Electronic Journal of Organizational Virtualness

7/26/2019 Electronic Journal of Organizational Virtualness

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Vol 5, No. 1

This paper is part of eJOV 5 (2003) 1

Electronic Journalof Organizational Virtualness

The whole issue can be downloaded at:http://www.virtual-organization.net/


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Editorial Board of this Issue

Carlos Bremer

Nucleus of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering School of So Carlos, University of SoPaulo, Brasil.

URL: http://producao.prod.eesc.sc.usp.br/producao/docbreme.htmE-Mail: [email protected]

Kevin Crowston

School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA.URL: http://florin.syr.edu/~crowston/E-Mail: [email protected]

Judith Gebauer

Fisher Center for Management and Information Technology, Haas School of Business,University of California, USA.URL: http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/~gebauer/

E-Mail: [email protected]

Chris Holland

Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, England.URL: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/html/E-Mail: [email protected]

Jose Jarillo

Hautes Etudes Commerciales, University of Geneva, Switzerland.URL:http://hec.info.unige.ch/professeurs/JARILLO_Carlos/pages_web/prof_jarillo_presentatio

n.htm


Twafik Jelassi

Euro-Arab Management School (EAMS), Spain.URL: http://www.eams.fundea.es/faculty/resident/Tawfik.htmE-Mail: [email protected]

Stefan Klein

Institute of Information Systems, University of Mnster, Germany.URL: http://www.wi.uni-muenster.de/wi/E-Mail: [email protected]

Athanassios Kourouklis

Department of Management and Marketing, University of Paisley, Scotland.URL: http://www-mmd.paisley.ac.uk/users/kour-em0/E-Mail: [email protected]

Helmut Krcmar

University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.URL: http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~www510h/E-Mail: [email protected]


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Marvin L. Manheim

J.L Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Management & Strategy Department,Northwestern University, USA.URL: http://www.kellogg.nwu.edu/faculty/bio/Manheim.htmE-Mail: [email protected]

Abbe MowshowitzDepartment of Computer Science, City College of New York and Graduate Center of theCity University of New York, USA.URL: http://www-cs.engr.ccny.cuny.edu/~abbe/


Jonathan Palmer

Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park, USA.URL: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dit/Faculty/palmer.htm

E-Mail:[email protected]

Simpson Poon

Associate Professor of E-Commerce, School of Information Technology, and Director,Centre for E-Commerce & Internet Studies, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.

URL: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~spoon/E-Mail: [email protected]

Arvind Rangaswamy

Professor of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University, USA.

URL: http://www.ebrc.psu.edu/E-Mail: [email protected]

Markku Sksjrvi

Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Information Systems Science,

Finland.URL: http://www.hkkk.fi/~iss/staff/msaaks.htmE-Mail: [email protected]

Marcus Schgel

Research Institute for Marketing and Distribution, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.URL: http://www.unisg.ch/fah/E-Mail: [email protected]

Thomas R. Shaw

Management Science and Information Systems Department, University of Texas atAustin, USA.URL: http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~bgcw757/vita.html


Pascal Sieber

Dr. Pascal Sieber & Partners AG, ps/ Ideen fr die vernetzte Welt, Switzerland.URL: http://www.pascal-sieber.ch/E-Mail: [email protected]

David Skyrme

David Skyrme Associates Limited, England.URL: http://www.skyrme.comE-Mail: [email protected]


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Dirk M. Swagerman

Faculty of Technology and Management, University of Twente, Enschede, TheNetherlands.E-Mail: [email protected]

Paula Swatman

Faculty of Informatics, University of Koblenz, Germany.URL: http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~swatmanp/E-Mail: paula.swatman@uni-koblenz .de

Jrg Sydow

Institut fr Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Freie Universitt Berlin, Germany.URL: http://www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/w3/w3sydow/E-Mail:[email protected]

Bob Travica

School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, USA.URL: http://php.indiana.edu/~btravica/btravica.html


N. Venkatraman

Information Systems Department, Boston University - School of Management, USA.URL: http://SMGnet.bu.edu/fac/profile.cfm?key=VenkatramanN.E-Mail: [email protected]

Harald von Kortzfleisch

Fachgebiet Wirtschaftsinformatik, Universitt Gesamthochschule Kassel, Germany.URL: http://www.inf.wirtschaft.uni-kassel.deE-Mail: [email protected]

Mary Beth Watson-ManheimCollege of Business Administration, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA.URL: http://www.uic.edu/~mbwm/ E-Mail: [email protected]

Rolf T. Wigand

Center for Science & Technology, Syracuse University - School of Information Studies,USA.URL: http://istweb.syr.edu/~wigand/


Udo Winand

Fachgebiet Wirtschaftsinformatik, Universitt Gesamthochschule Kassel, Germany.

URL: http://www.inf.wirtschaft.uni-kassel.de/E-Mail: [email protected]


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1

IMPLICATIONS OF TELEWORK FOR ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN:

RESEARCH PROPOSALS FROM THE VIRTUAL WORK PERSPECTIVE

Verano Tacoronte, Domingo

[email protected]

Melin Alzola, [email protected]

Fernndez Monroy, [email protected]

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)

ABSTRACT

New economy raises new ways to understand how value is created and howemployees contribute to this aim. In this sense, some academic and professionalresearchers direct their efforts to study telework, trying to know its implications andresults -among them, its impact on the way to manage and organise firms-. Teleworkrepresents a new kind of relation between the employee and the firm. It implies, onone hand, the recognition of employees abilities and, on the other hand, the use ofinformation and comunication technologies to aim the global organisational goals.

As telework is a way of understanding both individual and group work, our basicproposal is that telework results in meaningful changes in organisational design.Because of this, and after an academic and professional literature review, our studycontributes to developing a theoretical framework of telework implications in all thesevariables.

Keywords: telework, organisational design, virtual work, virtual organisation.

