive normativity associated with teleworking by showing how it may endanger an organization's knowledge base and competitive advantage by threatening knowledge transfer between teleworkers and non-teleworkers. Drawing on the literature on knowledge we present the cognitive and relational components of organizational socialization as key facilitators of knowledge transfer and we demonstrate that teleworking may negatively affect these cognitive (shared mental schemes, language and narratives, and identification with goals and values) and relational (quality of relationships) components, depending on its frequency, location(s), and perception. Finally, we suggest some managerial avenues for addressing these potential negative side effects of teleworking.     

Concepts Used in Statistical Business Registers in View of Globalisation and the Information Society

The globalisation of markets and the development of the information society are two factors increasingly affecting statistical business registers. The article describes a number of problems caused by the globalisation process and the information society as which kind of business units should be recorded-enterprises or enterprise groups, how cross-border ownership, control and cooperation could be identified in the administrative registers, classification of activity in connection with foreign subsidiaries, recording of date of commencement of foreign subsidiaries in a national economy, recording of places of work in the case of teleworking, problems in connection with the recording of individuals involved in teleworking as self-employed persons and the emergence of virtual enterprises. The article also raises the question of whether there is a need for an international satellite register for (transnational) concerns. Both globalisation and the growing information society therefore place new demands on statistical business registers, and these demands might necessitate mobilisation of additional resources for maintaining and developing the registers.     

The differences of firm resources and the adoption of teleworking

This paper studies the differences of firm resources between teleworking firms and non-teleworking firms. The results indicate that teleworking firms use more information and communication technologies, invest more resources in R&D, have a larger percentage of knowledge workers and salespeople in the workforce, and have a larger geographical market. The employees have greater access to the Internet and electronic communication, are more trained in the use of information and communication technologies, and are more involved in their job design and planning. Regarding the business organisation, teleworking firms use more human resource flexible practices and variable compensation, outsource more activities, and manage employees by objectives.     

远程办公组织的运营成本分析

本文主要分析了远程办公组织的运营成本结构模型,论述了成本组成结构及其变化。在此基础上,给出支持公司组织办公模式选择决策的数学模型。     

Move Your Research From The Ivy Tower To The Board Room: A Primer On Action Research For Academics,Consultants, And Business Executives

Today there is a large divide between the vast majority of management research that is conducted and the opportunities for doing work that is useful for both research and practice. Action research offers a great opportunity to bridge the divide, with benefits for all involved. For academic researchers, action research can increase access to important research sites that otherwise would remain off‐limits, while simultaneously increasing the relevance and scope of the research issues addressed. For researchers and practitioners who work in organizations, and for external consultants, action research offers a way to scientifically evaluate important organizational issues using scientific methods. These methods provide a type of external validity and support for actions that otherwise could be dismissed as representing a biased internal agenda. Moreover, internal researchers who engage in action research enable the sharing of insights that can benefit practitioners in other organizations as well as the research community. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Measuring the Measurable: Why can’t we Agree on the Number of Telecommuters in the U.S.?

Using telecommuting as a case study, we demonstrate that definitions, measurement instruments, sampling and sometimes vested interests affect the quality and utility even of seemingly objective and “measurable” data. Little consensus exists with respect to the definition of telecommuting, or to possible distinctions from related terms such as teleworking. Such a consensus is unlikely, since the “best” definition of telecommuting depends on one’s point of reference and purpose. However, differing definitions confound efforts to measure the amount of telecommuting and how it is changing over time. This paper evaluates estimates of the amounts of telecommuting occurring in the U.S. obtained from several different sources: the U.S. Census, the American Housing Survey, several Work at Home supplements to the Current Population Survey, a series of market research surveys, and the trade association-sponsored Telework America surveys. Many of the issues raised here are transferable to other contexts, and indirectly serve as suggestions for improving data collection in the future.     

Managing global talent: solving the spousal adjustment problem

Spousal adjustment issues, increasingly career related, are a major reason for expatriate assignment failure. Employer-provided spousal assistance programs have been proposed to address this situation. This field study of 238 expatriate spouses found that those who experience a severe disruption or cessation of employment have significantly lower interaction adjustment to the expatriate experience than others. For spouses with a career orientation to work, females had higher cultural and interactional adjustment than males. Only 18% of the spouses received employer-provided career assistance, and there was no significant difference in adjustment between spouses who received assistance and those who did not. Interviews with 100 spouses indicated that their greatest needs are for networking information to assist with their job search and for a ‘go to’ person for practical settling-in assistance.     

