Successful Formula for Reengineering Organizations
(An Investigative Study of Telework for Public and Private Sector Organizations in the U A E)
Abstract
This research study identifies an underlining relationship of influencing factors, in the context of choice of teleworking inthe private and public sector organizationsin the UAE. The research reveals that gender, age, education, experience and organization levels are irrelevant and non-influencing factors for the choice of teleworking. The apparent importance of most identified implementers and inhibitors to the choice of teleworking in the UAE context are found almost similar among the respondents. An exception however, is made to the association between choice of teleworking and organizational type. Telework is the partial or total substitution of telecommunications technology. The study outlines the impact of teleworking among private and public sectors in United Arab Emirates. The outcome of this study will help the organizations with important insights to make decisions in adopting telework in United Arab Emirates organizations.
Introduction
Everything that was is no more.
All that will be is not yet.
– Alfred de Musset
As the saying goes the rapid advances being made in electronic communication and the proliferation of new technologies are changing how we work, and also where. Telework has become an important buzz word not only among IT professionals but also among other business sectors. It brings about a sea of changes in the work culture of many business settings. Though technology has brought massive changes to our personal lives, in some workplaces it often seems like we are living at least a decade (or more) behind the times. While devices like smart phones and laptops have made communication and technologiesmore mobile than ever, many workers especially in U.A.E still spend their days in big, crowded office buildings,stuffed in tiny cubicles, and after sitting in traffic for upwards of an hour or more in a daily shuttle. Some business firms in this country are on the fence about this new concept. To crown it all, teleworking culture seems to be an ideal solution for many social issues like time for family, growth of personality and traffic problems. But the organizations in this country go by this kind of innovative concept, we are sure to break the deadlock of many problems.
The overall aim of this research is to examine the status of telework implementation among private and public sectors in United Arab Emirates,the perception of employees and management about adopting teleworkculture. The term telework is not a new concept. The concept was developed in as early as in nineteen seventies and has grown to achieve an extraordinary level today. The top most developed countries such as United States of America has started adopting the concept of telework (e.g. IBM, the California government and Apple). In a survey conducted by the William Olsten Center for Workforce Strategies, it was found that more than half of all North American companies currently allow theiremployees to adopt telework in their organizations.
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Telework is also carried out in most of the Canadian organizations (e.g., Bank of Montreal, Bell Canada, British Columbia Hydro, British Columbia Telephone, Canadian Government, IBM Canada, National Bank, Purolator Courier and Royal Bank).
In the world of teleworkers, America has an increasing trend of teleworks due to its strong economics and multimedia services. Out of the top 10 countries, U.S is ranked number one; however, developing countries like China are also catching up with the trend of teleworking which gives great support to their business. An article in money.163.com states that the number of teleworkers in the Asia pacific region exceeds regions like America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The result from recent study by Stanford University found that working from home has increased the performance of workers by 13% and it is also found that job erosion had decreased by 50% among home workers, and it also shows improved level of job satisfaction among employees.
U.A.E firms need to find ways to increase organizational flexibility to adjust to the turbulent global market environment. Telework can be a viable option for U.A.E as a strategic tool to compete inthe global market. The outcome of this study will help the organizations with important insights to make decision in adopting telework in United Arab Emirates.
Review of Literature
Various authors and researchers have defined telework and have tried to establish their own, but no precise definition exists. Niles (1994) defines teleworking as “the partial or total substitution of telecommunications technologies, possibly with the aid of computers, for the commute to work”. The Telework Enhancement Act(2010) states that "the term 'telework' or 'teleworking' refers to a work flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities of such employee's position, and other authorized activities, from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work." Baruch (2001) explains, “Telecommuting as home-working, working-at-a-distance, off-site workers, or remote workers are all terms that are used to convey the idea that work is something you do, not someplace you go.”
Due to its various labels and definitions, a lack of clarity exists regarding many telecommuting issues, including an agreed-upon number of telecommuters in today’s workforce. In their study “Measuring the Impact of Workplace Flexibility,” the Boston College Center for Work & Family defined telecommuting as “a schedule in which employees conduct their work off-site for some portion of their core working hours.” The location of work may be the employee’s home, a satellite office, or some other location outside the traditional office space (e.g., while on the road or from a client site).Telecommuting can be defined as “a work arrangement in which employees perform their regular work at a site other than the ordinary workplace, supported by technological connections” (Fitzer, 1997). As there are various discrepancies in shaping the definition, we can conclude that IT is one of the major components which enable the process of teleworking in the organization. The literature on teleworking is extensive and has grown rapidly in recent years. The review is not by any means comprehensive. Relatively, we try to present a summary of some of the major published studies by renowned experts in the field, focusing to the greatest extent possible on teleworking concepts.