1. INTRODUCTION

In modern society, individuals and organisations alike are faced with an environment

characterised by a high level of uncertainty about the economic, social, political, legal,

environmental and technological variables. That makes it necessary to talk about (1) the

economic changes taking place on a global level and affecting the functioning of any

organisation; (2) the variability of the consumers needs and demands, and of competitors

behavior, which requires constant monitoring by the companies; (3) a growing sensitivity to

protecting the environment, requiring organisations to be more concerned about looking after

the environment; and (4) technological development, such as production technology and

information and communication technologies (ICT), which can affect the way in which work is


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done within an organisation One of the main consequences and, in turn, one of the solutions

in this new context is the virtualisation of companies, which produces more flexible, efficient

and innovative structures.

One of the changes affecting organisational functioning stands out, that of the development

of new forms of work, with telework constituting the most important example. The intention of

this paper is to build up a theoretical framework for studying the cause-effect relationships

between telework and organisational design parameters, adopting Mintzbergs model (1979)

and reviewing academical and professional telework literature. As a result of this, we put

forward a set of theoretical propositions. Our work represents a conceptual and theoretical

approach, although the expressed propositions could be tested as hypotheses in future

empirical research.

In the next sections, after analysing the main characteristics of organisations in the virtual

context, we will review the conceptualisation of telework, study the various modes of telework

and examine its advantages and limitations. Then we will address the influence of telework

on the organisational design variables, a key issue to the achievement of business

objectives. The article finishes by setting out the main conclusions that may orient future

research.

2. ORGANISATIONS IN THE VIRTUAL CONTEXT

Skyrme (1998) proposes a series of overall trends that lead towards increased

virtualisation: (1) products (goods and/or services) are increasingly based on information

and knowledge, in such a way that their sale and even their delivery are carried out by virtual

means; (2) the Internet revolution, which has meant, and still means, redefining businesses;

(3) networking and the interdependence, that have led to new forms of organisation andcollaboration; and (4) globalisation of markets and resources, which has given organisations

access to the world market, irrespective of their physical location. Consequently, that author

identifies different types of virtuality: virtual products, telework, virtual offices, virtual teams,

virtual organisations and virtual communities. The factor common to all those virtual

operations is the use of ICT, which permits geographically widespread activities to be carried

out, more dynamic organisational structures, new ways of relating to clients and the market,

as well as new ways for the employees to work.


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Organisations must have more flexible structures at their disposal that enable them to

increase their capability to adapt and respond quickly to the changing conditions of their

environment, thus maintaining, or even strengthening their competitive position. Those more

flexible structures can be achieved by separating the companys activities so that they are

developed outside the organisational borders. In that way, there is an attempt to break the

traditional value chain, by dividing its activities and carrying them out externally. This gives

rise to the concept of the virtual organisation (Davidow and Malone, 1992), also called

intelligent or knowledge-based company (Quinn, 1992) or imaginary organisation (Hedberg

et al., 1997) among others. Venkatraman and Henderson (1996) defined virtuality as the

organisations ability to acquire and maintain the basic competences by designing value-

adding business processes in order to stand out in the market for its better performance.The

organisation obtains the non-critical competences from outside, from other companies

included in the virtual organisation.

In those organisations, the managers main concern is to develop and protect the resources

and capabilities that give the company long-term sustainable advantage. Those resources

would permit the organisations to identify, recognise and assume the organisational activities

and processes that the company is capable of carrying out more efficiently (e.g., Quinn,

1992; Bueno, 1996; De la Fuente et al., 1997; Hedberg et al., 1997), eliminating those others

that produce excessive costs or make the organisational structure too rigid and inflexible to

respond to changes in the environment. Then, the company will be prepared to carry out the

basic activities and seek other organisations to carry out other tasks (Davidow and Malone,

1992). In that way, there will be a development of a temporary network of independent

companies suppliers, customers, even erstwhile rivals- linked by information technology to

share skills, costs, and access to one anothers markets (Byrne et al., 1993:37).

In general terms, and despite the literatures different interpretations of the concept of virtual

organisation, it can be said that this structure shows the following characteristics (Jgers etal., 1998):

- Crossing organisational frontiers. Continuous changes taking place in the environment

require organisations to be sufficiently flexible to respond quickly. That flexibility can be

guaranteed through the co-operation of many specialists that make their distinctive

capabilities available to the others.

- Complementary distinctive capabilities and shared resources. Participants in a virtual

organisation complement one another, since each contributes the activity that it carries


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out most efficiently, making it possible to deliver a product or finish a project, thanks to

co-operation.

- Geographical dispersion. The physical location of the work is not a critical factor, since

communication between organisations making up the network is carried out by means of

ICT.

- Changing participants. Members of a virtual organisation can vary over a period of time.

- Equality among the participants. Each member of the network plays an established role

and contributes to the product development, so the efforts of each must be considered.

In that sense, it is essential to strengthen the culture based on trust.

- Electronic communication. For virtual organisations to function adequately, it is

necessary for them to turn to ICT, since that will allow geographically disperse units or

organisations to co-ordinate.

The basic unit of virtual organisations is the virtual team (Jarvenpaa and Shaw, 1998). From

the organisational point of view, and given the complexity of todays environment, the

creation of work teams means an efficient alternative to achieve the flexibility and efficiency

that managers seek after. However, and considering recent technological advances, it is not

necessary for the team members to be located at one site. They can become a virtual team,

in other words, a team with a common purpose and that uses technology to travel across

time, distance and organisational frontiers (Lipnack and Stamps, 1999). However, as those

authors state, the success of virtual teams depends more on people than on technology.