Should I stay or should I go? Agency nursing work in the UK

There are competing perspectives as to whether agency represents the desire to be a ‘free agent’ in terms of greater flexibility and control, or whether it represents a reluctant retreat from permanent employment. This paper explores the reasons why nurses in the UK work on an agency basis through surveys of two nursing agencies and asks: to what extent do supply-side preferences contribute to the decision for nurses to work on an agency basis? How does working on an agency basis affect the work-life balance and career aspirations of nurses? Two surveys were conducted; one with a ‘generalist’ nurse agency; and one with a ‘specialized’ agency, in order to examine the impact of rare/specialized skills on pecuniary motives. It is found that while nurses who also have a permanent job are more likely to report pecuniary factors as influencing the decision to work through agencies, nurses who solely work agency are more likely to emphasize work-life balance issues and escaping ‘office politics’ as key factors. Importantly, the findings point to the continued appeal of agency work as a means to exit the nursing workplace, suggesting that government reforms to increase the appeal of nursing as a profession have only partially addressed the concerns of nurses.     

NATURAL LEARNING AND MANAGERIAL ACTION: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY IN THE FIELD SETTING

An approach to collecting data about managers’ experience of their work is described, involving having them ‘think aloud’ while doing their work, and ‘re-live’ episodes soon afterwards. Some of the epistemological and methodological issues relating to this research approach are discussed. Examples of data are given, and 37 episodes of managerial work are analyzed for evidence relating to the question of how managers learn naturally from everyday experience. The analysis suggests that the concept of levels of learning proposed by Bateson (1973) is useful. An initial categorization of processes of learning, arising from the data, are presented. Some evidence that the profounder forms of learning are incremental rather than sudden is presented, and the issue of the functionality of profounder versus more superficial forms of learning in relation to everyday managerial work is raised.     

无实际接地点的直流接地现象分析

本文介绍了一起蹊跷的直流接地现象,并结合工作经验探讨接地原因,旨在通过实践探索丰富继电保护人员的现场经验,从而规避直流接地风险,提高电网运行的安全系数。     

物流配送中心拣选作业的人因工程量化评估

基于人因工程视角,探究电子商务模式下新兴的物流配送中心拣选作业的工程负荷与职业健康,研究选取能量代谢量、心率等指标,量化物流拣选作业环节的劳动强度等级,并利用疲劳强度评估提出合理的作息安排,即当劳动负荷为5km/h时,物流拣选劳动者平均每工作48min后,需要休息6min;当劳动负荷为7km/h时,物流拣选劳动者平均每工作19min后,需要休息6min。该研究拟在改善电子商务模式下物流配送中心衔接不紧密、响应速度慢等瓶颈问题的同时,关注劳动密集型作业环节的工程负荷与职业健康。     

Urban Housing in Mainland China: A New Chapter

Based on the results of field work conducted during 1997 and 1998 in Beijing, Shanghi, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Ningbo, this paper sets out a modest agenda. It briefly reviews China's urban housing initiatives to date, then questions whether these form part of a coherent and comprehensive housing strategy. While focusing on issues rather than data; it ends by stressing that planning without adequate facts is problematic. The authors have not aimed to provide a detailed account of China's housing reform history, since this is documented extensively in numerous research studies. The spotlight is on questions that still need to be answered, rather than on the more ambitious task of prescribing a blueprint for simultaneously resolving all the issues at hand.     

Toward a more complete understanding of offshoring: bringing employees into the conversation

The rapid increase in the practice of offshoring over the past decade has generated considerable debate about the consequences of this trend for the economy and for labor. A burgeoning literature examines a variety of issues related to offshoring; however, the majority have focused primarily on macro-level issues such as why organizations decide to offshore or why some ventures succeed and some fail. Very little research has examined the impact of exporting work on the attitudes and behaviors of employees in the destination country who are performing the work. We seek to address this gap in the literature by identifying the distinguishing characteristics of the offshore work environment and developing a theoretical framework for understanding destination workers' experiences and responses in this environment. Drawing on social identity theory and related research, we develop a multilevel model for explaining the antecedents and consequences of the identity conflicts that often arise among destination workers employed in voice-based service work.     