Purpose of Telework
Research by Colmar Brunton and Deloitte indicates that there is a lot of demand from the workforce for telework in the organizations. They found that more than 70% of people from remote areas who are not in the workforce would avail the benefit of telework and 66% of the disabled people would also take up telework. The research work by Amanda Jane Jose, identified a reinforcing relationship between industries, organizations and found job specific factors which influence organizations strategic use of telework. The study results from the 2013 Regus Global Economic indicator showed business managers worldwide work remotely for at least half their working week which is 48%. The study engaged over 26,000 business managers across 90 countries, with 55% of respondents stating that the effective management of remote workers is an attainable goal. They also found that trust and freedom play a key role which results in greater productivity, improved staff retention and lower operating costs. A study by Gajendran Harrison and Delaney-Klinger (2015) investigated the effects of computer generated work on employee job performance and citizenship behavior and they looked at the important aspects whether telecommuters are really dedicated and hard workers. The study built a theoretical framework that consisted of the job resources perspective, exchange theory and social processing model. The study results were based on a sample of employees and supervisors covering 100 organizations. The result concluded that telecommuting gives more advantages to the employers, and managers are suggested to view telecommuting as a perfect model to improve employee performance.
The report of National Study of the Changing Workforce states the “employees in managerial and professional occupations are much more likely that (62%) than employees in other occupations (22%) to use a computer at home for job-related work” (Bond, Thompson, Galinsky, &Prottas, 2002, p. 23). “Among wage and salary workers, those employed in education, training, and library occupations worked some of the largest percentages of their total weekly work hours at home (12 percent)” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009, p. 1).Telework is a tactical tool for promoting the development of employees whose optimal work situations don’t correspond to traditional hours or places of business. Telework should not be used as a rewarding system in the organization for strong performance; however, based on the performance of the organization we can decide whether teleworking is appropriate or not. The organization before deciding on the telework mode should encourage managers to identify whether it has the ability to the arrangement to retain and develop the employee.
Requirements for Telework Mode
In a study by the Stanford University came out with a research result which stated that employees working from home are more productive by 13% and 50 percent less to quit the jobs than their in office colleagues. According to the study from research firm Global Workplace Analytics, “If those with compatible jobs and a desire to work from home did so just half the time (roughly the national average for those who do so regularly) the national savings would total over $700 billion a year.”
Another research by Mohamed G. Aboelmaged and Abdullah M. Elamin constituted an empirical study of influencing factors, facilitators and inhibitors to the choice of teleworking mode in the UAE context.The research identified six distinct facilitators and seven inhibitors. The importance of most identified facilitators and inhibitors to the choice of teleworking mode in the UAE context were found almost similar among the respondents. Lister (2011) reviewed the total potential impact of telework in Canada, expressed as cost savings and benefits generated. These impacts were estimated based upon the assumption that a given number of employees telework two days per week. The number of employees that undertook telework was in turn based on the compatibility of telework to occupational roles. As such, in the whole-of Canada estimates, it was assumed that all those in telework compatible roles undertake telework two days per week. The results that favored employers are, increased employee productivity, real estate impacts and changes to the rates of absenteeism and staff retention. The benefit derived by employees included time savings and travel and work expenditure savings. The benefits derived by the community are energy savings and degradation of environment avoided, reduction in the rate of motor vehicle accidents and finally reduction in healthcare expenditure.
Policies such has the number of days an employee must be on the job before commencing telework should be clear. Nature of work is a very important factor which decides, for example, when face-to-face interaction is minimal telework can be computed. The employee must possess the appropriate equipment to allow the job to be performed away from the central worksite. Since the benefits of telework is great, all the organizations cannot go for adopting it rather they have to limit telework to employees who have certain level of knowledge and experience to encourage success.
Benefits of Telework:
“Employees in all work-from-home arrangement reported less emotional and physical fatigue than on-site workers” Richman, Noble, & Johnson, 2002, p. 25. “Regular tele-workers (46%) are less likely to respond that they are drained at the end of a work day than are on-site workers (58%)” Richman, Noble, & Johnson, 2002, p. 25. “Remote workers (54%) and regular tele-workers (45%) are the most satisfied with their work arrangements; about half of them report they are ‘very satisfied’” (Richman, Noble, & Johnson, 2002, p. 21). “Telework arrangements support employees who need a reasonable accommodation for a disability or have a temporary health problem. In 2002, there were 1,749 employees who fell into these two categories. In 2003 that number grew to 3,849 (an increase of more than 120%)” (Richman, Noble & Johnson, 2002).The telework may be used to reduce office costs, and reduce travel costs for employees who work in the field and to reduce parking space requirements and enhance opportunities for ‘shared’ office space. If clear communication exist between supervisor and employee, and between teleworker and the rest of the office, the benefits are for both employer, employee and for the society.
Research Objectives
The objectives of this research are:
1. To examine the status of telework implementation among private and public sector organizations in the United Arab Emirates.