In that sense, Lipnack and Stamps (1999) consider that the model of virtual team must be

based on three principles: purpose, people and connections. Purpose, important in any

organisation, becomes a key factor in virtual organisations and teams, since it is the glue

that holds them together. In fact, it requires the establishment of co-operative objectives,

individual tasks and specific results. Nevertheless, people make up the heart of the virtual

team. One of the most stressed aspects is their high degree of independence or autonomy,while the need for interdependence and collaboration is also recognised. Connections

between the team members are critical and must be able to be made both by face-to-face

interactions and through ICT. Moreover, the results of Eggerts (2001) work suggest that

physical presence is not decisive in the achievement of successful collaboration, and that

there is no difference between a situation where people speak face-to-face in the same

location and one where they see one another on a video screen. The basic issue is,

therefore, that those interactions result in trust-based relationships.


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Then, the creation of a special culture figures as a key factor in virtual organisations and

teams (e.g., Davidow and Malone, 1992; Handy, 1995; Hedberg et al., 1997; Zimmermann,

1997) and makes possible the co-ordination of people whose actions cannot be directly

observed. That culture is founded on trust, responsibility, common values and openness.

Trust building is a very important mechanism to unite the participants in the organisation or

virtual team in such a way that management must be based more on trust than on control

(Handy, 1995; Davenport and Pearlson, 1998). Therefore, we are talking about developing a

high-trust culture, in a way that each participant has to be someone who deserves the others

trust, and who, at the same time, trusts his collaborators (Hedberg and Olve, 1997). As these

two authors state, surveys, information bulletins, employees meetings, or relationships on the

intranet or Internet can be used to build trust, which proves that the use of modern ICT in a

virtual work environment is essential.

However, apart from the need for a culture of trust, constant stimulation of the relationship is

also required in an attempt to boost the feeling of belonging, by means of ideologies,

traditions and beliefs shared by the members (Hedberg et al., 1997). A shared mission plays

an important role in the control or co-ordination of a collaborative relationship, since it can

avoid opportunist behavior by the various participants, align the individual objectives (of each

company participating in the virtual organisation) with the organisational objectives, and

increase the social cohesion of the network (Van Aken et al., 1998). That same idea could be

applied to the concept of the virtual team.

Until now, the concepts of the virtual organisation and team have been approached as

structures that permit the achievement of the flexibility and efficiency so necessary in such a

dynamic and complex environment as todays. The high degree of ICT development has

contributed to the appearance of new organisation forms with the necessary requirements to

enable them to compete in the market, specifically by means of virtual collaboration. Daniels

et al. (2001) consider that companies characterised by having virtual structures are morelikely to adopt telework. In turn, Pratt (2000) considers telework as the precursor of working

in an organisation with no frontiers, also stating that virtual teams represent an extreme

example of distance working. That gives rise to a broader concept, virtual work, which Fritz

and Manheim (1998) define as the interdependent work activities carried out by individuals

working in different physical locations. So, virtual work offers a strategic approach to how

technology facilitates changes in work by sharing knowledge and skills across traditional

organisational barriers (Jackson, 1999).


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As Kurland and Bailey (1999) state, all forms of telework have in common the transition from

personal supervision to remote management, from face-to-face communication to

communication through technology, from work in the physical location of the company to

work outside its boundaries (even in multiple locations), and, in the case of team work, from

side-by-side collaboration to virtual teamwork. Consequently, given the important

repercussions that distance working has on the company and, in turn, on its organisational

design, the following section will analyse the concept of telework in greater detail.

3. TELEWORK: CONCEPT AND SCOPE

The definition of telework has changed with time to include different forms of working that

have common elements while reflecting important differences. The most traditional

definitions described telework as the working activity carried out outside the traditional office,

basically taken to mean working at home (Nilles, 1998) and not necessarily implying the use

of ICT (Mokhtarian, 1991; Nilles, 1998). The more up-to-date definitions include the various

places, apart from the traditional office, where work can be done, and defend the intensive

use of ICT (Daniels et al., 2001). However, it is no easy task to offer a definition of telework,

due to the lack of agreement among existing definitions. That aspect, which will be dealt with

later, needs some brief comments about the commonly accepted telework types and the

main advantages and disadvantages of this flexible work formula mentioned in the literature.

Telework categories

Despite the above-mentioned difficulties of conceptualisation, and in order to focus the

discussion on telework and its place in the virtual organisation, the main types are

mentioned, since a certain consensus has been found in the literature consulted (Mokhtarian,1991; Gray et al., 1993; Huws, 1995; Davenport and Pearlson, 1998; Kurland and Bailey,

1999; Gray, 2001).

- Home workers. This term includes employees who work full-time at home and only visit

the office to collect and hand in material or to attend meetings, as well as those

employees who combine part-time work at home with working at the office.

- Mobile workers. These workers have no fixed location and work on planes, at home, in

the car, in hotels, etc.


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- Telework centres. The work is not carried out in the companys own offices, but in an

agreed physical location where workers use their own material or share it with other

teleworkers by means of shift-work. Within this group, the following can be found:

o Satellite offices. These move the workplace closer to the workers homes, thus saving

travelling and other costs.

o Telematic offices. These are centres equipped with a suitable tele-infrastructure

shared by various companies; thus reducing investment in wholly owned equipment.

o Telematic work centres. Centres that offer the tele-infrastructure and staff to assist,

making it possible for them to cover the services that companies ask for.

Advantages and limitations of telework

The analysis of business reality reflects the growing number of companies that are adopting

telework as a work formula (Skyrme, 1998; Johnston and Nolan, 2000). The advantages that

telework offers to companies can be summed up as follows: (1) increasing worker

productivity because employees experience greater schedule flexibility and autonomy,

allowing them to work during the times they work best (Kurland and Egan, 1999; Doherty et

al., 2000); (2) teleworking enables organisations to cut costs related to office space, as well

as to address space constraints; (3) allowing organisations to recruit people who would

otherwise be unable to work in the organisation (Baruch, 2000); and (4) telecommuting

benefits society because employees commute less, which reduces traffic congestion and air

pollution (Mokhtarian, 1991).

