10th European Conference of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) in cooperation with International Telework Academy (ITA),
20-22 June 2013, Amsterdam
Double Symposium 5.1A (block 6, Friday 21, 2013, 14:00-15:30) and 5.1B(block 7, Friday 21, 2013, 16:00-17:30):
Drivers and Consequences of New Ways to Work around the World
Symposium organizers: Pascale Peters, Radboud University, IMR, Netherlands
Sonia Boiarov, Chair of ITA-International Telework Academy/President of the Foundation Caminando Utopias, República Argentina
Karsten Gareis, Empirica, Germany
Conference Theme: HRM and Social Innovation
This symposium addresses the ‘HRM and social innovation’ theme by considering the implications of new ways to work that result, in part, from globalisation and technological advancement and workers’ new demands. The aim of this symposium is to look into the importance and effects of flexible and remote working practices for society, organizations and various employee or worker categories over a range of cross-national contexts. Growth in these types of working around the world is driven by a range of factors relating to public policy, organizational, and individual orientations. The change programs associated with implementing NWW may seek to enhance organisational efficiency by allowing employees more time-spatial flexibility to achieve the best results, while also improving employees’ work-life balance.
Unfortunately, organizations and employees may not always gain or perceive the full potential benefits from these new work practices. In fact, although positive effects can be achieved in some contexts, flexible organizational practices may not always be inherently favourable to the interests of employees.
This symposium comprises two parts. In the first part, the contributions reflect on factors driving and constraining new ways to work in three different regions in which flexible and remote working is reasonably novel. In the second part, the contributions on the (long-term) effects of new ways to work in contexts where flexible and virtual working have become more common are presented. The symposium concludes with a presentation of and discussion on a joint research plan on the use of new ways of (virtual) working and collaboration around the world.
Abstracts
Symposium 5.1.A (block 6, Friday June 21, 2013, 14:00-15:30):
Factors Driving and Constraining New Ways to Work
1) New balance of production factors in the Information Society
Sonia Boiarov, Chair of ITA-International Telework Academy/President of the Foundation Caminando Utopias, República Argentina
In the knowledge society, workers, as holders of intellectual capital, increasingly find opportunities to export their services in globalizing labour markets, enabled through the use of ICTs and the development of new ways of working, such as telework. Consequently, it has become more difficult for organizations to monopolize the knowledge of workers, as it is no longer clear who is the owner of ‘the product’ in the case of intangible goods, even in case workers have signed a formal labour contract. The empowerment that knowledge grants to workers entails the promise of a new balance in labour and employment relations. However, access to adequate education and technology is increasingly important. By shedding light on the technological and scientific developments shaping the Information Society, this paper reflects on the current struggle between the new and the old rights of workers and how current labour legislation may or may not follow the needs of new generations of workers in an increasingly flexible world of work.
2) Penetration of Telework into Organizations: Findings from Participant Observation in a Japanese Company
Yuka Sakamoto, Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University/ 2-1-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
Wendy Spinks, Tokyo Univeristy of Science
In recent years, many Japanese companies have adopted formal telework policies, as they are seen as important for business continuity and also as a way of providing work-life balance programs. However, take-up of these policies is relatively low. There are few home teleworkers in Japanese companies and those that do exist tend not to work at home very often. This study addresses barriers in Japanese companies for increasing substantive use of home-teleworking. Data was collected though participant observation in the HRM division and also through nine group interviews with home-teleworking users, their managers and colleagues. Narrative analysis revealed the kinds of manager knowledge that are effective for home-teleworking adoption. The authors describe the process of home-teleworking adoption in relation to the Innovation-Decision Process Model. They also show how communication channels have been used for increasing home-teleworking use.
3) Employer support to workers with informal care responsibilities, and the role of telework
Karsten Gareis, Empirica, Germany
This paper reports on the findings of a European research project on company measures for supporting reconciliation of employment with informal care. The study consisted of a review of the available research and practitioner literature, and primary research in the form of 51 case studies of companies with initiatives for supporting work-care reconciliation across 11 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
Symposium 5.1B (block 7, Friday June 21, 2013, 16:00-17:30)
Effects of New Ways to Work
1) Characteristics and long-term effects of management at a distance in two
Norwegian Public Organizations
Svein Bergum, Lillehammer University College, Norway
Most studies on management at a distance have looked at short term effects, made comparisons between management at a distance and “traditional management” and focus on consist of studies where this type of management is rather marginal. In this study we will look at:
- the long term effects on managers who have the majority of their employees at a geographical distance most of their working time, and
- work in an organization where the dominant form of management is to have a geographical distance between the manager and the employees.
