Hard Facts or Half-Truths? The Social and Economic Sustainability Impact of Flexible Work Practices in Organizations

Editorial

25 January 2023

Editorial: Hard facts or half-truths? The social and economic sustainability impact of flexible work practices in organizations

Emmanuel Aboagye

Beate Muschalla

Timo Lorenz

and

Aikaterini Grimani

1,802 views

0 citations

Editors

Emmanuel Aboagye

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Aikaterini Grimani

Warwick Business School, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warwick

Timo Lorenz

Medical School Berlin

Beate Muschalla

Technical University of Braunschweig

Impact

Systematic Review

21 December 2022

A systematic review of the research on telework and organizational economic performance indicators

Jean Claude Mutiganda

, 5 more and

Emmanuel Aboagye

Introduction: A systematic review is conducted in the study to investigate the relationship between telework and organizational economic performance indicators such as self-reported employee performance, organizational performance, actual employee turnover rates, or intentions.

Methods: The databases Scopus, Business Source Premier, and Web of Science were used to conduct a literature search. Original articles published from 2000 and up to May 2021 were selected. Studies were screened for inclusion independently by review pairs and data were extracted. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to evaluate the quality of the studies included.

Results: Forty-three studies were included with some addressing multiple outcomes. Self-reported performance was higher for teleworking employees compared to those working in the ordinary workplace. The extent of the change in performance was dependent on individual characteristics and the extent of the teleworking practice in the organization. Telework was also associated with increased organizational performance, particularly in homogenous samples with unique work tasks. When telework is voluntary, it appears that both actual employee turnover rates and intentions to leave the organization are lower.

Discussion: Further research with high-quality prospective designs is necessary to properly understand the contribution of telework to organizational economic performance indicators.

PRISMA flowchart of study selection process.

16,832 views

14 citations

Original Research

18 August 2022

Becoming a Distance Manager: Managerial Experiences, Perceived Organizational Support, and Job Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Christine Ipsen

, 2 more and

Maria Karanika-Murray

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic having radically changed the way we now work, many recent studies have focused on employees’ experiences and well-being, their performance and job satisfaction (JSA), and ways to ensure the best support for them when working from home (WFH). However, less attention has been given to managers’ experiences in adapting to the new role of distance management and supporting them with this transition. This study aims to explore how managers experienced distance management, and the perceived organizational support (POS), and the effect of organizational support has on their JSA during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from 1,016 line, middle and top managers in Danish workplaces were collected in March 2021, 1 year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and partial least square structural equation modeling to investigate the relation of perceived organizational support (POS) and the JSA of distance managers. Control variables were the respondents’ demographic characteristics, specifically gender, age, and management level. The study offers insights into the managerial experiences of becoming a distance manager, helps to understand the relationship between POS and managers’ JSA, and shows a positive relationship similarly for the managers as for employees. The study shows that most managers found their work as distance managers more demanding and worked more hours. The data demonstrate that managers received the most support from their own employees and manager peers, whereas administrative support was largely lacking. The data also show that the majority (67%) of the managers prefer to manage from the office, but similarly, they can continue managing from a distance if needed post-pandemic. The study adds to the literature on workplaces’ transitioning to distance management and hybrid work and contributes to understanding the role of POS and managers’ JSA during this transition. Consequently, if an organization aims to offer hybrid work, improving support from top management and in-house support functions would help maintain or increase managers’ JSA.

7,302 views

17 citations

Original Research

06 September 2022

Team idiosyncratic deals and team breakthrough innovation: Based on the perspective of input-process-output model

Zili Fan

, 3 more and

Ting Peng

3,273 views

2 citations

Original Research

09 May 2022

Future Teleworking Inclinations Post-COVID-19: Examining the Role of Teleworking Conditions and Perceived Productivity

Clara Weber

, 7 more and

Lukas Windlinger

Organisations have implemented intensive home-based teleworking in response to global COVID-19 lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions. Financial pressures are driving organisations to continue intensive teleworking after the pandemic. Understanding employees’ teleworking inclinations post COVID-19, and how these inclinations are influenced by different factors, is important to ensure any future, more permanent changes to teleworking policies are sustainable for both employees and organisations. This study, therefore, investigated the relationships between the context of home-based teleworking during the pandemic (pandemic-teleworking conditions), productivity perceptions during home-based teleworking, and employees’ future teleworking inclinations (FTI) beyond the pandemic. Specifically, the study examined whether pandemic-teleworking conditions related to the job, and the physical and social environments at home, influenced employees’ FTI, and if perceptions of improved or reduced productivity mediated these relationships. Data were collected during April and May 2020 with a cross-sectional online survey of teleworkers (n = 184) in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and other countries during the first COVID-19 lockdowns. Reported FTI were mixed. Most participants (61%) reported wanting to telework more post-pandemic compared to before the pandemic; however, 18% wanted to telework less. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that some teleworking conditions (job demands and work privacy fit) were positively associated with FTI. Other teleworking conditions (specifically, job change, job control, home office adequacy, and childcare) were not associated with FTI. Perceived changes in productivity mediated the relationship between work privacy fit and FTI. Findings highlight the role of work privacy fit and job demands in influencing pandemic productivity perceptions and teleworking inclinations post-pandemic. Results raise questions about the suitability and sustainability of home-based teleworking for all staff. As organisations plan to increase the proportion of teleworking post-pandemic, this study suggests there is a need to support employees who perceived their productivity to be poor while home-working during the pandemic.

9,246 views

25 citations

Open for submission