However, having set out the advantages, there are some objections to the formula. In that

respect, Davenport and Pearlson (1998) stress the difficulty in measuring the companys

productivity and identifying the factors that really affect it. They believe that there may be

changes in management systems that generate higher productivity that cannot be attributed

exclusively to telework. Moreover, there is a tendency to measure the more quantifiableaspects and neglect the less tangible aspects, such as informal training, which could lead to

high, unrealistic productivity rates. For example, telework may cause a reduction in shared

tacit knowledge (Davenport and Pearlson, 1998), which could lower the productivity rate.

Along those lines, Shin et al. (2000) point out that the traditional concept of productivity, as a

ratio of input-output quantities, may not be suitable for measuring work based on knowledge,

due to quantifying difficulties.

Regarding the reduction in costs, although telework does need less investment, especially inoffices, its execution requires a series of resources (e.g., physical space taken up in


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teleworkers homes, investment in ICT resources and tools), although some of those costs

are assumed by the teleworkers themselves (Shin et al., 2000).

In addition, telework can be detrimental to the teleworkers, insofar as it isolates them socially

or professionally (Davenport and Pearlson, 1998; Kurland and Bailey, 1999; Kurland and

Egan, 1999). Social isolation would basically affect those teleworkers working full-time at

home, while professional isolation, or the limited possibilities of professional promotion within

the company, affects all types of teleworker. The solution put forward to that problem is to

stimulate internal communication with the aim of increasing informal communication and

keeping the teleworkers present in the organisation by having them to attend the traditional

work place with a certain regularity, so that they do not lose touch.

The problem of telework conceptualisation

Having shown the main characteristics of telework, it is necessary to go in depth into the

problems extensively reflected in the literature on telework conceptualisation. The definition

of telework as a generally accepted concept does not exist, since, as new possibilities arise

from technological advance, the concept irreversibly evolves. The appearance of new forms

of telework based on the use of ICT has caused different approaches to be used at each

moment to conceptualise telework, so academics and professionals have not reached an

agreed definition (Gray et al., 1993; Huws, 1995; Helling, 2000; Pratt, 2000; Daniels et al.,

2001). That situation has made not only research extremely difficult, but also the comparison

of telework in various countries, as well as the evolution of this work method over time. As an

example, two of the definitions considered the most complete are offered. Gray et al.

(1993:73) define telework as a flexible way of working which covers a wide range of work

activities, all of which entail working remotely from an employer or from a traditional place of

work, for a significant proportion of work time. Teleworking may be either on a full-time or

part-time basis. The work often involves electronic processing of information, and alwaysinvolves using telecommunications to set the remote employer and employee in contact with

each other. Padilla (1998:33) considers it a work system in which the worker can work

where and when he/she wishes by means of ICT. Telework means places of work other than

the usual ones, remote supervision, an information-based activity, intra- and extra-

organisational electronic communication, and intensive use of ICT.

Therefore, the debate on what telework is or is not continues. The main points of argument

are as follows: (1) the inclusion of working in telecentres as a telework category, since theseare very similar to traditional branches (Gray, 2001); (2) the consideration or not of


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complementary work related to the occasional use of a computer at home, outside traditional

office working hours and for short periods (e.g., less than one day a week or as overtime) as

telework (Huws, 1995; Johnston and Botterman, 1998; Nilles, 1998; Johnston and Nolan

2000; Gray, 2001); (3) tacit telework, that is, not recognised in any contract, nor explicitly

permitted by the organisation employing the worker (Johnston and Botterman, 1998;

Johnston and Nolan, 2000); (4) the consideration of free-lance or self-employed as

teleworkers, on the one hand, because it cannot be said that it is a new form of employment,

since the same occurs with staff such as salespeople who have always been mobile

(Johnson, 1997; Gray, 2001); and on the other hand, because of the lower degree of

company control and organisation of their work, which would imply that the teleworker should

be contracted as an employee (Doherty et al., 2000; Gray, 2001); and (5) the need to use

ICT for the activity to be considered telework (Mokhtarian, 1991), although in that aspect the

position appears to be clearer, insofar as the majority of the most relevant authors consulted

consider that the use of ICT is a prerequisite of the concept of telework. Helling (2000)

believes that for an activity to require the factor use of ICT before being considered

telework is redundant since most de-located jobs are possible due to the very existence of

ICT.

The solution to the problem of conceptualising telework and clarifying it demands different

requisites. One of them would be maximum transparency in the operativisation of the work

activity studied (Johnston and Botterman, 1998; Johnston and Nolan, 2000), which makes it

easier for researchers to know exactly which category of telework they are studying. Another

recommendation would be to centre the study on only one type of telework, specifying its

characteristics and avoiding over-generic definitions, which are necessarily inclusive and do

not allow the analysis of the reality of every category (Huws, 1995; Gray, 2001). Lastly, other

authors, with Huws (1995) and Daniels et al. (2001) standing out, recommend the use of

factors common to telework in all its definitions.

4. IMPLICATIONS OF TELEWORK FOR ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN

As previously mentioned, todays organisations are operating in a continuously changing

environment. That means the search for new forms of organisation that enable rapid

response to those changes. The function of organising means the design of the most suitable

organisational structure to achieve the established objectives efficiently and effectively. The

structure of the organisation is built by means of organisational design, that is, pushing the

buttonsthat influence the division of work and the co-ordination mechanisms, which in turnaffect the way an organisation functions, in terms of authority flows, information and decision


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processes (Mintzberg, 1979). Consequently, the definition of structure comprises

differentiation, which means dividing the work to be done into a set of tasks, and integration,

which refers to the co-ordination of those tasks in order to achieve the objectives established

(Hodge et al., 1998). However, to achieve an efficient design, it is necessary to analyse the

contextual factors affecting organisations. This analysis will reveal the contingency variables,

such as the environment, technology and the size and age of the organisation itself, among

others, and, in that way, the structure fitting those characteristics will be selected.