带标识信息的可追迹光跳线探讨

针对目前国内通信机房的实际情况,结合国外一些电信运营商对机房内光尾纤、跳纤的管理经验,进行了一些研究并提出建议,希望能提高国内机房的管理水平。     

Feasibility on the integration of passenger and freight transportation in rural areas: A service mode and an optimization model

Public transport operators in rural areas have been under pressure from weak profitability and emission issues. At the same time, scattered demand for transport has been preventing logistics systems from reaching the last mile in residential areas. Multimodal transport can synergistically integrate passenger and freight demand, increase transportation network coverage, and reduce the cost of transportation, while demand-driven services improve the flexibility and reliability of operational decisions. Therefore, this paper proposes a demand-driven passenger-and-freight-integration service (DDPFIS) mode. From the perspective of routing decisions, a new mixed-integer linear programming model based on the green vehicle routing problem is formulated to assist public transport operator’s complex decision-making. In the proposed model, vehicle capacity is fully utilized through a combination of passenger and freight demand so that optimal decisions are made about vehicle routing. Numerical experiments are designed and conducted based on realistic instances with the results indicating that: the DDPFIS mode enables effective integration of different demands, leading to high-level vehicle capacity utilization and cost reduction; and compared with two conventional models of vehicle routing problems, the proposed model achieves lower fuel consumption and cost for all problem sizes. In addition, some important management insights are provided, e.g., a greater proportion of integrated service nodes is not necessarily better; and it is more suitable to provide a service for rural residents who are relatively insensitive to time.     

FAILURE, UNCERTAINTY AND CONTROL: THE ROLE OF OPERATORS IN A COMPUTER INTEGRATED PRODUCTION SYSTEM

This article presents the findings of a case study which analyzed how new electronics and computing technology affected the role of process operators in a continuous process plant manufacturing pigments in Scotland. the first stage of the research was a participant observation study of the site over two years. Three years later, production managers and operators were interviewed, and an observation study was carried out over one full shift in the plant studied. the results demonstrate that the process operators required considerable skill, knowledge, experience and training to deal with process faults, cope with contingencies, and to control the process effectively. the operators reported that they found interest and challenge in the work. the impact of technical change on the quality of working life was, however, equivocal. the operators’ mobility was constrained, they were isolated from the rest of the plant, some messy manual tasks remained, and they were still dependent on the technical and chemical expertise of management and engineering staff to handle serious problems. Other operators were less enthusiastic about the work. Management expected the new systems to reduce human intervention and control. But the limitations of the computer controls and the high cost of error meant that effective production was more dependent on human presence and ability than in simpler batch production. Advances in computing technology may highlight the conflict between management desires to reduce human operator control and to design effective integrated production systems.     

A cost evaluation method for dynamic line balancing

A procedure is presented for calculating stochastic costs, which include operator (labor) and inventory costs, associated with dynamic line balancing. Dynamic line balancing, unlike the traditional methods of assembly and production line balancing, assigns operators to one or more operations, where each operation has a predetermined processing time and is defined as a group of identical parallel stations. Operator costs and inventory costs are stochastic because they are functions of the assignment process employed in balancing the line, which may vary throughout the balancing period, and the required flow rate. Earlier studies focused on the calculation of the required number of stations and demonstrated why the initial and final inventories at the different operations are balanced.The cost minimization method developed in the article can be used to evaluate and compare the assignment of operators to stations for various assignment heuristics. Operator costs and inventory costs are the components of the cost function. The operator costs are based on the operations to which operators are assigned and are calculated for the entire work week regardless of whether an operator is given only a partial assignment which results in idle time. It is assumed that there is no variation in station speeds, no learning curve effect for operators' performance times, and no limit on the number of operators available for assignment. The costs associated with work-in-process inventories are computed on a “value added” basis. There is no charge for finished goods inventory after the last operation or raw material before the first operation.The conditions which must be examined before using the cost evaluation method are yield, input requirements, operator requirements, scheduling requirements and output requirements. Yield reflects the output of good units at any operation. The input requirement accounts for units discarded or in need of reworking. The operator requirements define the calculation of operator-hours per hour, set the minimum number of operators at an operation, and require that the work is completed. The scheduling requirements ensure that operators are either working or idle at all times, and that no operator is assigned to more than one operation at any time. The calculation of the output reflects the yield, station speed, and work assignments at the last operation on the line.An application of the cost evaluation method is discussed in the final section of the article. Using a simple heuristic to assign operators, the conditions for yield, inputs, operators, scheduling, and output are satisfied. The costs are then calculated for operators and inventories.In conclusion, the cost evaluation method for dynamic balancing enables a manager to compare the costs of assigning operators to work stations. Using this method to calculate the operator and inventory costs, a number of different heuristics for assigning operators in dynamic balancing can be evaluated and compared for various configurations of the production line. The least cost solution procedure then can be applied to a real manufacturing situation with similar characteristics.     

在“创先争优”活动中的几点做法和思考

目前进行的"创先争优"活动是对科学发展观重要思想学习成果的进一步巩固和提高。在"创先争优"活动的实践中,结合自己的工作性质,笔者创新了一些做法,总结了一些经验,使日常工作开展的更加顺利,得心应手;通过实例,对出现的一些问题进行了分析和思考,给出了自己的观点,旨在提高工作效率,提升工作质量。