Company Incentives and Tools for Promoting Telecommuting

Abstract

ROBÈRT (MSc in engineering physics and Lic. of technology) is a researcher in urban planning, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. In his past research, he has focused on assessment of company travel policies and alternative mobility management services as tools toward a more sustainable transport system. In most studies, discrete choice modeling has served an essential role in the evaluation and analysis of individual preferences and attitudes regarding the mobility management alternatives. MARIA BÖRJESSON (MSc in engineering physics and Lic. of technology) is a researcher in transport and location analysis, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Her research interest lies in development of tools for analysis and forecasting with applications in infrastructure, planning and spatial and environmental policy evaluation, and discrete choice modeling in particular.ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is to identify company and employee benefits from telecommuting. Telecommuting implies that a large proportion of the company's office space is unoccupied. To use this efficiently, flexible offices could be introduced in which the employees do not have their own office but use any desk in an open office space. In addition, if telecommuting implies reductions in office space in which employees donate the use of their homes-rent free-to the employer, it is quite fair for the employer to consider returning some of that savings to the telecommuters in compensation for the use of their homes. The results indicate that employees are in fact sensitive to the monetary compensation and that company benefits could be obtained.

Beyond flexibility: reallocation of responsibilities in the case of telework

“…In conclusion, existing evidence (e.g. Fetzner, 2003; Illegems and Verbeke, 2004; Topi, 2004; Robért and Börjesson, 2006) leads us to suggest that in general, employers accept their responsibility to provide technical equipment and its installation. Given that many people in Estonia already have computer facilities and Internet access at home for personal use before embarking on a telework scenario, acquiring extra facilities may be unnecessary and compensation may be implemented instead.…”

“…Academic research in this field is scarce and these issues are usually not the focus. For example, Robért and Börjesson (2006) analysed the potential economic benefits of telework for Ericsson and mention in passing that a company‐sponsored laptop was a prerequisite for telecommuting in the company; at the same time, Ericsson did not help with the cost of a broadband connection in the homes of the teleworkers. Some authors (Taskin and Devos, 2005; Maruyama et al ., 2009) maintain that implementing flexible work is motivated by imposing employment costs on employees and their families.…”

Leader beliefs and CSR for employees: the case of telework provision

“…The second is the investment that the firm makes in information technology (IT) resources to enable employees to work from home. The telework literature emphasizes investments in equipment and software and continuous IT support as essential elements for smoother operations of remote work arrangements (Olson and Primps, 1984;Shin et al, 2000;Robert and Börjesson, 2006). We created a two-item composite scale to measure these two aspects of telework provision: (1) the proportion of organizational members who are permitted to telework from home and (2) the firm's investments in technologies and IT support to enable employees to work from home.…”

Organisational adoption of telecommuting: Evidence from a developing country

“…Studies on telecommuting have indicated that at 2009, the percentage of firms engaging teleworkers had within 4 years doubled from 25% in the year 2003 to 50% in the year 2007 (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, ). Many telecommunications companies, such as Ericsson, Siemens, Yahoo, Vattenfall, and Telia in an effort to reduce workspace, have implemented flexible offices (Boell, Cecez‐Kecmanovic, & Campbell, ; Robèrt & Börjesson, ). This telecommuting phenomenon is likely to grow higher in intensity given the increasing concern of workers with regard to their personal security, and also increasing rise in the prices of fuel on the employees' side and the need to reduce workspace on the employers' side.…”