In generic terms, organisational structures fall into one of the following classifications:

mechanistic structures or organic structures. Mechanistic structures are characterised by the

bureaucratisation of its activities and the tendency to seek stable, efficient designs. On the

other hand, organic structures represent dynamic designs that are prone to change and that

sacrifice stability for organisational flexibility. Distinguishing characteristics of each structure

obey the variables shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Characteristics of the mechanistic and organic structure

Source: Adapted from De la Fuente et al. (1997), Hall (1991), Hodge et al. (1998)MECHANISTIC STRUCTURES ORGANIC STRUCTURES

- High functional specialisation.- High formalisation. Strong dependence on

rules.

- Extremely hierarchical structures ofcommunication and control.- Appropriate model in stable environments.

- Great importance of knowledge andexperience to carry out the tasks.

- Continuous adjustment and redefinition of

tasks.- Network structure of communication and

control.- Appropriate model in dynamic

environments.

From the above classification, it can be said that present structures must seek the most

suitable organisational form in order to face the new enviromental determinants (e.g., the

revolution in communications and information systems, market globalisation, greater

competition, more demanding consumers). In other words, companies need to change their

organisational structures, eliminating the traditional pyramidal model, removing many of the

hierarchical levels, seeking more flexible forms, with more ability to adapt and learn, and with

new strategies enabling the companies to adapt to the new environment, and even prompt it

(Padilla, 2001). Telework is not suitable for companies with very centralised decision making

and underformalised job appraisal (Shin et al., 2000). In effect, as previously mentioned,

many authors relate telework to the so-called virtual organisations. One key argument is that

virtual structures give greater access to organisational skills and flexibility to face dynamic,

complex environments. To be coherent with that idea, companies that adopt those structuresare more likely to adopt telework. The line to follow will be to favour knowledge-intensive


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telework, remote co-ordination of highly qualified groups of workers, and in extreme cases,

dismantle the organisation until the project has been completed (Daniels et al., 2001). In this

work proposals for research based on that type of telework are developed.

Once the greater potential of telework is accepted in the heart of virtual, organic companies,

one key area of interest is seen to be the influence of telework in defining the design of

parameters in those structures, that is, how remote work affects the structural configuration.

This obliges the management to take a stance in each one of the design parameters (see

Figure 2) in an attempt to find the organisational structure that best meets the demands to be

faced.

Figure 2. The design parameters

Source: Adapted from Mintzberg (1979)GROUP DESIGN PARAMETER

Job design Horizontal and vertical specialisationBehavior formalisationTraining and indoctrination

Superstructure design Grouping of unitsUnit size

Design of lateral linkages Planning and control systemsLinking mechanisms

Design of decision making system Decentralisation

From the joint analysis of the implications of telework on the organisational design variables

appears a series of basic premises applicable to knowledge-intensive telework that also

requires a high degree of autonomy in decision making and work planning by the

teleworkers. Given the variety of existing telework types, it is accepted that those proposals

are of a generic nature, so they may be subject to review, even more so when telework may

be applied to one part of the organisation (activity, task or process) and not to all its levels.

Vertical specialisation

One objective of telework is to make the tasks flexible so that the employee has the

autonomy necessary to achieve his/her objectives within the limits set by the organisation. In

that way, vertical specialisation of job positions decreases, with the consequent increase in

employee autonomy, since, as some authors (e.g., Davenport and Pearlson, 1998; Kurland

and Egan, 1999) point out, the worker has greater planning flexibility and power. Thus, the

teleworker acquires the capability to organise him/herself to his/her convenience in order to


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carry out the task at his/her best, adapting the timetable and work rhythm to personal

preferences.

That capability to decide when to do the work matches what is known in organisational

design as job enrichment, meaning the jobs are designed to increase responsibility,

recognition, and opportunities for growth and achievement (Daft, 1998), by giving greater

autonomy to the employee. Faced with that situation, it is necessary to warn that only

individuals capable of achieving the set objectives without close supervision and who act with

strong self-discipline and self-motivation are ideal candidates to participate in a telework

program (Apgar, 1998). However, self-discipline and self-motivation in their highest degree

may lead to the teleworker not being able to draw a clear line between private and

professional life, which in turn may lead to exceeding the necessary working hours (Ellison,

1999; Shin et al., 2000).

However, the underlying logic of the teleworker autonomy is that this mode basically includes

workers with a solid knowledge base (Davenport and Pearlson, 1998; Daniels et al., 2001).

At this point, it should be pointed out that one of the reasons for reducing vertical

specialisation is that, faced with the need to take decisions in the job, the individual has the

necessary training. If the company can define the development of the tasks a priori, it will do

so, but in cases where the tasks are complex and unpredictable, it will leave decisions to the

discretion of the trained worker (Mintzberg, 1979). Various authors (e.g.,Handy, 1995; Fritz

and Manheim, 1998; Jarvenpaa and Shaw, 1998; Lipnack and Stamps, 1999) support that

idea since, once the management have defined the objective to be achieved, and trusting in

the competence of the virtual teams and organisations members, the individual or the team

can be left to get on with that goal, having the capability to solve their own problems,

although it is important that the individuals be interdependent. So, it can be considered that,

in many cases, teleworkers are usually professionals who perform complex tasks, with the

product either not defined or not clearly defined, and with supervisors that cannot programthe employees work at all (Daniels et al., 2001). In other words, a large part of telework

involves handling autonomies, knowledge, complexity and diversity, therefore there will be a

tendency to reduce vertical specialisation.

Proposition 1: The use of telework leads to a reduction of vertical specialisation of the

jobs within an organisation.