The research question is related to what are the long term characteristics of management at a distance in organizations where telework is the dominant work arrangement? What actions have been taken to expand and implement management at a distance beyond the pilot? The empirical data is from two Norwegian public organizations: Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Norwegian Tax Administration. Both organizations reorganized about ten years ago; the number of locations have been reduced; and the use of ICT has increased, as well as the use of virtual teams and management at a distance. Results from the immediate effects on management have been presented in earlier research by Aspeli & Molstad (2010) related to Norwegian Tax Administration and by Bergum (2009) about Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Some interviews last fall with key persons from these two organizations tell us that telework and management at a distance is now “normalized” and completely diffused in these two organizations. Key informants tell us that internal employee surveys conclude that management at a distance is no big challenge in these two organizations any more. Some main reasons for these conclusions are that improvements in technologies for example use of videoconferencing or desk top video systems have taken place. Also managers are now used to this type of leadership, some of the younger managers are even not able to compare traditional management and virtual management. Moreover, some modifications of initial challenges in this work arrangement have been implemented, for example a reduction of managerial span of control.
In this study we want to find out more about the characteristics of management at a distance when this is fully diffused and is the normal way of leadership. As sub-questions we want to a) find out what are the differences in virtual management today compared to the situation around five years ago and b) to find out what actions and modifications have been taken after the full implementation ten years ago? c) why has management at a distance been a success in these two organizations?
2) Bounded Flexibility: The Influence of Time-Spatial Flexibility and Boundary Management Strategy on the Work-Life Balance of Women Workers
Pascale Peters, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Management Research, Netherlands
Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Management Research, Open Universiteit of the Netherlands, University of Twente, the Netherlands
Jeanet Van Loon, former master-student Radboud University Nijmegen
This study is concerned with women workers in their search for a better work-life balance. It was hypothesized that this can be established by means of work-related time-spatial flexibility and their boundary-management strategies. Moreover, it was hypothesized that setting strict boundary-management strategies is especially important in case of higher levels of time-spatial flexibility. Two types of boundary-management segmentation strategies were distinguished: preventing work to interrupt private life (WP segmentation) and preventing private life to interrupt work (PW segmentation). The Job Demands-Resources Model was used as the theoretical framework in our approach. Data were collected in 2011 by means of an e-questionnaire among employed and self-employed women (N=448) working for a work agency for virtual workers. In line with our hypotheses, multiple regression analyses showed that time-spatial flexibility has the potential to decrease both time and strain-based negative work-home interference, but not positive work-home interference. Moreover, setting strict boundaries (WP and PW segmentation) was found to be good strategies for all women workers in our study to reduce negative work-home interference, regardless the degree of time-spatial flexibility. However, these strategies did not affect positive work-home interference. It was concluded that as both flexibility and (WP and PW) segmentation seem to help women workers to improve their work-life balance, organizations and employees should aim to develop ‘bounded flexibility strategies’.
3) Using Dooyeweerd’s aspects to understand telework
Dr Diana Limburg
Senior Lecturer Information Management, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Abstract
Telework is a complex phenomenon that has many dimensions and can be understood in many different ways. Focusing too much on particular elements, for example business benefits, or individual risks, can lead to misunderstanding of its real implications and potentially cause harm. This interactive session will build towards a life-world understanding of telework in the round, using Dooyeweerd’s aspects.
The Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) developed an non-reductionist ontology of ‘model aspects’, which concerns the disclosure of the meaning of every existing thing. The aspects are ways of looking at the real world and provide a tool to reflect on it. The 15 aspects are: quantitative, spatial, kinematic, physical, biotic/organic, sensitive/psychic, analytical, formative, lingual, social, economic, aesthetic, juridical, ethical/attitudinal, and pistic/faith. Recently, scholars have been using this ontology in the Information Systems domain, to understand and frame major issues in the field. In this short paper, the 15 aspects in Dooyeweerd’s ontology will be used to investigate the diverse meaning of telework, as an example of new ways of working. The analysis will critically reflect on aspects that might have been ignored or neglected and will suggest implications for practice and academia.
The paper presentation will dynamically draw on the other papers in the session – as well as the audience’s views – to build further understanding and provide an integrative perspective.
4) Developing ideas for a Global Comparative Study of Virtual Methods of Collaboration
Coordination: Andrew Gaudes, Canada
Participants:
Dr. Andrew Gaudes, Canada (coordinator, not present)
Dr. Sonia Boiarov, Argentina
Dr. Svein Bergum, Norway
Karsten Gareis, Germany
Dr. Diana Limburg, United Kingdom
Dr. Pascale Peters, Netherlands
Dr. Yuka Sakamoto, Japan
Prof. Dr Wendy Spinks, Japan
The intent of the proposed global research project is to study the use of virtual methods of collaboration around the world, comparing regions with established practices to those that are in a more develpmental state in the Latin American and Caribbean regions (LAC). The study draws upon the prior work of the researchers, looking at questions that have been tested before, but in this project, the questions are broadened to a global scale. The main driver of the study is to determine what differences exist with people engaged in virtual methods of collaboration from different regions, and what adjustments may be made to the inputs/processes/outputs to reduce the differences. The results of the study will be reported first through an open forum of exchange where academics, practitioners, and policy-makers can attend. The results will then be disseminated to the academic community through peer-reviewed journals, and to practitioners and policy-makers through an electronically distributed document that provides recommendations to improving the effectiveness of virtual collaboration.
2