2. To analyze the perception of employees and management about telework culture.
3. To identify the variables influencing the organization to practice telework.
Research Rationale
The rationale behind the study was that most of the teleworking literature reviewed has made clear that the research on teleworking has grown significantly and most studies are done with respect to western countries and research related to teleworking is a new concept in GCC countries especially in U.A.E. Though there are some researchers in the field of teleworking done in U.A.E. still there is very scarce empirical research about theperceptions and implementation of employees and management about the telework. As we all know is that UAE continue to work towards being globally competitive in both attracting talent and investment and technological advancements support such programs, the adoption of such policies will continue to increase, an extensive research on the proposed topic is essential. The outcome of this study will help the organizations with important insights to make best decisions in adopting telework in United Arab Emirates.
Research Methodology
Data analysis
Responses were coded with the help of SPSS spreadsheet for quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis was done with frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The qualitative analysis was done by Chi square test, ANOVA, and Reliability test.
Demographic description and analysis
Table 1: Profile of respondents (n=50)
Telework / Number of respondents (n) / Percentage (%) / Mean / Standard DeviationYes / 350 / 70 / 1.3 / 0.462
No / 150 / 30
Total / 500 / 100
Organization type / 1.74 / 0.443
Public / 370 / 74
Private / 130 / 26
Total / 500 / 100
Gender / 1.44 / 0.501
Male / 280 / 56
Female / 220 / 44
Total / 500 / 100
Age / 2.04 / 0.637
Less than 25 years / 90 / 18
25 to 34 years / 300 / 60
More than 35 years / 110 / 22
Total / 500 / 100
Education / 1.94 / 0.651
High school / 120 / 24
Graduate / 290 / 58
Post graduate / 90 / 18
Total / 500 / 100
Organizational Level / 2.4 / 0.571
First / 20 / 4
Middle / 260 / 52
Top / 220 / 44
Total / 500 / 100
Experience / 1.76 / 0.686
Less than 5 years / 190 / 38
5 to 9 years / 240 / 48
More than 10 years / 70 / 14
Total / 500 / 100
The descriptive statistics shows that out of 500 respondents, 350 (70%) agree that they telework for one or more days per week, while 150 (30%) do not agree to work for one or more days a week. 370 respondents (74%) work in public organization while 130 (26%) work in private organization. 56% of the respondents are male and 44% of the respondents are female. 60% of the respondents fall in the age category of 25 to 34 years, 18% fall in the age group of less than 25 years and the remaining 22% are more than 35 years of age. The education level reported by respondents showed that 24% have passed high school degree, 58% have graduated and 18% have got post graduate degree. According to experience, 190 respondents (38%) have less than 5 years of experience, 240 (48%) have 5 to 9 years of experience, and 70 (14%) have more than 10 years of experience.
It is observed that, majority of male respondents of age between 25 to 34 years, after graduation, prefer to telework in public organizations.
Qualitative test analysis
Hypothesis1: There is no significant relationship among employees teleworking in public / private organizations and demographic variables.
Chi square test analysis was done to assess the relation between teleworking in public and private organizations and the demographic variables such as gender, age, education, organization level, and experience.
Table 2 indicates that there is significant difference in the teleworking employees in public and private organizations where 270 (77.1%) agree to telework in public organizations, while 80 (22.9%) agree to telework in private organizations, 100 (66.7%) respondents disagree to telework in public, and 50 (33.3% disagree to telework in private organizations. The Chi square analysis indicates that there is no significant relationship between those who agree to telework in public and those who agree to telework in private organizations, since (X2 = 0.599, p˃0.05) and the variables are independent of each other.
There is a significant difference between the teleworking employees in public and private organizations based on their gender (X2 = 1.248, p˃0.05). It is clear from cross tabulation that males constitute majority of employees (56%) who selected to telework than female employees (44%). At the same time, there is a difference where 67.9% males chose in public teleworking compared to 32.1% in private teleworking organizations. In case of females, 81.8% chose teleworking in public and 18.2% in private teleworking. The Chi square analysis indicates that there is no association between gender and teleworking. Therefore majority of the males and females prefer teleworking in public organizations as compared to private organizations.
Majority of the employees between the age of 25 to 34 who telework in public organizations, constituting approximately 70% (21), while 90 (30%) employees telework in private organizations. 80 (88.9%) employees of age less than 25 years prefer to telework in public and only 11% prefer to telework in private organizations. At the same time, 72.7% employees of age more than 35 years prefer to telework in public organizations than27.3% employees. There is significant difference in the teleworking employees in public and private organizations based on age difference (X2 = 1.296, p˃0.05). It is clear from cross tabulation that the difference is not significant and there is no evidence of relationship between age and teleworking in public and private organizations. Therefore majority of the employees of all ages prefer teleworking in public organizations as compared to private organizations