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Horizontal specialisation

Davenport and Pearlson (1998) indicate that one of the reasons why a company may decide

to operate in a virtual environment (e.g., virtual offices) stems from the process

reengineering. According to Hammer and Champy (1993), reengineering involves radical

rethinking and redesign of business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in

their performance (e.g., cost, quality, service, speed). That emerging organisational aspect

implies the restructuring of the activities to be developed in the company in such a way that it

evolves from the comprehensive division of labor involving high horizontal work

specialisation, towards a regrouping of the most interdependent tasks and their assignation

to a specific job, meaning a reduction in horizontal specialisation. As Davenport and

Pearlson (1998) explain, by redesigning the process of handling orders, for example in a way

that the company sales staff can fix a product, its price and the form of delivery while in the

actual clients office, there will be less need for physical contact between the salesperson

and the manufacturing, financial and logistic staff. For success, nevertheless, Handy (1995)

considers that reengineering must be built on trust.

All that contributes to reducing the importance of assigning specific tasks to the worker if it

improves individual and group performance, which means that horizontal specialisation of the

job position is relatively low. In certain circumstances, nevertheless, telework can be used to

carry out non-knowledge-intensive activities (e.g., Davenport et al., 1996; Daniels et al.,

2001), which are characterised by being routine, isolated and low autonomy tasks. However,

based on the premises that process reengineering is an emerging aspect of organisational

design, that telework is a method that facilitates organisational structuring in a virtual

environment and that the resulting designs offer greater organisational flexibility in a

dynamic, complex environment, the original notion that telework contributes to reducing the

horizontal specialisation of job positions is still valid.

Proposition 2: The use of telework leads to a reduction in the horizontal specialisation

of the jobs within an organisation.

Formalisation and training

The review of the literature on telework in its widest sense shows that individuals need

certain skills in order to be more effective in a virtual work environment (e.g., Apgar, 1998;

Davenport and Pearlson, 1998; Fritz and Manheim, 1998; Manheim and Watson-Manheim,1999). To be specific, Fritz and Manheim (1998:125) state that the development of the skills


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of individuals and overall management of people in any virtual work environment appears to

be crucial to effective performance.

In an analysis of the human dimension of virtual work, it is important to stress the need to

train the employee to be able to work with every possible means of telecommunication, for

example in the use of e-mail, distribution lists and Groupware (Skyrme, 1998). Moreover,

Davenport and Pearlson (1998) explain that companies that adopt virtual work must offer

programs for training in strategies of personal work in a virtual office environment. Those

training programs must be aimed both at teleworkers (e.g., how to work at home without

interruptions, to plan in advance the best location to work on determined days, to maintain

adequate communication with co-workers and supervisors) and managers. So, training must

not only include teleworkers, but also their bosses, and even their non-teleworking

colleagues. Supervisors must learn a new way of relating to their collaborators, new means

of communication and a necessarily different system of appraisal and motivation, that is, they

must learn to manage and appraise the employees by remote means (Davenport and

Pearlson, 1998; Skyrme, 1998). Furthermore, non-teleworking colleagues must be kept up to

date in ways of communication, and above all, they have to be convinced of the legitimacy of

telework as a work option. As Shin et al. (2000) state, there is a potential danger for

teleworkers in the belief that telework is a luxury and not a distinct work option with its own

problems and benefits.

Since the introduction of telework into the company represents a significant change in the

way of working, the traditional schemesmust be modified. Success formulas in traditional

work do not easily adapt to telework. Therefore, it can be said that not all good workers have

to be good teleworkers, nor are all good managers prepared to manage a team with

teleworkers, hence the importance of training all those participating and all those involved.

It is also necessary to mention the importance of training in their performance because of thehigh autonomy required to achieve the objectives, as previously mentioned. As Davenport

and Pearlson (1998:60) state, virtual office work is particularly well-suited to processes

performed by autonomous knowledge workers.

Lastly, and referring to the parameter of formalisation, it can also be said that the

organisations need to design jobs with a high degree of autonomy in decision making and in

planning knowledge-intensive work makes the standardisation of tasks very complex and

even unviable. The behavior formalisation leads to vertical specialisation of the job positions


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(Mintzberg, 1979) and since, as previously argued, that specialisation must be low,

formalisation must also be low.

Proposition 3: The use of telework requires high levels of on-going training for

teleworkers and non-teleworkers.

Proposition 4: The use of telework requires low behavior formalisation.

Indoctrination

In line with Mintzberg (1979), indoctrination is of great importance when the work is delicate

or remote and when the organisations culture and ideology require strong commitment.

Therefore, Davenport and Pearlson (1998) state that, as offices are places in which to be

socialised in the organisations culture, telework generates an opportunity cost because the

company loses that potential for indoctrination. In the words of Johnston and Botterman

(1998), isolation, both social and professional, is one of the main disadvantages of remote

work. In adition, Daniels et al. (2001) show the need to analyse the social implications of

telework by studying variables such as required intra-organisational contact, extra-

organisational contact, or client contact, and other factors.

Along the same lines, many authors (e.g., Apgar, 1998; Kurland and Bailey, 1999; Kurland

and Egan, 1999) warn of the danger of social and professional isolation that the employee

may experience on adopting this new work mode. In that respect, Baruch and Nicholson

(1997) and Raghuram et al. (2001) recognise that, in generic terms, the employees

identification with the organisation strengthens the adaptation and acceptance of the

behavior desired by the organisation they belong to, which is a key success factor to

implement telework. In order to strengthen its culture and values, the organisation must seek

socialisation formulas, for example, by means of regular meetings that allow the company totransmit, and the teleworker to assume the corporate values. Johnston and Botterman (1998)

suggest a package of solutions or possible practices, from which the following stand out: (1)

promoting a strong identification with the organisation; (2) developing a supportive corporate

culture; (3) introducing informal support networks for self-employed teleworkers; and (4)

requiring a minimum number of days work in the office.

Faced with the problem of how you manage people whom you do not see, many authors

(e.g., Handy, 1995; Fritz and Manheim, 1998; Jarvenpaa and Shaw, 1998; Skyrme, 1998)consider that the answer is to be found in the development of trust. Nevertheless, Handy


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(1995) points that it does not sit easily with a managerial tradition that believes efficiency and

control are closely linked and that you cant have one without a lot of the other, and

therefore, it is necessary to rediscover how to run organisations based more on trust than on

control, since virtuality requires trust to make it work, because technology on its own is not

enough.

Proposition 5: The use of telework requires high levels of indoctrination.

Grouping of units

Traditionally, companies have used the procedure of grouping based on functional criteria,

which creates problems of inter-functional co-ordination. However, in order to respond rapidly

to an increasingly competitive market, it is necessary to co-ordinate the work flow

interdependencies, that is, the relationships of dependence across an organisations

functional areas. Therefore, the company must achieve a balance between the management

of functional competences and the co-ordination of the key processes.

In that sense, the appearance of the new ICT, as well as the development of work in a virtual

context, facilitate knowledge and skills sharing across the functional and physical

organisational frontiers (Jackson, 1999; Lipnack and Stamps, 1999), which favours the

creation of virtual teams based on projects or processes.In fact, Daniels et al. (2001)

consider that virtual structures are often characterised as flexible federations of groups and

individuals, operating by means of matrix structures. Similarly, Skyrme (1998) recognises the

potential for productivity of multi-disciplinary teams in the virtual context. In that way,

organisations based on project co-ordination and having virtual structures can obtain great

advantages from remote work.

Proposition 6: The use of telework favours the grouping of units based on multi-disciplinary work teams.

Unit size

Telematic means that support telework facilitate communication between work team

members. That characteristic is exploited to promote the creation of multi-disciplinary teams

requiring intensive co-ordination. Therefore, considering the peculiarities of ICT and of work

in a virtual environment, it can be said that organisations have large units at their disposalsince personal supervision of unit members by their superior is not necessary (in general


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terms, the employee has great autonomy and, a priori, face-to-face encounters are not

necessary).

However, although ease of co-ordination may permit the unit size to be increased, it must be

pointed out that the complex nature of the tasks performed and the need for high

interdependence might encourage a reduction in size. In that respect, Skyrme (1998)

indicates that the most productive teams in knowledge-intensive work are small-sized multi-

disciplinary groups of about five to eight people. In turn, Pratt (2000) states that the new

virtual context that organisations operate in are characterised by networks of small groups

functioning as self-managed teams that are objective-oriented with comprehensive horizontal

communication, as well as being closely linked, and with many leaders. In fact, Lipnack and

Stamps (1999) consider that a virtual team is a type of small group, and it differs from other

small groups in forms of communication, number of relationships, and in the ability to create

in a global context.In that way, and in general terms, telework at group level that attempts to

maximise the co-ordination of its members to take advantage of shared knowledge will lead

to a reduction in the unit or team size, especially if small groups are considered necessary

for trust to function (Handy, 1995).

Proposition 7: The use of telework leads to a reduction in the basic units size in multi-

disciplinary work teams.

Planning and control systems

Telework promotes the use of planning systems and the need to develop control

mechanisms different from the traditional ones based on direct supervision, which reinforces

the idea that those organisations are based more on trust than on strict control. The co-

ordination of teleworkers requires detailed planning, with defined products and measurable

criteria of appraisal, regular meetings and the establishment of suitable monitoring methods.On similar lines, Kurland and Egan (1999) indicate three approaches that may be used to

supervise a team of teleworkers: (1) management by objectives or projects, instead of the

supervisors subjective appraisals; (2) written job descriptions and performance requirements

for each tele-job; and (3) formal communication between employees and supervisors.

In turn, authors such as Davenport and Pearlson (1998) and Fritz and Manheim (1998)

explain that establishing performance standards is the prevailing trend in telework. More

specifically, this can be done at both individual and work team level, covering such mattersas the termination of the project, its development, customer satisfaction and financial aspects


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(Davenport and Pearlson, 1998). In that way, telework cannot be conceived without

management by objectives that assesses according to the criteria of efficiency and results,

although, since it is impossible to physically control the employee, this must be done by

means of ICT. However, among the critics of remote management are the managers

themselves, opposed to losing direct control of their employees (Apgar, 1998; Johnston and

Nolan, 2000).

Davenport and Pearlson (1998) confirm those aspects when they state that virtual work

requires the explicit establishment of objectives between managers and employees and that

control in a virtual context is different from that in a physical environment. According to those

authors, the underlying logic is that, if the workers are not physically close to their

supervisors, traditional control loses its efficiency. Hence the need to seek new trust-

developing forms of control (e.g., set the objective to be achieved and leave the individual or

team to achieve it). As Handy (1995) points out, freedom within boundaries works best when

the work unit is self-contained, having the capability within it to solve its own problems.

Therefore, in virtual teams purpose is the glue that holds them together. It requires co-

operative goals, interdependent tasks, and concrete results (Lipnack and Stamps, 1999).

Proposition 8: The use of telework requires the development of planning and control

systems that permit the limits of the actions of workers and teams to be established,

and the results achieved to be monitored.

Linking mechanisms

Lateral linkages constitute horizontal co-ordination mechanisms that attempt to resolve the

deficiencies in co-ordination that occur when one type of grouping is chosen (Mintzberg,

1979). By developing ICT, that co-ordination is favoured, which will permit communication

between the various team members to intensify (Gristock, 1997).

However, it does not mean that ICT are going to eliminate lateral linkages, except in some

cases (e.g., the function of a liaison position created to transfer information can be

substituted by telematic networks). It is fairer to say that the new technologies are going to

serve as a platform for virtual encounters (e.g., taskforces and permanent committees by

videoconference). In fact, Skyrme (1998) recognises the role of videoconferences in

improving communication and in raising levels of trust.


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Physical distance between teleworkers and their company causes communication to be

discontinuous. Therefore, faced with the tendency to implement telematic communication

instead of personal communication, and although telecommunication networks permit

geographically distanced staff to remain in contact, there must be promotion of regular

personal meetings and communications between employees and their superiors (Davenport

and Pearlson, 1998) in line with the task performed. Gristock (1998) and Skyrme (1998)

express their agreement with that when they defend the combined use of the new ICT and

face-to-face meetings in virtual work.

Proposition 9: The use of telework stimulates horizontal communication by telematic

means, but combined with personal communication.

Decentralisation

Decentralisation refers to the degree of decision making dispersion (Mintzberg, 1979), which

means that a high degree of decentralisation allows the lower levels of the organisation to

assume the responsibilities relative to their work areas with the objective of more informed

decision making. Among the factors that contribute to decentralisation are: better

qualifications of subordinates and the availability of, and speed of, access to information

which will permit more suitable decision making in the lower hierarchical levels (Navas,

1994). Furthermore, process reengineering in the organisational design leads to flat

structures and to delegate authority to lower levels (Daft, 1998). In fact, there is a tendency

to make the organisation more flexible by trusting those who have the knowledge necessary

for decision making. In that sense, ICT give the worker a greater decision making capability

by improving the information transfer between employees and teams.

Regarding this design parameter, Raghuram et al. (2001) uphold the idea that telework has a

positive impact on the organisational design by bringing about the development ofdecentralised structures, which is supported by process reengineering in remote work

(Handy, 1995; Davenport and Pearlson, 1998). Meanwhile, Nilles (1998) stresses the role of

telework in the decentralisation of companies since it contributes to eliminating the tendency

to physically centralise all the activity by splitting it up where that is more suitable, a

consequence of knowledge society, where true added-value lies in knowledge management.

In the same way, Skyrme (1998) considers that telework requires decisions to be made when

and where are necessary, that is, decentralisation.


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However, Navas (1994) argues that ICT justify greater decentralisation of the organisation,

as well as greater centralisation. Consequently, the casuistry of telework is a means and not

an end, and, therefore, telework can be used both in bureaucratic and in organic companies.

Hence, the degree of decentralisation/centralisation can vary.

However, starting from the idea supported throughout this work that telework is based on

autonomy and the delegation of responsibilities, the tendency to decentralise the

organisational structure stands out.

Proposition 10: The use of telework requires the dispersion of decision making and

decentralisation of the organisational structure.

As a result of the above analysis, Figure 3 shows the main ideas or premises resulting from

examining the reviewed works about the influence of telework on organisational design.

Figure 3: Influence of telework on organisational design

DESIGN PARAMETER IMPACT OF TELEWORK

Horizontal specialisation Low

Vertical specialisation Low

Behavior formalisation LowTraining Strong knowledge in ICT use and in new control and

communication formulas

Indoctrination When there is a danger of social isolation, socialisationmechanisms must be stimulated

Grouping of units Multi-functional or multi-disciplinary groups

Unit size Low

Planning and control systems Management by objectives or projects

Linking mechanisms Combination of ICT and face-to-face communication

Decentralisation High

The aspects shown, as mentioned before, represent first thoughts in an area of study still in

its infancy. Therefore, in-depth studies will follow that will check the truth of the proposals set

out, in order to obtain a better understanding of the impact of ICT and business practices in

the heart of organisations.


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5. CONCLUSIONS

The professional and academic literature review reveals the need for a more complete and

detailed analysis of the relationship between telework and organisational design. In this

sense, we hope to have contributed to addressing the aforementioned existing issues. As a

result, we present the following conclusions and final comments:

- The new economy, mainly characterised by the use of technologies as a formula to

create added-value, generates the development of new organisations and modus

operandi.New market demands and new ways of understanding how to manage the

company determine the establishment of new relationships, including those with the

worker. Teleworker are exponents of this new stream.

- The variables defining telework are widely recognised in the literature (contractual

relationship that includes the mode of remote work by telematic means), as are the types

of telework (mainly home, mobile and in established centres and offices).

- Given the importance and impact of telework on the organisation at financial,

organisational and human levels, systems or formulas that permit the assessment and

measurement of telework efficiency and its contribution to the organisational goals must

be created.

- In relation to costs, contrary to the reduction of costs attributed to lower investment in

infrastructure, it should be considered that there is a cost item, often not estimated,

namely the training or recycling of those employees accustomed to another form of work

(e.g., face-to-face with other employees, managerial supervision), and who may not

show the productivity intended with telework. Since such expenditure can be considered

opportunity costs for the company, when redesigning the work, the type of activity and

task, and which workers are ideal for this new method must be estimated. Also, there

must be an analysis of the treatment or location of those workers (staff and

management), that are productive for the company but do not adapt to the new system.- The main implications of knowledge-intensive telework with a high degree of autonomy

on the organisational design are: a) the reduction in horizontal and vertical specialisation

of job positions; b) worker training in the new medium; c) the maintenance of the

organisational culture in the teleworkers; d) greater emphasis on the creation of

interfunctional work teams that stress processes more than functions; e) the importance

of clearly planning the objectives and guidelines of the task to be performed by the

teleworker; g) the need to establish controls, not physical, but by the achievement of

established goals; h) the simplicity of the function of lateral links that telematic means


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provide, and that contribute to co-ordination between remote workers or teams; and g)

decentralisation of the organisation.

- Finally, and since the design variables must have different configurations depending on

the type of telework that is going to be introduced, the propositions set out are valid

exclusively in an environment of knowledge-intensive tasks with a high degree of

autonomy.

Nevertheless, we only attempt to describe how the organisation should design its structure

when considering telework implementation. So this work does not focus on the process of

change to the new design, but in the resulting structure design.

As a final comment, we want to remark that the propositions set out should be considered to

be starting points for developing the theoretical hypotheses to be tested in an empirical study

and useful insights for managerial practice in the introduction of telework in organisations.

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Documents

Electronic Journal of Organizational Virtualness